Some Indian Facebook users on February 2, 2021, flooded the Facebook page of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo demanding the release of an Indian politician who they suspected was being held in Ghana. According to the Times of India, the Facebook page of President Akufo-Addo was the subject of a targeted troll attack on assumption that P.V. Anwar, the current Member of the Indian Legislative Assembly was in jail and they demanded his release and immediate return to his constituency. A post about the composition of Ghana's Council of State on President Akufo-Addo's Facebook page attracted over 3,500 comments, most of them trolls in Malayalam and English. However, Anvar calmed the fears of the trolls on Friday night saying, "They say I am in jail in Ghana, They can wish for that. But they are mistaken". He has since made more posts on social media with his location set to Freetown Sierra Leone. Anvar was earlier reported missing in India but he later clarified that he had gone abroad after local elections on a business visit in Africa. 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 Rao warned party leaders not to talk or debate about the CM change issue either in public or in private, else they have to face severe consequences. (Photo: twitter @TelanganaCMO) Hyderabad: Chief Minister and TRS supremo K. Chandrashekar Rao on Sunday finally put to rest months of speculation about him stepping down from the Chief Ministers post to pave for his son, minister and party working president K. T. Rama Rao to rise to the chair. Chandrashekar Rao made it clear that he had no plans to quit from the CMs post, reiterating that he was in the pink of health to continue as CM, for at least the next ten years. Rao warned party leaders not to talk or debate about the CM change issue either in public or in private, else they have to face severe consequences. He asked them not to indulge in such speculations, which are totally unwarranted and harm the interests of the party. Rao, however, maintained complete silence on the relations of TRS with the BJP in the backdrop of heated debate in political circles that the TRS boss had suddenly turned soft towards the BJP after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union home minister Amit Shah, soon after the GHMC elections in December last. Rao had, during his public address during the GHMC polls thundered that he would organise a public meeting of all anti-BJP parties of the country in Hyderabad, but has subsequently undertaken a U-turn on the issue. Rao, while addressing leaders at the party state executive today, repeatedly warned of severe action against leaders, including MLAs and MPs, if they openly air views and irresponsibly deviating from party line, apparently referring to the recent controversies relating to MLAs Challa Dharma Reddy, Rasamayi Balakishna and others, who created a flutter with remarks against reservations for Dalits, the Ayodhya Ram temple and describing the TRS as a limited company. In an apparent attempt to placate and woo Dalits, against the backdrop of the resurfacing of the demand to make a Dalit the CM, Chandrashekar Rao is said to have announced that he would soon come up with a major initiative for Scheduled Castes. He asked officials to make at least Rs 10,000 crore available for his initiative. It will be better than the current sub-plan spending, he said, admitting that the TRS government lagged behind in providing welfare for Dalits and he would focus on bringing it to par with the OBCs. The government will give equal importance for the wellbeing of economically weaker sections (EWS) among forward castes and implementation of 10 per cent reservation for EWS is part of it, he said. Interestingly, Chief Minister Rao was totally silent on the issue of unemployment allowance, on which his son Rama Rao had made an announcement recently, saying the CM will announce it soon. Over 300 party leaders, including ministers, MPs, MLAs and MLCs, state committee members, state-level corporation chairpersons, zilla parishad chairpersons, mayors, municipal chairpersons, DCCB chairpersons and DCMS presidents attended the meeting at Telangana Bhavan, the partys headquarters. All eyes were on the meeting as it was held amid a growing clamour within TRS that Rama Rao would be elevated as CM soon. The timing of the meeting further fuelled speculations, as it was called by the CM suddenly, with a short notice of two days. Several political watchers were hoping that since about 300 important leaders were called for the meeting, a major announcement on CM change would be hinted at. All these factors led party leaders and cadre to strongly believe that Chandrashekar Rao would make a key announcement or at least drop hints on when KTR will be made CM. Instead, Chandrashekar Rao utilised the occasion to send a loud and clear message that he will not step down as chief minister in this term, or even in future governments if TRS went on the win the next elections. It was made crystal clear to the party that he had no plans to make his son or anyone else the CM. I have no health or age-related issues. I am perfectly alright. I can serve as CM for ten more years. Why would I quit now? Why are you talking about CM change constantly in public and creating confusion in the party and the people? It is sending wrong signals to people. Whenever my health doesnt permit me to work as CM, I would definitely discuss with everyone in the party and take a decision on what to do and who should be appointed as CM. Until then, restrain yourselves from talking or debating on this issue in public or in private. Those violating this would be dealt with severely, Mr Rao reportedly warned. Rao, it was learnt, also expressed ire at few party leaders who were constantly raking up the CM change issue in media and public. He said that such statements were providing ammunition to Opposition parties to attack him, his family members and the party. Opposition parties are trying to create confusion by making demands that Etela Rajender be made CM because of irresponsible statements given by our leaders. It is high time to put an end to this issue in the interest of the party, Rao purportedly declared. Despite the TRS supremo making it clear in no uncertain terms that there would be no change of CM, it failed to douse speculations, especially amongst the KTR group within the party. The supporters of Mr Rama Rao still strongly believe that the CM tried to downplay this issue only to ensure the party focuses on upcoming crucial Nagarjunasagar Assembly bypoll, graduate MLC polls for two seats and Warangal, Khammam municipal corporation polls over the next three months. KTR would be elevated as CM in May, after these elections, some of them said, oblivious to the sternness and emphasis of the CMs speech. Michigan students saw more Fs on their report cards than usual this year as many kids have struggled to keep up with online-only classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the efforts of teachers to keep students on track, K-12 schools have faced immense challenges with conducting distance learning. The abrupt closing of schools last March forced teachers to pivot quickly to remote learning at an unprecedented scale. School leaders say students at all grade levels have struggled with online classes because of the lack of face-to-face interaction with teachers, as well as other issues such as technical glitches and the lack of access to technology. It takes a lot to be an online learner, and a lot of kids werent ready for that, said Jenison High School Principal Brandon Graham. We discovered that there were a lot of barriers that prevented them from being successful. Report card data from Jenison High School shows students who took online-only classes did worse in school this fall than students who attended school in-person. Almost one-third of students taking remote classes this fall failed at least one of their courses at the Ottawa County high school. In comparison, only 15% of students taking in-person classes failed one course, Graham said. The staggering fail rate left administrators scrambling to support students without lowering grading standards. The school created a credit recovery program, allowing students to earn back credits they lost from failed classes in the fall. The high school also asked any students who failed at least one online class this fall to take their classes in-person this semester. Since then, half of all students who failed remote classes last semester and switched to in-person are currently passing their classes, Graham said. Our early results are looking very positive the kids that struggled online that are now back in person are doing significantly better in their classes, Graham said. Educators have struggled with whether to assess student performance with the same pre-pandemic academic standards, or to give more leeway given the challenging circumstances. We all were in unchartered waters, Graham said. I think we did everything we could to keep our standards where they were, but also maybe giving kids a little more grace with getting their assignments in. Detroit Public Schools Community District drastically altered the way it will grade students this year, eliminating all D and F grades from report cards because of the number of students who performed poorly in online learning in the fall. About 20% of elementary and middle school students and 35% of high school students failed at least one class in the first quarter. Thats about twice the fail rate of the previous school year, said Clare Liening, a district spokesperson. The district has introduced a new G letter grade, which will be retroactively applied to all fall report cards to replace any D grades. Officials will also replace all F grades with a No Credit marking to help save students GPAs during remote learning. Students will be able to retake quizzes and tests up to two times to demonstrate their understanding, and homework assignments will be limited to reading and studying, according to district documents. The new grading system was recommended by a 200-member task force to improve online learning. Lansing Public Schools Superintendent Sam Sinicropi said the level of concern about academic performance is high for educators statewide. I havent talked to anybody thats in any kind of virtual format that isnt having almost the same issues as everybody else, he said. The learning loss is everywhere. Sinicropi said while some students have performed better in online-only learning because of the flexibility and independence, most students have struggled and are not performing as they did in the past under this environment. Our biggest concern is to get the kids actually on the screen, let alone paying attention to doing the things theyre supposed to do,' he said. But at this point, it is unclear what level of learning loss Michigan students are facing. The Michigan Department of Education is again asking the federal government to waive standardized testing requirements this spring. A waiver was granted for 2019-20 to bypass the testing due to the coronavirus pandemic, so Michigan could be without two years of academic data for school districts. RELATED: Michigan asking feds to cancel standardized tests after year of inconsistent education Reeths-Puffer Superintendent Steve Edwards said he has seen vastly different levels of learning loss among students, making it difficult to know definitively what impact the pandemic has had on student performance. For example, Reeths-Puffer High School in Muskegon County recorded a higher fail rate for students in grades 11 and 12 in the fall compared to 2019-20, while students in grades 9 and 10 performed slightly better during the pandemic compared to the year before. I think often people want to draw a direct connection between the pandemic and proficiency, but this year was less predictable than we expected, Edwards said. I think that one of the things that were seeing is there isnt necessarily a direct connection. Were honestly still trying to make sense of our data. Without standardized testing data, schools are primarily relying on benchmark assessment data to see how much students have grown academically throughout this year. If Michigan does do full assessments this spring, parents and educators will have a really clear idea of how much their children have fallen behind, said Amber Arellano, executive director of the nonpartisan group Education Trust-Midwest. We know that rural kids in Michigan lack reliable internet and device access. It would make sense that we would see some of the greatest learning loss in rural communities, but we cant get a better understanding of that without assessment data. Almost half (45%) of parents across the state say that the quality of teaching and instruction their children receive is worse during virtual learning, according to polling Education Trust-Midwest had conducted of 400 Michigan parents in December. Polling shows 91% of Black parents and other parents of color were concerned about their child falling behind academically because of the pandemic, while 83% of white parents shared that concern. While we cant document yet all of problems that have been created by school disruptions, what we do know is that parents are really worried about it, Arellano said. The poll finds 85% of parents agree state leaders should have a plan to address learning loss and make sure students catch up to their current grade level. On Thursday, Feb. 4, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a new Student Recovery Advisory Council, comprised of 29 members with a variety of educational, medical and labor backgrounds, who will make recommendations on how to help students recover. It is important to remember that schools also provide other services that students need to succeed including reliable access to the internet, nutritious meals, and mental health supports. COVID-19 has exacerbated inequities in our education system, and we know more work is needed to address the significant impact this pandemic has had on our children,' Whitmer said in a press release. State Superintendent Michael Rice said Tuesday that layering in additional learning time next year will help students address foregone learning during the pandemic. He said the current minimum 180 instruction days required was too low before the pandemic and the state legislature should increase it. To help you navigate this complicated school year, were pleased to offer you a simpler way to get all of your education news: Our new Michigan Schools: Education in the COVID Era newsletter delivered right to your inbox. To receive this newsletter, simply click here to sign up. More on MLive: Michigan school districts ranked by family structure: See percent of households headed by married vs. single parents Art, music and PE are wild subjects to teach online. But creative Michigan teachers are making it work COVID-19 pandemic taking a toll on students mental health, district survey shows .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Distance learning is not what anyone wanted. Proms cancelled, seasons postponed, empty hallways and gymnasiums. None of your teachers want to be delivering lessons to a computer screen. Students want to interact with their friends, get in trouble in the hallways and cheer on their classmates on Friday nights. This year of online schooling has been far from perfect, but maybe it hasnt been all bad. While all of our learning objectives and outcomes havent been met and some students are undoubtedly falling behind from a curriculum standpoint, have we stopped to think about where growth has occurred? The vast majority of our high school students are ready to contribute in a 21st century business world in ways schools have not prepared them before. The skills they have honed from a virtual school year will stay with them for the rest of their working lives. A generation of students who have been mocked for their text lingo and TikTok dances has learned how to adapt and communicate effectively through email, messages and Zoom chats. Communicating daily with teachers and counselors, students have mastered Zoom and learned the value of making sure you are on mute. It is time we face the reality of our future and recognize the days of going to an office building and sitting next to your co-workers in a poorly lit open cubicle concept may very well be over, and these students are ready to succeed in the next generations workplace. They know better than most of us that everything you do on the internet is there forever, and they are conscious of that in their Zoom classes or Google meets. They are learning how to manage their time and to meet deadlines in ways other students have never experienced. They have learned the value of sending a professional email to an authority figure and have worked with people who are flexible and those who are set in their ways, much like in the workplace. Students have been met with connectivity and technology issues like never before, but they continue to work through them and all seem to be their own IT support team. These students will come out on the other side of this pandemic more prepared and with the necessary communication skills to succeed in college and the business world. They have had a high school experience unlike any in the history of our country, and they may very well be better off for it. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ There is no doubt that the losses students are sustaining in elementary through middle school and into high school will impact schools and academics for years to come, but lets not forget that we are not alone in facing these problems. School districts, teachers and educators are already working to find solutions to the problems that will occur over the next several years, but lets also take pause and reflect on the non-traditional successes we have had, and lets realize where growth has occurred. My hat is off to the class of 2021, their perseverance, adaptability and their fight. The heartbroken father of a fitness enthusiast killed while riding her motorbike can't fathom 'getting over' her death, as he slams the government for not doing more to combat youth crime. Jennifer Board, 22, was killed instantly after two cars collided and spun out of control at an intersection in Thuringowa Central, in Townsville, on Friday night. One of the cars, a Hyundai sedan, was allegedly stolen, while the Holden Statesman also involved in the crash was allegedly driven by vigilantes trying to catch up with the other car. The crash forced the Holden to veer onto the other side of the road and into Ms Board's motorbike. She died at the scene. Her devastated father Graham Board, who is suffering from the early stages of dementia, told the Courier Mail: 'I couldn't believe it, but I had to believe it.' He still does not know too many details about his daughter's death, given he has no access to the internet, but hopes she didn't suffer. Jennifer Board, 22, was killed instantly after two cars collided and spun out of control at an intersection in Thuringowa Central, in Townsville on Friday night The 22-year-old's last post to Instagram showed her celebrating the moment she received her restricted motorcycle license, having got her learner's permit three months earlier Mr Board hopes his only biological daughter's death will force the Queensland government to take a tougher stance against youth crime. 'So much of these stolen cars have been going on in Townsville and all they get is a slap on the fingers and they let them go out again,' he said, reportedly as he slammed his fist down on his coffee table. Her death comes just weeks after expectant parents Kate Leadbetter and Matthew Field were allegedly killed by a teenager driving an out-of-control car while walking their dogs on Australia Day. Ms Board has been remembered as a 'kind, bubbly and adventurous' woman who will be 'dearly missed' within her community. Ms Board has been remembered as a 'kind, bubbly and adventurous' woman who will be 'dearly missed' within her community Following her death, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced sweeping changes would be introduced in parliament this week to deal with juvenile criminals. She said on Saturday that 'everything is on the table' but has not yet gone into detail about the changes. 'I met yesterday with the Ministers for Police and Youth Justice and the Attorney-General as well as the heads of their departments and there will be announcements,' she said. The Premier said the crash was 'a terrible tragedy on so many levels'. 'My thoughts and prayers go out to loved ones, family and friends.' Ms Board's local community banded together on Saturday to hold a memorial ride in her honour. Jennifer Board, 22, (pictured) was killed after she was hit by a vehicle that had just ploughed into another car at an intersection in Thuringowa Central, in Townsville on Friday night Ms Board was hoping to become a police officer in Queensland, her family revealed The 22-year-old had only recently celebrated getting her full motorcycle license, having got her learner's permit three months earlier. Her sister and best friend, Siana Board, said Jennifer was the 'most genuine soul', who loved the colour orange. 'Jennifer has never hurt a single person in this life,' Siana told the Courier Mail. 'I couldn't think of a worse person for this to happen to.' Siana also revealed that her sister had recently applied for the police service. Having just moved to Darwin, she is now desperately trying to get back to Queensland to farewell her sister. 'There are no flights today it destroyed me to move away from her, and now this happens,' Siana said. More than 100 motorcyclists rode down the street where Ms Board was killed on Saturday morning, with many donning orange in honour of the 22-year-old. Her sister and best friend, Siana Board, (left) said Jennifer (right) was the 'most genuine soul' and had dreamed of becoming a police officer Ms Board (pictured) had been riding down the road just before 10pm on Friday when she was struck Hundreds of other locals laid orange flowers and carried orange balloons to pay their respects at the crash site. Police alleged after the crash the stolen Hyundai fled the scene before the car was found abandoned in Garbutt an hour later. The alleged driver of the Holden, a 25-year-old Bushland Beach man and his two passengers, a 41-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman were taken to hospital with minor injuries. Police are appealing for anyone who may have any information regarding the incident to come forward as investigations continue. The collision allegedly happened after a vigilante member of the public decided to 'aggressively' follow the allegedly stolen car, crossing the median strip of the road into the motorcycle's path. Superintendent Glen Ponting said: 'I very strongly caution against any form of vigilante action. 'Often times while people may have good intentions, it can result in unintended consequences.' The Zamfara State government in an attempt to quell banditry in the state has initiated a cows-for-guns swap policy. The policy is another amnesty initiative for repentant bandits in the state. The state government first announced the initiative in July, last year, to encourage bandits terrorising rural areas to lay down their arms. The state's governor, Bello Matawalle said some criminals who willingly submitted their guns have been resettled in Gusau, the state capital. Daily Trust reports that this is not the first time the government would initiate an amnesty policy for bandits in the state. However, since the initiation of the guns-for-cows deal, dozens of armed men have submitted their weapons and embraced peace. The governor, a few days ago, said he would never give cash in exchange for guns, noting that it would set a very bad precedent for issues that have to do with armed conflicts in the state. He however said the peace dialogue had yielded positive results as many of the armed criminals have submitted their weapons. The governor spoke when he received the delegation of the Kaduna-based cleric, Sheik Ahmad Abubakar Gumi, who was in the state to negotiate a peace deal with bandits. He said a peace dialogue remains the only option to return peace to the state, but warned recalcitrant bandits to embrace peace or face the wrath of security operatives, adding that they would be defeated. "The security operatives will work hand in hand with the repentant bandits to pursue those that refuse to accept the peace and reconciliation offer, or at least convince them to cease hostilities for the overall development of the state," he added. He said negotiation had been concluded with the son of the slain bandits' leader, Buharin Daji, his mother and a top leader of the bandits, who would soon surrender arms. Matawalle said the decision of the leader of the bandits to lay down his arms would be a turning point in the quest to bring back peace to the state, adding that he doesn't regret having a dialogue with the armed men in the state. "If I wasn't courageous, I would have abandoned the peace deal with armed men because of the pressure being mounted on me by those who think there should not be such initiatives." "I'm being blackmailed from different quarters for having a dialogue with the armed bandits. Some said I'm with them, others said I harbour them. We have seen the positive impacts of this deal. Rural markets are now picking up. "We have rescued dozens of kidnapped victims without firing a single shot. If we know that force can stop the attacks, we won't bother having a dialogue with the armed men. We will continue to do what we feel is good for our people irrespective of what people would say," Matawalle said. First failed peace deal In 2016, authorities had engaged the slain bandits' leader Buhari Tsoho, otherwise known as Buharin Daji in peace talks. Buharin Daji agreed to cease hostilities, but resumed attacks on communities shortly afterward. He was later killed by an armed bandit called Dogo Gide in a gang violence in a forest near Madada, a village located 15 kilometres east of Dansadau town. About three years ago, police had arrested one of Buharin Daji's sons identified as Zakowa after security operatives repelled attacks on Chali and Gobirawa communities. Last week, six repentant armed bandits from Kaduna, Niger and Yobe states surrendered 14 AK 47 rifles and live ammunition, then swore with the holy Qur'an that they had renounced armed banditry in the state. The repentant bandits submitted the rifles in the presence of Governor Matawalle, the state commissioner of police, Mr Abutu Yaro, Emir of Gusau Alhaji Ibrahim Bello and other heads of security formations in the state. The state commissioner for Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Dauran, had said about 107 rifles and several other categories of ammunition had been surrendered by the repentant bandits since July 2019, adding that more weapons are being submitted by the repentant bandits. Each of the repentant bandits held a copy of the Holy Qur'an and swore that they had forever stopped armed banditry, kidnapping, and other crimes. The oath was administered by Malam Abubakar Fari, who is the chairman Zamfara State Council of Ulamas. Governor Bello Matawalle said there is another group engaged by the state commissioner of police, who had indicated willingness to embrace peace. Experts express worry over peace deal A security expert, Abubakar Sanusi, said such a move has an undertone, adding that it could not work because they don't have genuine reasons for indulging in criminalities. He said, "These people have no genuine reasons for perpetrating these crimes. They are the core-criminals. I actually pity these governors. It is only the federal government that is supposed to stop all these negotiations. "We are just buying time with these negotiations because those guys are used to millions of naira. They will still go back to these criminalities. The only solution is to tackle the sponsors of these criminals, weaken them and genuinely destroy them." Also, the Executive Director Fulani Initiative for the Protection of Environment and Less Privileged, Mr Bachiri S. Fulani, said for the cows-for-guns policy to succeed, there must be a comprehensive action plan and robust community mobilization and engagement. "The issue is that this programme requires a lot of resources. I learnt the governor had complained of lack of wherewithal to prosecute this plan. Then, he should seek an intervention from the federal government and other donor agencies. "There must be comprehensive data of those that own guns and where they are. They should be deradicalized for some months and then given cows in exchange for guns. It is a good step, but it should be carefully planned," he said. Mr Bachiri said it is a programme that can't be handled by the state government alone and all hands must be on deck to ensure that the policy succeeds. ALGON supports peace deal, calls for massive prayers Meanwhile, the Zamfara chapter of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) said it is embarking on intense prayers to end banditry in the state, the North West and other parts of the country. Alhaji Muhammad Umar, Chairman of the association in the state, made the disclosure to newsmen in Gusau on Saturday, at the end of the association's meeting on security. "We are unanimous in supporting the steps taken by our governor in addressing the issues of armed banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling and other heinous crimes that had brought our state to a standstill in the past. "This was particularly achieved following the peace and dialogue initiated by his excellency which led to the unconditional surrender of a large cache of arms and ammunition by repentant bandits. 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. "The bandits have also supported the government and security agents in either bringing new repentants or identifying recalcitrant ones so that they will be brought to book," he said. Umar pointed out that the association has been supporting the Gov. Matawalle's initiative and would not relent until lasting peace is fully achieved in all parts of the state. "At the moment, we have also concluded arrangements to mobilise religious leaders that will meet the remaining bandits in the bushes so that they can talk spiritual sense into them with a view to having all of them abandon their bad ways." "This is more imperative now that the state government is willing to rehabilitate and support them into being good citizens," he said. The ALGON chairman enjoined well-meaning citizens of the state to always pray for an end to the security challenges facing the state and the nation in general. Why ex-governor Yari's peace deal with bandits crumbled However, former governor Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar had in 2016 engaged the armed bandits in peace talks. The peace deal nevertheless crumbled a year after it was negotiated. The armed bandits and the state authorities at the time had traded blame on why the peace pact did not see the light of the day. The state government had blamed the bandits for failure to keep to their promises, while the armed men said the state government and security operatives failed to honour their agreement on arbitrary arrest of their kinsmen and colleagues. For instance, the slain bandits' leader Buharin Daji had complained about the arrest of his son and two of his close associates called Kankara and Damina by the security operatives. Axios Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. The FBI visited the home of Trump supporter Noel Fritsch, formerly of Big League Politics, for being in DC on January 6 even though he was no where near the rally or subsequent takeover of the Capitol Building. (Natural News) (Article by Cassandra Fairbanks republished from TheGatewayPundit.com) Fritsch says that the agents harassed his pregnant wife and attempted to intimidate her, while she was home alone with their four young children. Speaking to the Gateway Pundit, Fritsch said that while he was in DC, he was miles away from the action. I was at my laptop working. I work in conservative politics against Mitch and McCarthy trying to elect Tea Party and MAGA candidates to help the Trump Agenda, he explained. .@LegendaryEnergy same happened to me today. 2 of Rosenstein's goons harassed my 39 week pregnant wife mid-day while she's at home raising our 4 boys, 7 & under. Worse, promising future intimidation, they told her they'll have to keep coming back til we speak. https://t.co/ugR0wO08XL Noel Fritsch (@NoelFritsch) February 3, 2021 The visit by the two agents took place on Wednesday around 11:30 a.m. while his wife was at home with their children, all of whom are 7-years-old or younger. At first, the agents, one male and one female, played nice and claimed that her husband was not in any trouble and that they were just looking to speak with him. They told her that they werent looking to arrest anyone and didnt even bring handcuffs. They asked if she was there and if she was with me, Fritsch explained. His wife answered that she is home with their children all the time. They asked if he was in DC on the 6th and she explained that he is constantly travelling for work and was not sure. We just wanted to know if he was there, or if he was the kind of guy who was standing on the outskirts saying yay Trump or if he was the kind of guy who would be on the inside breaking stuff, she recounted them asking her. It doesnt look like he would be that kind of a guy because were looking around at your beautiful home and beautiful children. Most of the time people are just so mean to us right when we walk up and you are just so nice. Thank you for being so nice, she recounted them saying, attempting to butter her up. The tone quickly changed, however, as the agents told her that they will have to keep coming back until they speak to Mr. Fritsch. Fritsch said that he believes it was nothing but pure intimidation tactic. They want conservatives and MAGA country to give up and go home. The Harris Biden DOJ is looking to punish potential political enemies, Fritsch added, and they are using American resources to do it. Memo to China Joe and Heels up Harris: MAGA country is only getting stronger, Fritsch stated. Read more at: TheGatewayPundit.com Rare, Surreal Find Along Oregon, Washington Coast: Red Towers Published 02/06/21 at 4:56 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Cannon Beach, Oregon) One of the stranger winter finds along the Oregon coast would have to be the red towers - surreal, reddish formations that come in an endless variety of shapes and sizes. Red towers don't even have to be towers, and in fact they're frequently something else entirely. They can often show as odd little, winding chunks of crust. To some they'll look like a drawing out of Dr. Suess; to others they'll resemble the striking album art of Roger Dean and the Yes albums of the 70s. Essentially, they're rather rare and only show up when sand levels get extremely low. Even then they're not around for long. Red towers can't take the tidal action very well and usually disintegrate within a few days to a week or so. Right now, however, there is that possibility to find them wherever there's newly gouged-out beaches, especially if the bedrock is showing. With some reports of ghost forests happening around the Oregon coast this last month that's a hint. If you see ghost forests they could be near. Some areas of the Washington coast may also present these, depending on the geology of the area. However, the year-round ghost forest of Neskowin won't yield these sights. Sand levels don't get low enough there. What are the red towers? It's a fairly simple but eyebrow-raising explanation, according to Seaside geologist Tom Horning. Basically, beach sand is cemented by red iron oxide, formed beneath feet of sand layers, likely ten feet or more. Minerals cement the sands together to form reinforced, irregular bodies within and under the beach, which are then exposed to the casual observer when the beach is washed away, Horning said. Not uncommonly, the tops of the towers are exposed first, and rocks will wear these away, creating little pot-hole craters that make attractive landforms for photographers. Those minerals and structures are present beneath beach sands all the time, and only when the sand levels get dug out low enough do they show up. Then it's not long before they're gone. With most of storm season wrapped up, you're chances of finding them are greatly diminished. But not impossible. Where to find red towers on the Oregon coast? See the full gallery of these below Arch Cape and Hug Point south of Cannon Beach are known for producing these on occasion if ghost forests and bedrock are showing there. They've been spotted on the central Oregon coast even more rarely at ghost forest sites like Moolack Beach. On the southern Oregon coast the criteria would be the same: bedrock and / or sand levels that have dropped suddenly because of storms. It is, of course, not guaranteed anywhere. In the past, Oregon Coast Beach Connection has collected a variety of interesting examples in-camera. No two formations are ever the same, so no year's appearance of them is ever similar either. Just like the Vulcans on Star Trek say: Infinite diversity in infinite combinations. Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - Where to eat - Map - Virtual Tour MORE PHOTOS BELOW 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 People inspect the site near the damaged Dhauliganga hydropower project at Reni village in Chamoli district after a portion of Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Tapovan area of the northern state of Uttarakhand, on Feb. 7, 2021. (AP Photo) At Least 9 Killed, 140 Missing After Glacier Breaks in Indias Himalayas RISHIKESH, IndiaIndian rescue crews struggled to reach trapped victims Sunday after part of a glacier in the Himalayas broke off and released a torrent of water and debris that slammed into two hydroelectric plants. At least nine people were killed and 140 were missing. Video from Indias northern state of Uttarakhand showed the muddy, concrete-gray floodwaters tumbling through a valley and surging into a dam, breaking it into pieces with little resistance before roaring on downstream. The flood turned the countryside into what looked like an ash-colored moonscape. More than 2,000 members of the military, paramilitary groups and police took part in the search-and-rescue operation, including soldiers expert in mountaineering, working into the night under bright halogen lights, authorities said. The flood was caused when a portion of Nanda Devi glacier snapped off in the morning, releasing water trapped behind it, authorities said. It rushed down the mountain and into other bodies of water, forcing the evacuation of many villages along the banks of the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers. A hydroelectric plant on the Alaknanda was destroyed, and a plant under construction on the Dhauliganga was damaged, said Vivek Pandey, a spokesman for the paramilitary Indo Tibetan Border Police. Flowing out of the Himalayan mountains, the two rivers meet before merging with the Ganges River. Pandey said at least 42 workers were trapped in two tunnels at the Dhauliganga project. Twelve were rescued from one of the tunnels, while at least 30 others remained stranded inside the other, he said. The rescuers used ropes and shovels to reach the mouth of the tunnel. They dug through the debris and entered the tunnel. They are yet to come in touch with the stranded people, said Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Uttarakhands top elected official. An additional 140 workers at the two plants were missing, Pandey said. Surjeet Singh, a police official, said at least nine bodies were recovered. The Himalayan area has a chain of hydropower projects on several rivers and their tributaries. Rawat said authorities were able to save other power units downstream because of timely action taken to release water by opening gates. The floodwaters also damaged houses, said Ravi Bejaria, a government spokesman, though he had no details on the number and whether any of the residents were injured, missing or dead. It all started sometime around 10 in the morning. We heard a bang, which shook our village, Dinesh Negi, a resident of Raini village, told The Associated Press by phone. He said they watched from high above one of the rivers as the water turned muddy and surged in a torrent. We knew something wrong had happened, Negi said. We could see the fury of the river. Video showed rescuers in camouflage uniforms and bright yellow or red helmets, using ropes to reach victims. A man who was pulled from a muddy hole threw his arms in the air, and rescuers laughed and exulted with him. Rescue workers comforted victims lying in a row of stretchers in the open. Uttarakhand Police Chief Ashok Kumar said officials immediately alerted residents in the area and evacuated them to safer places. Downstream, popular tourist spots on the banks of the Ganges were shut, and all boating activities were stopped. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that the nation prays for everyones safety in Uttarakhand. In 2013, thousands of people were killed in Uttarakhand after heavy rains triggered landslides and floods, washing away thousands of houses and roads and cutting communications in many places. By Biswajeet Banerjee and Rishabh R. Jain Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala of the Jannayak Janata Party is under immense pressure from his colleagues to walk out of the BJP-led ruling coalition in solidarity with the protesting farmers. The JJPs Karnal district president Inderjit Singh Goraya recently resigned from the party to support the farmers demand for the repeal of the three contentious farm laws. In addition, two JJP legislators have spoken in favour of the agitating farmers and have warned Mr Chautala that the party will pay a heavy price if he does not come out openly against the farm laws. Though JJP cadres are undoubtedly agitated about their partys wishy-washy stand on the farmers agitation, Dushyant Chautalas unwillingness to share power with his colleagues has also contributed to the rumblings in the JJP. Mr Chautala is heading as many as 10 ministries, which include high-profile portfolios like excise and taxation, industry and commerce and food and civil supplies. There is only one more JJP minister in the Haryana Cabinet, Anoop Dhanak who holds the inconsequential archeology and museums portfolio. Given the power he wields, it is not surprising that Mr Chautala is in no hurry to snap ties with the BJP. Faced with a revolt by farmers in western Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government has ordered a virtual gag order on its ministers and MLAs. It has been informally conveyed to them that no one other than those authorised by the government should make any public statements or give interviews to the media regarding the farmers protests. Any MLA or minister violating this code of conduct immediately receives a phone call seeking an explanation for his or her transgression. These instructions were issued after several legislators from western Uttar Pradesh failed to come out strongly against the ongoing farmers agitation, especially BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, and have instead sounded apologetic and conciliatory when questioned by the media about their views on the stir. In fact, an MLA from this region even sidestepped questions on Mr Tikaits aggressive stand, saying the agitating farmers were like members of his extended family. Though Congress members have become accustomed to Rahul Gandhis habit of disappearing for long breaks abroad, there was panic in the party recently when word went round that the Nehru-Gandhi scion had left for Germany. After all, this was in the midst of the Budget Session of Parliament and at the peak of the farmers protests. Party MPs and other leaders made frantic calls to ascertain the veracity of these reports. Many called up Rahul Gandhis close aides and one leader even tapped into his contacts at the airport to find out if he had boarded an international flight. There was all-round relief when Rahul Gandhis office confirmed that he was very much in town and that he would be attending Parliament. It is, however, difficult to understand the panic over the Congress leaders disappearance during a Parliament session given the fact that his contributions in the Lok Sabha have been minimal. On the plus side, Rahul Gandhi has addressed the media several times in recent weeks both in Delhi and outside. The security arrangements inside the Parliament House building have been beefed up to such an extent that it is being compared to barricading at the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders. In an unprecedented and unusual move, Delhi police personnel have been deployed inside the building along with the Parliaments watch and ward staff. The presence of the police personnel, who have been stationed all along the corridors, is inescapable. As it is, the number of media persons allowed inside has been restricted and even those who have been issued passes are finding it difficult to move around freely. Reporters, who could earlier linger outside the offices of ministers in the hope of getting a tiny bit of news, are now shooed away if they dawdle in the corridors for longer than five minutes. The police personnel randomly stop reporters and demand to see their passes when it is known that only passholders can enter the building. Several media-persons have lodged a protest but apologetic security officers maintain they have instructions from the top to keep a vigil on them. It is close to a year since he brought down the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh but former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, now with the BJP, is out to take revenge against his former colleagues for humiliating him. When ministers were given duties in different constituencies for the Republic Day celebrations, Mr Scindia made sure that his loyalist Govind Rajput was sent to Chhindwara, Kamal Naths fiefdom. According to the buzz in Bhopal, this was meant to be a message for the veteran Congress leader and his son, who represents the constituency now, that they are on Mr Scindias radar and that his next target is to uproot them from their stronghold. New Delhi, Feb 7 : Union Minister Rattan Lal Kataria has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi feels the pain of the poor and dalits. He said this while answering a query about the ongoing farmers' agitation. Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment and Water Power Rattan lal Kataria is one of the Dalit faces of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who was awarded by the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as a child artist and also had a long association with former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Speaking to IANS, he said: "Modiji spent seven years in Panchkula, I observed him very closely then. He feels the pain of the Dalits and poor from his heart." Modi was party's Punjab and Haryana in-charge between 1992 and 1997. Kataria, however, did not make any direct comment on the farmers' stir but expressed his concern about the groundwater situation in the two states from where the maximum number of farmers have joined the protest. The Union Minister said: "There was a time when India had to import foodgrain for its needs, but Punjab and Haryana made the country independent in terms of rice and wheat production. However, it has become a big problem today." He said it takes 35,000 litre of water to produce one kilogram of rice, but farmers are not ready for crop diversification. Actually, farmers in Punjab and Haryana get the full benefit of the minimum support price (MSP) of both these crops. During the conversation, referring to the American popstar Rihanna tweeting in favour of the ongoing farmers' movement in India, Kataria said that (former Congress President) Rahul Gandhi brings some new 'Shigufa' whenever he goes abroad. He also lashed out at Rahul for his stand about the farm laws. Kataria said, "Last time neither mother (Congress President Sonia Gandhi) nor son (Rahul) were in the House on the day the agriculture Bills were passed in Parliament, and when the Bills were passed, Rahul Gandhi was protesting in Punjab, he was seen sitting on the tractor. Kataria is a strong Dalit leader from Haryana and won the Lok Sabha seat for the third time by a margin of more than three lakh votes on the BJP ticket from Ambala constituency. Kataria told IANS that when he was 13 years old, the first Prime Minister awarded him for singing a song as a child artist. He said he had been associated with Vajpayee since childhood, and once recited poetry before him. Kataria also described an interesting episode of his association with the late Prime Minister Vajpayee. He said his father had twice designed shoes for Vajpayee. Kataria said that his father joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1942 and then he got about 50 per cent of the youth in his village connected with the Sangh. Later Rattan Lal Kataria also joined the RSS. He said at this time almost all the members of his family are connected with the Sangh. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text President Joe Biden departs after attending Mass at St Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Wilmington, Delaware as snow falls (Patrick Semansky/AP) A major snowstorm pushed through the north eastern United States on Sunday, less than a week after a storm dumped more than two feet on parts of the region. By early afternoon, five to seven inches had already fallen in parts of northwestern New Jersey and southwestern Connecticut. New Yorks Central Park reported about three inches. The highest total was recorded in West Whiteland Township, west of Philadelphia, where about nine inches had fallen. The National Weather Service predicted up to eight inches of snow in New York City and two to four inches in Washington, D.C. Up to a foot was projected to fall on some areas along the Connecticut coastline. Expand Close Snow falls outside St Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church as President Joe Biden attends mass in Wilington, Delaware (Patrick Semansky/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Snow falls outside St Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church as President Joe Biden attends mass in Wilington, Delaware (Patrick Semansky/AP) Large, fluffy fakes began falling in Rhode Island late Sunday morning, prompting local governments to enact street parking bans and warn of poor travel conditions for the rest of the day. A heavy band of snow heading northeast had dumped five inches in the towns of Sharon and Uxbridge, southeast of Boston, by 2pm. In Connecticut, a jackknifed tractor-trailer caused two exits to be closed on Interstate 84 in Middlebury, with only one lane of traffic getting by. Students and staff a plan for @NYCSchools buildings to be OPEN for in-person learning Monday, February 8. Our plows and salt spreaders are doing a great job keeping the roads clear and ready for a safe commute tomorrow morning. Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) February 7, 2021 Weather service forecaster Bob Oravec said a mix of snow and rain would move northward up the East Coast. It is a fast-moving storm, Mr Oravec said. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sundays snowfall, which started at around 9am in the city, would not close Covid-19 vaccination sites. The massive snowstorm that hit the region on February 1 forced the postponement of hundreds of vaccination appointments in New York and elsewhere. The Indian diaspora which celebrates its 176th Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago is not an abstract entity, but one that flowers the socio-economic and cultural growth and development of our peoples. It remains a proud moment for all of uspoliticians, sociologists, economists, civic, religious and cultural leadersin world history. A 46 -year old woman from Chibalazi village in Mzimba district has killed herself by hanging to the tree over a dispute with her husband. The deceased has been identified as Patricia Kumwenda who hailed from Daudi village under Inkosi Chindi in Mzimba district. Patricia was married to Patrick Banda but their marriage fell on the rocks over family issues. On Friday, she decided to visit her home village in Rumphi and went to her ex-husband to ask for transport money. Unfortunately, the ex-husband denied to give a helping hand. Displeased with response, Patricia left the place and went to a nearby bush where she hanged herself to the tree. The matter was reported to Rumphi police and officers visited the scene along with medical personnel from Rumphi District Hospital. Postmortem revealed that Patricia died due to strangulation. Police have since appealed to people not to resort killing themselves whenever distressed but should rather seek proper channels to address their grievances. A spokesperson for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) announced that Nigeria had lifted its suspension of Emirates flights after the state-owned carrier insisted that passengers from Nigeria needed additional COVID-19 tests. In a telephone call, the NCAA spokesperson said that the suspension has just been lifted because they have complied with what we want. The initial reasoning Last Monday, a spokesperson for the aviation ministry said that in addition to requiring a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test before flying from Nigeria, Emirates was now requiring a rapid test being done four hours before departure. Rapid antigen tests are slightly less accurate than a PCR test but can return coronavirus test results in around 15 minutes. In a letter to the manager of Emirates in Nigeria dated February 4 and titled: Suspension of Emirates airlines operations to Nigeria. The NCAA claimed that Emirates had flown passengers from Nigeria that had taken COVID-19 tests done by labs that have not been approved nor authorized by the appropriate Nigerian authorities. Reuters claims that the letter says that the decision to suspend Emirates flights was made because Emirates failed to heed a request by Nigeria. Nigeria asked Emirates to accept passengers who had not taken the rapid test four hours before departure until such a time as it was possible to have this test done at Nigerian airports by approved laboratories. If they could not accommodate the Nigerian authorities with this request, the letter said that they should suspend all flights to Nigeria. Nigerians must arrive on direct flights According to aviation sources, a travel notice on the RwandAir website said that the relevant authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would only permit the entry of passengers arriving on direct flights from Nigeria. Passengers from Nigeria who had transited through a third country would not be allowed in. This was in response to other non-confirmed claims that Nigerians were making their way to Dubai through countries that did not have strict protocols regarding the virus. By doing this, it automatically stopped other countries airlines from carrying Nigerian passengers to the UAE. Airlines try and do everything they can to make flying as stress-free as possible, which means that the four-hour antigen test before flying to Dubai was probably at the authorities request in the UAE. Source: simplefying.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 A huge fire that broke out in Delhi's Okhla Phase II on Sunday, February 7, morning, engulfed several slums and cloth godowns in the area. The blaze was reported at around 2.25 am when the first call was made to Delhi Fire Department. Around 30 fire tenders have rushed to the spot and efforts are on to put out the fire, which reportedly broke out at 2 am. Delhi: Fire broke out in Sanjay Colony, in Okhla Phase II area Earlier visuals of the fire from the area https://t.co/QjaknqdADxpic.twitter.com/XpCs8Iy778 a ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 Residents were startled to find the massive blaze engulfing the area in the dead of night. The fire is believed to have broke out in an area that was converted into slums and cloth godowns. As per officials, around 30-40 locals, stuck inside the slums, have been rescued while efforts are on to save others. Also Read: Fire at Serum Institute: 5 dead, company to pay Rs 25 lakh compensation to families The fire has been doused in nearly 186 temporary homes and godowns, however, it has destroyed houses and property worth lakhs. A final evaluation of the loss will be determined once Fire Department personnel inspect the area after the fire has been overcome. Also Read: Fuel on fire! Petrol price surges to Rs 86.65 per litre in Delhi; check latest fuel ratesc Coleen Rooney's attempts for a peace deal with Rebekah Vardy have reportedly been snubbed. The WAG, 34, allegedly attempted to reach out to the wife of Leicester City star after another round of failed talks to avoid a costly legal battle. However it's thought that Coleen saw the mediation as a 'waste of time' as Rebekah continues to demand she apologise for accusing her of leaking stories to the press. Drama: Coleen Rooney's attempts for a peace deal to avoid a costly High Court battle with Rebekah Vardy have reportedly been snubbed, it was claimed on Saturday A source told The Sun: 'Nothing's changed. There's been no progress, no chink of light at the end of the tunnel and no prospect of avoiding court. 'As far as Coleen's concerned mediation was a waste of time. 'Coleen won't apologise. She's convinced she's right about Becky leaking stories to the press and thinks she's made a reasonable offer. She refuses to do another mediation meeting and is now preparing for court.' It's thought that lawyers for both stars will report to the court with an update on the mediation talks on Monday. MailOnline has contacted Coleen and Rebekah's representatives for comment. Never-ending: It's thought that Coleen saw the talks as a 'waste of time' as Rebekah continues to demand she apologise for accusing her of leaking stories to the press Standing firm: A source claimed: 'Coleen won't apologise. She's convinced she's right about Becky leaking stories to the press and thinks she's made a reasonable offer' On Friday it was reported that Coleen and Rebekah reached a temporary truce, after peace talks between them broke down earlier in the day. A source speaking to The Sun said: 'After no resolution was found on Thursday, both parties agreed to roll over the talks into another meeting in the coming weeks. 'But just a few hours later one of Coleen's legal team had a brainwave and called Becky's legal team for a late meeting to discuss their thoughts. 'It came to nothing but it shows how keen Coleen is to settle. Her team is working round the clock to find a resolution. But as she won't apologise, it's not going to be an easy negotiation.' MailOnline has contacted Coleen and Rebekah's representatives for comment. Update: On Friday it was reported that Coleen and Rebekah reached a temporary truce, after peace talks between them broke down earlier in the day Progress? Coleen's legal team are said to be 'working around the clock' to find a resolution between the pair, who reportedly agreed to have further negotiations together in a few weeks Earlier in the day, it was revealed by MailOnline that Coleen was under pressure from close friends to 'call it quits and apologise' to Rebekah and help end their bitter 'Wagatha Christie' battle. The wife of former England captain Wayne Rooney has until Monday to agree to a deal with her rival or face a costly battle in the High Court. Peace talks between the WAGs broke down during a face-to-face meeting with their legal teams, leaving both women frustrated at the impasse. Decision: A source claimed, 'After no resolution was found on Thursday, both parties agreed to roll over the talks into another meeting' (Coleen and Rebekah pictured in 2016) Oh no! Earlier in the day, it was revealed by MailOnline that Coleen was under pressure from close friends to 'call it quits and apologise' to Rebekah (stock picture) Now Coleen is being pressed by her inner circle to say sorry and say she regrets accusing Rebekah of leaking stories about her to the press. She has already offered Rebekah a make or break offer to 'agree to disagree' over the pair's row. However, sources said that Rebekah is demanding an apology from her rival and unless one is received the case is likely to result in a costly High Court case. Rebekah, who is appearing in TV's Dancing on Ice, has told Coleen and her legal team that she did not leak stories and her rival has no proof. Talks breaking down: Coleen has already offered Rebekah a make or break offer to 'agree to disagree' over the pair's row, however, sources said that Rebekah is demanding an apology But Coleen is finding saying sorry to Rebekah a difficult move and the pair have been told they must inform a judge after the weekend whether mediation has worked. A source said: 'Rebekah is digging her heels in and wants Coleen to say sorry. 'But Coleen has refused and she has been told by her best friends that if she does say sorry, it could lead to a resolution and bring the dispute to an end. 'A judge has to be told after the weekend whether the peace talks they had in mediation meetings has worked. Where it all began: Rebekah was accused by her former friend of leaking false stories about her personal life to the media last year 'If they haven't and Coleen has been told she holds the key then the two women's lawyers will have a case management conference on March 26 which will be a big step towards it all going to the High Court.' On Thursday, Rebekah and Coleen met in an intense face-to-face mediation on Zoom as they attempted to settle their high-profile dispute, but failed to come to a resolution. Proceedings began with both sides reading out a statement and then breaking off into separate virtual rooms as the mediator spoke to them and their legal representatives independently. However the meeting ended with both sides failing to come to a resolution. The mediation was ordered by a High Court judge at a hearing last November, with both women given a deadline of February 8 to try and reach agreement. Drama: Passions remain high between the two Wags, with Rebekah adamant that Coleen should apologise and delete her accusatory post (pictured with Jamie in 2017) If they remain in deadlock, then the matter will be settled at a full trial expected to take place later this year. Rebekah launched a 1m High Court libel action after Coleen accused her in an October 2019 Instagram post of being the source of leaks to the media. Going into the crunch talks, it was revealed that Coleen has handed Rebekah an 'olive branch' and made her an offer to 'agree to disagree' as they head into mediation. The row between the high-profile WAGS erupted after Coleen revealed that she had set a trap to see who was responsible for them, which earned her the nickname 'Wagatha Christie' as the row between the two Wags simmered, culminating in legal action. In November, the High Court ruled Coleen's post 'clearly identified' Rebekah as being 'guilty of the serious and consistent breach of trust' - but minutes later she hit back with a statement via her representative, saying she was 'keen' to hear what her rival has to say in court. Ongoing: Coleen (pictured with Wayne in 2016) said she discovered the alleged betrayal by carrying out a months-long 'sting operation' The ruling related to the wording in the final sentence of the post, with the former reality star claiming she simply referred to Rebekah's Instagram account. But the judge said an ordinary reader would not take the word 'account' to 'indicate that she remains in doubt about who the wrongdoer was'. He also disagreed with her claim that using multiple ellipses in the final line diluted the meaning. This means the court has no doubt as to who the accusation was made against Rebekah - which will be a consideration if the libel case goes to trial this year. In his ruling, Mr Justice Warby said Coleen's message was 'a considered post, using wording composed with some care', adding: 'It would be clear to the ordinary reader from the outset that it was meant seriously and intended to convey a message of some importance.' He wrote: 'Indeed, the element of suspense introduced by the multiple dots seems to me designed to raise expectations of a dramatic revelation. 'It tends to emphasise the importance of the name that is then provided. It would be a poor denouement if all that was being said was that the named individual was to be suspected of the wrongdoing but it might be someone else. 'The reader is told straight away that the message is about bad behaviour by 'someone who I trusted'. The post then takes the form of a 'whodunnit'.' He added: 'I certainly do not think that the ordinary reader would take that single word (account), albeit repeated, to indicate that Mrs Rooney remains in doubt about who the wrongdoer 'There is nothing in these words, apart from the word 'account', that in any way suggests that the behaviour of which Mrs Rooney is complaining might have been carried out by anyone other than the account holder, Mrs Vardy.' Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Chinese military delivered a batch of COVID-19 vaccines to the Pakistan Army on Sunday, days after Islamabad received 500,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine from its all-weather ally Beijing. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) said in a statement that the Pakistan Army has become the first foreign military to receive the COVID-19 vaccine aid from the Chinese military. The statement, however, did not mention the number of vaccines supplied to the Pakistan Army. The PLA also delivered a batch of Covid-19 vaccines to the Cambodian military after receiving a request for it. The Cambodian Army was among the first batch of the foreign military to receive COVID-19 vaccine aid from the Chinese military, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The vaccines delivered to the Pakistan Army are reportedly in addition to the five lakh doses provided by China to Pakistan. Pakistan on Monday received the first batch of 500,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine from China, as the country was gearing up to kick start its immunisation drive. The move comes as the number of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan reached 554,474. With 53 new deaths, the number of fatalities has gone up to 11,967, according to the Ministry of National Health Services. China has granted conditional approval for its second COVID-19 vaccine, ahead of the expected emergency approval from the WHO for two of its jabs that would enable the country to step-up global supplies of the shots. Sinovac Biotech announced on Saturday that CoronaVac, an inactivated vaccine candidate against COVID-19, received authorisation from the National Medical Products Administration for conditional mass use in China. It is the second locally made vaccine to be given conditional approval. Beijing authorised the state-owned Sinopharm's vaccine in December. Soldiers on patrol along barbed-wire fences in the border region in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, in this 2012 photo. A Sri Lankan worker was sentenced to 20 years in prison for trying to flee to North Korea after killing a colleague here. Korea Times file By Kim Rahn A high court has upheld a lower court ruling that handed a 20-year prison term to a Sri Lankan worker who attempted to flee to North Korea after killing a colleague here. On Sunday, the Gwangju High Court rejected the prosecution's request for a heavier punishment for the 27-year-old man, whose name was withheld, saying the prison term was appropriate for his charges of murder and violation of the Immigration Law. According to the court, the man and the victim, another worker from Sri Lanka, often argued while at the accommodations provided by their employer on Jin Island, South Jeolla Province. The victim sometimes beat the other man for not closing the door tightly, and the man bought a knife to defend himself during possible future altercations. On May 29 of last year, the victim again beat the man, who then wielded the knife and killed him. The man then moved to the border county of Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, and tried to flee to North Korea by climbing over a fence on the Civilian Control Line, but was caught by soldiers four days after the crime. The man, who had been staying in South Korea without a proper permit after his one-year work visa had expired in February 2020, said that he had planned to go to China via North Korea. "Even though the man was beaten by the victim, he prepared the weapon and stabbed him right away, without making an attempt at reconciliation," the court said. "We doubt that he is reflecting on his wrongdoing, considering that he took photos of the dead victim and tried to flee to the North." But the court did not accept the prosecutor's account that the man had purchased the knife to commit premeditated murder. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Homicide detectives have called off the search for a woman missing from Greater Brisbane for almost eight weeks, with a report on her disappearance to be prepared for the coroner. Natarn Auld, 38, was last seen on CCTV footage outside a business on the western side of Redland Bay Road at Capalaba about 3.30am on December 14. She was reported missing the following day. Natarn Aulds phone, bank accounts and social media sites havent been used since her disappearance. Its now up to the coroner to conclude what happened to her. Credit:Queensland police After extensive searches and inquiries by homicide investigators, the State Emergency Service and uniformed police officers, her disappearance is no longer being treated as suspicious. Detectives have spoken to Ms Aulds family regarding the change in the investigation, which has been passed on to the coroner. Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries to entertain. Fourteen weeks after Election Day, its a national embarrassment that the only undecided race for a seat in Congress is here in New Yorks 22nd Congressional District. Republican Claudia Tenney leads Democratic incumbent Rep. Anthony Brindisi by 110 votes out of 316,000 cast. Whats the holdup? The incompetence of Oneida County election officials, who made many small and big mistakes while registering voters and counting votes. A judge has spent weeks unraveling the consequences and could order the county to certify a winner at any moment. The consequences of Oneida Countys failure were real and damaging. Thousands of voters were disenfranchised. Public confidence in elections suffered. And the 700,000 residents of the district are not represented in Washington at a critical time. Among the election boards errors: The on-time voter registrations of 2,400 people were never processed. An unknown number of these voters were wrongfully turned away at the polls. Other voters cast affidavit ballots that were not counted. Voters who had moved from one county to another were wrongfully disqualified. The reasons for ballot challenges were lost when sticky notes fell off. Theres no doubt that the coronavirus added layers of complexity to elections last year. Deadlines and procedures changed. Early voting was more popular than anticipated. Voting by mail became a thing. Through it all, most local election boards managed to get the job done. The mess in NY-22 rests on the shoulders of Oneida Countys two election commissioners, Rose Grimaldi and Carolann Cardone, who simply werent up to the job. If they dont resign first, Gov. Andrew Cuomo should fire them immediately. That is voters last shot at accountability, since the commissioners political parties and the Oneida County Legislature bizarrely saw fit to reappoint them for two more years. New Yorks problems with election administration go beyond Oneida County. Errors were found in seven of the eight counties comprising NY-22. They probably occur more often than we know because elections are rarely so close. Our election infrastructure is beset by partisanship, political patronage, unaccountability, underfunding, and an alarming lack of transparency, standards and professionalism. Political party chairs privately select election commissioners. Under statute, the only qualifications for the job are being registered to vote in the county and enrolled in the right party. Party control of election boards is written into the state Constitution. That needs to change. The earliest a constitutional amendment could be put before voters is 2023, if Albany gets the ball rolling by next year. In the meantime, county governments need to step up their oversight of election boards. Oneida County lawmakers blew it when they rubber-stamped the hiring of the two election commissioners who had just messed up. Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente says now that an investigation is needed. Where was he during the run-up to the election, when the elections board was floundering? Elections are run and paid for by county governments under laws and rules set by the state a huge unfunded mandate. Counties should get state aid for elections. Boards of election below commissioner level should be staffed by civil servants, with qualifications uniform across the state and relevant expertise in management, technology, cybersecurity and election law. End political patronage in election administration. The state Board of Elections, also hamstrung by partisanship, could offer more guidance and training to local boards. The good government group Common Cause proposes a few more common-sense reforms: Require election boards to regularly report their progress in processing voter registrations. Deploy state employees to help election boards in danger of disenfranchising voters. Provide state funding for elections. These ideas are worthy of debate. This week, as the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump begins in the U.S. Senate, youll be hearing about imagined election administration problems in states like Georgia and Arizona. New York has real vote processing issues, as exposed by the NY-22 debacle. Legislators and the governor should get to work fixing them. About Syracuse.com editorials Editorials represent the collective opinion of the Advance Media New York editorial board. Our opinions are independent of news coverage. Read our mission statement. Members of the editorial board are Tim Kennedy, Trish LaMonte, Katrina Tulloch and Marie Morelli. To respond to this editorial: Submit a comment through the Google form above, or submit a letter or commentary to letters@syracuse.com. Read our submission guidelines. If you have questions about the Opinions & Editorials section, contact Marie Morelli, editorial/opinion leader, at mmorelli@syracuse.com .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... The leaders of the largest city in southern New Mexico condemned their representative in the U.S. House of Representatives for objecting to President Joe Bidens Electoral College victory. Last month, Rep. Yvette Herrell, R-N.M., joined dozens of lawmakers who voted against certifying Bidens victory in the 2020 election. The freshman congresswoman said she was objecting to the results to draw attention to the changes in voting practices in several states. On Monday night, Las Cruces city councilors and the mayor unanimously voted to condemn Herrells actions in a resolution criticizing her vote. Rep. Herrell set a precedent that could be invoked by future members of the House of Representatives to disenfranchise the voters of New Mexico and Las Cruces, the resolution says. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Jordan Haverly, a spokesman for Herrell, dismissed the effort, calling it meaningless. Its sad this is how the Las Cruces City Council chose to spend their week. Why werent they preparing for the immigration and funding crisis headed their way thanks to President Bidens executive actions, he said in an email. Congresswoman Herrell remains focused on what matters to New Mexicans their safety, their jobs, and their childrens futures. Instead of meaningless resolutions, shes introduced legislation to keep essential border health protocols in place and to protect our states jobs and public education system. NEW MEXICANS TO INTERIOR: Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., Bidens nominee for secretary of the interior, isnt the only New Mexican preparing to take a leadership position in the department. This week, the agency said several people are moving into leadership positions, and a few with ties to New Mexico were on the list. Molly Callaghan will be the advance representative. She grew up in Florida before moving to New Mexico to go to the University of New Mexico. She has worked on several political campaigns in the state and was most recently a field representative for Haaland. Abdiel Razo will be the special assistant to the chief of staff. He was previously a staff assistant in Haalands congressional office. Before that he was a communications associate for the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center. Alex Sanchez will be the special assistant in the office of assistant secretary Land and Minerals Management. An Albuquerque native, Sanchez has worked as a senior campaign researcher for former Gov. Bill Richardson and former Sen. Tom Udall. She recently worked as a researcher on Michael Bloomberg and Bidens presidential campaigns. PARTY-LINE VOTE ON CONTROVERSIAL LAWMAKER: New Mexicos House members voted 2-1 along party lines to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., from committee assignments. The House on Thursday removed Greene from two committees in response to statements she made before holding office. Those statements include her agreeing that some school shootings were faked, California wildfires were started with space lasers linked to Jewish financial interests and other conspiracies. Shes also made threatening posts on social media. Only 11 Republicans joined Democrats to banish Greene from her two committee assignments. New Mexicos lone Republican member of Congress, Yvette Herrell, was not among them. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernandez and Deb Haaland did vote to oust Greene from her committees. The vote was unprecedented, according to published reports. While party leaders in the past have banished their own members from committee assignments, last weeks effort was unique because it was the Democrats removing a Republican from her positions. Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported Rep. Yvette Herrells political party. She is a Republican. Ryan Boetel: rboetel@abqjournal.com A suspect was arrested on train tracks just a few miles from where a dead body was found in a Birmingham home. The male victim was found in a terraced house in Handsworth at about 9am today. And 90 minutes later officers arrested a 33-year-old man on a railway line about four miles away in West Bromwich. Six police cars, two ambulances and forensic teams were seen at the property. The male victim was found dead in a Birmingham home this morning, making an arrest 90 minutes later Police stand guard outside the home as detectives work to identify the male victim One resident said of the grisly find: 'It doesn't shock me, it's normal life around here.' A spokesman for West Midlands Police said murder detectives are working to identify the victim. He added: 'We've arrested a man on suspicion of murder after the discovery of a body at a house in Handsworth today. A resident shrugged off the find on Birmingham this morning, describing it 'normal life' for their neighbourhood 'Officers were called to Holly Road at around 9am and found the body of a man who had been badly injured. 'At around 10.30am, a 33-year-old suspect was arrested a few miles away on train tracks near Wigmore Lane in West Bromwich. 'Detectives are trying to identify the man who has died. 'Anyone with information has been asked to get in touch via Live Chat at west-midlands.police.uk, quoting log 810 of 7 February.' Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Last spring, when coronavirus vaccines were just a glimmer of hope, the Trump administration awarded the first of two no-bid contracts worth up to $44 million to a national consulting firm to help patients register to be immunized and states collect detailed data on vaccine recipients. The result was VAMS, a vaccine administration management system built by the firm, Deloitte, which has been spurned by most states and become an object of scorn. And now, an immunization expert who had offered the government her own mass vaccination tracker at a lower price than Deloittes is accusing the company and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of stealing her intellectual property. Tiffany Tate, the executive director of the Maryland Partnership for Prevention, made the allegation in a cease-and-desist letter obtained by The New York Times, and later confirmed its authenticity in an interview with her lawyer on Friday. Ms. Tate, who has spent two decades running immunization clinics in underserved communities, said she previewed her platform in May for Deloitte officials who were identified by the C.D.C. as consultants. The C.D.C. expressed interest in buying it, she said. But the centers instead asked Deloitte, without a competitive bidding process, to build its own system, dismissing warnings from state and local health officials and immunization managers that it was unwise to roll out an untested platform in the middle of a crisis. New Delhi: The Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) Maharashtra has published the engineering provisional allotment list for CAP Round II at the official website dtemaharashtra.gov.in This year nearly thousand of candidates have appeared for 1.3 lakh engineering seats and 36 thousand seats in pharmacy course. All the successful candidates can now take admission to the first year Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) course. The allotment list was prepared on the basis of the results announced by the Maharashtra Health and Technical Common Entrance Test (MHT CET 2017). Steps to Check DTE Maharashtra allotment result 2017: -Visit the official website for MHT CET: dtemaharashtra.gov.in -On the hompage, click on the link flashing MHT CET merit list. -A new page will open. -Enter your application ID and date of birth in the field provided. -Download the merit list and keep a copy for further reference. The CAP round 3 result will be displayed on July 16. The candidates can change and confirm the option from July 16 to 19 About DTE Maharashtra: The role of the Directorate is to maintain, enhance the standard, quality of technical education by laying the policies, establishing developing Govt. Institutions, guiding supervising the aided, private institutions, interacting with industry and national level institutions, co-ordinating with other departments of State Government, Government of India Statutory Organisations and to contribute to the development of industry society at large. Also See: Bigg Boss 10: 5 controversial contestants from Salman Khan's reality show . Former US president Donald Trump has doggedly denied he lost the November election, and faces a second impeachment trial next week on charges he incited a mob to attack the Capitol and overturn his defeat Here is a timeline of events leading up to the trial: - Election defeat- Despite the risks posed by the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the country, record numbers of Americans turn out to vote in the November 3 election. Trump had spent the preceding months warning of election fraud and trying to block mail-in voting, which he feared would massively favor his Democratic opponent Joe Biden. Because so many ballots are mailed in, the final results are delayed, though Trump is reportedly furious when conservative channel Fox News declares the traditionally Republican state of Arizona for Biden on election night. Within days, Trump's lawyers, led by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, embark on a series of fruitless court cases to challenge the election results. - Biden declared winner- On November 7, Biden is declared the winner after flipping the historically Republican southern state of Georgia. In his acceptance speech that night, he calls for unity and holds out an olive branch to Trump supporters, many of whom believed the outgoing president's unsubstantiated claims that the election was stolen. "I understand the disappointment tonight. I've lost a couple of times myself. But now, let's give each other a chance," Biden said. - Georgia recounts begin- Under pressure from Trump, Georgia's Republican secretary of state Brad Raffensperger launches a hand recount of the Georgia ballots that confirms Biden's win. Trump demands an additional recount, which on December 7 shows Biden won the state by 11,779 votes. - 'Will be wild!' - On December 19, Trump tweets to his 88 million social media followers to come to Washington on January 6, the day Congress is due to convene to confirm the election results in what is normally a symbolic, procedural event, for a "big protest in DC". "Be there, will be wild!" he said. - Trump demands Georgia 'find' votes- On January 2, Trump calls Georgia's election overseer Raffensperger and begs him to find more votes to overturn Biden's victory. "What I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes," he says. - Mob storms the Capitol- Vice President Mike Pence releases a statement in which he declines Trump's unconstitutional demand that he reject the electoral college vote, as Congress gathers in the US Capitol to certify Biden's victory. Trump tells a gathering of thousands of angry followers at the White House to march to the Capitol and "fight" for him. The mob storms the building, causing lawmakers and Pence to flee in fear of their lives. Five people, including a police officer, die in the violence. After police and the National Guard restore order, Congress reconvenes and confirms the result. - Twitter ban- On January 8, Twitter, the defeated president's favorite channel of communicating with his followers, bans him from the platform indefinitely. - Second impeachment- On January 13, the House of Representatives impeaches Trump on grounds that he incited the insurrection. Ten Republicans vote with Democrats to back the motion. His Senate trial is scheduled to begin on February 9, although it is unlikely that the 17 Republican senators needed to convict him will do so. - Leaving the White House- On January 20, Biden is inaugurated in front of the Capitol. Trump breaks with precedent and refuses to attend, instead flying to his Mar-A-Lago golf resort in Florida. Short link: As David Spatafore looks at the COVID-19-depressed economy, he sees good times just ahead. Our plan right now is kind of shooting for summertime to be like the Roaring 20s, said the owner of San Diego restaurant company Blue Bridge Hospitality. Pent-up demand after almost a year of social distancing and lockdowns has created a big reservoir of consumer demand, he thinks, and hungry customers will soon come surging back. But theres a catch: Spatafore doesnt expect to hire back all of the almost 400 employees he had at the peak of his business before the new coronavrius struck. Many economists agree with Spatafore on both counts: the revival of the economy by Labor Day, but after an initial burst of hiring, a bleaker outlook for jobs. On Friday, the pandemics capacity to throw previously self-supporting Americans out of the job market was demonstrated once more on a nationwide scale when the Labor Department released a new round of jobs data. Despite some plateauing of new coronavirus cases and a surge of hope as the Biden administration pushed to accelerate vaccinations, job growth essentially stalled in January for the second month in a row. The economy added a measly 49,000 jobs last month after losing 227,000 in December. The nations unemployment rate went down to 6.3% from 6.7%, but that was largely because hundreds of thousands of people dropped out of the labor force. More workers were hit with permanent layoffs last month, and 40% of the 10 million officially unemployed now have been without work for more than six months. The economic impact of the pandemic has sometimes stemmed from government-mandated lockdowns and distancing requirements, but the more far-reaching effects may involve acceleration and intensifying trends already at work. Even if President Biden is relatively successful in dealing with the challenges, most analysts expect recovery on the jobs side to be long and slow. Stock markets have already bounced back. And the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has projected U.S. economic output to fully recover this summer, but not the jobs not until 2024. Assuming $2 trillion in additional fiscal spending, Mark Zandi of Moodys Analytics predicted all the jobs to return in May 2023 still more than three years for a full recovery. The pandemic has triggered potentially far-reaching changes in consumer behavior and deeply rooted business models. It has also accelerated changes that were already underway before the coronavirus swept across the country. Many of these changes may be welcomed, but they will also disrupt the jobs of millions of workers and businesses even if new job opportunities eventually arise. Some jobs will shift from urban business districts to more residential areas as more people work from home. The Labor Department said 23% of employed people worked from home in January. Also likely to outlast the pandemic: the surge in online shopping and home delivery of everything from prescription drugs to fresh vegetables, and the rise of gig and contract jobs. There may be fewer salesclerks at stores but more retail customer service reps handling online orders. And many of the pre-pandemic jobs just wont exist at all. For several years, Lillian Isabella, an actress and playwright, supplemented her income by playing the role of a patient to help medical students prepare for an exam testing their bedside skills. Shes one of hundreds of people across the country who have played standardized patients in various programs to turn out better doctors. But last week, after putting that test of clinical skills on pause during the pandemic, U.S. medical licensing officials decided to abolish it for good a painful reminder of how the economic pain of COVID-19 can touch even the smallest nooks and crannies of the economy. When it was on, it was a pretty good form of steady work, said Isabella, 31, who lives in New York. In San Diego, Spatafore sees some of those same factors at play in his company, which operates a half-dozen restaurants, a beach club, dessert shop and a public market. Last March, Spatafore laid off most of his employees, calling them in one by one. His business survived the spring lockdowns with the help of family members and a $1.2-million forgivable government loan, and then got back up to 280 employees last summer before the latest COVID surge knocked his payroll back down under 100. Its been a roller coaster of 11 months, he said. Now hes climbing up again, but even if conditions are as they were before the coronavirus outbreak, Spatafore doesnt see his staffing returning to pre-pandemic levels. During the last year, his two pizzerias, for example, went from full-service, dine-in businesses to a self-pickup counter service, first out of necessity but then because the change turned out to be a successful model. Were not going to go back, which means that we wouldnt hire back waiters and waitresses and as many busboys, he said. In January, U.S. employment at restaurants and bars went nowhere, and now accounts for nearly one-fourth of the jobs yet to be recovered. Other leisure and travel-related jobs also remain deep in the hole. The hotel industry was shaken after Microsofts co-founder Bill Gates prediction last November that over 50% of business travel will be lost in in the pandemics aftermath. Some hoteliers are talking about possibly cleaning rooms only on demand and for a fee which will likely cut back on the need for housekeeping employees, said Robert Cole, a senior analyst at Phocuswright, a travel market research firm. Other hotels now employ touchless check-in and check-out. Its going to be fits and starts and a very bumpy road, Cole said of hiring and recovery of hotel employment and business. The retail landscape is also shifting. Employment at stores in January remained about 330,000 shy of year-ago levels, but theres been almost as many new jobs in warehousing and delivery services over the last year. At Comfort One Shoes, the retail shoe chain in the Washington, D.C., area, sales last year were about half of what they were in 2019, said Garrett Breton, the companys president. But its online revenues were up more than 120%. He has 45 employees at the moment and is projecting itll go up to about 75 when things return to normal, compared with more than 100 before the pandemic, in part because of the hit to traditional shopping areas. I think that the urban downtown centers are scarred deeply and will not return just because people are vaccinated, he said. Jed Kolko, chief economist at the online jobs site Indeed, expects employment in most sectors to snap back, but the longer-term outlook for some is filled with more risks. Some of the biggest unknowns about what happens after the pandemic are how big some of these shifts will be from in-person retail to delivery, from office to remote work, from spending going down for services to different goods, he said. Some of that may be permanent. ___ Don Lee and Christopher Rugaber of the Los Angeles Times wrote this story. 2021 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Please disable your ad blocker, and refresh the page to view this content. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 14:42:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on Feb. 7, 2021 shows a damaged vehicle at the site of a car bomb explosion in Khogiani district of the eastern Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. At least one policeman was killed and two more injured in a car bomb that struck a police checkpoint in Khogiani district of Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province on Sunday, a statement of provincial government released here said. (Photo by Saifurhaman Safi/Xinhua) JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- At least one policeman was killed and two more injured in a car bomb that struck a police checkpoint in Khogiani district of Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province on Sunday, a statement of provincial government released here said. According to the statement, an explosive-borne car went off next to a police checkpoint in Chamtala area of Khogiani district on Sunday morning, killing one policeman on the spot and injuring two others, the statement asserted. The statement did not provide more details. In the meantime, Nangarhar police spokesman Farid Khan said that a roadside bomb struck a police van in Jalalabad city at around 9:00 a.m. local time injuring three policemen. No group or individual has claimed responsibility. Although the security officials accuse Taliban of launching such attacks, the armed group has renounced its involvement. Enditem Professionalization in any field requires long-term experience and training. In the past decades, studies have demonstrated that the professionalization of athletes and artists create differences in the behavior of the brain while carrying out activities related to their area of expertise. To detect the effects of media professionalization in the brain, a research team from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, the Instituto Radio Televisio Espanyola and the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Seville conducted a study published in Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience in which audiovisual contents were presented to a group of media professionals and a control group, with the aims of registering and analyzing their brain activity. The study covers what happens to professionals in audiovisuals when they view media works, using a triple approach: eyeblink rate, electrical activity of the brain and functional connectivity. Researchers observed that audiovisual cuts have a greater impact on media professionals, generating a decrease in their eyeblink rate, while non-professionals are not affected in the same manner when viewing these cuts. They also detected that the experience of media professionals has a greater effect on the brain's mu rhythm in the somatosensory area immediately after a cut. Non-media professionals, however, demonstrate a highly diverse Granger causality in terms of connectivity when compared to their media professional counterparts, whose connectivity is much more concise in the visual cortex, somatomotor and frontal areas. Videos and other audiovisual contents are filled with cuts that artificially segment narrative content. Films can contain dozens or hundreds of cuts and viewers are nevertheless not conscious of them. Previous studies conducted by the same team of researchers demonstrated that scene cuts have an impact on the management of viewer's attention. In this study, researchers aimed to discover how this impact differs among media professionals. The experience acquired through years of producing and working with media contents causes a long-term impact on how professionals process these contents. Given that society produces and consumes more and more of these types of contents, there is an interest in discovering the effects the visual perception of these contents have on brain activity. Doctor Celia Andreu-Sanchez, head researcher of this study and member of the Neuro-Com Group at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, considers that the results can be of interest for neuroscience, given that "knowing that spending many hours with media works as a professional not only affects visual perception, but also the brain rhythms such as the mu rhythm, is without a doubt of great interest to science. These results present neuroscience with a highly important work tool: audiovisuals. We know that working and consuming these contents professionally affect the brain's behavior, therefore, it seems plausible that the design of consumption strategies for videos may be relevant in several areas of neuroscience research". Doctor Miguel Angel Martin-Pascual, from the Instituto Radio Television Espanola and the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, also author of this research published in Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, believes that these results are of utmost importance in the professional audiovisual production field. Knowing the impact audiovisual professionalization has on its professionals is of vital importance for the development of long-term strategies related to the occupational health of this group". Miguel Angel Martin-Pascual, Instituto Radio Television Espanola and Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona Jose Maria Delgado, researcher at the Neuroscience Division of the Universidad Pablo de Olavide, highlights that "this study and other similar ones conducted by our two groups points out the enormous amount of unconscious processing taking place in the brain (particularly in the non-media professional group) during the viewing of videos and films, especially when the material is edited to contain very short scenes. However, in some way this unconscious processing can have an effect, for example, on our emotional state: although we do not fully perceive all the shots in the video as displaying aggressive interactions, we are able to detect them from an emotional point of view". This study was developed by the Neuro-Com Research Group of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, the Instituto Radio Television Espanola and the Neuroscience Division of the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Seville. It was conducted under the framework of public grants from the Spanish Ministry for Economics and Competitiveness and from the Regional Government of Andalusia. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 08:48:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO -- Eleven people were killed on Saturday in a road accident on El-Kureimat highway near Upper Egypt's province of Minya, state-run Ahram Online news website of Egypt reported. The deadly crash occurred when a micro-bus collided with a car. All the victims died on the spot following the collision, according to Ahram Online. (Egypt-Accident-Deaths) - - - - TRIPOLI -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Saturday said that around 300 illegal migrants were rescued off Libyan coast. "Some 300 migrants were returned to Libya today by the coast guard. Close to 1,500 people were intercepted in the past four days, most of whom were detained," IOM tweeted. (Libya-Migration) - - - - ADDIS ABABA -- Moussa Faki Mahamat on Saturday secured a four-year second term as the chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission. Mahamat was re-elected by African leaders who have gathered as part of the 34th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU, which kicked off virtually on Saturday. (African Union-Commision-Chairperson) - - - - CHICAGO -- Braving the cold weather with a temperature around -16 degrees Celsius, nearly 100 people gathered in Chinatown south of downtown Chicago Saturday afternoon to kick off the celebration of Chinese Lunar New Year, the Year of the Ox, which falls on Feb. 12. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot sent a congratulatory letter to the event. (U.S.-Chinese New Year-Celebration) Enditem News Salt Lake City, Utah - Deland Cornpeach, 20, of the Shoshone-Bannock Indian Tribe, pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter and one count of assault on a federal officer in federal court on February 1, 2021. As a part of the plea agreement, Cornpeach has agreed to serve 84 months in federal prison. In the plea agreement, Cornpeach admitted to stabbing the victim, E.P., an enrolled member of the Ute Indian Tribe, to death with a knife on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation on June 20, 2017. The assault on a federal officer charge stems from an incident at the Davis County Jail, where Cornpeach was detained on the federal manslaughter case. While at the jail, Cornpeach assaulted and inflicted injury upon two Davis County Sheriffs Deputies who where engaged in the performance of their official duties on behalf of the federal government. Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the Utah U.S. Attorneys Office prosecuted the case. Special Agents of the FBI conducted the investigation with assistance from officers of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Al Salam Bank - Bahrain (Al Salam Bank) recently announced the launch of its exclusive Loyalty Rewards Scheme, the first of its kind in the kingdom, which aims to reward all customer banking transactions. The scheme is designed to reward customers for daily transactions, with loyalty points being earned on all banking services, namely, maintaining a monthly balance in an account, opening a Wakala account, availing new financing facilities, topping up financing facilities, as well as transactions on prepaid or credit cards. With the Loyalty Rewards Scheme, customers also have the potential to receive points using any of the Banks online channels or by signing up for electronic statement or the various products and services offered by Al Salam Bank. Customers may then redeem their collected points in exchange for a wide range of rewards and benefits, including cash-back options, Gulf Air miles, hotel reservations, airline tickets, as well as car rental services worldwide. Customers will also be able to redeem points easily at the Banks online store and benefit from preferential pricing on banking products and services. Commenting on the launch of the Loyalty Rewards Scheme, Head of Retail Banking at Al Salam Bank - Bahrain, Mohammed Buhijji, said: We are proud to be the first bank in the Kingdom of Bahrain to launch a loyalty scheme of this kind, strengthening our commitment to providing banking experiences tailored to the needs of individual clients. Our customers deserve the best rewards every day, and through this program we will provide increased opportunities for them to earn loyalty points by rewarding with every transaction they make with us. This initiative comes as a token of our great gratitude to our valued customers, as it is in line with our endeavours to enrich their experience beyond traditional service, and encourage our customers to register to avail the benefits. This scheme is a gamechanger compared to the existing loyalty programs in the banking sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain, where rewards have previously only been offered only against card transactions. To commemorate the launch of the Loyalty Rewards Scheme, Al Salam Bank also introduced a special promotional campaign, giving customers who register and activate their rewards accounts before April 1 the chance to enter a draw to win additional bonus points totalling one million points. We would like to invite everyone to switch their banking transactions to Al Salam Bank- Bahrain, allowing them to collect points with the Loyalty Rewards Scheme, which will allocate a million points in an exclusive offer, for a limited period. We have also taken the initiative to create a special website dedicated to the loyalty scheme, in order for our valued customers to keep record of points, and redeem rewards easily, continued Buhijji. The Al Salam Bank Loyalty Rewards Scheme is set to transform the banking sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain, with the Sharia compliant financial institution setting a new precedent for banks in the region. - TradeArabia News Service Two days before Christmas, the owner of a small family nursing home forwarded an email to this newspaper with a document he had been desperately waiting for. It was a Covid-19 vaccination schedule for nursing homes, listing the dates they could expect residents and staff to be immunised. The start date was January 11, but his nursing home was scheduled for the end of the month. "We can't wait four weeks," he said on the phone. "We've managed to keep the virus away from our residents and out of this home all year. We're at the end of our tether here." He phoned again two weeks ago. The vaccinators were due to start that weekend. The virus had breached the infection control barriers that had kept it at bay all year. One resident had died at that point. More have died since. "The families and residents, they trust us you just feel so responsible," he said, breaking down. The Health Service Executive's (HSE) vaccination programme has reached more than 27,000 nursing home residents in all but four nursing homes, where the severity of outbreaks prevented vaccination. In a further 117 nursing homes, 2,600 residents missed out on the first dose, also because of outbreaks. "We will go back and vaccinate these people in time," the HSE said this weekend. But the lack of specifics has alarmed the families of relatives, according to Sarah Lennon, head of the advocacy group Sage. It also concerns affected nursing home owners, who are once again left wondering when the vaccine will come. From the outset, health authorities made vaccinating vulnerable older people their number one priority. At an Oireachtas Committee meeting last week, Tadhg Daly, the chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland, suggested the numbers told another story. The first shipment of the BioNTech vaccine arrived in Ireland on December 26. The first vaccines were administered in a private or voluntary nursing home 12 days later on January 7. Only 10pc of the initial 77,000 vaccinations administered by the middle of last month were within nursing homes, he said. Had a critical window of opportunity been missed? The same committee heard that a third of all Covid-19 deaths in January were of nursing home residents, a total of 369 people. Gearoid Brennan, chief executive of the Brookhaven Healthcare group, believes even the first shot of the vaccine could have made a difference. Residents and staff at Droimnin Nursing Home in Laois, owned by Brookhaven, were scheduled for vaccination on January 19. But by early January, Covid-19 had got in. Nine residents died - five in the space of a week - and 52 contracted the infection, although most had no symptoms. Residents and staff at another nursing home in the group, An Teaghlach Uilinn, were vaccinated on January 14. Within days of the vaccinations it was hit by an outbreak. "I'm not a medical person but what I do know is that when residents got the first vaccinations, and contracted the virus subsequent to that, the effects of it appear to have been much less," Mr Brennan said. "That would be our anecdotal experience." As far he was concerned, those first 12 days between the vaccine being shipped into the country and its roll-out to the vast majority of nursing homes from January 7 were "crucial days lost". At Blackrock Abbey Nursing Home, in Louth, manager Alan Hynes cannot understand why facilities in communities with the highest community infection rates were not targeted first for vaccination. Staff and residents were scheduled to be vaccinated on January 19, but the virus had seeded in the nursing home 10 days before vaccinators arrived. Staff and residents were devastated. Fourteen residents have since died of Covid-19. "It stands to reason if the case numbers in the community are extremely high in specific areas, then the risk to the nursing homes in those areas will be greater," he said. "Our electoral area had one of the highest rates of positive cases in the community across the entire country, however our vaccine was not administered until Tuesday 19, a day earlier than the original schedule." The HSE has explained the challenges in rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine, the difficulties in inoculating those in long-term care settings where outbreaks have occurred, the issues around ensuring residents who have difficulty with decision-making properly consent to the vaccine roll-out. The rush to vaccinate frontline health workers was for good reason: a wave of Covid-19 about to hit the health system threatened to overrun the hospitals and shut down vital health services. The supply of the only vaccine on the European market at that time, the Pfizer-BioNTech product, was limited and uncertain. But the first draft vaccination schedule circulated to nursing homes set out a Monday to Friday, 9-to-5 vaccination programme that was to start a full two weeks after the first shipment of the vaccine to Ireland. The vaccine roll-out was accelerated on December 30, as the country entered lockdown and Covid-19 cases soared to record numbers. On January 8, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly announced a second acceleration of the vaccine plan, emphasising a seven-day roll-out, and said it would finish a week earlier than planned. In between those dates, 42 new outbreaks were reported in nursing homes in five days. Asked why the vaccine was not rolled out to nursing homes in that last week in December, one HSE source said if a nursing home resident had an adverse reaction to the vaccine, public confidence in the entire programme would be shattered. That was why the first jabs were administered in four acute hospitals, with medics on hand in case of adverse reactions. "I get that," said Tadhg Daly. "New virus, new vaccine, double doses that have to mixed, all that sort of stuff. But these are the type of things that should have been considered." Peadar Toibin, the Aontu leader, claimed in the Dail that "the delay in the vaccine has led to hundreds of deaths". Daly stopped short of saying the delays may have cost lives. "Nobody can say that, to be fair," he said. Tanaiste Leo Varadkar dismissed this as "simplistic and not entirely correct". Opposition politicians have demanded more scrutiny of the decisions behind the roll-out. So too have some of the Tanaiste's party colleagues. Colm Burke, a Fine Gael TD and member of the Oireachtas Health Committee, said the introduction of Level 5 restrictions on December 26 should have triggered the "fast-tracking" of the vaccine. "There was a crucial 10 or 12 days there that we missed out on," he said. Fergus O'Dowd, Fine Gael TD in Louth, has questioned the decision-making around those two crucial weeks: "I want to see the reasons why they did not proceed sooner. I am sure there are many good reasons but we need to see what they are." O'Dowd's brother-in-law, Joseph Quinlan, a towering Tipperary man of 87, was diagnosed with Covid-19 on the day he was scheduled to get the vaccine according to Mr O'Dowd, a cruelty visited on many. has completed the purchase of 23.5 per cent stake in Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) from two South African entities, marking the first step towards acquiring a majority control in the countrys second-busiest airport. In a stock exchange notification on Saturday, said that its airports division had acquired 13.5 per cent stake of Bidvest and 10 per cent stake of Airport Company of South Africa, for a consideration of Rs 1,685 crore. The deal marks a culmination of Adani Groups two-year quest to acquire a stake and gain control of the It also marks the exit of foreign investors from the airport. The group has already taken over six Airport Authority of India (AAI) airports under the privatisation exercise. Last August, it had signed an agreement with GVK Group to acquire its 50.5 per cent stake in The deal also included acquisition of 23.5 per cent stake held by the two South African As a part of the deal, will take over Rs 2,500 crore of debt owed by GVK Airport Developers, the holding company of MIAL. Adani will get controlling stake in MIAL upon conversion of the debt into equity. Last month, the had granted its nod to for acquiring GVK Groups 50.5 per cent stake in MIAL. A few other government approvals are pending. In March 2019, Bidvest had signed an agreement to sell its stake to Adani Group for Rs 1,248 crore. GVK Group exercised the right of first refusal but was unable to conclude the deal. The acquisition battle then moved to courts, as GVK Group tried to block Adani Groups entry. In October 2019, GVK had announced the sale of 79 per cent stake in its airports holding company to a clutch of foreign investors for Rs 7,614 crore, but the deal fell through. The group had hoped to use the proceeds to retire debt and buy out South African investors in MIAL. Finally, under pressure from lenders, GVK agreed to sell its stake in MIAL to the Adani Group. A money laundering probe by the CBI against GVK Group had made fundraising even more difficult. We see our airport portfolio as a critical level to help converge tier-I cities with tier-II and tier-III ones, in a hub and spoke model, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani had said last year after signing of the agreement. The addition of MIAL and Navi Mumbai to our existing portfolio of six airports provides us a transformational platform that will help shape and create strategic adjacencies for our other B2B businesses, Adani had said. The six airports under include Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati. New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind presents the National Service Scheme (NSS) Awards for 2018-2019 via video conferencing, in New Delhi on Sep 24, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News Amaravati, Feb 7 : President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday visited the Satsang Foundation Ashram at Madanapalle in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. He interacted with the foundation's leader and educationist Sri M. President Kovind, who reached Madanapalle by helicopter from Bengaluru, was received by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, his Cabinet colleagues and senior officials. He then visited Satsang Foundation Ashram which was founded in 1994 on the principles of service and community welfare. The foundation has been contributing towards the all-round and holistic improvement of society through its initiatives in the education, health and environment fields. The President spent time with spiritual leader Sri M. at the Sri Guru Babaji's shrine. He later inaugurated a Yogashala of the Bharat Yoga Vidya Kendra and interacted with the students of the first Yoga teacher training programme being held at the premises. He appreciated the fact that students had come to Madanapalle from all corners of the country for the course. Kovind remarked that when he heard about Sri M., he requested him to teach Kriya Yoga and found that it was a comprehensive and holistic discipline for the elevation of the mind as well as to keep physically fit. He said Yoga would always be of great help in meeting the daily challenges of life in all spheres. The President also said that the most important aspect of learning Yoga was creating a healthy mind in a healthy body as well as being able to explore deeper aspects of consciousness. During the walking tour of the ashram, the President attended the 'Aarti' at the temple on the premises and planted a tree. He later unveiled the foundation stone of Swaasthya Hospitals, an initiative of the Satsang Foundation. Sri M. has conceptualised this 38-bed hospital to provide affordable and quality health care to the semi-urban and rural population of Madanapalle including students, staff, family members, and Sugali tribal community from nearby villages. The President interacted with the students and teachers of the Satsang Vidyalaya - a free school which has been providing holistic development, high quality education, nutrition, and health care services to the children of marginalised communities in Madanapalle since 1991. After partaking a south Indian meal prepared in-house by the Satsang kitchens, the President departed for Sadum mandal in the same district to visit and address the students and teachers of The Peepal Grove School. The co-educational, residential and alternative school was founded by Sri M. and inaugurated by then President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in December 2006. One person was killed and three others wounded on Saturday night following an explosive device attached to a bulletproof vehicle. The incident took place in KM4 near the recently attacked Afric hotel which left 11 people dead near the airport in Mogadishu. According to witnesses, the victims were passersby and an auto-rickshaw driver. Elsewhere, one person was killed and two others wounded after a hand grenade was hurled at the house of the custodial police Commander on Saturday night in Baidoa in Galmudug state. According to a witness who spoke to Radio Dalsan, the target was custodial police Commander General Mahad Abdirahman Adan who was at the time of the attack in Mogadishu. A resident at the scene said that the hand grenades were thrown at the Commander's house by unidentified people who immediately disappeared. "Two masked men hurled the hand grenade at the place and was followed by heavy gunfire by the security forces," said the witness. No group has claimed responsibilities for both attacks but Al-Shabaab which is linked to AlQaeda has carried out similar attacks in the past targeting government officials, security forces and sometimes civilians. Security forces started search operation but nobody has arrested for the attack yet. Al-Shabaab militants in the past weeks stepped up attacks in the country as political leaders are stalemate over the electoral processes. 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. The Scottish National Party has been the slickest political machine in the UK over the past decade, moving from plucky outsiders to the natural party of power in Scotland. Factional turmoil was left to Labour and the Conservatives. The SNP was too busy creating order and harmony in the independence movement, moving the idea of a breakaway Scottish state from a lost cause to an increasingly likely scenario. Yet internal feuding has finally erupted. There is the dramatic rupture between the partys two towering figures, current boss Nicola Sturgeon and her predecessor Alex Salmond the once-close allies who are now sworn enemies. There is the row over the sacking of MP Joanna Cherry from the Westminster teams frontbench. And there is a dispute over the timing of the second independence referendum, and how best to play the coming stand-off with the UK government. So how deep do the divisions go? Can they be healed? And could they damage the partys push for another independence referendum in the coming year? Ms Sturgeon will certainly be keeping a close eye on Ms Cherry, who fumed about getting sacked from her frontbench role earlier this month. The QC is part of a small group of MPs who have remained loyal to Mr Salmond insisting that he should have been reinstated by the party after he was cleared of sexual assault charges last year. It is no coincidence that the Salmond loyalists Ms Cherry, Kenny MacAskill and Angus MacNeil are the only SNP MPs without any shadow ministerial portfolio at Westminster. The rift comes with the added bite of unresolved issues over transgender rights. SNP MP Kirsty Blackman suggested trans people were leaving the SNP because of the behaviour of Ms Cherry and others in the party, saying: Things have moved on since the 80s. Ms Cherry accused Ms Blackman of lies and smears, which led to a vicious threat to her safety now subject to a police investigation. Ms Cherry and some SNP councillors had signed up to a pledge stating that women have the right to maintain their sex-based protections. This was perceived as an attempt to work against the partys plan to make it easier for trans people to gain legal recognition. SNP MP Joanna Cherry (PA) The rift widened when SNP MP Neale Hanvey was sacked from his frontbench role as vaccines spokesman after he appeared to back a campaign to sue Ms Blackman. He was found to have posted a message on a crowdfunder page raising money to bring a defamation action against Ms Blackman and others, saying: Speak clear and stay strong. Neil Mackay, author and columnist at The Herald, says the party is in an absolute mess despite being well ahead in the polls for the Holyrood election in May. There are multiple schisms at the moment splits over identity issues, splits along Salmond-Sturgeon lines, and splits along the best path to independence. Its [a] deeply riven party at the moment. Very dysfunctional and toxic. The mess has got messier still over written evidence given by Mr Salmonds to the Holyrood inquiry examining the Scottish governments botched handling of harassment claims against him. The former first minister pulled out of a scheduled appearance at the committee this week after parliamentary authorities redacted parts of his evidence in which he claimed senior SNP figures around Ms Sturgeon were behind a malicious and concerted attempt to bring him down. Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon campaigning in 2015 (PA) Mr Salmonds lawyers announced that they would be writing to the Lord Advocate to ask for an explanation for the Crown Offices astonishing and highly irregular request for the redaction. The SNP had claimed the inquirys decision to publish claims by Mr Salmond could jeopardise the anonymity of women who were involved in the legal case against him. However, the inquiry has made clear their anonymity would still be protected. Ironically, the renewed focus on Mr Salmond very much yesterdays man has become a way of thinking about the future of the party. Many commentators have suggested the treatment of his allies is a worrying sign of autocracy in Edinburgh. The Telegraphs union-supporting Scottish editor Alan Cochrane says it shows how the ruthless lady at Bute House (Ms Sturgeon) will tolerate no dissent from those willing to challenge her leadership. SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon (Getty Images) Mike Small, editor of the influential pro-independence website Bella Caledonia, has no truck with this argument. He suggests the Cherry faction at Westminster may wish to consider leaving the party to avoid doing damage to the independence cause. Its all reminiscent of the collapse of the Labour Party in the 1980s or the implosion of the Tory party in recent years, he notes. At some point you either leave because you are convulsed with such rage or you are booted out. As intriguing as the Sturgeon-Salmond fight may be, there are far bigger strategic disputes looming over the high-stakes chess match which follows the Holyrood vote this spring. Ian Blackford, the SNPs leader at Westminster, recently told The National newspaper that indyref2 must be held in 2021. He argued that the Scottish government would be entitled to hold another ballot quickly if they win the Holyrood election in May. There are those demanding Ms Sturgeon declares a wildcat referendum if Downing Street refuses to sanction one. Chris McEleny, an SNP councillor with a large online following in the independence movement, has an even more radical plan B. He has argued a majority SNP win in May would be a mandate for Ms Sturgeon to knock on the door of No 10 and demand negotiations over Scottish sovereignty, without any further ballot. Ms Sturgeon has been as non-committal as possible, saying only that she wished to hold a referendum in the earlier part of the next Scottish parliament. Her initial strategy will be to stoke outrage over Boris Johnsons refusal to grant the vote, sparking a legal battle very likely to end up in the Supreme Court. Support for a breakaway among Scots has crept up marginally over the past year. There has been a small but consistent majority in favour of independence ever since the pandemic hit early last year. The reality of Brexit was expected to give the independence support another bump at the beginning of 2021. But as the polling guru Sir John Curtice points out, the average level of support for Yes in the latest three independence polls is 53 per cent down slightly on the 55 per cent recorded during the last three polls of 2020. The Heralds Neil Mackay thinks SNP divisions may have something to do with it. Nicola Sturgeon is perceived by the Scottish public to have handled the pandemic well, so its no surprise to find the party ahead in the polls, he says. But could support for the SNP and support for independence be even bigger? I think it probably could. The commentator adds: Its politics 101 that a divided political party isnt successful, and will tend not to be seen as being good at governance. If it wasnt as riven by splits, then support for independence could be even higher than it is now. Ms Sturgeon and the SNP may well defy political gravity and win a comfortable majority at Holyrood in May. But things may get trickier during the high-stakes constitutional drama to follow. Wavering Scots will be forced to consider whether the SNP looks like a sovereign government-in-waiting a permanently superior force to the rabble at Westminster or just another bunch of squabbling politicians. TORONTO (AP) Auston Matthews scored twice to extend his goal streak to a career-best seven games and the Toronto Maple Leafs heaped more misery on the Vancouver Canucks with a 5-1 victory Saturday night. I try to have the same mindset whether the pucks going in or not, said the 23-year-old center, who also scored a pair in Thursdays 7-3 victory over Vancouver. I think in both these games weve played here, he could have had four or five," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. "He was really feeling it. Wayne Simmonds scored twice and Zach Hyman had a goal and an assist, providing the rest of the offense for Toronto (9-2-1). Frederik Andersen made 27 saves. Mitch Marner added three assists to extend his point streak to seven games for Toronto. Mikko Lehtonen chipped in with two assists for his first two-point night in the NHL. Toronto is now 7-0-1 over its last eight to sit atop the North Division with 19 points, one better than the Montreal Canadiens. Were controlling the puck well, Marner said. When thats happening, its a good sign from us. Brock Boeser scored for Vancouver (6-9-0), which lost a fourth straight game in regulation this week. Braden Holtby stopped 26 shots in defeat. Playing their league-leading 15th contest, the Canucks have surrendered an NHL-worst 60 goals, including at least five the ninth time. Everything looks difficult for our team, Vancouver head coach Travis Green said. Simple plays look hard right now." NOTES Simmonds was having his hand looked at by a trainer on the bench in the third before heading to the locker room. ... Matthews, who scored in six straight games to open the 2018-19 season, is the first Leafs players to register goals in seven consecutive games since Wendel Clark and Dave Andreychuk in 1993-94. ... The Leafs wore their Reverse Retro jerseys at home for the first time. UP NEXT The teams play seven more times in the NHLs abbreviated season, including Monday back inside a fan-less Scotiabank Arena because of COVID-19 protocols to wrap up this three-game set. New Delhi, Feb 6 (UNI) A day after President Joe Biden vowed to counter China's aggressive behaviour and economic abuses, the US warned Beijing it would be held "accountable" for threatening regional stability. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a phone call with China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi, said that the US will work together with its allies and partners and hold Beijing "accountable for its efforts to threaten stability in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait, and its undermining of the rules-based international system." Blinken also pressed China to join the international community in condemning the military coup in Myanmar, said the State Department in a statement accessed here. He told Yang, director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, that the US will continue to stand up for human rights and democratic values, including in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong. "The Secretary reaffirmed that the United States will work together with its allies and partners in defense of our shared values and interests to hold the PRC accountable for its efforts to threaten stability in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait, and its undermining of the rules-based international system," Blinken told Yang during their first known conversation since he became secretary of state late last month. The Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Yang as telling Blinken, "The Taiwan question, the most important and sensitive core issue in China-US relations, bears on China's sovereignty and territorial integrity." In addition, "Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet-related affairs are all China's internal affairs and allow no interference by any external forces," Yang said. "Any attempt to slander and smear China will not succeed, and China will continue to firmly safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests," he told Blinken. On Thursday, Biden in his first major foreign policy speech said that his administration will "compete from a position of strength, by building back better at home, working with our allies and partners, renewing our role in international institutions, and reclaiming our credibility and moral authority. "We will confront China's economic abuses, counter its aggressive, coercive action, to push back on China's attack on human rights, intellectual property and global governance." He also said, "We are ready to work with Beijing when it's in America's interest to do so." But the Blinken statement made no mention of this aspect of the US foreign policy. UNI SRJ SHK1808 Diplo appeared to be blissfully unaware of the coronavirus pandemic while hosting a massive pre-Super Bowl party in Tampa Bay, Florida. The 42-year-old DJ headlined a show on Saturday night at the Godfrey Waterfront Hotel's WTR Tampa Pool in anticipation of the annual sporting event. Before the event, the producer posted a few photos to his Instagram to show his fans that he had taken precautions before playing the show. No worries: On Saturday evening, Diplo played a show for 2,000 fans in Tampa, Florida in anticipation of the Super Bowl; virtually no safety protocols were observed during the event He's fine: The producer took to Instagram to show his fans that he had taken precautions before playing the show The producer shared a snap of himself with a mask on, which he removed for his performance. He included a photo of a sign that partially read, 'Masks are mandatory...please social distance and wear mask at all times.' Diplo also shared a picture confirming that he had received two vaccinations for COVID-19 before the event. However, many of the 2,000 fans who attended the party did not appear to be observing safety protocols, as photos and videos showed concertgoers standing close to one another as they watched the DJ perform. Not even necessary: Diplo posted a photo of a sign that had been posted outside the performance venue asking fans to stay safe during the concert; it appeared to have been ignored by many of the concertgoers Proving it: The DJ also included a snap to prove that he had been twice vaccinated against COVID-19 In a release obtained by TMZ, the Tampa Police Department condemned the partying that occurred last night and bemoaned the lack of regard for public safety. The statement partially read, 'Scenes from WTR last night and a few other clubs were incredibly disappointing.' The crowd apparently went wild when Diplo played his hit with Morgan Wallen, Heartless, days after the country star was removed from multiple platforms and dropped from his record label after shouting a racial epithet following a night out. Diplo was not the only entertainer who put on a safety-devoid show yesterday evening, as rapper 50 Cent hosted his own concert to celebrate the upcoming sporting event. Host: 50 Cent also hosted a pre-Super Bowl event of his own on Saturday; he previously headlined a show the night before with little to no regard for public safety Appearances: Rapper Tory Lanez was seen at 50 Cent's event; he was not observed wearing a mask or observing other safety protocols Special guests: Flavor Flav and Flo Rida were also spotted at the In Da Club songwriter's function Numerous other musicians, including rappers Tory Lanez, Flo Rida and Flavor Flav, made appearances at the concert. Like Diplo's event, virtually no COVID-19 safety guidelines were observed by either the performers or the fans during the show. The 45-year-old hitmaker is also set to host a watch party for the Super Bowl tonight. Mask off: Steve Aoki also hosted an event of his own at the WTR Tampa Pool on Friday evening, where he sprayed champagne over a crowd of fans on Friday DJ Steve Aoki also hosted a pre-Super Bowl party of his own at the WTR Tampa Pool at the Godfrey Waterfront Hotel on Friday, which TMZ covered. The event's organizers made a point of expressing that masks had to be worn and that everyone should have maintained six feet apart from each other. However, footage from the event showed that neither protocol was being followed by anyone in particular. The 43-year-old DJ and producer also came into close contact with his fans in order to spray champagne over them. In attendance: French Montana, ready to party, arrived to an event with a mask in hand, but not on his face; Montana pictured with Funkmaster Flex at The Big Game Bash at The Ritz Ybor Cutting loose: Montana and Rick Ross co-headlined a large concert in anticipation of the annual sporting event; very few fans were seen wearing facial coverings or observing social distancing guidelines; French pictured at The Big Game Bash at The Ritz Ybor That same day, rappers French Montana and Rick Ross co-hosted an event and shared several videos to their respective Instagram Stories. Neither the majority of the performers or the fans in attendance were seen observing any coronavirus safety protocols. The Unforgettable rapper took a video of himself wearing a face mask at one point; he later removed his protective covering during the show. Take a gander: French shared footage from the show with his Instagram following on Friday night Getting close: The Unforgettable songwriter shared multiple videos to his Instagram story showing him getting close to both his fans and fellow performers On Thursday night, Tory Lanez threw a pre-Super Bowl event at the same venue Aoki would occupy a night later. The 28-year-old songwriter also documented the event through his Instagram Story, and made a point of sharing numerous shots from the non-socially distanced party. Many fans have traveled from across the United States to attend the Super Bowl and other functions associated with the annual sporting event, and many public officials are worried that the increased social interaction will only serve to spread COVID-19 further. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Snow blanketed much of the Netherlands on Sunday, forcing the government to cancel a weekly crisis meeting to discuss the coronavirus. Train services were suspended and Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport warned passengers of possible flight cancellations. The snow and strong winds were expected to continue for most of the day, but it could be well into the evening before it stops in the north, weather forecasters say. The Dutch meteorological office KNMI has increased its weather warning for Sunday to code red and covering the whole of the country. The Netherlands is also bracing for some high water in the coming days. There were no reports about major flooding however, in Nijmegen the river Maas had spilled over onto low-lying roads and parking lots. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Democratic Party leaders have announced plans to introduce legislation on Monday that would provide millions of American families with $3,000 per child as part of a sweeping congressional relief package estimated to cost $1.9 trillion. Rep Richard Neal (DMA), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, was expected to introduce the bill on Monday amid growing bipartisan calls for child benefits to play a key role in the governments latest relief measures. The proposal, which has support from the White House and senior Democrats, was obtained by the Washington Post on Sunday. Americans earning up to $75,000 per year would reportedly receive $3,600 per child under the age of six over the course of 12 months, with payments arriving in monthly instalments, and $3,000 per child between the ages of six and 17. The payments would also apply to couples who file jointly and earn up to $150,000 per year, the Post reported, with payments diminishing for Americans who earn above those set rates. President Joe Biden has included the child benefits plan in his proposal to Congress, a component that would lift a majority of the nations impoverished children out of poverty, according to research conducted by Columbia university. The plan was projected to cost as much as $120 billion per year, according to the Post. Republicans have called for similar legislation, with Senator Mitt Romney (RUT) proposing a plan that would also provide families with up to $3,000 per child. However, the senators plan called for cuts to current welfare programmes and food stamps, while Mr Neals plan does not. Some analysts have said Mr Romneys plan would mostly cut redundant tax credits, and still reflects a generous proposal for Americans in need. However, some Republicans have denounced proposals to provide American families with child benefits amid the pandemic, including Senators Mike Lee and Marco Rubio, who said their colleagues plan would undermine the responsibility of parents to work to provide for their families while describing the bill as welfare assistance. The Democratic proposal seeks to increase funding for the Internal Revenue Service after it was slashed under the previous administration, while maintaining current welfare programmes and resources for low-income Americans. An online portal would be created under the proposal for families to access and check their eligibility and status for payments. In a statement to the newspaper, the congressman said: The pandemic is driving families deeper and deeper into poverty, and its devastating. This money is going to be the difference in a roof over someones head or food on their table, he added. This is how the tax code is supposed to work for those who need it most. Senate Democrats voted to advance the $1.9 trillion legislation through budget reconciliation after Vice President Kamala Harris cast a tie-breaking vote last week, paving the way for Congress to approve the relief package without any Republican votes. The president has met with Republicans in recent weeks and fielded opportunities to negotiate the package, while warning he would not support a bill that failed to adequately address the crisis. Ive met with Republicans theyre some really fine people, wanting to get something done," he said during remarks at the White House on Friday. "But they're just not willing to go as far as I think we have to go." If I have to choose between getting help right now to Americans who are hurting so badly and getting bogged down in a lengthy negotiation or compromising on a bill that's up to the crisis, that's an easy choice," he said. "I'm going to help the American people who are hurting now." Shes currently in the process of reprising two of her most famous roles. But Sarah Jessica Parker was in fashionista mode on Saturday afternoon as she arrived to the South Street Seaport location of her SJP shoe boutique in NYC. The Sex And The City star, 55, stayed warm in a leopard print fur coat, which she wore open to showcase her 70s inspired prairie dress. Shoes fit for Carrie: Sarah Jessica Parker was in fashionista mode on Saturday afternoon as she arrived to the South Street Seaport location of her SJP shoe boutique in NYC Making a statement: The Sex And The City star, 55, stayed warm in a leopard print fur coat, which she wore open to showcase her 70s inspired prairie dress Sarah layered up with leggings worn underneath the retro dress, which power clashed in a bright pink pattern. The actress stayed warm, while jamming to her favorite tunes by rocking a pair of cushy headphones over her ears. She also protected her eyes with a pair of black wraparound sunshades. Power clash: Sarah layered up with leggings worn underneath the dress, which power clashed in a bright pink diamond pattern Protected: Adhering to COVID-19 protocols, Sarah made sure to sport a face mask, which featured a gaudy pattern Adhering to COVID-19 protocols, Sarah made sure to sport a face mask, which featured a gaudy pattern and a Pretty Connected mask chain. Parker shouldered an olive green knapsack. Her blonde curly hair hung down over her shoulders. On her feet, the Miami Rhapsody star wore a pair of sparkly silver Mary Janes that would have been the envy of her most beloved character, shoe lover Carrie Bradshaw. Flouncy: Once inside the boutique: Sarah took off her coat to reveal the sleeves of her dress, which featured yet another pattern, this time plaid On her feet: The Miami Rhapsody star wore a pair of sparkly silver Mary Janes that would have been the envy of her most beloved character, shoe lover Carrie Bradshaw The heels featured a lovely round bejeweled buckle on the side. Once inside the boutique, Sarah took off her coat to reveal the sleeves of her dress, which featured yet another pattern, this time plaid. The look in its entirety was subtly reminiscent of lederhosen. Hard at work: Sarah sifted through various shoe boxes Currently, SJP is in the midst of filming the highly anticipated sequel Hocus Pocus 2, in which she plays one of the witchy Sanderson sisters alongside Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy. The original Disney film from 1993 has gained a major cult following in the decades since. Sarahs other major upcoming project is And Just Like That, the 10-episode reboot of Sex And The City set for streaming on HBO Max later this year. Seen with her 'sisters' for a benefit last October: Currently, SJP is in the midst of filming the highly anticipated sequel Hocus Pocus 2, in which she plays one of the witchy Sanderson sisters alongside Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy The new series will catch up with SJPs Carrie, alongside Cynthia Nixons Miranda and Kristin Daviss Charlotte, now that the friends are in their 50s. Absent from the proceedings will be the character of Samantha, as actress Kim Cattrall who portrayed her has had a very public and bitter falling out with Parker in the last number of years. Production on And Just Like That is set to begin in the late spring of 2021. SEEKING OPTIONS: Education Minister Norma Foley whose department will explore how to run exams alongside alternative assessments. Photo: Mark Condren Running oral and practical assessments in this year's Leaving Cert will form a key part of discussions between unions and the Department of Education officials this week. Teachers and officials are keen for these to form part of both grading options being considered for students. Education Minister Norma Foley is searching for a common ground that will allow exams to take place and give students a choice at receiving a "calculated grade". No date for the summer exams has been agreed during early talks with unions, the State Examinations Commission and other education partners. But sources say it is becoming increasingly unlikely tests will start on the traditional first Wednesday in June because of the time students spent away from classrooms. "Dates later in June will have to be looked at," a source said. It comes as there is little clarity on when students will be able to make a full-time return to classrooms. Talks on a return to school and staging the Leaving Cert will take place separately of each other this week. Leaving Cert planning will look at staging practical assessments, and there is hope language orals could take place after Easter. Last Friday Ms Foley announced one-to-one negotiations with education partners, including unions and school management bodies. These will explore how to run exams alongside a "parallel" alternative assessment option. This second option is likely to be a modified version of the controversial grading model used last year where teachers assessed their students before this valuation was applied to a national standardisation process. Sources said there is a recognition any similar process needs to be handled differently this year as the current cohort of Leaving Cert students missed more school than the class of 2020. Sources said the idea of a "calculated grade", instead of a predicted grade is key. There are hopes this calculated grade could include some form of common assessment for students who opt for an exam or whatever alternative can be agreed to. This means students could have oral or practical elements included in their final grade, regardless of whether they sit exams or avail of the "parallel" alternative assessment. Parents and students have called for more choice, with the Irish Second-level Students Union (ISSU) saying members want a predicted or calculated grade option. Parents have also called for greater clarity about reopening schools as Covid-19 caseloads have declined significantly over the past month. Education sources however said there is still concern over new Covid-19 variants and more knowledge may be needed on these before a target dates can be announced. Special schools will partly reopen on Thursday with a maximum of 50pc attendance on alternate days. Children in special classes in mainstream primary schools will return from February 22. But it remains unclear when children, including those with special education needs, in mainstream classes will return. A group of 900 parents with children who have special education needs said they want to see greater representation on their behalf in talks on reopening schools. Open Our Special Needs Schools Ireland sent letters to unions last week pleading them to put children at the centre of any discussions. "There needs to be greater consideration given to children in mainstream classes who are regressing because of these closures," a spokeswoman told the Sunday Independent. "We would like to have some involvement in these talks and give practical examples of the issues we have to cope with, reiterating that children have to come first." A Department of Education spokesman said ministers Foley and Josepha Madigan met organisations representing parents of children with additional needs on several occasions, as well as multiple representative bodies. Over 150 people have lost their lives and over 150 are missing following a massive flood near a power project at Reni village in Joshimath area of Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday. Expressing their shock and concern for the affected area and local people, Bollywood celebrities took to their social media accounts to share helpline numbers and offer prayers to the almighty for everyone's safety. Some of the celebrities also criticised the government's initiative to build too many dams in the Himalayas as a possible reason behind such a disaster. Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar tweeted: "Terrifying visuals of the glacier burst in #Uttarakhand, thoughts and prayers for everyone's safety." Terrifying visuals of the glacier burst in #Uttarakhand, thoughts and prayers for everyones safety Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) February 7, 2021 "Distressing to hear about the glacier breaking off in #Uttarakhand Praying everyone's safety there," posted actress Shraddha Kapoor. Distressing to hear about the glacier breaking off in #Uttarakhand Praying everyones safety there Shraddha (@ShraddhaKapoor) February 7, 2021 "Man tampering with nature results in disaster.. we must be very careful and have more Stringent Environmental Impact Assessment #EIA ,not less, for ongoing and future infra projects .. prayers for the safety of the people affected #Uttarakhand," expressed actor Randeep Hooda. Man tampering with nature results in disaster.. we must be very careful and have more Stringent Environmental Impact Assessment #EIA ,not less, for ongoing and future infra projects .. prayers for the safety of the people affected #Uttarakhand Randeep Hooda (@RandeepHooda) February 7, 2021 "Saddened to know about the the glacier burst in #Uttarakhand which has caused 150 labourers to go missing! Praying for everyone's safety!!" expressed actress Nushrratt Bharuccha. Saddened to know about the the glacier burst in #Uttarakhand which has caused 150 labourers to go missing! Praying for everyone's safety!! Nushrratt Bharuccha (@Nushrratt) February 7, 2021 "My heart goes out to all the people affected by the glacier burst in #Uttarakhand. Please contact Disaster Operations Center number 1070 or 9557444486 for help," posted actress Tamannaah Bhatia. My heart goes out to all the people affected by the glacier burst in #Uttarakhand.Please contact Disaster Operations Center number 1070 or 9557444486 for help. Tamannaah Bhatia (@tamannaahspeaks) February 7, 2021 Actor Sidharth Malhotra shared: "Prayers for everyone's safety in #Uttarakhand. If you are stuck in any affected areas and need any kind of help, please contact Disaster Operations Center number at 1070 or 9557444486." Prayers for everyones safety in #Uttarakhand..If you are stuck in any affected areas and need any kind of help, please contact Disaster Operations Center number at 1070 or 9557444486. Sidharth Malhotra (@SidMalhotra) February 7, 2021 "Building too many dams in the Himalayas has lead to this. Prayers for the people of Chamoli. Please contact Disaster Operations Center number 1070 or 9557444486 for help. #Uttarakhand," expressed actress Dia Mirza. Building too many dams in the Himalayas has lead to this. Prayers for the people of Chamoli. Please contact Disaster Operations Center number 1070 or 9557444486 for help. #Uttarakhand https://t.co/x6D9X4laSj Dia Mirza (@deespeak) February 7, 2021 Actor Rajeev Khandelwal wrote: "Really sad to hear about the glacier break in #Chamoli ...I hope help reaches to all those in need." Really sad to hear about the glacier break in #Chamoli ...I hope help reaches to all those in need. Rajeev Khandelwal (@RK1610IsMe) February 7, 2021 "Saw some videos of the Uttrakhand disaster just now. It is terrifying to say the least. Breaks my heart to see this devastation happening to such a pretty place. Sending prayers and strength to all those affected. #UttarakhandDisaster #Chamoli #Uttarakhand," expressed actor Shreyas Talpade. Saw some videos of the Uttrakhand disaster just now. It is terrifying to say the least. Breaks my heart to see this devastation happening to such a pretty place. Sending prayers and strength to all those affected. #UttarakhandDisaster #Chamoli #Uttarakhand Shreyas Talpade (@shreyastalpade1) February 7, 2021 The incident occurred after the water level in Dhauliganga river, one of the six sources of the Ganga river, suddenly surged on Sunday morning following an avalanche near the Rishi Ganga power project. The 85 km river meets the Alaknanda river at Vishnuprayag at the base of Joshimath mountain in Uttarakhand. New data from Eurostat show that Luxembourg's minimum wage is highest in the EU. That is perhaps not surprising, but how does it measure up in real terms? At just under 2,202, Luxembourg's minimum wage is substantially higher than that of Ireland, the country with the second-highest minimum wage in the union at 1,724, and 6.6 times higher than that of Bulgaria (332), which is the country with the lowest minimum wage in the EU. As a side note, it's also more than twice as high as that in the US, which is around 1,024 right now, as President Biden tries to push through an increase to $15 (around 12.50) per hour. Luxembourg is thus the only country in the EU with a minimum wage in excess of 2,000, while five others - Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and France - offer minimum wages of over 1,500. However, the difference shrinks when one takes into account the cost of living, and when comparing to median earnings in each country. Median earnings Eurostat Looking at minimum wages in relative terms, by looking at how each country's minimum wage measures up against the median gross income earned by full-time and full-time equivalent employment, the difference between the countries with higher and lower minimum wages shrinks considerably. Looked at this way, Luxembourg is no longer at the top of the list, with the those on minimum earning 57% of the median wage. France tops the list here, at 66%, and Bulgaria - with the lowest minimum wage - sees a smaller gap than Luxembourg, with those in minimum wage earning 59% of the country's median wage. Price differences Another thing to take into consideration is the difference in prices and the cost of living across different member states. This can be done by looking at the purchasing power standards, or PPS, which essentially measures how much you can buy for a given quantity of money. Taking this into account also reduces the disparity between countries. At the two extremes, Luxembourg's minimum wage is 6.6 times higher than that in Bulgaria - however, looked at through PPS, that differences is reduced to 2.7 times. The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Community Perspective Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer. Letters to the editor Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer. A man has been arrested in connection with an incident of criminal damage at a County Derry church last weekend. Sectarian slogans and initials of loyalist paramilitary organisations were daubed on the walls of St Mary's Church Limavady last Saturday night. Police released details of a male they were seeking during the week and an arrest was made on Sunday. A PSNI spokesperson said the investigation remained live. "Earlier today officers from Limavady NPT arrested a male in connection with recent criminal damage at St Marys chapel," they said. "This male is assisting police with their enquiries. "However the investigation remains live and enquiries will be continuing. "If anyone has any information about the incident, please contact 101 quoting reference number 476 31/01/2." Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo spread their wings and launched themselves far away from the rest of the Duggar family in Arkansas. The couples living in California, and they recently brought a new child into the world, too. Now, Jingers keeping her followers apprised with Instagram and TikTok but fans are worried about her after a recent Instagram selfie. Heres whats going on. Counting On star Jinger Duggar recently had another daughter with Jeremy Vuolo Jinger and Jeremy have talked a lot about what it was like when their daughter, Felicity, was born. And now, the couple has another baby girl. Jinger gave birth to Evangeline Jo in November 2020 following a previous miscarriage, and she and Jeremy are ultra-thankful for another happy and healthy child. The bond that sisters share is unique, and one I cherish every day, Jinger announced to Instagram during her pregnancy, according to Today. After all these years, theyre still my best friends! Im glad Gods giving that gift for Felicity to enjoy. As for me and Jeremy, well definitely have our hands full! But theres nothing else wed rather carry. As for the miscarriage, it was deeply troubling for Jinger and Jeremy to go through. The morning after we announced to family that we were expecting, Jinger woke up and, woke me up very early in the morning, saying that she thought she lost the baby, Jeremy explained to People, according to Today. We found out later that day that she had. That was very difficult and definitely a trial for us. Jinger Duggar posted a makeup-free selfie to Instagram RELATED: Counting On Stars Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolo Are Already Taking a Break From Some of Their Business Ventures Theres no doubt Jinger is ultra-busy with her family, her business ventures, and her online presence. The mom of two not only still films with TLCs Counting On, but she also has a podcast with Jeremy, and she has a number of sponsored products she pushes on social media. Fans also often note when there seems to be a shift in how Jinger presents herself online. And they grew concerned after she posted a selfie at the end of January 2021. Happy Thursday! Jinger posted to Instagram. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24. You look great but exhausted, girl, give the kids to Daddy, make use of that big bathtub, throw in a bath bomb, sip on hot chocolate, relax, read, have some you time, one fan commented. I wish youd go back to darker hair, the blond takes the color out of your face, youre absolutely beautiful! another fan wrote. Amen but are you OK? another asked. You look like youve been crying or maybe youre just a tired mama either way, sending positive thoughts and prayers your way. Fans want to know whats currently going on with Jinger Duggars family RELATED: Duggar Family Critics Are Appalled by Jinger Duggar and Jeremy Vuolos Promotional Video for Their New Business Not only did some fans comment on Jingers appearance, but others are wondering why Jinger hasnt posted photos of the baby since she was born. Why doesnt she ever post any pictures of the new baby? another fan asked on the post. I have wondered as well, another added. They both seem to have stopped sharing pics of the kids. I totally understand the desire for privacy if that is the issue. It just seems so abrupt. We need more pics of the baby and Felicity, yet another wrote. As much as fans adore photos of Jinger and Jeremys kids, the couple has the right to keep their private life private if they so choose. The most important thing is that the family is happy, healthy, and pursuing goals of that bring them peace and joy. Check out Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Mick Fleetwood admitted he 'forgot' two years of his life after battling a 'long, long' cocaine habit. In a new interview, the Fleetwood Mac star, 73, confessed the group was 'well-equipped' with the drug in the 1970s and has no recollection of his past hiatus from work. The drummer branded himself 'the party animal in the band' as he recalled when things 'got out of hand' after the success of the band's 1977 album Rumours. 'I was the party animal in the band': Mick Fleetwood admitted he 'forgot' two years of his life after battling a 'long, long' cocaine habit (pictured in 2019) Musician Mick told Classic Rock Magazine: 'There's no doubt we were well equipped with the marching powder. That's a well-worn fairy tale that gets more like a war story, that gets more and more aggrandised. 'I'm not minimalising the fact that we were definitely partaking in that lifestyle. But these weren't a bunch of people crawling along the floor with green froth coming out of their mouths. We were working, you know? 'That went on for a long, long time, and Stevie [Nicks] has addressed it, so I'm not divulging anything that she hasn't spoken about... I remember not working for two years. I can't even remember what I did.' Fleetwood Mac formed in London in 1967 and currently features members Mick, Stevie, John McVie, Christine McVie, Mike Campbell and Neil Finn. Candid: The Fleetwood Mac star, 73, confessed the group was 'well-equipped' with the drug in the 1970s and has no recollection of his past hiatus from work (pictured in 1970) 'That's a well-worn fairy tale that gets more like a war story': The drummer recalled when things 'got out of hand' after the success of the band's 1977 album Rumours (pictured in 1980) Late last year, their album Rumours re-entered the top 10 with the help of a TikTok video featuring the artists' iconic single Dreams. The British-American rock band re-joined the Billboard charts with its famed album, 43 years after it was first released. Rumours jumped up to No. 9 in the chart, creeping up an impressive six spots from the week before. Dreams, Fleetwood Mac's second single from the 1977 album, has seen an even bigger leap, landing at No. 3 in the chart, according to Variety. Chart-topping: Late last year, their album Rumours re-entered the top 10 with the help of a TikTok video featuring the artists' iconic single Dreams (John and Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham and Mick pictured in 2014) Rumours originally spent a staggering 31 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 across 1977 and 1978 and has now returned to the top ten for the first time since 1978. Dreams climbed to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time on June 18, 1977, and held that spot for one week. The single has now found its way to the top of the iTunes chart and was also among the 50 most-streamed songs on Spotify. The unexpected resurgence of Fleetwood Mac's iconic album was driven by skateboarder and TikTok enthusiast Nathan Apodaca. My turn: Artist Mick even joined in a TikTok craze which saw skateboarder Nathan Apodaca film himself lip-syncing to Dreams while cruising on his long board and drinking juice Apodaca, who uses the TikTok handle 420doggface208, filmed himself lip-syncing to Dreams while sipping on Ocean Spray's Cran-Raspberry juice and cruising on his long board across an empty highway. The clip immediately went viral and Fleetwood Mac band members Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood quickly joined the craze to recreate Apodaca's video. Fleetwood Mac's self-titled 1975 album also benefited from Apodaca's success, moving up to No. 44 on the Billboard chart this week. Here is a sampling of the weeks events and how to tune in (all times are Eastern). Note that events are subject to change after publication. Monday Explore the history of jazz in Washington with the musician, broadcaster and historian Ken Avis, as he discusses what made the city a capital for the genre and how the music has changed through the years. This event, presented by the Smithsonian Associates, costs $25 for members and $30 for nonmembers. Registration closes two hours before the event. When 6:45 p.m. Where smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/music-city-dc Listen to a conversation between Priyanka Chopra Jonas and the author Glennon Doyle, presented by Live Talks Los Angeles. The two will discuss Ms. Chopra Jonass new memoir, Unfinished, which recounts the actress and producers 20-year, dual-continent career. Tickets cost $38, and include a signed copy of Unfinished, which is available to ship only within the United States. Actress Alia Bhatt who has been working tirelessly for her next Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial film Gangubai Kathiawadi has taken some time off from work while enjoying her getaway with family and friends. The actress is on a vacation in the Maldives with her sister Shaheen Bhatt and friends Akansha and Anushka Ranjan Kapoor. Alia took to Instagram and treated fans with amazing pictures from her trip where she can be seen soaking the sun in a beautiful swimsuit. Sharing the bikini photos, Alia wrote, "Blue seas and a Pisces." Alia Bhatt shares pics from the Maldives vacay The actress is seen sitting on the beach in a multicoloured swimsuit, splashing water and striking poses for pictures. She even shared pictures with Akansha as the two-step out to party on February 6. The picture showed Alia in a blue and pink top, with funky earrings while Akansha looked glamorous in her blue off-shoulder top with matching accessories. Akansha was the first one to comment under the post and wrote, "Acha acha okay okay". The post also received a comment from her mother Soni Razdan who wrote, Hello little fishy. Apart from Alia, Akansha also shared pictures from the shot vacay where she can be seen posing in a mustard swimsuit. She captioned the post as "wave after wave". Ali was the first one to comment with fire emoticons. She even shared a selfie of the two together enjoying some time in the pool and spa. Read: Alia Bhatt Shares Her Monochrome Pictures And Quotes Virginia Woolf In Latest Post Read: Alia Bhatt Stuns In Beige Gown And Sandals In Viral Photos From Film City, See Pics Meanwhile, the actress, who has been stealing the limelight with her marriage rumours with beau Ranbir Kapoor, recently went on a dinner date with someone special. Though not with Ranbir, Alia Bhatt had another close one that she spent her dinner date with. It was none other than her sister Shaheen Bhatt. The duo seems to have gone on a trip together and spent some quality-sister-time together. Shaheen had shared a photo of Alia, dressed beautifully in a red dress on her Instagram stories and captioned the post as 'dinner date'. On the work front, Alia has been shooting for multiple projects that include Gangubai Kathiawadi. The shooting of the movie is based on the 'madam' of a brothel. Among the other projects in Alia's kitty include the multi-starrer RRR. The movie stars Jr NTR and Ram Charan in lead roles and also features Ajay Devgn, among others. While the first look posters of the leads and teasers were unveiled, there is still a mystery on Alia's look and role, which has been kept under wraps till now. Alia will also be seen for the first time with Ranbir Kapoor, in the movie Brahmastra, which is also likely to release this year. Read: Alia Bhatt Answers Fans' Assumptions About Being A 'guitarist'; Reveals Her Love For '8' Read: Alia Bhatt Stuns In Red Dress On 'dinner Date' With Special One But It's Not Ranbir Kapoor (Image credit: Alia Bhatt/ Instagram) 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. France on Saturday reported a fall in new COVID-19 infections and in the number of patients being treated in hospital, slightly easing pressure on the health system as the country rolled out shots with a third approved vaccine. The country registered 20,586 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, down from 22,139 the previous day and marking the third straight daily fall. Hospitals were treating 27,369 people for the disease, down 245 from the previous day in a fourth consecutive daily fall. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care eased to 3,225, down 20 from the previous day, data showed. The government has resisted calls from health experts to impose a new national lockdown but the level of new cases per day has remained relatively steady above 20,000. The number of people in France who have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine has reached 1.86 million, with 247,260 having also received their second dose, the health ministry said. France has received a batch of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca, with 273,600 doses delivered, the ministry said in an statement. The initial AstraZeneca shots are being reserved for health personnel under 65, with first injections taking place on Saturday. A second batch of 304,800 doses will be delivered next week. AstraZeneca is the third shot to be made available in France after Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. France is relying on the AstraZeneca shot to accelerate a vaccination campaign criticised for a slow start. However, it may obtain fewer deliveries than initially hoped after production setbacks sparked a row between the company and the European Union. The ministry reported 191 new deaths linked to COVID-19, taking Frances cumulative death toll in hospitals and nursing homes to 78,794. Around 200 MW of power supply to the national grid was affected due to avalanche in Uttarakhand as local administration shut down two plants, Tehri and Koteshwar, as a precautionary measure. The hydro power plants in the affected area are mostly under-construction or fall in small hydro project category which are of up to 25MW. These small hydro projects are mainly state owned. Earlier in the day, a glacier broke off in Joshimath in Uttarakhands Chamoli district which caused a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and endangered lives of people living along its banks. It is reported that massive destruction is feared and many people were missing after the disaster. An official on the condition of anonymity told PTI, "The local authorities have shut two power plants- Tehri and Koteshwar as a precautionary measure in view of the disaster. This has affected the overall power supply of not more than 200 MW to the national grid." The official added that all big hydro projects (of over 25MW capacity) are mostly under-construction and there is no point of power supply disruption due to those. However, it is feared that there is financial loss of crores of rupees due to the disaster as one of the dams at a big hydro power project of state-run NTPC was breached. "One of the dams of big NTPC hydro power project at Tapovan Vishnugad was breached. The actual loss would be ascertained once the water recedes." Earlier in the day, NTPC also confirmed that the avalanche near Tapovan in Uttarakhand has damaged its under-construction hydropower project. NTPC tweeted, "An avalanche near Tapovan in Uttarakhand has damaged a part of our under-construction hydropower project in the region. While rescue operation is on, situation is being monitored continuously with the help of district administration and police." The Tapovan Vishnugad power plant is a 520MW run-of-river project which is being constructed on Dhauliganga River in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand. The Tehri (1000MW) and Koteshwar (400MW) projects are operated by THDC India Ltd which is a subsidiary of NTPC. Last year, the NTPC had acquired 74.496 per cent equity stake of the government in THDC India Limited (THDCIL) for 7,500 crore. 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 19:18:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MALE, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Maldives has vaccinated over 6,000 people against the COVID-19 pandemic in the first six days of its vaccination program, local media citing the Health Protection Agency (HPA) reported here Sunday. Data from the HPA showed that 2,575 people were vaccinated on Saturday, bringing the total number of vaccinated up to 6,854. Among those vaccinated people, 5,588 are from the capital region of Greater Male while the remaining 1,266 are from the atolls. Meanwhile, 109 new COVID-19 cases were detected on Saturday, raising the total number of active cases to 2,039, including 207 have been hospitalized for treatment. The Maldives has a total of 16,656 confirmed cases, out of which 14,556 patients have fully recovered and 54 have died. The government of the Maldives has pledged to vaccinate its entire population free of charge within six months. Enditem Press Release February 6, 2021 Lacson: AFP to Do Better vs Terrorism, Insurgency with New Chief's Policies More at: https://pinglacson.net/2021/02/06/lacson-afp-to-do-better-vs-terrorism-insurgency-with-new-chiefs-policies/ With its new chief's instructions to exercise due diligence, the Armed Forces of the Philippines should do better against the threats of terrorism and insurgency, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson said Saturday. Lacson said he is hopeful that with new AFP chief of staff Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana's emphasis on tact and sensitivity, there will be no repeat of the recent gaffes especially in anti-insurgency efforts. "I just hope Lt. Gen. Sobejana's initial pronouncements will serve as the policy guideline for the AFP," he said in an interview on DWIZ radio. On his Twitter account, Lacson also said Sobejana "is a fine example of an AFP Chief of Staff who can articulate." "A Medal of Valor awardee, his wisdom matches his bravery," he added. Sobejana, who assumed the AFP's top post on Thursday, had said he would focus on putting an end to terrorist groups, including the New People's Army and Abu Sayyaf, during his six-month tour of duty. But he added the AFP, in doing so, should exercise due diligence in identifying the enemies of the state. Lacson said Sobejana's policies should also be followed by Southern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., whose recent Facebook posts indicated he may file a suit against a journalist. "As much as we try to understand Lt. Gen. Parlade, who is very passionate about his work, his timing and the context of his posts were off. They came at a time petitioners against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 raised the issue of 'overbreadth doctrine' where freedom of speech and expression is threatened," Lacson said. ADVERTISEMENT Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun has ordered investigations into the recent clash between herdsmen and farmers in Eggua, Yewa-North Council Area of the state. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the clash led to the loss of one life and destruction of property. Kunle Somorin, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, in a statement in Abeokuta on Saturday stated that Mr Abiodun had also set up a special task force to maintain peace in all areas prone to herders/farmers conflict in the state. According to the statement, the governor had also directed that those behind the violence should be brought to justice. Our first priority in Ogun is the safety of lives and property of everyone and we will not compromise on that. We will not condone any act of criminality in the state, no matter who is involved. The police and other security agencies have been directed to go after the perpetrators of this act and bring them to book. We will not allow anybody to disrupt the peace in Ogun and anyone who tries to test our resolve to maintain peace in our state will have himself or herself to blame, the governor was quoted as saying. Mr Abiodun commiserated with the family of the deceased and also expressed sympathy to those who lost their farmlands as well as cows during the unfortunate incident. The governor had convened an expansive stakeholders meeting involving farmers, herdsmen and other stakeholders to bring about a lasting peace. Our state is known for being a haven of peace, security and harmonious relationship amongst people of different ethnic groups whether citizens or settlers, who consider the state their home. This is a long and cherished tradition that we are proud of and which this administration is committed to sustaining. We, therefore, condemn in strong terms the recent unfortunate violence orchestrated by certain elements to set an agenda that is inimical to public security and safety, the governor said. (NAN) An endangered tiger which escaped from a zoo on Borneo island and killed a zookeeper has been captured alive after a day on the loose. The female white Bengal tiger was found wandering in a jungle surrounding Sinka Zoo in the town of Singkawang, West Kalimantan on Saturday, following its escape through a hole. The 18-month-old animal is believed to have made its way out of the zoo after days of torrential rail created a hole near its enclosure. The white tiger was found wandering in a nearby jungle surrounding Sinka Zoo, on Borneo island earlier today. Another was shot dead after she could not be tranquilized. Picture: Stock Another tiger, of the same age, managed to break free and was shot dead yesterday. A 47-year-old zookeeper was found dead with scratches and bite wounds on his body. Authorities also found dead a cassowary, ostrich and monkey near the tiger cage. The escape triggered a frantic search involving police, military and conservation officials, while locals were told to stay at home and avoid tourist attractions near the zoo while authorities hunted the animals. A 47-year-old zookeeper was found dead close to the enclosure and a range of other animals were also found. Picture: Stock Local police chief Prasetiyo Adhi Wibowo said they found and captured the second tiger by sedating it with a tranquilizer. An orange-coloured Bengal tiger was shot dead yesterday after a failed attempt to neutralise it with a tranquillizer gun. Conservationists said they were forced to shoot the endangered animal after it was no longer responding to its keeper and showed aggressive behaviour towards humans. Indonesia's zoos do not have a good reputation, and some have been reported for animal cruelty. Staff at Ryanair who were tested for Covid-19 have raised concerns over the manner in which an outbreak of the virus at the airlines headquarters was handled. Internal communications obtained by the PA news agency informed staff of an outbreak in the office at Airside Business Park in Swords, North Dublin on December 9. The HSE intervened and initiated mass testing at the office. Expand Close The Ryanair headquarters at Airside Business Park in Swords, Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Ryanair headquarters at Airside Business Park in Swords, Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) At least one staff member who was being tested was instructed by a line manager to tell the HSE they had no close contacts in the office in the event of a positive result. They were advised that names of individuals could not be provided to the HSE due to GDPR purposes. The employee was told to advise the HSE they had no close contacts in the office based on all procedures being followed. If the HSE persisted with questions, the employee was directed to refer them to a senior member of staff at the airline. The revelations come just a week after Ryanair boss Michael OLeary accused public health chiefs in Ireland of causing mass hysteria. Prior to the HSEs involvement, the company was operating its own testing regime for staff. One employee said they believed the HSE became involved after noticing a high number of employees presenting with symptoms. The PA news agency has been told that a number of staff in the operations room at Ryanair HQ were particularly concerned about safety procedures in place in the building. Expand Close A Ryanair jet passes a traffic control tower at Dublin airport (Niall Carson/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A Ryanair jet passes a traffic control tower at Dublin airport (Niall Carson/PA) A staff member said: That room in particular, its like a meeting room. Its big, but theres no ventilation, the doors are always closed. Even the winter before Covid, one person in the room got sick and we all got sick. The ventilation in the room is shocking. They said colleagues had been freaked out by the number of positive cases. A staff memo sent in mid-December advised staff that the majority of people in the Ops area had tested negative. But sources believe the extent of the number of cases was played down to workers in the building, based on the length of time testing continued. Staff were first notified of an outbreak on December 9, internal communications obtained by the PA News Agency show. It said the outbreak had been confined to a single room and that all HSE advice was followed, including a deep clean of the office, and testing of staff was arranged for the following day. Staff were informed of a small number of additional cases in a memo sent on December 16. On January 28, a memo informed staff there had been no positive case for over a week. The revelations come just a week after Ryanair boss Micheal OLeary launched an attack public health chiefs, accusing them of causing mass hysteria over the coronavirus. In an interview with RTE last Monday, Mr OLeary insisted his airline would bounce back by June, encouraging people to resume international travel. Expand Close Ryanair CEO Michael OLeary had accused public health body Nphet of causing mass hysteria (Niall Carson/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ryanair CEO Michael OLeary had accused public health body Nphet of causing mass hysteria (Niall Carson/PA) He said: Nphet and the chief medical officer, if he was doing his job properly, should be holding press conferences announcing the number of people who have been vaccinated. Not issuing scare stories about numbers of people in hospitals. He added: We need to get away from the mass hysteria created by Nphet. A Ryanair spokesperson said the airline does not comment on rumour or speculation. They added: Ryanair operates an essential service, and has at all times complied with HSE Health and Safety guidelines in the workplace. A spokesperson for the HSE said: The HSE does not comment on individual cases or outbreaks as to do so would breach our duty of confidentiality to the individuals or businesses concerned. However, they said where there are cases identified at a workplace, the local public health team discuss this with the case, asks them about their contacts and also discuss the issue with the facility. The spokesperson added: Initially, if there are only one or two cases, only the cases and their contacts are tested and advised to stay off work and to isolate. However, depending on the local circumstances environment, work practices, travel arrangements, accommodation and social practices different approaches will be taken on whether to test all staff, some staff considered at slightly higher risk, none immediately, or to wait for the first set of contact results. Likewise, whether to close or keep open the facility will be dependent on all the above factors. This approach is used in a wide range of settings. As many as 150 people were feared dead due to flash floods in Uttarakhand after Nanda Devi, a Himalayan glacier, broke and crashed into a dam early on Sunday, forcing the evacuation of villages downstream. A witness who spoke to news agency Reuters reported a wall of dust, rock and water as an avalanche roared down a river valley. "It came very fast, there was no time to alert anyone," Sanjay Singh Rana, who lives on the upper reaches of Raini village, told Reuters by phone. "I felt that even we would be swept away." So far, five people have been confirmed as dead, but over 150 are missing as the state stares at a major disaster. The government has deployed all its resources for the search and rescue, as NDRF personnel were airlifted from Ghaziabad near Delhi, and Army and Air Force were also pressed in service. Follow all live updates here. "The actual number has not been confirmed yet," but 100 to 150 people were feared dead, Om Prakash, chief secretary of Uttarakhand, told news agency ANI. Locals fear that people working at the nearby hydro-power project had been swept away, as well as villagers roaming near the river looking for firewood or grazing their cattle, Rana said. "We have no idea how many people are missing." The glacier breach has triggered an avalanche and massive flooding along the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers, forcing the emergency evacuation of thousands from surrounding areas, and damaging houses and the nearby Rishiganga power project. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is touring poll-bound Assam and West Bengal, said he was closely monitoring the situation. "India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyones safety there," he said on Twitter after speaking with the state chief minister. Home Minister Amit Shah said disaster-response teams were being airlifted in to help with relief and rescue. "All the concerned officers are working on a war footing," Shah said on Twitter, referring to Uttarakhand by its nickname, the Hindi term for "land of the gods" - due to the numerous Hindu temples and pilgrimage centres located across the state. The neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh also put its riverside areas on high alert. Footage shared by locals showed the water washing away parts of the dam as well as whatever else was in its path. Videos on social media showed water surging through a small dam site, washing away construction equipment. #WATCH | Water level in Dhauliganga river rises suddenly following avalanche near a power project at Raini village in Tapovan area of Chamoli district. #Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/syiokujhns ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 "The flow of the Alaknanda River beyond Nandprayag (stretch) has become normal," Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said on Twitter. "The water level of the river is now 1 meter above normal but the flow is decreasing." Uttarakhand in the Himalayas is prone to flash floods and landslides. In June 2013, record rainfall caused devastating floods that claimed close to 6,000 lives. That disaster was dubbed the "Himalayan tsunami" due to the torrents of water unleashed in the mountainous area, which sent mud and rocks crashing down, burying homes, sweeping away buildings, roads and bridges. (With inputs from Reuters) The Biden administration is weighing ways to ease Irans financial pain without lifting crushing economic sanctions -- including on oil sales -- as a step toward reviving the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by former President Donald Trump, Bloomberg reports. Some options U.S. officials are debating include providing backing for International Monetary Fund lending to Tehran for coronavirus relief and easing up on sanctions that have stymied international coronavirus aid from getting into Iran, according to four people familiar with the administrations thinking. Such moves could be justified on humanitarian grounds. President Joe Biden could also sign an executive order reversing Trumps decision to quit the multinational deal, according to the people. But issuing sanctions waivers to allow Iran to sell oil on the international market isnt currently under serious consideration, according to the people. Over recent months theres been a lot of thinking in both Europe and the Democratic camp on a number of immediate measures the U.S. can realistically take, said Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. She described the ideas under consideration as measures that can still give Iran tangible relief. The Libyan Joint Military Committee 5 + 5 announced on Saturday that the country's demining process will begin on 10 February. It's in preparation for the opening of the coastal road between Cyrenaica and Tripoli, a transit route between Libya's east and west, that has been closed since April 2019. The Committee agreed to reopen the road last November in order to help citizens move more freely and help with the implementation of an October cease-fire agreement. This called for the withdrawal of all armed forces from conflict lines and the departure of all mercenaries and foreign fighters within three months, which has not happened. The Committee also welcomed Libya's new presidential council and unified government which will lead the country's transitional period until general elections are held at the end of this year. Head of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) military committee, General Mraje Omami, said that they had recently held intensive meetings to see "what can be done in terms of achieving the comfort of the citizens and ending the fighting in Libya". Oil-rich Libya was plunged into chaos after a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi and split the country between a U.N.-supported government in Tripoli and rival authorities based in countrys east, each side backed by an array of local militias as well as regional and foreign powers. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. 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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 Back where he belongs, says Director Alliance Francaise de Kotte By Ruqyyaha Deane Bruno Duparc fell in love with Sri Lanka the first time he was posted here View(s): View(s): His journey with Alliance Francaise in Sri Lanka coming full circle, newly appointed Director of Alliance Francaise de Kotte and Alliance Francaise in Sri Lanka and Maldives Coordinator, Bruno Duparc tells us how a simple voluntary teachers position almost 34 years ago has led to where he is now. It was my first encounter with Alliance Francaise and Asia and I fell in love with them both. It was love at first sight, Duparc says as he paints a picture of the old Alliance Francaise de Kotte branch in Ward Place whilst sitting in the library of their current offices located down Keppetipola Road amidst French books, magazines, DVDs and other paraphernalia. After his first posting to Sri Lanka in the late 1980s Duparc went on to travel around the world and work at other branches of the Alliance Francaise. From Morocco to Brazil and Australia, he travelled as the Alliance one of the largest cultural non-governmental organisations in the world was in over 130 countries and currently has 832 branches. However it was Asia that really called out to him as he worked in Cambodia, Malaysia (where he met his wife) and Taiwan where he was posted as of last August. I am back in Sri Lanka, back to square one and I wanted to come here. I could have gone to Japan, Singapore or anywhere else but the love for this country made me come back, he smiles. With extensive experience managing Alliance Francaise operations around the globe which Duparc jokingly says is the only thing he knows how to do right, he elaborated on his plans for the year ahead. He plans to reinforce the course activities they already offer (both online and on-site) and improve the training teachers receive as teaching online requires different preparation methods, evaluation and content. He also plans on collaborating with their German counterpart, the Goethe-Institut and hopefully organising an European Day of Languages which falls on the last Saturday of September with the participation of various European embassies and high commissions. To offer the best quality service to the Sri Lankan people, this is a major goal and it is very important to us, Duparc shares. Although the situation does not seem conducive right now, we wish to expand cultural events first around Colombo and also in other cities especially where we are already established such as Kandy, Jaffna, Matara and Galle. We feel that is it is important to foster French education and culture and we have a few universities who have reached out to us to establish programmes, added France Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Eric Lavertu. Asked how they have managed with the constraints imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Duparc said that through a team of experts at Alliance Francaise de Kotte who managed to shift all on-site classes to online, they were able to continue classes and gain students who were unable to travel from far as before. Some 450 students registered for their January intake. They hope to resume classes by splitting them to half on-site and half online thus implementing a hybrid system to meet certain demands of students. Exams will take place as before however with all COVID-19 safety precautions followed. Cultural events are an obvious challenge; they will have conferences, films and a few programmes online but admit it is not the same as having a good crowd physically present. The much anticipated Spring Festival held to honour the first day of summer in Europe will hopefully go ahead if the situation in the country allows it. For more information, visit www.alliancefrancaise.lk Dublins newly installed Archbishop has strongly condemned the prevalence of knife crime in the capital as he prayed for those mortally wounded in recent acts of inhuman violence. Speaking in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Ballymun, Dublin, Archbishop Dermot Farrell warned that people have become desensitised to knife violence and the resulting tragic deaths and he regretted the loss of empathy towards other human beings. He told the local parish community that courage was needed to communicate a vision of non-violence to a culture which advocates carrying knives and wielding them to intimidate people or settle disagreements. Knife crime and violence, which is self-destructive, must always be condemned, he said. Dr Farrells comments follow several violent incidents involving knife crime in the city in recent weeks. He said the threat to life posed by knife violence must be addressed with the full strength of our Catholic faith. He also reached out to one local family grieving the death of their child through a violent incident and prayed that they might experience consolation, healing, and reconciliation. Dr Farrell said that while laws and regulations may help address violence on the streets or in homes, what was needed was a different way of thinking which turns such a dominant and destructive culture on its head. We need to come to the realisation that in wielding a knife, everything can be lost, and nothing gained. He stressed that carrying a knife does not ensure a persons security. Sooner or later, the knife, he warned, would be used in a malicious way which put people in the way of serious injury or death. This is not the way to construct a world that is safe - safe for ourselves, safe for each other, safe for our children, and safe for the vulnerable - be they old or young, friend or stranger. Violence is the not the way of the strong; in the end, violence is the way of those who see no other way. The Archbishop of Dublin suggested that if the problem of violence is to be overcome, a spiritual and moral conversion was needed in order to build a culture of non-violence in the capital. We need to recover what it means to be a sister or a brother, friend and neighbour, he said as he prayed for innocent people accidentally involved in evil and that broken hearts would find consolation, forgiveness and healing. The royal family will 'not like' the upcoming Princess Diana's upcoming biopic starring Kristen Stewart, an expert has claimed. Robert Jobson, a royal biographer who knew the late Princess' 'well' said that it was 'inevitable' The Firm won't enjoy the picture 'at all'. The film, directed by Pablo Larrain and written by Steven Knight, will focus on a 'pivotal' weekend at Sandringham and also stars Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins and Sean Harris. 'I knew her as a person, it's inevitable that the royals won't like the biopic at all,' Jobson, who has written multiple books about the royal, told Us Weekly. 'They won't like it, but they would have expected it. It is the truth, I think the most important thing is how well the actress can interpret the role. We'll have to wait and see on that. The royal family will 'not like' the upcoming Princess Diana's upcoming biopic starring Kristen Stewart, an expert has claimed. Robert Jobson, a royal biographer who knew the late Princess' 'well' said that it was 'inevitable' The Firm won't enjoy the picture 'at all'. Kristen Stewart is pictured in the role In June last year it was revealed that the Twilight actress, 30, would depict the late royal in a film which dramatises a 'critical' few days at the Norfolk estate in the early 1990s, when Diana decided that her marriage to Prince Charles wasn't working. It follows the moments in which the Princess of Wales realised she 'needed to veer from a path that put her in line to one day be queen', and is said to take place during one of Diana's final Christmases at the House of Windsor in Sandringham. Jobson added that the photographs of Stewart looked 'remarkably like Diana' and 'uncanny'. 'I think what's more important is the authenticity of the portrayal, and we'll have to see how that develops because my understanding is it's going to be a good script and it's going to be a good premise, but it might not necessarily have actually happened in the way they're saying,' he continued. In June last year it was revealed that the Twilight actress, 30, would depict the late royal in a film which dramatises a 'critical' few days at the Norfolk estate in the early 1990s, when Diana decided that her marriage to Prince Charles wasn't working. Princess Diana is pictured in the 1990s It comes as new accuracy row has broken out over the upcoming film with royal experts branding it inaccurate because it's set on a weekend at Sandringham which never happened. According to Jobson and fellow biographer Ingrid Seward, Diana had stopped visiting the estate before the period in which the drama is set. Robert added that Diana had already made the decision regarding her marriage 'years before', while Ingrid pointed out that the princess 'never wanted a divorce'. It comes as new accuracy row has broken out over the upcoming film with royal experts branding it inaccurate because it's set on a weekend at Sandringham which never happened. Princess Diana and Prince Harry are pictured It follows widespread criticism of Netflix drama The Crown, which saw politicians, experts and friends of the Royal Family call for a disclaimer to warn viewers that the show twists the truth. Friends of close senior royals including Prince Charles even went so far as to accuse it of 'trolling on a Hollywood budget'. Speaking on True Royalty TV 's The Royal Beat, Robert said: 'I don't even think she was there that weekend. She wasn't even at Sandringham, on this supposed weekend. 'The film will suggest this is where the decision was made to divorce, but she never made that decision. I didn't think she was at Sandringham after 1990 and this was set in 1991.' Kristen, 30, left, said she hasn't been excited about a role in a long time ahead of her portrayal of Princess Diana (right in 1994) Ingrid added: 'The film is based on three days at Sandringham, and the period that it is based on, Diana wasn't going to Sandringham anymore. 'It's probably going to just play up what life was like at Sandringham, which would be quite interesting for a lot of people to see. It has a good setting.' The screenplay of Spencer was written by Steven Knight, who worked on Peaky Blinders, so Robert predicted the film will be 'explosive and rock n roll'. Like The Crown, the latest series of which was branded a 'spiteful attack on the Royal Family by making them look like inept idiots' by Angela Levin, author of Harry: Biography of a Prince, Robert suggested this film will also mix fact with fiction. 'I think it's a shame because there's so much out there that we know that is true, but then again they need that scope to be able to do a fictional drama like this,' he said. A COVID-19 stimulus-linked bill out of Rep. Richard Neals office calls on the Internal Revenue Service to send American families at least $3,000-per-child every year. Part of President Joe Bidens and Democrats $1.9 trillion relief package, Neals proposal would see families receive up to $3,600 per child under 6 and $3,000 for every child between 6 and 17. According to The Washington Post, which obtained a copy of the bill before its unveiling Monday, the payments would decrease for single parents earning more than $75,000 or couples earning more than $150,000 combined. The groundbreaking proposal, which would include monthly checks up to $300 per young child beginning in July and lasting a single year, comes at a time when the pandemic has left millions unemployed and more children in poverty. The pandemic is driving families deeper and deeper into poverty, and its devastating, Neal, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement to MassLive Sunday. This money is going to be the difference in a roof over someones head or food on their table. This is how the tax code is supposed to work for those who need it most, and so long as I am Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, its what you can expect to see from us. According to the Childrens Defense Fund, nearly one in six American children almost 12 million lived in poverty in 2018. While data from Pew Research Center showed that figure dipping over 2019, the economic fallout of the pandemic saw monthly poverty rates increase from 15% to 16.7% between February and September 2020, according to the Columbia University Center on Poverty & Social Policy. Researchers at Columbia estimated in October that the pandemic may have led to an additional 2.5 million children living in poverty since May. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, one of 10 Republicans calling for a compromise $618 billion relief bill, recently called for sending even bigger checks to American families $4,200 for children up to 6 and $3,000 for children 6 to 17. But the former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate proposed paying for the checks by eliminating the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare program and making other cuts to tax credits that assist working families, the Post reported. The Democrats proposal, which is pushing through Congress in an annual budget reconciliation process that doesnt require bipartisan support, keeps TANF and tax credits for children and working families intact. Similar to the previous stimulus checks in COVID-19 relief packages, most of the child benefit payments would be directly deposited into Americans bank accounts according to their information on file with the IRS. The bill would establish an online portal letting families update their income information, should their income drop and they become eligible for payments, the Post reported. Details of the proposal come as lawmakers debate the income thresholds for those eligible to receive $1,400 stimulus checks also included in Bidens proposal. Some lawmakers are calling for capping the eligibility at $50,000 for single taxpayers and $100,000 for married couples, and Biden has said hes open to negotiating eligibility. The Senate recently overwhelmingly passed an amendment restricting upper-income Americans from receiving checks, but lawmakers did not define upper-income. In two previous stimulus bills, Americans earning $75,000 or less and married couples earning up to $150,000 received full stimulus checks of $1,200 and $600; adults earning up to $99,000 and couples earning up to $198,000 received incrementally smaller checks based on income. Related Content: Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 20:59:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Railway police in China have cracked 2,188 cases involving telecom fraud in 2020, according to the Ministry of Public Security. Railway police have intensified clampdown on telecom fraud and strengthened coordination with local police since last year. In one of the cases last October, railway police in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region jointly worked with police in east China to bust an illegal racket that was perpetrating fraudulent activities through peer-to-peer lending platforms, arresting 28 suspects. Railway police have also stepped up efforts at enhancing the public awareness of fraudulent practices through announcements on trains, pamphlets, and social media. Enditem Sindhudurg : , Feb 7 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday reiterated that his Bharatiya Janata Party never promised to give the Maharashtra's Chief Minister's post to its then ally Shiv after the 2019 Assembly elections. Slamming the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and virtually terming Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray a liar, he also disputed the Sena chief's claims that the assurance was made to him in private. "I was the BJP President then... We never gave any such undertaking and we do not lie They are claiming we did it in a private room... I don't do anything in private, I do everything in the open, in full public view," Shah asserted. Instead, he countered Thackeray by asking why he didn't raise objections during the joint BJP-Sena campaign which was conducted with big photos of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on election posters and banners on stage. There were posters of the PM The elections were held under the leadership of Modiji and (then Chief Minister Uddhav) Fadnavis. Uddhav was present in rallies where Modiji or I was there. But at no point of time they raised the issue of the CM's post," Shah argued. Justifying his contentions, Shah narrated the example of Bihar where Nitish Kumar was given the CM's post although his party won lesser seats compared with the BJP in the Assembly elections last year. Making his first direct attack on the 3-party alliance of Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress since it took power in November 2019, Shah labelled it as "an autorickshaw government" with each wheel going in different directions. "In his greed to grab power, Uddhav Thackeray junked the late Balasaheb Thackeray's ideals and principles, entered into an unholy alliance and became CM. "They have violated the sacred public mandate which was in favour of BJP-Sena... They colluded to form the 3-party 'autorickshaw government' in Maharashtra which is floundering at every step," Shah said. He also recounted the Modi's global trendsetting handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 'timely lockdown' imposed in March 2020, the meticulous treatment protocols which are being studied and followed worldwide, the huge strides in the country's medical and health sectors, development of the vaccines in the country which was poised to supply them to nearly two-thirds of humanity, etc. Shah also lavished praises on his party colleage and Rajya Sabha MP Narayan Rane for continuous efforts to develop Sindhudurg and assured that the BJP would not dump him under any circumstances, but instead treat him with full dignity. Earlier, Shah inaugurated Rane's new 300-bed private hospital and medical college, in the presence of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Maharashtra's Leaders of Opposition Fadnavis (Assembly) and Pravin Darekar (Council), State BJP President Chandrakant Patil, other dignitaries, medical students, and political activists. Affiliated to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik, the Sindhudurg Shikshan Prasarak Mandal (SSPM) Medical College & Lifetime Hospital, founded by Rane, has come up on a 70-acre campus in Padve village in Kankavali and will give a much-needed boost to medical facilities in the coastal Konkan region. KHAMMAM: A high-level meeting of the state Congress on Sunday resolved to urge the AICC to reappoint Rahul Gandhi as party president. This was one of the three resolutions passed during a meeting attended by over 3,000 delegates, including the whos who of the state Congress. In attendance were AICC Telangana in-charge Manickyam Tagore, AICC secretaries Bose Raju and R. Srinivasan, TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy, CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka, former union minister Renuka Chowdary, DCC presidents and general secretaries of 33 districts, and town and city presidents. First on the days agenda was an internal meeting that passed three resolutions unanimously. The other two pertained to constituting booth-level committees (BLC) in all districts by the end of this month. It is proposed that each BLC should have a 15-member committee, including a convenor and social media convenor. The meeting resolved to go all out to win the ensuing graduate constituency elections and Khammam and Warangal municipal corporation elections. Uttam Kumar Reddy said, Names of candidates for graduate constituencies will be declared in a day or two. The party will win in all graduate constituencies and corporations in the state. CLP leader Bhatti Vikramarka, who organised the meeting, said There is no freedom for expression in Telangana state and cases are being booked against those questioning the policies of the TRS government. He said transport minister P. Ajay Kumar and other TRS leaders from Khammam were looting the natural resources in the district. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 18:24:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUSAKA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- In Zambia, charcoal is the main source of energy used for cooking meals as well as for heating purposes in many homes. While the commodity is readily available, not so many people are able to afford a standard bag of charcoal, which currently costs between 150 and 180 Zambian Kwacha (about 7 to 8 U.S. dollars). This has led to a rise in the demand for environmentally friendly cooking stoves, or simply eco-stoves. Compared to traditional cooking stoves locally called Mbaula, eco-stoves use less charcoal and retain heat for longer periods of time. They are made of special clay, which is key in the retention of heat, and scrap metal. Despite them costing almost five times more than traditional cooking stoves, a lot of people are buying eco-stoves now more than ever. This is because eco-stoves are both cost-effective and efficient, according to Jimmy Kaula, who makes both traditional cooking stoves and eco-stoves. Prices of eco-stoves range from 100 to 150 Zambian Kwacha, while a traditional cooking stove is sold at 20 and 25 Zambian Kwacha. Kaula noted that the increase in the demand for these environmentally friendly cooking stoves can be attributed to the global economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced many households to be economical in their spending. "Eco-stoves use less charcoal, that means fewer monies being spent on charcoal," he said, insisting that if the cost of living continues to go up, more and more households in Zambia would be compelled to switch to using eco-stoves. Fanes Jimina, a homemaker who has been using an eco-stove for more than a year, said the appliance enables her to prepare a number of dishes for her family at a time using very little charcoal. "I only use a quarter of the measure of charcoal I used to use on a traditional cooking stove," said Jimina, a resident of Lusaka, Zambia's capital. Her sentiments were shared by a number of individuals that are familiar with eco-stoves in Lusaka, some of whom called for a complete ban on the use of traditional cooking stoves stating that they are major contributor to deforestation. "Traditional cooking stoves are detrimental to the environment because they use up more charcoal, meaning more trees being cut down for purposes of charcoal making," said Michelo Moonga who is an ardent supporter of application of clean technologies for development. Enditem Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Cloudy with periods of rain. High 51F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Low around 45F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Few parish council meetings in England ever achieve the kind of viewing figures that would turn BBC or indeed RTE bosses green with envy. But Handforth parish council, which is based just outside Manchester, has racked up almost four million views and counting for a YouTube video of its recent planning and environment committee. An 18-minute highlights video of the meeting - held on Zoom - shows warring councillors trading insults, uttering snobbish barbs and drowning out each other shouting and laughing like hyenas. Indeed at the start of the clip someone can be heard muttering "f*ck off". Then another councillor answers her phone, not realising she has left her mic on the Zoom meeting. In the middle of it all - and valiantly trying to keep the peace - was local government troubleshooter Jackie Weaver, who had to boot three councillors off the call so she could maintain order. Now she is famous online as the woman ordered to "stop talking" and being told: "You have no authority here." Another councillor barked at her: "Read the standing orders. Read them and understand them." And after learning the council chairman was now referring to himself as the clerk too, she replied: "Please refer to me as Britney Spears from now on." Footage from the meeting, which was held before Christmas, was only put online last Thursday afternoon - and by the following morning had been viewed more than three million times. Whereas parish council meetings are traditionally dull - more focused on grass verges and bus shelters - the one at Handforth will long live in the memory for the fireworks normally associated with Westminster or Stormont. Since hosting the meeting, Ms Weaver has joked about her future appearances on screen, sensing perhaps the British public are keen to see more of a woman whose bravery in the face of insolent politicians has won their hearts. Asked on Times Radio whether she would join Strictly Come Dancing or I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, Ms Weaver said: "I'm not quite sure the nation is ready for me to take part in Strictly. That may just be too much for people in lockdown." But she added: "Never say never." The popularity of the 18-minute clip of the meeting as well as shorter compilations came as a shock to Ms Weaver. "I suppose the surprise comes in large part because actually 99.99pc - that's an actual fact I'm sure - of council meetings are just not like that," she told BBC Radio Four. "They are often less exciting than we might hope they were." Ms Weaver hosted the meeting as part of her role with Cheshire Association of Local Councils, which provides "advice, guidance and support to town and parish councils". "Of that meeting, I'm not absolutely sure who was in charge," she told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour. "But if you want the boring details, we have two councillors who have legitimately called a meeting... and at that point my job in supporting them to hold that meeting was to make sure they were able to hold that meeting." In the meeting she booted out the chairman Brian Tolver, vice-chairman Aled Brewerton and their fellow councillor Barry Burkill. When one councillor, Susan Moore, had earlier called for civility, the meeting erupted into semi-hysterical laughter. Ms Weaver said it was important to try to eradicate "bad behaviour" from local councils. "A lot of us are working very hard - and that includes central government - to try to do something about that because we're passionate about the fact that local government is the mechanism by which people can really engage with their communities." But an unrepentant Mr Tolver said afterwards he did not regret how he had acted in the meeting. President Muhammadu Buhari has called for a comprehensive reform of the structures and operations of the African Union, to make it more functional in meeting targets, warning that the organization would become stale, except it becomes more result oriented. AU In an intervention at the ongoing two-day 34th Summit of the, held virtually, the President said: As your excellences are no doubt aware, global realities demand that the AU be overhauled, if it must remain relevant in intergovernmental processes. We must work concertedly to ensure a productive, self-sufficient and purpose driven organization that will fully serve the interests of the people. As we commence the operationalization of this new structure and system, Nigeria demands a truly reformed, efficient and effective AU Commission, one that is fully committed to the discharge of its duties and responsibilities. President Buhari commended President Paul Kagame of Rwanda for presenting a special report on the need to reform the AU. The President also appreciated the support of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in the election of Bankole Adeoye as Commissioner, Political Affairs, Peace and Security. ALSO READ: Venezuela appoints businessman detained in Cabo Verde as ambassador to African Union President Buhari notes, with gratitude, the overwhelming and historic endorsement of the ambassador with 55 votes, an indication that all the members voted, while congratulating the career diplomat, who also serves as Nigerias Permanent Representative to the AU and UNECA. President Buhari urges Mr Adeoye to deploy his knowledge and experience in foreign policy and diplomacy, particularly on bilateral and multilateral issues, to bring value to the new position, with an assurance of the countrys support. The President congratulates all elected members of the African Union Commission, 2021, which include the Chairman, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chad, and Deputy Chairman, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Rwanda. Garba Shehu Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity) February 7, 2021 Daniel Dae Kim and Daniel Wu are offering a reward for information that could locate a suspect, who viciously assaulted an elderly man last month. The attack, which was captured on camera and occurred in the Chinatown district of Oakland, California, showed a masked person shoving a 91-year-old to the ground outside the Asian Resource Center on January 31, according to People. The unidentified suspect has also been linked to the battery of a 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman the same day, also in Chinatown. Speaking up: Daniel Dae Kim and Daniel Wu are offering a reward for information that could locate a suspect, who viciously assaulted an elderly man last month; seen in April 2019 After learning of the violent attacks, Kim, 52, and Wu, 46, announced they would be providing a $25,000 reward 'for information leading to the arrest and conviction of this man and his accomplices' to Instagram on Friday. 'The number of hate crimes against Asian Americans continues to skyrocket, despite our repeated pleas for help,' Kim captioned a video of the chilling incident, which took place in broad daylight. The SAG Award winner, best known for his as Jin-Soo Kwon in Lost, went on to point out that these 'crimes are too often ignored and even excused.' Enough is enough: After learning of the violent attacks, Kim, 52, and Wu, 46, announced they would be providing a $25,000 reward 'for information leading to the arrest and conviction of this man and his accomplices' to Instagram on Friday (pictured in May 2019) Disturbing: The attack, which was captured on camera and occurred in the Chinatown district of Oakland, California, showed an unidentified person shoving a 91-year-old to the ground outside the Asian Resource Center on January 31, according to People Dangerous: The suspect has also been linked to the battery of a 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman the same day, also in Chinatown Additionally, the star urged others to 'help the literally thousands of Americans who have suffered at the hands of this absolutely senseless violence,' 'Please help us bring this criminal to justice,' he concluded with the hashtag '#EnoughisEnough.' His slideshow included two images of the suspect, who wore a light blue surgical mask, a black and blue hoodie, khakis and sneakers. 'Please help us bring this criminal to justice,' he concluded with the hashtag '#EnoughisEnough' and photos of the masked suspect In response to Kim's post, he received a flood of responses from actors like Gemma Chan, Henry Golding and Kelly Ripa. 'Heartbreaking,' the 50-year-old Live with Kelly and Ryan host commented, while Golding wrote: 'Jesus this is horrible.' Chan reposted the video and educated her Instagram followers about the rising hate crimes against Asian Americans, which has increased during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Track him down: The slideshow included two images of the suspect, who wore a blue surgical mask, a black and blue hoodie, khakis and sneakers 'Hate crimes against Asians and Asian Americans have skyrocketed. The community is in pain from these completely unprovoked attacks but the crimes are too often ignored and underreported,' she began. The Crazy Rich Asians actress went on to ask her followers to 'imagine if this was your father or grandfather.' 'The victim in the video was 91 years old and the perpetrator attacked two other senior citizens that day,' she wrote. Donate: On Saturday, the Black Bay Area started a GoFundMe to 'support' and provide a 'medical stipend for those elders, who were recently injured' Then she called for her fans to 'please share, raise awareness and call for government and the media to recognise these as hate crimes and to take action. The violence will only end when the silence ends.' On Saturday, the Black Bay Area started a GoFundMe to 'support' and provide a 'medical stipend for those elders, who were recently injured.' They have surpassed their initial $3,000 and, as of Sunday morning, have raised $6,729 from 194 donors. Axios Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. (Natural News) Guest post by Lawrence Sellin (originally published in 2013) In his 1952 book The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy, Israeli historian J. L. Talmon described a political system in which lawfully elected representatives rule a nation state whose citizens, although granted the right to vote, have little or no participation in the decision-making process of government. (Article republished from TheGatewayPundit.com) The federal government has become such a system, an entity unto itself operating outside of Constitutional constraints and unaccountable to the American people. The United States is now controlled by a Democratic and Republican ruling class that transcends government and sees itself as distinct from the rest of society and as the only element that may act on its behalf.The ruling class considers those who resist it as having no moral or intellectual right, and, only reluctantly, any civil right to do so. Power rests, not with the citizens, but with a relatively small group of politicians and financiers, who enhance their personal wealth and privilege by looting the country through a self-serving legislative process. They maintain their authority by adjusting the levers of government and using the establishment media to manipulate public perception and opinion. Barack Obama, a coffeehouse communist, leads a dishonest and lawless cabal of far-left ideologues, whose goal is to promote socialist policies that can only be implemented at the expense of personal liberty. Republican leaders neither contest that view nor oppose their Democrat counterparts because they do not want to challenge the ruling class, they want to join it. The GOP leadership has gradually solidified its choice to no longer represent what had been its constituency, but to adopt the identity of junior partners in the ruling class. There is now a sharp division between the bipartisan ruling class and the rest of the American populace, who are considered retrograde, racist, and dysfunctional unless properly controlled by the dictates of central authority. When blatant and outrageous lies are no longer sufficient to soothe the electorate into complacency, such a government must begin to curtail freedom and oppress the people in order to remain in power. The present political environment, that is, the separation between the rulers and the ruled, bears comparison to the events leading up to the American Revolution. On January 10, 1776, nearly six months before the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine published the forty-eight page pamphlet Common Sense, which openly presented arguments supporting the freedom of the American colonies from oppressive British rule. According to Paine, a society arises because individuals living alone in nature find shared benefit by living together rather than remaining isolated. In an ideal society, where each individual acts in a morally just fashion toward every other individual in the society, there is no need for laws and government. Only when moral virtue is inadequate to restrain human evil, do laws become necessary; and only when a society becomes too large to operate by collective agreement and as individual enforcers of those laws do governments become necessary. In such circumstances, the balance between society and government will determine the balance between individual liberty and functionality of the society. In complex societies, in the absence of laws and government, chaos will prevail. When laws become too numerous and government too large, individual liberty suffers. The efficiency and effectiveness of government are directly dependent upon the trustworthiness of government officials as representatives and executors of the views and desires of the people. In other words, whenever the interests of government officials divert from or are in conflict with those of the people, tyranny ensues. The attributes that best describe how America is now governed are executive overreach, legislative complicity, judicial partisanship, and journalistic acquiescence. The erosion of the Constitution and the theft of our Constitutional rights have been occurring incrementally and quietly over a long period of time. With the election of Barack Obama in 2008, those efforts have accelerated. In contrast to what Thomas Paine wrote in The Rights of Man (1791), the Obama utopian model sees individual rights as privileges, not endowed by God, but granted via political charter, and, thereby, legally revocable to ensure the good order of society. It is a collectivist philosophy that directly conflicts with the principles outlined in the Constitution, where government is a construct of and accountable to its citizens, as Paine noted: The fact, therefore, must be that the individuals, themselves, each, in his own personal and sovereign right, entered into a contract with each other to produce a government: and this is the only mode in which governments have a right to arise, and the only principle on which they have a right to exist. The Obama nightmare could be ended at any time simply by telling the truth. To do so, however, would expose the rampant corruption of our political and media elite, reveal their complicity in Obamas violations of Constitution, uncover their willful ignorance of his alleged felonies and confirm their participation in the greatest election fraud and Constitutional crisis in American history. Both the Democrat and Republican parties know that exposing Obama would reveal their dereliction of duty, their complicity in undermining the Constitution, and their continuous flouting of the rule of law. They know that the truth would topple the corrupt status quo and terminate their exclusive grip on political power, allowing the American people to regain control of their government. The political and media elite will do anything to prevent that. The status quo is no longer defensible. Unless there is a significant reversal soon, it is only a matter of time that a catastrophe will be upon us, which may well lead to national collapse and fragmentation. The ruling elites of a now hopelessly corrupt political system are just one major blunder away from another 1776. Read more at: TheGatewayPundit.com Flash Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for cooperation on maintaining multilateralism, vaccine and green development between China and Europe. Li made the remarks on Friday while attending a high-level virtual dialogue with European business leaders via video link. Li said China will remain committed to opening up and work to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. He called on all parties to meet each other halfway, jointly safeguard international consensus such as multilateralism, and follow the rules-based multilateral trading system and the principle of fair competition. The completion of China-EU investment agreement negotiations demonstrated the joint efforts the two sides have made in upholding international rules and common aspiration for pushing economic and trade cooperation to a higher level, Li said. Citing the successful cooperation between European and Chinese companies on vaccine production, Li said it once again confirmed that maintaining the stability of the global industrial and supply chains is of key importance for work and production resumption in all countries, and safeguarding the health and well-being of human beings. "China will continue to strengthen cooperation with all parties on vaccine and drug research and development, so as to better safeguard the health and safety of the people," Li said. On tackling climate change, Li said China, as a major manufacturing country, is committed to making use of existing stock of resources and insisting on promoting the shift to low-carbon energy and green transformation of the economy and society in the process of advancing high-quality development. There are broad prospects for China-Europe cooperation in green development, digital economy and smart manufacturing, Li said, expressing the hope that the European side will open wider to China in the fields including clean energy technology. "China is willing to strengthen cooperation in relevant fields with the European side to better benefit all mankind," Li said. The high-level dialogue was moderated by Peter Mandelson, ex-European trade commissioner and former British first secretary of state, and attended by business leaders representing close to 30 leading European companies including VOLVO, Airbus, JCDecaux, AstraZeneca, L'Oreal, BASF, and SAP. Participants including Mandelson said that the pandemic further highlights the importance of multilateralism and global cooperation, and a strong Europe-China partnership will lead the international community to jointly respond to global challenges. Noting that the completion of EU-China investment agreement negotiations released positive signals, they said the European business community looks forward to advancing the approval and full implementation of the investment agreement, and is willing to expand cooperation with China in green development, digital transformation, financial investment, and climate change. HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) Zach Nutall scored 23 points as Sam Houston won its ninth straight home game, topping Nicholls State 78-71 on Saturday and shaking up the top of the Southland Conference standings. Donte Powers had 15 points and eight assists for Sam Houston (14-6, 8-1 Southland). Tristan Ikpe added 11 points and 13 rebounds. Demarkus Lampley had 10 points. Javion May had 5 points and 10 rebounds. The win lifts Sam Houston State out of a four-way cluster at the top of the Southland. Abilene Christian and Stephen F. Austin are each 7-1 with Nicholls just behind. Jaylen Fornes scored a season-high 20 points for the Colonels (10-6, 7-2), whose eight-game win streak was snapped. Ty Gordon added 19 points and six rebounds. Andre Jones had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists. Sam Houston defeated Nicholls State 84-81 on Jan. 2. ___ For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25 ___ Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com Nigerians are now more active online than ever. Data from the National Communications Commission and independent bodies suggest that the majority of citizens use the internet, social media and smartphones for everyday activity. Many of these people engage in political conversations. This is why government institutions should use online platforms to engage with the public. The legislature, as the voice of the people, is expected to connect with the people and online technologies make this easier, cheaper and faster. But do assemblies maintain an active online presence, in line with governance trends in the information era? We took on this important question in our research by focusing on the 36 subnational legislatures in Nigeria. These are called State Houses of Assembly. These assemblies should be closer to the people, but data show that they are disconnected and the public doesnt fully trust them. This is all the more reason they should be using digital platforms to inform and listen to citizens. We analysed the parliamentary websites as well as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts of the assemblies from June 2019 to March 2020. We also interacted with relevant officials and used data from Nigerias National Bureau of Statistics, capturing revenue, internet penetration and literacy rates. Assemblies and online presence Evidence from the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an international organisation of parliaments, shows that national legislatures increasingly use websites, social media and related digital tools to perform their functions. They also share information and communicate with the public. We found this didnt happen in Nigeria. At least half of Nigerias 36 state assemblies had websites and Twitter accounts. Over three quarters had Facebook accounts, but only a handful had Instagram and YouTube accounts. Online presence was skewed towards geopolitical zones with an economic advantage. South-west and South-south (six states apiece) had four assemblies with websites. Three states each in the North-east and North-central (of six states each) had websites. The South-east (five states) and North-west zones (seven states) had only two each with websites. Lagos State Assembly appeared to be the only one with a relatively active presence on both website and social media. This underscores the states elite status in terms of resources, proportion of internet users and literacy rates. Another factor that influenced online presence was the relationship between legislative bureaucrats and political aides. The presence was much better if the parliamentary leadership, as represented by presiding speakers, made it a priority. As staff of information technology departments, bureaucrats have a duty to operate the institutional online accounts. But political aides, as appointees of elected members, especially presiding speakers, handle the individual accounts of their principals. Where they didnt work together, lapses in the online presence of the legislature were evident. Similarly, in two instances, respondents confirmed that they had lost their websites because the presiding speakers were not convinced of the need to sustain them. We also observed that the websites projected the image of leaders and individual members more than the institution. The websites carried biographical descriptions of legislators. But they had nothing about members salaries and allowances and procedure for their recall. There were significant shortcomings in the use of social media platforms for engagement. For instance, we tested for three levels of use: (i) to inform the public about the legislative institution, (ii) to inform about its activities and (iii) to promote conversations and relationships with the people. Only about 10% used Twitter for the third the most important dimension of engagement. Facebook and Instagram were used mostly at the first levels, and, in few cases, the second. Whereas having Facebook accounts was very prominent, only about one-third of the assemblies frequently updated the accounts and activated tools that allow interaction with the public. What is clear is that despite the increasing popularity of social media among citizens, assemblies dont offer what citizens need: political information and the opportunity for two-way communication. Similar to the ways in which they mostly use their websites, social media platforms are mostly used to disseminate information, rather than to promote two-way communication with the public. This detracts from the benefits that social media, especially, can bring to connections between public institutions and citizens. The way forward The assemblies must realise that the online space is the new campaign ground for public support. Whether they practise digital engagement or not, the public will continue to shape opinions about them, rightly or wrongly. It is only fair, then, that the assemblies add their voices to these online conversations. ADVERTISEMENT They can do this by devoting more resources to digital communication and promoting overarching public engagement strategies. There must also be regular training for digital managers of the legislative institutions and greater political will by the leadership. This will promote ongoing dialogue with Nigerians. It may also help in reversing the level of public distrust of legislative institutions in Nigeria. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. 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 Nine businesses in south-west Sydney have been fined for alleged breaches of COVID-19 public health orders. Police fined the businesses during a Saturday operation targeting premises suspected of not complying with restrictions put in place as part of the governments pandemic response. NSW Police have issued nine fines to businesses in south-west Sydney. Credit:James Brickwood A restaurant on Canley Vale Rd in Canley Vale was hit with a $5000 penalty notice while another eight in the Canley Vale and Fairfield area were issued with $1000 fines. In a statement, NSW Police said the most common offences among the businesses fined were failing to complete COVID-19 safety plans and failing to have customers check in with the Service NSW app. (@ChaudhryMAli88) ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Feb, 2021 ) :Pakistan on Sunday expressed its condolences over the loss of lives caused by the flash floods following a glacier burst in Uttarakhand state of India. Around 150 laborers working on a power project went missing after a portion of Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Tapovan area of Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. The broken glacier crashed into a dam and triggered the flood. So far, seven bodies had been recovered and the number of casualties is feared to increase, Indian media reported. "Saddened over loss of precious lives due to flash floods caused by glacier break-off in Uttarakhand. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims," Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement. He also prayed for safety and early rescue and recovery of the missing people. Union Minister on Sunday said the Centre is trying its best to reduce and the Rajasthan government should also do its part. "While the Centre is trying its best to reduce the fuel prices, the Ashok Gehlot government in the state has enough allocation to reduce Now, it is up to him how much burden he wants to reduce on the people of the state," Irani told reporters at a press conference here. The Rajasthan government had recently reduced the value-added tax (VAT) rate by two per cent on petrol and diesel. Responding to a separate query, the BJP leader said even the Congress' students' wing is now collecting money for the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. She took a dig at the Congress, saying the party had once submitted an affidavit questioning the existence of Lord Ram. On the farmers' issues, Irani said 11 rounds of talks have already been held between the government and farmers. "As our (Union Agriculture) minister said, we are ready to talk with them (farmers)," she said. Irani, who holds textiles and women and child development portfolios, said the 2021-22 Union budget will play a key role in the nation-building. "Rs 2.23 lakh crore were allocated to strengthen the health infrastructure. The prime minister has allocated capital expenditure of Rs 1 lakh crore for construction of road. Through Ujjwala Scheme, eight lakh families were provided clean energy. And in this budget it was announced that one crore more families will be connected," she 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.) Leading up to Superbowl Sunday in the United States, General Motors launched an electrical vehicle (EV) campaign where comedian Will Ferrell attacks Norway for being ahead on EVs. Circle K responded with its own campaign "We're ready" where Norsemen-actress Silje Torp Fravaag and its own employees play leading roles: https://youtu.be/bPsFziaUj2A We're ready! Circle K leads the way in Norway for EV charging and has more charging stations and home and office charging solutions than any other fuel retailer in Norway. For the last three years, Norway has been home to the company's global EV lab, where a dedicated team is learning all it can about electric vehicle charging and building a more sustainable future. Starting this year, Circle K is bringing that know-how to North America, and plans to be ready and waiting as more EV customers hit the roads, making their customers' lives a little easier every day. Brian Hannasch, President and CEO: "We are very pleased to have started our journey in Norway, where Circle K is the number one destination for EV customers. We are meeting those customers at our stores and in their homes and offices, creating a total solution for their charging needs. With our great team, growing expertise, and progressive locations in Norway, we have learned so much in the last few years, and we are excited to bring that knowledge and solutions to our global network, including North America, over the coming months and years." Hans-Olav Hidahl, EVP Operations Europe: "At our EV lab in Norway, our dedicated teams have gained years of experience in the most mature market for electric vehicles. We always want to offer our customers the best possible experience, and Norway provides us the perfect testing conditions for first generation EV technology including chargers, vehicles, and payment methods. I'm proud that Norwegians see Circle K as the leading destination for EV charging, and I look forward to expanding our network of high-speed chargers and home charging solutions outside Norway over the coming months and years." Currently, Circle K operates a high-speed charging network with more than 500 chargers on its forecourts in Norway. The chargers are a combination of company-owned high-speed EV chargers and partner charging offers with Tesla and Ionity. At its busiest Norwegian Circle K highway locations, the sites are equipped with 20-40 high-speed chargers. In downtown Oslo, Circle K was the first to begin replacing fuel pumps with high-speed chargers. Circle K has also expanded its offer with over 4,200 home and workplace charge points. As the premier EV charging provider in Norway, the company is ready to bring its capacity and knowledge to North America and other parts of its global network to further its journey toward a more sustainable future. In the coming months, the company will start to roll-out electric vehicle charging solutions at North America locations, beginning in its Quebec and California markets, with a combination of Circle K branded chargers and partner charging solutions. We're ready! About Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. Couche-Tard is the leader in the Canadian convenience store industry. Circle K is its global brand outside of Quebec, Canada. In the United States, it is the largest independent convenience store operator in terms of the number of company-operated stores. In Europe, Couche-Tard is a leader in convenience store and road transportation fuel retail in the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark), in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), as well as in Ireland, and has an important presence in Poland. As of October 11, 2020, Couche-Tard's network comprised 9,261 convenience stores throughout North America, including 8,085 stores with road transportation fuel dispensing. Its North American network consists of 18 business units, including 14 in the United States covering 47 states and 4 in Canada covering all 10 provinces. Approximately 109,000 people are employed throughout its network and at its service offices in North America. In Europe, Couche-Tard operates a broad retail network across Scandinavia, Ireland, Poland, the Baltics and Russia through 10 business units. As of October 11, 2020, Couche-Tard's network comprised 2,722 stores, the majority of which offer road transportation fuel and convenience products while the others are unmanned automated fuel stations which only offer road transportation fuel. Couche-Tard also offers other products, including aviation fuel and energy for stationary engines. Including employees at branded franchise stores, approximately 22,000 people work in its retail network, terminals and service offices across Europe. In addition, under licensing agreements, more than 2,220 stores were operated under the Circle K banner in 15 other countries and territories (Cambodia, Egypt, Guam, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jamaica, Macau, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam), which brings the worldwide total network to more than 14,200 stores. For more information on Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. or to consult its quarterly Consolidated Financial Statements and Management Discussion and Analysis, please visit: https://corpo.couchetard.com. Forward-Looking Statements The statements set forth in this press release, which describes Couche-Tard's objectives, projections, estimates, expectations or forecasts, may constitute forward looking statements within the meaning of securities legislation. Positive or negative verbs such as "believe", "can", "shall", "intend", "expect", "estimate", "assume" and other related expressions are used to identify such statements. Couche-Tard would like to point out that, by their very nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties such that its results, or the measures it adopts, could differ materially from those indicated in or underlying these statements, or could have an impact on the degree of realization of a particular projection. Major factors that may lead to a material difference between Couche Tard's actual results and the projections or expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements include the effects of the integration of acquired businesses and the ability to achieve projected synergies, uncertainty related to the duration and severity of the current COVID-19 pandemic, fluctuations in margins on motor fuel sales, competition in the convenience store and retail motor fuel industries, exchange rate variations, and such other risks as described in detail from time to time in the reports filed by Couche-Tard with securities regulatory authorities in Canada. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Couche-Tard disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking information in this release is based on information available as of the date of the release. SOURCE Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. Related Links http://corpo.couche-tard.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. Ayodhya, Feb 7 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday reached Ayodhya where he offered prayers at the Ram Janmabhoomi temple. The Chief Minister will, later in the day, review the progress of projects that include the expansion of Bhajan Sandhya Sthal, Queen Ho Memorial Park, Ram Katha Park, beautification of Ram Katha Gallery, Ram Ki Paidi, renovation of roads and footpaths and the Hanuman Garhi -- Kanak Bhawan Road, etc. Many roads of the city are being widened, multilevel parking is being constructed and the bus and the railway station are also being revamped. There is also a plan to make Ayodhya a solar city besides augmenting existing facilities. Besides this, a separate action plan has been prepared for the development of other important sites like Makhauda. Situated in the Harraiya tehsil of Basti district, King Dashrath had performed the ''Putrakameshti Yagna' here in Makhauda under the guidance of his Guru Vashishta and Rishi Sringi. There are also many mythological places related to Lord Ram on different 'Parikrama' routes and the development of all such places are also on the agenda of the Yogi government as this will not only help in increasing tourism but will also provide employment opportunities at the local level. The Chief Minister has already ordered for the entire facelift of the 'Ghats' along the Saryu river and railway stations. There will be a separate four-lane road to connect to the airport, which is being spruced up to handle domestic as well as international traffic. The new-look 'Navya Ayodhya' will be an integrated model of the Vedic and modern city. The government is preparing a new model of development of Ayodhya and it has been decided to appoint a world-class consultant for this. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is also making a proposal for a bypass from Sohawal to Vikramjot. In addition, the work of widening of the four-lane road from Rae Bareli to Ayodhya is also under active consideration. It is to be constructed at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore. There will also be doubling of railway tracks coming to Ayodhya, the railway station of the city will be beautified and expanded according to the future needs. Dozens of Connecticut residents have complained to state officials about so-called COVID fees being tacked onto their bills charges insurance companies refuse to pay. From Milford to Danbury to Old Saybrook, patients reported fees ranging from $10 to $20 per patient, a review of complaints filed with the state attorney generals office shows. In all, state Attorney General William Tong has received at least 28 complaints from patients regarding COVID fees, all involving dentists. The disputed fees add up to just under $500, according to complaints obtained through state Freedom of Information law. The state Office of Consumer Protection has received three similar complaints. Tong said COVID fees are not legal if the patient has insurance and pays a co-payment to their health care provider, whether a dentist or another type of doctor. Its not legal to balance bill, Tong said. That means you cant charge somebody more than their co-pay for a covered service. The PPE provided is part of the covered service and integral to the covered service. Its against the law. But, Tong added, if a patient is using a dentist who is not in their insurance companys network or has no insurance at all a COVID fee can be assessed. Tam Le, president of the Connecticut State Dental Association, said the associations 2,300 members are aware of complaints and said the association is offering advice over COVID fees. The CSDA continues to advise Connecticut dental offices to check their insurance provider contracts and review the terms of their participation agreements before charging patients for PPE, Le said. Lots of complaints Jan Maria Jagush was not happy when her dentist suddenly began charging $15 for personal protective equipment used to battle COVID-19. I didnt think it was right, said Jagush, a Danbury resident. When I go to a clients homes for business, I dont charge for my mask, said Jagush, who works in property management. I understand their PPE is more than a mask, but I dont feel thats right. Its part of the cost of doing business. Despite complaining to the attorney generals office, Jagush said she had to pay her dentists COVID fee. The reason: Jagush recently changed insurance companies and her dentist does not participate in her new insurers network. I think people are surprised by these random charges and for some people its much more difficult, Jagush said, explaining that she likes her dentist and plans to remain as a patient. For me, its a principal issue, she said, referring to filing a complaint. Complaints filed with Tongs office show a pattern of dentists charging COVID fees and that the assessments are not being applied uniformly. An Old Saybrook dental patient reported being charged a $20 PPE fee, which the patient was told had to be paid by check or cash only. I asked for an itemized receipt of this charge and was told it would be mailed to me, but I did not receive such receipt, the complainant noted. At the second appointment, I was asked to pay this, but referenced having just paid it at the last appointment, and they waived it. The patient added, I do not believe the recurring PPE fees to be justified. To be clear, PPE was not provided to me during the appointment, but to the staff. A Milford patient reported being charged $20 per visit for PPE used by the dentist and office staff. I went earlier this year and they did not even tell me, the patient said. My wife went for her regular check-up and they charged her as well. A Beacon Falls patient said their dentist posted a sign stating the office is charging a $10 PPE fee. I called our insurance company (CIGNA) and they told me they do not cover this $10 fee so it will be refused once they receive the claim, the person said. A Durham patient said their dentist charged an $18 PPE fee. After informing the office that the charge is illegal, the patient said the dentist waived the fee. But I am concerned that they are inappropriately billing other patients for PPE, the complainant said. In its own review of COVID fees, The New York Times found an elderly resident at an assisted living facility who was charged a one time, $900 fee for masks, cleaning supplies and food delivery. Not fair Tong said the fees are not fair and can become a financial burden for some patients. It can be a lot of money, particularly to people who go more than periodically, Tong said. We are investigating every complaint we get, Tong added. In almost all cases, we reach out to the provider and they stop doing it. We are aware of some health insurers who are paying additional reimbursement to doctors. Still, Tong said he understands the pandemic created a lot of confusion, and doctors for the most part are trying to do the right thing. Doctors and dentists and health care providers are under a lot of pressure economically, Tong said. But that doesnt mean they can charge more. You cant pass on your suffering to someone else. One complaint filed with Tongs office alleged that West Hartford Family Dentistry was charging a $10 COVID fee despite the fact that their insurance company was already covering the entire cost of the appointment. It appears this is ILLEGAL in CT. An office manager at West Hartford Dentistry, who did not identify herself, said they no longer levy the fee. We talked to the state attorney general and are all set with that, she said before ending the conversation. The American Dental Association and other groups noted the level of PPE now required is a financial burden on small practices. Connecticut dentists, just like other medical providers, are required to follow stricter PPE requirements as a way to limit exposure and the potential spread of COVID-19, Le said. Prices for PPE have risen significantly since the onset of the pandemic, in some cases tripling on average. Surgical masks and gloves have undergone the largest price increases, dental groups said. bcummings@ctpost.com The rise in working remotely has brought attention to enterprise hubs but many of them have been running successfully in Leitrim for years. In 2014 Leitrim led the way in opening The Hive and it quickly became a leading case study of hub space development in rural towns. Bringing the concept of hotdesking, shared working space, quality meeting rooms and fibre broadband to a small town was unique. The Hive was one of the first of its kind in the country and was due to a partnership with the Leitrim County Enterprise Fund (LCEF) and the Local Enterprise Office (formerly the County Enterprise Board). Dealing with micro enterprises, on a daily basis through the County Enterprise board, it was quickly identified that access to good, affordable broadband was essential to exploit opportunities. Leitrim was the first rural county outside of the larger cities to identify the Digital Hubs concept and the benefits they can deliver. The total budget for the project was 1,500,000 with funding coming from Interreg, Enterprise Ireland, and the Leitrim County Enterprise Fund. Before Covid-19 the Hive welcomed seven or eight groups a month on fact-finding trips seeking to establish similar facilities in their own village or town and Manager Colm Keane has become a go to for advice and support for new hubs throughout the region. Joe Lowe, Head of Enterprise, Leitrim County Council outlines the significance of the Hive and similar facilities in the county Before the pandemic the Hive provided dynamic workspaces to over 85 people and along with other hubs in the county it is a significant contributor in attracting employers to Leitrim. Our hubs play a significant role in economic sustainability and growth in the region. The growth of the indigenous sector is vital for rural areas such as Leitrim and the provision of infrastructure to allow the indigenous sector to grow is paramount. Spaces such as the enterprise hubs in Leitrim with high quality broadband, affordable flexible office space and networking opportunities can play a significant role in providing a suitable environment for small businesses to flourish. Plans are underway to develop Phase 2 of the Hive. Although current restrictions have paused developments for now. When complete the Hive will be able to accommodate an additional 35 people. REDDING, Calif. A woman has been arrested for the murder of her ex-husband, according to the Shasta County Sheriffs Office. 54-year old Annastacia Stacia Colosio of Redding was arrested on Friday after being released from a hospital due to a laceration to her right leg, according to the County Sheriffs Office Major Crimes Unit. Deputies said they were investigating a disturbance that had been reported in the 5400 block of Deschutes Road on Thursday, not long after midnight. They said they discovered a deceased man at the property who was identified as 57-year-old Ronald John Colosio of Anderson, California. The man appeared to have died from a stab wound said deputies, who also discovered his former wife, injured, inside the home. Annastacia Colosio was taken to Mercy hospital for treatment and was released on Friday. Detectives from the Major Crimes Unit said they discovered that the former couple has been divorced for more than ten years, but had maintained a relationship that would turn physically violent at times. After investigating the death and the evidence at the scene the detectives said they were ready to arrest the dead mans former wife, who had been in the hospital for treatment of her wound. On Friday Annastacia Stacia Colosio was arrested for murdering her husband and was taken into custody after being released from the hospital. This is an active investigation and the Shasta County Major Crimes Unit has requested that anyone who has information about this case to contact them at (530) 245-6135 or via email at MCU@co.shasta.ca.us. Marathwada registers 1,599 Covid-19 cases, 66 fatalities 30 May 2021 | 8:49 AM Aurangabad, May 30 (UNI) The Marathwada region of Maharashtra registered 1,599 new cases of COVID-19 and 66 fatalities during the past 24 hours, informed health authorities on Sunday. see more.. Thane district's COVID-19 count rises by 695, death toll by 52 30 May 2021 | 3:46 AM Thane, May 30 (PTI) With the addition of 695 coronavirus positive cases, the infection count in Thane district of Maharashtra mounted to 5,15,091 an official said on Sunday. see more.. Maha Vikas Aghadi failed to present its case on Maratha reservation: Mahajan 30 May 2021 | 3:42 AM Jalgaon, May 29 (UNI) Maratha reservation was sanctioned by our government. However, the reservation was later rejected as the Maha Vikas Aghadi failed to present its case. This is being discussed now and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje Bhosale belongs to our (BJP) party, let's see what role he will play on Maratha reservation on June 7, said former minister Girish Mahajan. At the same time, Mahajan has made a big allegation that half of the ministers in the Mahavikas Aghadi government are opposed to Maratha reservation. see more.. Two killed in accident 30 May 2021 | 3:35 AM Nashik, May 29 (UNI) Two persons including a woman were killed and ne was injured whren three vehicle truck, tempo and bike collided on the Mumbai-Agra highway at Pawarwadi Shivar in Malegaon tehsil in wee hours today. see more.. Yuma News Yuma, Arizona - On Friday, at about 5:38 p.m., Yuma Police officers responded to a report of a vehicle versus bicycle in the 1300 block of S. 14th Avenue. The initial investigation revealed a 59 year old male, who was riding a bicycle, was traveling southbound in the 1300 block of S. 14th Avenue. The bicyclist failed to stop at the stop sign at 12th Street and collided with a GMC Savanna van that was traveling westbound on 12th Street. The bicyclist was pronounced deceased on scene. There were no reported injuries from the driver, a 57 year old male, of the GMC Savanna. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor. The case is still under investigation. The Yuma Police Department encourages anyone with any information about this case to please call the Yuma Police Department at (928) 373-4700 or 78-Crime at (928) 782-7463 to remain anonymous. By the year 2035, the American Space Organization, NASA is planning to land a man on Mars. However, it is not easy to get to this planet which is about 22 million km away from the Earth and to come back from there. The environment of Mars is completely hostile to humans. The temperature in mars is cold as Antarctica, while there is no oxygen. In such adverse circumstances, there is a great risk of landing on Mars and returning from there. The risk will be increased in long journeys. This is the reason that scientists are thinking of ways to cut down on the time of Mars visit. Seattle-based Ultra Safe Nuclear Technologies in the US has found a solution in the form of a nuclear thermal propulsion engine (NTP). It can help to reach Mars in just three months. Currently, the unmanned spacecraft takes a minimum of seven months to get on Mars, but a manned spacecraft may take nine months. The nuclear power rockets will be more powerful and efficient than the chemical rockets which are used today. And this power rockets will reduce energy consumption. This will open up commercial opportunities in the space. Jeff Sheehy, a NASA chief engineer, says chemical rockets will take three years to go to Mars and return from there. NASA wants to reach Mars with greater speed so that astronauts spend the least time in outer space. This will reduce his exposure to space radiation. This radiation has an adverse effect on human health, which increases the risk of radiation sickness and cancer. Radiation also affects the nervous system and there is a risk of causing carcinogenic disease. There is always a risk of mechanical malfunctions if you stay in space for a long time. This is why NASA wants to develop nuclear rocket technology. Therefore many risks will be reduced by nuclear rockets. In NTP systems, a nuclear reactor is used to generate heat from uranium fuel. This heat energy heats up a liquid propellant. Liquid hydrogen is used as a propellant. On heating, it spreads as gas and exits to produce velocity. The biggest challenge in making NTP engines is that of suitable uranium fuel. This fuel should be capable of operating at a temperature of 2,427 C. Silicon carbide is used in the fuel to prevent irradiated products from leaving the reactor. Nuclear rockets are certainly attractive, but concerns about radiation in the spacecraft still persist. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 06:24:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close QUITO, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador registered 1,703 cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 257,115, the Ministry of Public Health reported on Saturday. According to the ministry, the country also reported 21 more deaths, bringing the death toll to 10,311, along with 4,693 "probable" deaths from the disease. The province of Pichincha, which has been the most affected by the pandemic, exceeded 90,000 cases, with most infections concentrated in the capital city of Quito, the current epicenter of the pandemic in Ecuador. The capital city's health system has almost reached full capacity due to the high levels of critically ill patients. Authorities have appealed to citizens to follow biosecurity measures and avoid crowds, especially on Sunday, when the country will hold presidential and legislative elections. Restrictions will be modified for election day, and local authorities will be charged with complying with biosecurity measures designed by the National Electoral Council at polling centers. Enditem Pippa Middleton cut a stylish figure as she stepped out in West London to get some fresh air on Friday, following reports she's pregnant with her second child by husband James Matthews. Kate Middleton's younger sister, 37, was spotted strolling around Chelsea wrapped up warm in a comfortable military green parka as she enjoyed the last rays of sunshine before the icy weekend. Sharing smiles with passers-by and looking relaxed, it was the third time Pippa was spotted out since reports she's 'pregnant with her second child.' For her the outing, Pippa opted for a green parka with a faux fur collar from Fay from last season, which she wore with mom jeans and an immaculate pair of white Jimmy Choo trainers. Pippa Middleton (pictured), 37, was spotted having a stroll around Chelsea, West London, on Friday following reports she's pregnant with her second child The Duchess of Cambridge's sister could be seen texting on her phone as she took a stroll along the streets (pictured) Her long brunette hair, which bounced on her shoulder as she walked down the street, was clipped back by a pin at the back of her head. Rather than a bag, Pippa was seen holding a pair of sunglasses in her hand instead. The Duchess of Cambridge's sister rubbed the glasses to clear the lenses before putting them back on and crossing the road to continue her walk. It was reported in December that Pippa, who is already the mother of Arthur, two, may be expecting a second child. A source close to the Middleton family told Page Six: 'Pippa and James are thrilled, it's fantastic news amid a difficult year. The entire family is delighted'. The couple declined to comment on the reports. The new baby will be cousin to Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, also two. Hedgefund billionaire James, brother of reality TV star Spencer Matthews, and author Pippa currently reside in a 17 million six-bedroom home in London. The Duchess of Cambridge's sister (pictured, left and right), who donned a stylish pair of shades, cut a relaxed figure for the outing As well as a trio of royal cousins from their aunt Kate, the new Middleton-Matthews baby will also have cousins on their father's side. Theodore Frederick Michael, two, and Gigi Margaux Matthews, five months, are the children of former Made in Chelsea Lothario Spencer Matthews and his Irish model wife Vogue Williams. The Matthews family owns the Eden Rock resort on St Barts, one of the region's most exclusive hotels beloved by many famous faces. Pippa and James tied the knot in 2017 at St. Mark's Church in Englefield, the estate of former Conservative MP Richard Benyon. Pippa made sure her glasses were clean before putting them off, moments before crossing the street Taking a brisk walk during the coronavirus lockdown, Pippa looked like any other Londoner as she stepped out for a Winter walk Pippa, who is reportedly expecting her second child with her husband James, opted for a casual look (pictured, left and right) In 2018, Pippa welcomed baby Arthur in the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital, the same place where sister Kate gave birth to all three of her children. The socialite and columnist documented how she stayed active during her first pregnancy for Waitrose Weekend magazine revealing that little Arthur follows in the active family's footsteps. 'Now that Arthur is 11 months old and more mobile, I have been trying to come up with different activities to do with him,' she wrote in September 2019. 'I needed to find something more than just park walks in the pram. Our local baby gym has been a saving grace. It's a big space full of fun, soft objects, playmats, stairs, balls, swings, mini trampolines and more to stimulate and physically engage babies and toddlers,' she added. SONITPUR (ASSAM) : Noting that people are trying to "defame" India at the world stage, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that some foreign powers are planning to attack India's identity associated with the tea. Speaking at an event in Sonitpur's Dhekiajuli, Prime Minister Modi said, "People who are conspiring to defame India have stooped so low that they are not sparing even Indian tea... Some documents have come up revealing that some foreign powers are planning to attack India's identity associated with tea. Will you accept this attack?" "We must answer everyone who has decided to ruin the image of our tea and everyone who supports such conspiracies. India will not let these conspiracies win," he added. Underlining that 55 lakh people from Assam have already taken medical help from the Health and Wellness Centres, PM Modi said it is his dream to ensure that every state has at least one medical college and one technical college that teaches in the mother tongue. "Over 55 lakh people from Assam have already taken medical help from the Health and Wellness Centres that are being opened in all corners of the state. India has experienced its healthcare sensitivity during COVID pandemic. Our vaccination drive is being praised the world over," he said. "As the country is turning 75 years old, I have a dream to ensure that every state has at least 1 medical college and 1 technical college that teaches in the mother tongue," he added. The Prime Minister further said that nearly 1.5 lakh poor people have benefited from the Ayushman Bharat Yojana in Assam. This came after he laid the foundation stones of medical colleges and hospitals in Biswanath and Charaideo with an aim to boost Assam's health infrastructure. He also launched the 'Asom Mala' programme to boost the state's road infrastructure. Further talking about the initiatives taken by the government, he said, "The government has also decided that in over 600 districts pan-India, integrated labs will be built. People from small towns and rural areas will benefit the most, as they will not have to travel long-distances for basic medical tests." "Till 2016, Assam had only nearly 725 MBBS seats. These new medical colleges would add 1,600 new MBBS doctors every year to Assam after they start functioning," PM Modi added. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. A man is in critical condition after being shot and crashing his car Saturday night in east Portland, police say. Officers from the Portland Police Bureau were dispatched about 9:51 p.m. to reports of gunfire around Southeast 170th Avenue and Haig Street in the Centennial neighborhood. Police found a car crashed into an unoccupied trailer and the driver with a gunshot wound. The driver was taken to an area hospital, where he was in critical condition. Suspect information is not being released, police said. Police asked anyone with information about this case to contact Detective Rico Beniga (503-823-0457 and Rico.Beniga@portlandoregon.gov) or Detective Jennifer Hertzler (503-823-1040 and Jennifer.Hertzler@portlandoregon.gov). Tips can also be sent to Crime Stoppers of Oregon. -- Jaimie Ding jding@oregonian.com; 503-221-4395; @j_dingdingding There are people that are counteracting these white people that are doing this, but white supremacy wasnt a controversial topic. The Klan was really upfront and honest about using this term. So a lot of other white Christians might have the same beliefs that they did, but the Klan took it up to 11. These are folks who were picking up the hood and robe to say that America needs to be saved, from immigrants, from people of color. Did this combination start in the 1920s? Where does it start? Arguably we can talk about how the combination of Christianity and white supremacy goes to the American founding, with early folks like Puritans showing up and claiming theyre the nation upon a hill and that this is now their land and they have dominion over it. Its not like we can say that the Klan came from the Puritans. But a variety of different movements in different time periods pick up the same ideas and rhetoric and practices. What are you observing about this current period of extremism and Christianity. How does it compare to the waves before? As a historian, sometimes you think, I dont know if I can take this moment in history and bring it to the present. But you can definitely find that if you look at a Klan newspaper from the 1920s that there was similar language about God and theres similar language about the threat to the nation, from immigrants or Catholics or Jews. It just looked so familiar. Some of the differences are kind of interesting. Klansmen went around with hoods and robes, so they are not sharing their identity. One of the interesting things to me about this movement now is the willingness of people to be so public about their beliefs. I think theyve been emboldened by Trumps behavior. That feels a little different to me from the more polished version that the 1920s Klan wanted to have, where theyre very careful about their rhetoric, and very thoughtful about how they presented their Christianity, and were very much into having a smooth moving P.R. machine to make them look respectable. I have a hard time imagining a Klan riot on the Capitol. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday rejected opposition parties' charges of "selling the family silver" and stated that the Centre has devised a clear strategy on divestment so that taxpayers' money is spent wisely. She further said that "Family's silver" should be strengthened, and it should be the country's forte. "Family silver should be strengthened; it should be our takat (strength)... Because you've spread it so thinly, there are many of them (PSUs) that are not able to survive; and the few that can perform do not get the due attention," Sitharaman said at '"Sarvasparshi Arthasankalp 2021" event in Mumbai on Sunday. She also said that the government is making efforts to prime public sector assets, so they meet the aspirations of growing India. "You need them, you need them to scale up so that they meet the aspirations of growing India," Sitharaman added. The finance minister, in her budget speech, said the government had planned to privatise two state-run banks, besides the IDBI Bank, and a general insurance company in FY22. She also announced the proposed initial public offering of state-run Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC). On New Development Finance Institution, which FM herself announced during her Budget 2021 speech, she said the idea of creating such an institute came from IDBI experience. Recently, Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj also told media that the new DFI will be 100 per cent government owned. Later on, it will get in more stakeholders as per its financing needs. Speaking about India's banking sector, the finance minister said that the country needs at least 20 banks the size of SBI to meet its needs. "India's aspirations and development needs require 20 institutions of SBI size," the FM said. At the same event, Hindustan Unilever Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Mehta said Budget 2021 is India's version of the "new deal" by focusing on relief, recovery, and reform, and represents a "confident and unapologetic India." BSE Chief Executive Officer Ashishkumar Chauhan said the only parallel to the Budget is with the 1991 reforms document presented by then finance minister Manmohan Singh. He also underlined the latest proposals as significant because they are not being undertaken under any duress. Earlier on Sunday, a few Congress party workers showed black flags to Sitharaman to protest against the Union Budget and the increasing fuel prices. However, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 4) Vijay Patil said, "The protest took place peacefully. No untoward incident was reported. No one has been detained and no FIR has been registered."Also read: Uttarakhand Glacier Burst Live Updates: Dehradun, Haridwar, UP on high alert; rafting stopped in Rishikesh Also read: Rebooting Economy 65: IBC has failed; will a bad bank succeed? The people of Sierra Leones Kono district, in the east of the country, know all too well about diamondsfor better and for worse, according to the Economist Weekly. In the 1990s, the drugged-up rebels of the Revolutionary United Front controlled Konos mines by means of rape, murder and mutilation. When that bloody civil war ended in 2002, mining companies replaced the rebels but brought their own problems. The largest firm, South Africa-based Koidu Holdings, was pitted against locals over blasting schedules and environmental issues. Small-time local miners, little more than licensed freelancers prospecting by hand, were disappointed to find that most of the mines near the surface had been exhausted. The jobs, the volume of production and Konos cut of tax revenue from exports disappointed almost everyone. Progress in Kono has not been commensurate with expectations, admits Ibrahim Kamara, who runs a kimberlite project for Koidu Holdings. Such are the growing pains of a nascent industry in a dirt-poor African country. Yet Sierra Leones diamond mining has shown promise. Exports ballooned from a mere $26m in 2001 to $141m in 2007. Taxes on diamond exports helped finance the countrys post-war reconstruction; a quarter of the 3% tax on sales paid by artisanal miners, as the local small-timers are known, is returned to the people who live around the mines. Bigger companies, such as Koidu Holdings, have negotiated profit-sharing schemes that will benefit the locals once the mines start making money. But now that virtuous circle may be broken by the collapse in the past ten months of world diamond prices, which have plummeted by nearly one-third. The country will be lucky to export $50m-worth this year. From Australia to Botswana and Canada, the industry is in the doldrums. Over the past few months De Beers, until recently the worlds biggest diamond producer, has seen the value of its sightscarefully calibrated sales of rough diamonds to a handpicked club of buyers called sightholdersfall from an average of $650m to a recent low of around $150m. In response to collapsing demand, mining companies have been temporarily closing mines or reducing production. This does not hurt countries such as Australia and Russia all that much. But it squeezes poorer ones, particularly in Africa, very hard. Earlier this year, for instance, De Beers temporarily shut mines in Botswana and Namibia that it owns in partnership with those states. At least three-quarters of the companies in Namibias young cutting and polishing industry have closed. We are suffering quite severely because of job losses, says Bernhard Esau, Namibias deputy minister for mines. In India, home to the largest diamond cutting and polishing industry in the world, at least 100,000 diamond polishers are out of work. America, where half of all polished diamonds are eventually sold, is importing less than half the volume of polished diamonds compared with a year ago. Diamonds are not necessary to live or to survive. Its a luxury product, said Philip Claes of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, the industrys leading promotional organisation. So its the first thing probably that consumers skip on their lists. But Sierra Leone relies on those consumers to help prevent it from slipping back into chaos. When Koidu Holdings temporarily halted operations and laid off 540 people, leaving only 60 in work, it was especially nerve-racking. For Kono has the highest concentration of former rebel fighters in Sierra Leone. Despite political stability and fairly harmonious elections since the war ended, the conditions that led to it still prevail. Back in 1991, the rebels gained early if short-lived support by arguing that a country as mineral-rich as Sierra Leone should give all its people a decent living. Yet it was at the bottom of the UNs human-development index when the war startedand is still at the bottom. There is a time bomb of frustrated, disenfranchised youth, says Joan Baxter of Partnership Africa Canada, a charity. The diamond slump may have reached its bottom. The De Beers latest sight, last month, was worth around $250m, up on previous months. Some mines in Botswana have cautiously resumed operations. In Sierra Leone, Koidu Holdings says it will rehire a few hundred workers as the market improves. None of this is a guarantee against unrest. But a return to the diamond-fuelled warfare of the 1990s seems unlikely soon. For one thing, even rebels would have trouble finding a market for ill-gotten gemstones at present. Besides, the diamonds recent lack of lustre may bring unexpected benefits. Many artisanal miners are going back to farming. In a country where food prices have doubled in a year, this is welcome. And companies are looking for other minerals that Sierra Leone has in abundance, such as gold, bauxite and rutile, a mineral that is usedamong other thingsto brighten the whiteness in paint, plastic and paper. In the longer run, a bit of diversity may be healthy. Hyderabad, Feb 7 : The Telangana unit of the Congress on Sunday passed a resolution urging Rahul Gandhi to again take up the national president's post of the party. A meeting of all 33 District Congress Committees (DCCs) held in Khammam unanimously passed the resolution favouring Rahul Gandhi as the president of All India Congress Committee (AICC). It urged him to take up the post again and offered full support. The meeting was attended by AICC incharge for party affairs in Telangana and party MP Manickam Tagore, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC), working president Ponnam Prabhakar, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, senior leaders and presidents of DCCs. The meeting was held as part of the efforts by the party to strengthen the organization in the state. Tagore said formation of all booth, mandal, town and district level committees would be completed in 15 days. He said that booth level committees will be constituted in 30 days. Tagore, who launched our polling booth our pride strategy, said each booth committee will have 15 members. He said that after Congress comes to power at the Centre and in Telangana an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will be ordered into corruption charges against Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his family members. On the allegations of corruption being made by union minister of state for home G. Kishan Reddy and other BJP leaders against Chandrasekhar Rao, the Congress leader wanted to know why BJP government has not ordered any probe against the chief minister and his family members. Tagore alleged that CM KCR bows before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union home minister Amit Shah out of fear that the Centre may order investigations against him. "Every time KCR goes to Delhi he bows before them," he said. Not too early. Not too late. At the Kamalan Bakery on Bellaire Boulevard, owner Shiann Lian always starts the first batch at 8 a.m. two hours before opening. Any later, and customers wont see the whole range of treats he creates. Any earlier, and they cant savor the full joy of new bread. We want people walking right in to that fresh, hot-bread smell, he said. This winter, after an arid, disconnected year, Ive found surprising joy in Houstons Asian bakeries. For months Ive been living mostly in two dimensions. Walking into these shops, with their kindly fragrance and inventive wares, reminds me of what I miss the most about this city. Even in a pandemic, these places feel safe: most are tiny, with few customers inside, in strip malls where the doors swing open and shut constantly. Theyre inexpensive I can dart out with a whole bagful of beautiful, sweet-smelling finds for less than $10. Theyre fun I love sharing masked smiles at the creative, adaptable business people whove made the treats in my hands. And each bakery, Ive discovered, tells a story about the ways history, conquest and entrepreneurship flavor foods that I love. When I choose the days indulgences, I think about the generations of events that led to their particular mix of ingredients. I think of the persistent bakery owners battling through adversity now. And I wonder how, over the very long term, one of the tangible products of hardship can be something universally soothing. Tucked into Dun Huang Plaza near Beltway 8, Kamalan was first opened by Lian and his wife Amy after they arrived from Taiwan 25 years ago. (He does the breads; she makes the cakes.) The couple had owned bakeries back at home. Nevertheless, Lian enrolled in two years of culinary school here to add American technique to his repertoire. Openness to foreign cultures boosts creativity in any business, researchers say. But for Taiwanese bakeries, its a hallmark. Hole-in-the-wall Kamalan, for instance, makes 30 to 40 kinds of breads a day. Some are distinctively Asian, like the plump mooncakes, shiny on the outside and hiding a golden cooked egg yolk within. Others look more European, like the lavish, puffy-topped cupcakes in paper collars, faintly flavored with vanilla or green pandan and cloudlike, almost soufflee-ish, within. And some, like the plain blocks labeled pineapple cake blend both worlds, sublimely. Within each of these crisp shortcake cubes is an explosion of tart pineapple jam, which Lian boils for nine hours to perfect. These humble-looking squares, I found out, are part of the long menu of treats exchanged during the two-week Lunar New Year, which starts Feb. 12. Baked goods, in fact, are a fairly late addition to this holiday, a highlight of the year for many Asian countries. Lunar New Year is the most important holiday for Chinese. It marks the start of spring, so its a holiday about hope and prosperity, Rice Business professor Yan Zhang told me. People take a long time off two weeks, after which theres another holiday, the lantern festival to relax, spend time with family and friends, and eat. And I have to say that baking is a new thing in China. Traditionally, people there steamed or fried foods made of wheat powder or rice powder. Irresistible as they are, in other words, the treats at Houstons Asian bakeries are sweet adaptations to duress. Oven-baked wheat bread, for example, first appeared in Asia with 17th century Portuguese traders in Japan. Over later centuries, as Japan imposed its influence throughout Asia, local communities reinterpreted its bread recipes for themselves. Today, East Asian cultures happily swap, scout and copy baking techniques by the hour, not the year. Taiwanese bakers have hit a sweet spot, Taiwanese-American lifestyle blogger Leslie Yeh said, taking the best of Japanese-style breads and combining them with whatever flavors are trending. Their huge variety, she told me, is very Taiwanese: it reads as abundance. Not that Asian bakeries are just about bread. Right next door to Kamalan, the Taiwanese Jungle Bakery Cafe is an austere shrine to nothing but fabulous desserts. Inside a chilly glass case, cakes erupt with fondant flowers, 3D seascapes and the face of a blissed-out Hello Kitty. In a separate case sit jewel-like pastries: a shiny pink bauble filled with coconut cake, a coffee mousse cushion perched on a brownie, and an all-white column of creamy vanilla cake wrapped in white chocolate mousse. Still another type of Asian bakery anchors the strip mall across the street. At the Vietnamese-French Parisian Bakery Cafe, the chalkboard and wood fixtures have the cozy feel of a bistro, even if not one person now nibbles baguettes at its tables. The cases are crowded with enormous chocolate and almond croissants, along with some truly unforgettable cream puffs: fat, turban-shaped and filled with pastry cream so silken its like taking a cool drink. Even this monument to French culture, though, has an Asian soul. Side by side on the chalkboard with the French breads are iced coffee swirled with condensed milk, spring rolls full of brawny shrimp and hand-tied banana leaf parcels of sticky rice. Like fellow Asian bakeries, in other words, Parisian Bakery Cafe is a living catalog of personal and national histories. Long before the 17th-century arrival of French missionaries, food writer Emily Monaco notes, Vietnamese were already influenced by tastes and techniques from neighboring countries, especially China. Later, during more than 70 years of French colonialism, they encountered ingredients such as butter and wine. But instead of adopting the outsiders customs wholesale, Vietnamese cooks folded them into their own, along the way inventing a cuisine appealing enough to sustain bakeries and restaurants, generations later, in far-off Houston. But 2020 devastated these businesses. In the months before COVID prompted citywide shutdowns, Asian small business owners were already brutalized by rumors, violence and threats, and diatribes about the China virus. Only after months of struggle, some businesses are doing better, Lian said. He showed me a baking sheet filled with plastic signs hed pulled from his emptied-out shelves. Now, by late afternoon, he said, were almost sold out. While most of these bakery customers are Asian, many are not. Lian estimates that about 70 percent of his clients have Taiwanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean or Japanese roots, and the other 30 percent are non-Asian. For many customers with Asian roots, bakeries like Lians have been havens of comfort for years. These mom-and-pop shops are exposing people to different foods, but they are also so important to the community, Leslie Yeh, the Taiwanese-American food writer, told me. A lot of children of immigrants went through childhood feeling, Theres a food that I eat at home, and a food I eat in public. There was a sense of foreignness that you had to cover up. Coming from the suburbs and visiting Asian bakeries made her feel at home, she said. Now she loves seeing non-Asians lining up at the same places. Bread is a very easy way in to a cuisine, she said. You dont have to over-explain it. I think shes right. For a non-Asian like me, who moved to Houston decades ago, nibbling through a bag of pineapple bread and cupcakes from Kamalan in my living room is now a way to reclaim the city I fell in love with. For adventurous kids longing to horse around with their peers and sick of living onscreen, the same bag of snacks can launch a raucous, tasting party on Zoom as my teenagers recently had with friends scattered throughout the city. Something about newly baked bread seems to lift peoples spirits, Lian told me. My wife and I love this job, he said. And were always hearing it from customers in the bakery: You have very, very good bread. They just seem happy to be here. I feel that way too. So I keep going back, and I keep bringing treats home to share. As a Houstonian, I need the citys Asian bakeries their daily treasures, their history and their creativity in hard times to flourish. Kolker is the editor of Rice Business Wisdom, the ideas magazine at Rice Business School, and author of The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn From Newcomers To America About Health, Happiness And Hope. Gov. Tom Wolfs budget and the response it has generated presents a somewhat jarring deja vu to budgets of the recent past. On Wolfs side, he has put forth bold plans to hike education funding, support environmental spending, give tax cuts to some families, and hike the state income tax for others. Republican lawmakers responded by immediately calling the budget a nonstarter. Bad enough that this performance is so predictable during normal times. But following a year of economic devastation due to the pandemic, its a particular disappointment. Lawmakers are missing the opportunity presented by the pandemic to throw out the old partisan and unproductive script and look at things differently. Contrary to expectations that this proposal would be a decimated shadow of past budgets, the new $37.8 billion general fund budget represents an 11% increase over last years. That increase comes from a combination of new taxes, reallocating revenues, and federal dollars. The elements of Gov. Wolfs budget are indeed bold. Any proposal to increase income taxes in the midst of a recession takes guts. The hike in personal income tax from 3.07% to 4.49% is targeted to higher-income families (and will also impact businesses) and is coupled with tax cuts for working families hit hardest by the pandemic. READ MORE: GOP pans Wolf proposal to hike taxes on top earners Bringing in new revenue in the form of increasing taxes on better-off Pennsylvanians and the gas industry, as well as legalizing and taxing marijuana is an economic imperative for recovery. The pandemic exposed the weak underbelly of the commonwealths, and the nations, social safety net, public health infrastructure, and capacity to provide high-quality education for all. Moves include a $1.35 billion increase in basic education funding. The budget also includes a $25 million increase for Pre-K Counts and increases for Head Start and Special Education, among others. Another notable proposal would provide overdue reforms to the Charter School Law, adjusting the way cyber charters get funded to include a flat per student rate of $9,500 per year. Cyber schools who do not have expenses tied to brick-and-mortar structures have benefited unduly from the lack of meaningful charter-funding reform. This change alone represents $229 million in savings to districts. Wolf also proposes to alter the states education tax credit program, lowering the administrative dollars organizations can set aside, freeing up an additional $36 million in student scholarships. Wolf additionally wants to redirect $199 million in slots revenues that currently benefit the Race Horse Development Trust Fund to provide financial assistance to higher-education students in state-owned universities and colleges. Since 2004, the $3 billion the horse-race industry has gotten has had little impact on its decline. Finally, Wolf wants a severance tax on the natural gas industry to fund workforce development programs. He has unsuccessfully proposed this in every one of his budgets. Having bold proposals is not enough. Wolf needs to be bold in his approach to getting his proposals past the finish line. With two years left in his term, Wolf must show a willingness to spend political capital and use all levers at his disposal to play hardball. There is a parallel between the moment Wolf finds himself in and the one faced by President Joe Biden, who is battling Republicans who want a smaller coronavirus relief package than he is proposing. The White House issued a statement that [Biden] will not settle for a package that fails to meet the moment. Senate Democrats then voted to start a budget reconciliation process that would allow the relief package to pass without Republican votes. Wolf is in a tougher position than Biden because his party is the minority in the General Assembly. But he can still flex some muscle. For example: Without a severance tax, Wolfs budget starts with a $300 million annual hole. The natural gas industry has had devastating impacts on the environment. If a severance tax fails, Wolfs administration should explore options like slowing new permits, or stop issuing them. Gov. Wolf is right to start the process with a call for unity around a budget that meets the moment. But he should also have a clear plan B. It will be no comfort for struggling families in Pennsylvania that the administrations starting position was bold if it ends up falling short. 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 Tim Cook, Mark Mitsui and Lisa Skari Cook is president of Clackamas Community College. Mitsui is president of Portland Community College. Skari is president of Mt. Hood Community College The year of the pandemic has been crushing, and community colleges and our students have not been spared. With a recession upon us and legislators drawing up the next bienniums budget, we ask Oregons elected leaders to make a down payment on our recovery and invest in community colleges. Community colleges are Oregons economic engine. Our alumni are the skilled workers who contribute to the health and vitality of the state in industries like health care, manufacturing and welding. To continue to train our future workforce well, we need legislative support especially now. When the pandemic hit last March, community colleges quickly moved most classes online. Limited in-person courses were offered for a handful of programs that could not be transitioned online, provided they met state and county health guidelines. Helping students continue their educational journeys to reach their goals in a safe and healthy environment is our top priority. Yet many of our students are hurting. While the jolt of COVID-19 has been felt by all, it has disproportionately affected those who are lower-income, belong to underrepresented groups and work in unskilled jobs. Such labels fit many of those enrolled at a community college. A statewide survey last spring of community college students led by The Hope Center at Temple University found that: 41% of respondents were food insecure in the prior 30 days; 52% of respondents were housing insecure in the previous year; and 20% of respondents were homeless in the previous year. As community colleges strive to meet the needs of our marginalized populations, we also hear from business and industry partners who are desperate for a skilled and diverse workforce. This workforce will be essential to ride out the pandemic-created recession and get the state back on stable economic footing. With the pandemic, job losses and the recession bearing down on our state, a disinvestment in Oregon community colleges resulting in higher tuition and cuts is the worst possible option we can choose. Our states community colleges, if adequately funded, can help every Oregon industry and community by training workers in a relatively short amount of time; improving the English skills of non-native speakers; and connecting Oregonians hardest-hit by the pandemic with crucial resources to meet their basic needs. Investing in Oregons community colleges is also a wise fiscal strategy. In 2018-19, a statewide study for the Oregon Community Colleges Association found that a high school graduates earnings increase by more than $8,000 a year with an associates degree. Not only does that help the individual student, but the higher incomes earned collectively by hundreds of thousands of community college graduates translates into $1 billion-plus in greater tax revenue and increased productivity while reducing the need for government funded services by nearly $100 million. While the coronavirus relief packages are of tremendous help, that financial support is finite. These federal dollars helped us invest in online resources to support health care education and expand support services for students. But while one-time federal dollars can help in a crisis, biennial state funding is a critical investment in Oregonians future, and in the enduring health and wellness of our state. As the Oregon Legislature grapples with ways to slow the pandemic and balance Oregons economy, we implore decision makers to see that community colleges are a critical part of the solution. Our students are Oregons essential workers, often simultaneously pursuing an education and caring for their families. An investment in them supports not only the present need but positions our state for a stronger future. Subscribe to our free weekly Oregon Opinion newsletter. Email: 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 large parcel of land beside the booming growth area of Torquay has become the latest flashpoint in a contentious planning review considering whether to allow development on the untouched site. Public hearings will soon begin into proposed wide-ranging planning controls that will determine the future of parts of the Surf Coast and Greater Geelong. Residents of Torquay fear the Spring Creek area may be developed as the state government considers planning controls in the region. Credit:Jason South But a proposal to allow development in the 245-hectare stretch of land known as Spring Creek has drawn the ire of residents who are demanding the region be protected from overdevelopment. Development in Torquay has expanded rapidly in recent years and the pandemic has exacerbated those growing pains as city dwellers seek a sea change. Help India! In the modern world, in the world of industries and metropolis and the world governed by centralized rule, the farmer and the village have always been at the receiving end, forced to live a life without dignity and resources. The value created by their labour and knowledge is transferred away from them and is used to build industry, metropolis and, as if, the entire modern lifestyle. By Sunil Sahasrabudhey Support TwoCircles All our friends and co-workers who have social concern are in support of the ongoing farmers movement in the country. They are pained by the suffering of the farmers and want the matter to be resolved soon. There have been several rounds of meetings between the Movement and the Government. But it is difficult to say whether any actual dialogue is taking place. Why is the dialogue not taking place? Perhaps because the idea that the farmers have of the future of this country, the society and their well-being, is at great variance with the dominant view in the upper classes of the country and the world today. A farmer is not ready to accept his pauperization and also does not want that someone else takes the decisions about his work and life. In the modern world, in the world of industries and metropolis and the world governed by centralized rule, the farmer and the village have always been at the receiving end, forced to live a life without dignity and resources. The value created by their labour and knowledge is transferred away from them and is used to build industry, metropolis and, as if, the entire modern lifestyle. This happens both in the world of private or public enterprise. Therefore even if some solution is found to the immediate crisis, it is only legitimate to think about the long term. A small effort in this direction is attempted below. It is necessary to keep the market away from food grains. And it is also necessary that the production of food grains be as attractive as any other agricultural production. It is here that the agricultural sector needs major governmental intervention. It is said that the year in which agricultural produce gets a reasonable price, the market in the villages and small towns see visible increase inactivity. This is where development and well-being meet. The extent and type of modernization such economic activity may lead to is what the nation needs. Hence, if capital unrelated to agriculture is invested in agriculture and that too without government control, it will lead to increased exploitation of the peasantry and profits generated in that process will propel the activity in the markets of the metropolis and the international market. This may enrich further a small percentage of people in the country, otherwise, this is that jobless growth where the West has already arrived and our governments are so eager to follow suit. People with social concern have been saying this for a while that our political system has become such that those sitting in the legislatures do not think about the well-being of the people in general or the farmers in particular. The chief reason for this seems to be that questions related to morality have become irrelevant in the public social space. That is if someone talks about morality in the market, people may call him a fool. The biggest question of today seems to be how morality finds a place in markets and politics. This means that in matters of buying and selling the issues of being morally correct and just would have precedence over considerations of profit. When the government makes a policy or passes a law, questions of justice would take precedence over other considerations. When the moral consideration takes a back seat in electoral contests and the political parties decide on contestants keeping only win-ability as the criteria, it is precisely here that the idea of honest representation finds its burial. Those who win are under no constraint to be sensitive towards peoples needs, similar to what we find in the market place, namely that those who make money in the market through their cunning and heartless management, hardly have any fraternal feeling towards others in society. It may not be difficult to see that absence of dialogue between the Farmers Movement and the Government, despite several rounds of meetings, is due to some such situation. It is only when morality gets its due place in public discourse that we can expect the dialogue to resume effectively and not to run into such a dead end. We need to think deeply and dialogue on how to keep the market away from the food grains. Such reflections can take us towards including morality as an essential part of public discourses and this may give direction to thinking about systems of society and government which have at their centre considerations of the well-being of humanity, nature, society and country. Let us remember that some ten years ago there was a huge anti-corruption movement in this country which brought swaraj in public discourse again. Perhaps in the understanding of ordinary men and women swaraj means that system of society and government which is based on morality, truth and bhaichara (brotherhood) and not in competition, profit and power. Can starting a dialogue on swaraj open pathways for re-instituting morality among public criteria. This dialogue on swaraj will require to be wholesome- politics, society, economics, nature, culture, philosophy, global and local, everything to have its share. Sunil Sahasrabudhey is a political-social activist and philosopher with over thirty years of experience of peoples movements in India. Half of Americans believe that the Senate should convict Former U.S. President Donald Trump in an upcoming impeachment trial for his alleged role in inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol earlier this year, local media said. The impeachment trial of the former president -- his second in little more than a year is set to begin on Feb. 8, weeks after the House voted to impeach him for stoking the riot with toxic rhetoric before and during the insurrection. Forty-one percent of respondents believe that Trump should be held guilty, The Hill reported, citing a Marist poll. Meanwhile, 90 percent of Democrats said Trump should be convicted, while only 5 percent believe he should be acquitted, according to the poll. Conversely, 90 percent of Republicans desire an acquittal for Trump and only 5 percent cling to a conviction. There is much more to this bipartisan outrage more division is seen among independents, with 49 percent believing that Trump should be found guilty. A crowd of Trump's supporters overwhelmed police and violently breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 when Congress was certifying President Joe Biden, the then president-elect's victory in the 2020 White House race. The chaos and violence forced a lockdown on the Capitol grounds and left five people dead, including a police officer, and dozens of others injured. The Marist poll surveyed 1,313 U.S. adults on Jan. 24-27. Source: Xinhua/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 Samsung is gearing up for the launch of a new F-series phone in India. Called F62, the smartphone will reportedly be available later this month. So far, we have come across a bunch of leaks and rumours around the phone. Now, a new Flipkart listing gives more hints about the upcoming phone. The Flipkart page does not reveal any specifications but reveals the phone has a square-like quad-camera setup on the back, according to a GSMArena report. The teaser photos also confirm volume buttons are on the right edge of the phone, followed by the power button. The power button is also likely to double as the fingerprint reader. As you would have already guessed it, the Flipkart listing means the phone will be available online through the e-commerce website apart from Samsungs official online store. According to an older report, Samsung Galaxy F62 will be available in India under 25,000. The biggest draw of the phone is going to be the 7,000mAh battery. It will run on Android 11-based One UI 3.1. In the camera department, it will offer a 64-megapixel primary sensor. On the front, it will reportedly offer a 32-megapixel selfie camera. For performance, its likely to run on in-house Exynos 9825 processor. We are likely to find out more about the upcoming Galaxy F62 in coming days. You can also keep an eye on Samsungs official social media handles where the company is posting teasers for the phone. A former national president, Ijaw Youths Council, IYC, and Niger-Delta activist, Dr Chris Ekiyor, has implored Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, to revisit his plan to upgrade some academic institutions in parts of the state to university status by including Ijaw in the initiative. Dr. Ekiyor, a one-time Commissioner for Commerce and Industry in the state told Vanguard: "Including Ijaw in the plan will give the ethnic race a sense of belonging and afford the people opportunity to be educated." His words: "I join my voice with those demanding that Ijaw be considered for one of the proposed universities and I make particular reference to the Polytechnic in Burutu which can be upgraded like others ." "While I commend Governor Okowa for the initiative, I take with mix feelings the news that of all the schools being upgraded to university, none is located in ijaw area of the state. This action does not equate to the contributory roles the ijaw territory play in terms of oil and gas generated revenue and voting strength. "Most secondary schools in Ijaw areas are also in a state of disrepair and need urgent government intervention. The governor should in a bid to balance things approve the inclusion of Burutu Polytechnic for upgrade to University and site another Polytechnic at Bomadi or Patani, as we are completely left out in the mega infrastructure drive of the Okowa -led government. "This is also an indictment on the Ijaw political leadership in the state. We have to double up in our negotiation skill and ensure that ljaws get what is due them. That is the essence of ljaw coalition in the Delta politics, unfortunately such coalition only exist to seize power after which we stop meeting to strategise for the ijaw benefit," he said. Vanguard News Nigeria A vi Loeb has spent a lot of time thinking about how to explore the interstellar wilds. A prolific astrophysicist at Harvard University and chair of the advisory committee for Breakthrough Starshot, a project that aims to send probes to the nearest star system, Loeb envisions shooting powerful lasers at lightsails thin, reflective spacecraft akin to mirrors to accelerate them to star-hopping speed. So when a bizarre object from interstellar space hurtled through our solar system in 2017, Loeb readily admits that he was primed to see it as a glimpse of alien technology an extraterrestrial lightsail rather than some errant space rock. In his book Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, Loeb lays out his case that the unusual traveller, named Oumuamua after the Hawaiian word for scout, was an artificial relic crafted by savvy aliens. While this exotic explanation of the object serves as the backbone of the book, Loeb's broader argument grows out of his bewilderment with the blowback to his hypothesis, which he regards as an omen of imaginative decay and anti-alien bias in the scientific community. The search for extraterrestrial life has never been more than an oddity to the vast majority of scientists, he writes. To them, it is a subject worthy of, at best, glancing interest and at worst, outright derision. Sceptics who fit that description should take seriously the meticulous defence of the alien origin story offered in Extraterrestrial. To bolster his case, Loeb points to the unexplained properties of the first known interstellar visitor: its extreme dimensions, its perplexing brightness, and the dramatic speed boost that sent it careening out of our telescopic sights. Proponents of a natural origin for Oumuamua have suggested that it was an elongated planetary splinter or a loose cloud of dust grains. Loeb questions whether an alien origin is any more far-fetched than these explanations, given that scientists have never seen splinters or clouds of this nature inside the solar system. Scientists have also speculated that 'Oumuamua's sudden acceleration in the outer solar system was caused by bursts of evaporating ice, a phenomenon known as outgassing. As a counterpoint, Loeb points to the lack of evidence picked up by telescopes of an outgassing event. Like an astronomical Sherlock Holmes, a character often invoked in the book, Loeb concludes that the simplest explanation for these peculiarities is that the object was created by an intelligent civilisation not of this Earth. You don't have to share his conviction to be impressed by the breadth of his argument. Loeb is less successful in casting the controversy he has sparked as a sign of myopic reluctance, within academic circles, to concede that humans might not be the only sentient, spacefaring beings in the universe. Throughout Extraterrestrial, he returns to the refrain and yet it deviated to describe 'Oumuamua: a nod to the legend that Galileo muttered And yet it moves, referring to Earth, in response to his coerced recantation of the sun-centric model of the solar system. Loeb makes clear that he does not consider himself to be a neo-Galileo. And yet he sees parallels between Galileo's critics and his own. Recall the clerics who refused to look through Galileo's telescope, he writes. The scientific community's prejudice or closed-mindedness however you want to describe it is particularly pervasive and powerful when it comes to the search for alien life, especially intelligent life. Many researchers refuse to even consider the possibility that a bizarre object or phenomenon might be evidence of an advanced civilisation. He lovingly recalls his father double-checking the rooftop TV antenna to ensure that the family could watch the Apollo 11 moon landing The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) spent decades on the fringes of science, in part because of the relative lack of empirical methods available to constrain doubts about aliens during the 20th century. Over the past two decades, however, an explosion of observational techniques and discoveries many of which Loeb describes has revolutionised astrobiology and SETI. Thousands of exoplanets (worlds that orbit other stars) have been detected since the 1990s; some telescopes are now explicitly tasked with assessing their habitability. A central mission of NASA's Perseverance rover, due to land on Mars in February, is to look for signs of Martian life. China has built the world's largest single-dish telescope to scan the skies for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. On Venus, the possible detection of a chemical associated with life has evoked visions of aerial microbes in the Venusian skies. In the star system Alpha Centauri the target of Breakthrough Starshot a recently discovered exoplanet is sloughing off radio signals, stoking speculation about alien technosignatures. These advances and observations have practicalised the search for alien life in the minds of strict empiricists, which blunts Loeb's charge that the conservative scientific community considers the field to be a waste of time. It's not that his claim is to some degree inaccurate, but rather that the energy in emerging research about aliens is overshadowing the grumbling of doubters. The cover of Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth by Avi Loeb (handout) Loeb has been at the centre of media storms and peer backlash about his hypothesis for years, feeding his concerns that institutional groupthink is limiting the scope of scientific inquiry and leaving society ill-prepared to cope should an unambiguous detection of ET take place. The cosmic wonder and contrarian streak that inspired Extraterrestrial took root in Loeb's youth. Raised on his family's farm in Beit Hanan, a village south of Tel Aviv in Israel, Loeb had an idyllic childhood. He lovingly recalls his father double-checking the rooftop TV antenna to ensure that the family could watch the Apollo 11 moon landing, and credits his mother for gifting him with the life of the mind. He describes a formative boyhood memory, in which he deliberates about conforming with other kids and hints at a lifelong instinct to buck convention. The science I do is connected by a direct line to my childhood, Loeb writes. It was an innocent time of wondering about the big questions of life, enjoying the beauty of nature, and, among the orchards and the close neighbours of Beit Hanan, not caring about my status or standing. With a passion for philosophy and an interdisciplinary background, Loeb describes himself as a somewhat accidental astrophysicist. He bubbles over with so many ideas that he scribbles them down in the shower on a waterproof whiteboard. While it's tantalising to imagine that Oumuamua was our first brush with aliens, Loeb writes most memorably about collecting shells on the beach with his daughters, brainstorming trippy new studies with his many proteges, and seeking comfort in the view of the night sky from our lonely planet. In the end, Extraterrestrial is at its best when it is down to earth. Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth By Avi Loeb. John Murray Press, 20 The Washington Post Another 517 types of wild animals, including birds that are kept as pets by some people for their beautiful songs, will no longer be hunted or traded after the first major change in 32 years to the List of Wild Animals under State Priority Conservation. The list, jointly released on Friday by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, now protects a total of 980 wild animals in China. On the list, 234 wild animals are under level-one protection, the highest level, while the other 746 are protected as level-two species. The first version of the list was published in 1989, and it has played a crucial role in the protection of wild animals in China. The list has only witnessed two changes in the past 32 yearsmusk deer being upgraded to level-one protection in 2003 and a similar upgrading for Chinese pangolins last year. Of the animals on the list, some are familiar ones such as the hwameia type of thrushand the horsfield's bush lark, both of which can be seen in many pet markets, as well as seven subspecies of woodpeckers that used to be a common sight in many regions. "Those birds have seen a sharp population decline in the past decades due to illegal hunting and climate change that resulted in the environmental degradation of their habitats," said Yang Xiaojun, a researcher from Kunming Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Although there has been no nationwide survey on the change in the population of those birds, Yang said sightings in the wild of the hwamei or the horsfield's bush lark had been much rarer during his field investigations in recent years. "The new list came just in time and will help to save those valuable and endangered wild animals. It will also benefit China's biological diversity and the ecological balance," Yang said. While all of the animals on the old list remain on the new one, 65 speciessome of which are critically endangered and globally known, such as Yangtze finless porpoisehave had their protection status upgraded to the highest level. The Yangtze finless porpoise, a member of the cetacea family and one of only two mammals in the Yangtze River, was listed as "critically endangered" on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2013. It suffered a sharp population decline due to the loss of its habitat and the impact of human activities, such as illegal hunting, fishing and more rapid urbanization, according to Liu Wenbin, a professor from the College of Animal Science and Technology at Nanjing Agricultural University. Currently, China has fewer than 1,200 Yangtze finless porpoise living in the wild, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. China has made resolute efforts in recent years to protect its wildlife and has achieved significant results. For example, the Assam macaque, the Capra sibirica and the Burmese python have seen stable population growth thanks to conservation efforts in the past years. According to the notice released by National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on Friday, the administration will be in charge of work related to the protection of the 686 territorial animals on the list while the ministry will be responsible for the 294 aquatic animals. The two departments will provide detailed guidance to governments at all levels to help them better protect the wild animals as well as their habitats, and crack down on illegal hunting and trading of the species. The notice said public education on the protection of wild animals will also be promoted nationwide, and called for more involvement from the whole of society in this effort. "The new list will be a crucial step in protecting China's wild animals and its biodiversity. I hope the list can be upgraded regularly, such as once every five or 10 years and can provide more protection to other species that need it," said Jiang Zhigang, a researcher from the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Two Offaly groups received funding from Bank of Ireland's Begin Together Community Fund. It is part of Leinster Rugby's affiliate charity initiative where local causes receive support from the 2020 Begin Together Community fund. There are two grantees in Offaly, Edenderry Swimming Pool, and Offaly Traveller Movement. Edenderry Swimming Pool aims to encourage and promote swimming and meet the recreational, fitness and educational needs of the whole community including children, adults, the elderly, and those with special needs. The Begin Together funding will be used to make the pool more inclusive and accessible, by rolling out a special needs program for children. This will support users and their families to maintain a healthy lifestyle, supporting their physical and mental wellbeing Offaly Traveller Movement is a community development organisation working towards social justice for travellers in Offaly through a partnership approach between the traveller community and the settled community. The Begin Together grant will fund the Young Minceirs Tairean project which aims to equip young travellers with the tools to manage their mental health and wellbeing. It will also include wellbeing activities such as art therapy, drumming, meditation and mindfulness and aim to empower young people to take responsibility for their own mental health and wellbeing. Bank of Irelands Begin Together Community Fund will reopen for applications in the spring and works alongside Begin Together Arts Fund, and Begin Together Fund for Colleagues, as part of a multi-year commitment to support communities and local charities. Source: AP Over 56 lakh people have been inoculated against coronavirus till now and there has been no case of serious or severe adverse event following vaccination or death attributable to the vaccination till date, the Union Health Ministry said on February 5. Of the 5,636,868 beneficiaries vaccinated, 5,266,175 are healthcare workers and 370,693 frontline workers whose vaccination started on February 2, said Additional Secretary in the Union health ministry, Manohar Agnani. Track this LIVE blog for latest updates on coronavirus pandemic He said 54.7 percent of healthcare workers registered on CoWIN application have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Agnani said 220,019 beneficiaries were vaccinated on February 5 and there was no case of serious or severe AEFI or death attributable to vaccination till date. The highest number of people were vaccinated in Uttar Pradesh at 673,542 followed by Maharashtra at 463,044, Rajasthan at 419,059 and Karnataka at 383,537. 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 Read: Bharat Biotech likely to begin Covaxin trial on children by early March Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the vaccination drive with healthcare workers at the frontline of India's COVID-19 battle getting their first jabs on January 16. Indias drug regulator has approved two vaccines - Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech and Covishield from the Oxford/AstraZeneca stable being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) - for emergency use in the country. Also read: Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID shot less effective against South African variant: Study 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 the latest developments related to the COVID-19 vaccination in India: > The total number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 till date in Delhi, majority of them being healthcare workers, has crossed the one lakh-mark, officials said. On Saturday, over 9,500 beneficiaries were given the shots, including frontline workers. The turnout was about 53 percent. > Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said the country is developing seven more COVID-19 vaccines and also working on further vaccine development to inoculate every citizen of India. He said the Centre does not have any immediate plan to make the vaccines available in the open market and a decision will be taken as the situation demands. > India has so far supplied COVID-19 vaccine to 15 countries and another 25 nations are in the queue at different levels for the jab, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday. He said there are three categories of countries which are keen to get the vaccine from India- poor, price-sensitive nations and other countries which directly deal with pharmaceutical companies that make the antidote. Digital.com, a leading independent review website for small business online tools, products, and services, has announced the best web design firms in San Antonio. The top companies were selected based on multiple services, size of the firm, and industry focus. Experts at Digital.com examined companies with additional branding or marketing services that would enable businesses to scale up. Each firm was expected to demonstrate industry expertise in specific areas like manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and healthcare. The guide also features large and small firms to meet a variety of budgets and service needs. Our experts spent hours reviewing many web design companies in San Antonio that can offer a broad range of services and industry expertise, says Josephine Miller, PR Manager of Digital.com. This guide will help businesses narrow their search for top-rated firms. Researchers at Digital.com conducted a 40-hour assessment of over 49 companies across the city. To access the complete list of best web design companies in San Antonio, please visit https://digital.com/web-design-companies/san-antonio/. 15 Best Web Design Companies in San Antonio -Big Gorilla Design -Boss Creative -Digett -Full Spectrum Branding LLC -iScan 360 Branding -Leap Interactive Media Group -Nxt Gen Web -Odd Duck Media -Prime Web Design -Rocket Marketing and Design -Sweb Development -Ten Peaks Media -Thrive Internet Marketing Agency -Visual Net Design -Web & SEO ABOUT DIGITAL.COM Digital.com reviews and compares the best products, services, and software for running or growing a small business website or online shop. The platform collects twitter comments and uses sentiment analysis to score companies and their products. Digital.com was founded in 2015 and formerly known as Review Squirrel. To learn more, visit https://digital.com/. Advertisement Boris Johnson must wait until there are fewer than 1,000 Covid infections a day before lifting lockdown, NHS bosses and scientists have warned. Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, is set to write to the Prime Minister and urge him not to lift the restrictions or face another unmanageable increase of infections - despite 22% of all over-18s in the UK now having been vaccinated. SAGE modelling has also predicted a fourth wave of more than 1,000 deaths a day in Spring if restrictions are lifted completely - or eased too quickly - when the rules are set to be reviewed on March 8. The governments scientific advisers believe there could be a further 130,000 deaths between now and June next year, taking the total close to 250,000. The scientists fear that although the most vulnerable Britons will have received a dose of vaccine by the time restrictions are lifted, the virus could still hospitalise a large number of un-vaccinated younger people. And although the government is on track to vaccinate the over-70s by February 15 they believe infections could prove severe in the small percentage of recipients in whom the vaccine does not block symptoms. Hospitalisations are falling rapidly but there are still 29,326 patIents in hospital with coronavirus in the UK. Mr Hopson said in the Sunday Times: "We have crested the peak but we're only just beginning the descent. 'We're still at a dangerously high altitude where the NHS is under great pressure and the thing we know is the descent is going to be much slower because people are taking longer to recover. It's going to take months, not days and weeks.' The UK announced another 18,262 coronavirus infections yesterday meaning they would have to fall another 95% to bring the numbers down to the 1,000 case threshold. Currently infections are dropping at approximately 20% a week. But lockdown sceptic Tory MPs are pushing for the restrictions to be lifted as soon as possible - arguing that the vaccine will prevent most serious cases. Mark Harper, who chairs the Tory MP Covid Recovery Group (CRG), said: 'These top nine groups [of over-50s who should be vaccinated by Spring ] account for around 99 per cent of those that have died from Covid and about 80 per cent of hospital admissions. 'It will be almost impossible to justify having any restrictions in place at all by that point.' Mr Johnson is set to unveil his road map out of lockdown towards the end of the month, with hopes the return of schools from March 8 can be followed by allowing mixing outdoors, with bars and restaurants freed up over the summer. In other developments: Real-world data is set to show next week that infections among the over-80s are falling and those who have received one dose of vaccine have a high level of protection, according to the deputy head of the JCVI The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South African variant, early data showed last night in a blow to global inoculation efforts. Britain's daily death toll has also plunged - with 828 fatalities recorded today. The figure is 31 per cent lower than the 1,200 seen on this day last week. Ministers are drawing up a 'jabs at work' blitz to vaccinate millions of under-50s in rapid time, it emerged last night. Plans to deploy roving teams of vaccinators to workplaces across the UK were revealed to be under consideration in government. Sources said it would help accelerate the rollout, which is currently taking place in hospitals, GPs, and makeshift vaccination hubs. The Government this week revealed its ambition to have offered all over-50s their first dose by May - although insiders suggested this could be sooner. It would mean the nine priority groups of the 33million who account for 99 per cent of Covid deaths would have been inoculated and start gaining some protection against the disease. University of Warwick research published in January, before the current vaccination data became available, 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. But it predicts a large fourth wave if measure are eased too quickly Real life data shows the vaccine IS saving lives in the UK: Real-world data shows inoculations ARE reducing infections and deaths, top advisor reveals Data collected on the first rollout of the Covid vaccine justifies the Government's decision to delay the second dose, according to an expert. Professor Anthony Harnden, of the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation, says those already given the jab are experiencing high levels of protection from their first dose. And the data, set to be published next week by Public Health England, shows infection rates in those over the age of 80 have fallen in the past month. Advertisement The warning by the NHS chief coincided with one of the Governments most senior vaccine advisers saying there is promising evidence that justifies the decision to extend the gap between the first and second dose of the Covid jab from three to 12 weeks. Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said last night that people were showing high levels of protection from the first dose, which was reducing infections and saving lives. The Covid-19 vaccine rollout in the UK is nothing short of a triumph, he told The Sunday Times. The Governments strategy to extend the interval between the two doses means we have been able to protect more people and undoubtedly save more lives. We have seen promising evidence that people get high levels of protection from the first dose. Data from Public Health England, due for release within days, is expected to show infection rates in the over-80s has plunged in the past month. The World Health Organisation recommends that the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine be delayed for a maximum of only six weeks, while the European Medicines Agency says it should be only three weeks. Prof Harndens comments follow the latest figures show the Prime Minister is on course to hit his target of 15 million first vaccine doses by Valentines Day. As the Government said yesterday that a further 494,163 jabs have been given bringing the total to 11,465,210 there was growing confidence that Boris Johnsons ambition to vaccinate the most vulnerable priority groups before February 15 would be met. The average daily number of first vaccinations given over the past week is 440,896 meaning the 15 million landmark could be hit inside a week. Growing anticipation of reaching the milestone came as the number of reported deaths fell to 828, down 31 per cent on a week ago, and new infections dropped by a fifth to 18,262. WHERE IS DOOR-TO-DOOR TESTING BEING OFFERED IN HUNT FOR SOUTH AFRICAN VARIANT? Door-to-door testing has been ordered in 11 authorities London W7: Hanwell (South African variant) N17: Tottenham (South African variant) CR4: Mitcham (South African variant) West Midlands WS2: Walsall (South African variant) WR3: Worcestershire (South African variant) WR9: Worcestershire (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 Dr Clive Dix, chairman of the vaccines taskforce, said he was very optimistic of giving jabs to all over-50s by May. He added Britain would be ahead of the game in anticipating variants of coronavirus. However, concern about the impact of mutations of Covid-19 was underlined as so-called surge testing for the South Africa variant was extended to two areas of Worcestershire. Yesterday the UK has recorded 18,262 new coronavirus cases - down a fifth in just one week. In a sign that the UK's third national lockdown has slowed the spread of a highly-infectious Covid-19 variant, today's daily case total is down 21.5 per cent on the 23,275 seen last Saturday. How to quickly administer injections to the UK's remaining adults - and who should go first - remains a live discussion in Whitehall. According to the Telegraph, key workers such as teachers, supermarket workers and delivery drivers would be first in line for the second wave of jabs. Cabinet sources told the paper that mobile vaccination units would tour workplaces inoculating these essential staff. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is tasked with breaking down the remaining under-50s into priority order. Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said last week: 'This could include first responders, the military, those involved in the justice system, teachers, transport workers, and public servants essential to the pandemic response.' Teachers in particular are expected to be at the front of the queue for the second phase of the rollout as schools are due to reopen on March 8. But global inoculation efforts were dealt a blow last night as early data showed the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South African variant. A small trial of just 2,026 people found the jab had 'limited efficacy' in protecting against mild and moderate disease caused by the mutant strain. The pharmaceutical giant said scientists will now start adapting the vaccine to kill the new variant, with hopes it will be ready by autumn. Nobody died or was hopitalised during the study by South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University, which has not yet been published but has been seen by the Financial Times. An AstraZeneca spokesman said: 'In this small phase I/II trial, early data has shown limited efficacy against mild disease primarily due to the B.1.351 South African variant. 'However, we have not been able to properly ascertain its effect against severe disease and hospitalisation given that subjects were predominantly young healthy adults.' Britain has bought 100million doses of the home-grown Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and is currently rolling it out to millions. At the same time a testing blitz is underway in parts of the country after 11 cases of the variant were identified in people who had no links to travel - suggesting it may be spreading in communities. A million people in the North West of England have been told to take a Covid test if they have a runny nose, as part of a clampdown on the mutated virus detected in the region. A mobile testing unit has been set up at The White Hart pub in Fernhill Heath, near Worcester, for adults with no symptoms living within walking distance, a drive-through testing site will open and door-to-door testing will be rolled out. Worcestershire County Council said: 'Working in partnership with NHS Test and Trace, every person over the age of 18, living in the WR3 postcode and some WR9 postcodes, is strongly encouraged to take a Covid-19 test this week, even if they are not showing symptoms.' Meanwhile, residents in the Liverpool city region, Preston and Lancashire have been urged by health bosses to get swabbed if they have even the slightest suspicion they are ill. It comes after more than 40 cases of an altered strain of the original virus - which carries a mutation experts fear makes vaccines less potent - was spotted in the three areas. Yesterday, it was revealed that passengers arriving in Britain from countries not on the Covid hotspot list could have to take up to four tests during their at-home isolation period, it emerged last night. Earlier this week, the Government confirmed that all passengers from the 33 'red list' countries would have to quarantine for ten days in a hotel from February 15. And now, travellers arriving from countries not on the list - who have to isolate for ten days at home - face three mandatory Covid tests during their isolation. A fourth test taken half-way through quarantine could allow travellers to be let out early. All the tests must be paid for by the traveller. Those who fail to take the mandatory tests face fines. It is unclear how much the tests will cost, but private patients can fork out around 150 on one currently. It has also emerged that as ministers struggled to find accommodation for passengers forced to quarantine after arriving from virus hotspots, this newspaper found hundreds of asylum seekers housed at a large hotel near Heathrow Airport; In an article for the MoS, the bosses of Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester Airports Group issued a plea for financial support and revealed they are losing 50 million a week; Hundreds of school staff have been vaccinated by mistake after messages apparently inviting them for jabs were circulated on WhatsApp; In Israel, one of few countries to rival the UK for the speed and scale of its vaccine roll-out, officials revealed that coronavirus cases had plunged since it started to administer the second Pfizer dose on January 10. Daily case rates for over-60s have fallen by 46 per cent compared with the mid-January peak, while hospital admissions have dropped by 35 per cent. Professor Eran Segal, a biologist at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, said: We say with caution, the magic has started. The Covid-19 Actuaries Response Group, an organisation of volunteer experts, said in January that the effects of the UK's mass vaccine rollout would start to be seen in falling hospital admissions and deaths from mid-February, and then in reduced death rates from March. There would also be a drop in infection rates but this will be less noticeable. The research was produced before the vaccine programme hit its current speed, on January 11 Oxford Covid vaccine is less effective against South African mutant strain, claim scientists: Small study of just 2,000 patients found some patients got mild or moderate symptoms - but NONE died or were hospitalised The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South African variant, early data showed last night in a blow to global inoculation efforts. A small trial of just 2,026 people found the jab had 'limited efficacy' in protecting against mild and moderate disease caused by the mutant strain. The pharmaceutical giant said scientists will now start adapting the vaccine to kill the new variant, with hopes it will be ready by autumn. Nobody died or was hopitalised during the study by South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University, which has not yet been published but has been seen by the Financial Times. An AstraZeneca spokesman said: 'In this small phase I/II trial, early data has shown limited efficacy against mild disease primarily due to the B.1.351 South African variant. 'However, we have not been able to properly ascertain its effect against severe disease and hospitalisation given that subjects were predominantly young healthy adults.' A testing blitz is underway in parts of the country after 11 cases of the South African variant were identified in people who had no links to travel - suggesting it may be spreading in communities Staff instruct a person on how to carry out a Covid-19 test at a mobile testing unit during a testing blitz to track the South African variant The average age of the trial's participants was 31, an age at which one is very unlikely to fall seriously ill with Covid-19. Coronavirus has mutated thousands of times during the course of the pandemic which is normal behaviour for a virus. But scientists are concerned in particular about three variants which evidence suggests are highly transmissible; the ones first detected in Kent, South Africa and Brazil. The South African variant, which has been detected across the world including in the UK, appears to be proving the most immune to vaccines. American pharmaceutical firms Johnson and Johnson and Novavax have both reported their shots are less effective against the strain. Similarly, Moderna is manufacturing a booster shot to its vaccine regimen to tackle the variant, while the Pfizer-BioNTech jab was also reportedly less effective. Britain has bought 100million doses of the home-grown Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and is currently rolling it out to millions. At the same time a testing blitz is underway in parts of the country after 11 cases of the variant were identified in people who had no links to travel - suggesting it may be spreading in communities. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South African variant, early data showed last night in a blow to global inoculation efforts Worcestershire become the latest area to start surge testing after the South African coronavirus variant was detected locally. Worcestershire County Council has set up surge testing in the WR3 postcode after cases of the variant with no links to international travel were identified. A mobile testing unit has been set up at The White Hart pub in Fernhill Heath, near Worcester, for adults with no symptoms living within walking distance. A drive-through testing site is planned to open in the coming days, and door-to-door testing will also be made available. Worcestershire County Council said: 'Working in partnership with NHS Test and Trace, every person over the age of 18, living in the WR3 postcode and some WR9 postcodes, is strongly encouraged to take a Covid-19 test this week, even if they are not showing symptoms.' Dr Kathryn Cobain, director for public health in the county, said: 'I urge everyone offered a test to take it up to help us to monitor the virus in our communities and to help suppress and control the spread of this variant.' Door-to-door and mobile testing began at the start of the month as part of urgent efforts to swab 80,000 people. 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 Worcestershire County Council has set up surge testing in the WR3 postcode after cases of the variant with no links to international travel were identified Testing of around 10,000 people in Maidstone, Kent, was completed on Thursday night. In Surrey, testing in Woking was expected to finish on Friday with door-to-door deliveries in Egham and Thorpe due to begin on Saturday. Sefton Council said efforts to identify the variant in the Norwood area of Southport in Merseyside would continue into the weekend. Testing in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, is being rolled out for another week until February 12, the council said. Around 10,300 people in Walsall have been tested so far and some 560 tests had been conducted in the affected areas in Birmingham, the West Midlands Combined Authority was told. Mobile testing units and home testing kits were also deployed this week to Hanwell, west London and Mitcham, south London. Testing will also continue into next week in Tottenham, north London. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE SOUTH AFRICAN VARIANT? Real name: B.1.351 When was it discovered? Nelson Mandela Bay, in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, in mid-December. What mutations does it have? The South African variant carries 21 mutations, some of which change the shape of the spike protein on its outside. The two worrying alterations are known as E484K and N501Y. Why is it causing panic? N501Y appears to make it better able to stick to the cells inside the body and makes it more likely to cause infection and faster to spread. This is the same mutation found on the Kent variant, which is at least 50 per cent more infectious than regular Covid. The variant has mutations on its spike protein which scientists fear will make it difficult for the immune system to recognise, even in vaccinated people Scientists believe E484K may be associated with an ability to evade parts of the immune system called antibodies. Researchers suspect this is the case because strains with this mutation have been shown to reinfect people who caught and beat older versions of Covid. How many people have caught it in the UK? At least 143 Brits have been infected with this variant, though the number is likely to be far higher because PHE is only testing random positive samples. Will it affect vaccines? So far Pfizer and Moderna's jabs appear only slightly less effective against the South African variant. Researchers took blood samples from vaccinated patients and exposed them to an engineered virus with the worrying mutations found on the South African variant. They found there was a noticeable reduction in the production of antibodies, which are virus-fighting proteins made in the blood after vaccination or natural infection, but still enough to kill off the mutant strain. There are still concerns about how effective a single dose of vaccine will be against the strain. So far Pfizer and Moderna's studies have only looked at how people given two doses react to the South African variant, Studies into Oxford University/AstraZeneca's jab and the South African strain are still ongoing. Johnson & Johnson confirmed that its single shot jab blocked 57 per cent of coronavirus infections in South Africa, which meets the World Health Organization's 50 per cent efficacy threshold. Advertisement Real life data shows the vaccine IS saving lives in the UK: Real-world data shows inoculations ARE reducing infections and deaths, top advisor reveals By Anthony Thrower for MailOnline Data collected on the first rollout of the Covid vaccine justifies the Government's decision to delay the second dose, according to an expert. Professor Anthony Harnden, of the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation, says those already given the jab are experiencing high levels of protection from their first dose. And the data, set to be published next week by Public Health England, shows infection rates in those over the age of 80 have fallen in the past month. It comes as the number of people given the jab rises above 11million. Professor Harnden said in the Sunday Times: 'The Covid-19 vaccine rollout in the UK is nothing short of a triumph. 'The Government's strategy to extend the interval between the two doses means we have been able to protect more people and undoubtedly save more lives.' Last week Boris Johnson praised the NHS for its 'colossal' effort to vaccinate 10million Brits against Covid. Saluting 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 on track to hitting its goal of giving the first vaccine dose to the 14million most vulnerable Brits by February 15. And with cases and deaths easing and the rollout of jabs surging ahead of schedule, Boris Johnson is said to have ordered a ramping up of preparations for children to get back in classrooms from March 8. Covid 'is a gift that keeps on giving': Labour shadow attorney general is caught on tape saying pandemic is GOOD for rich City lawyers - leaving Keir Starmer facing furious backlash By Glen Owen, political editor for the Mail on Sunday Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is facing a backlash after one of his most senior frontbenchers described the Covid pandemic as a 'gift that keeps on giving' for lawyers. Lord Falconer, the Shadow Attorney General, used the phrase during a briefing for a top City firm staffed by millionaire lawyers. The peer insists that he was referring to changes in the law triggered by the crisis, but a source close to the Labour grandee said that he regretted his choice of words. Last night, Lord Falconer's comments were seized on by the Conservatives, with party chairman Amanda Milling describing it as a 'troubling' example of Labour's approach to the pandemic. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is facing a backlash after one of his most senior frontbenchers described the Covid pandemic as a 'gift that keeps on giving' for lawyers. Lord Falconer (right), the Shadow Attorney General, used the phrase during a briefing for a top City firm staffed by millionaire lawyers As well as being a full-time member of the Shadow Cabinet, Lord Falconer who served as Tony Blair's Lord Chancellor is a partner at the international law firm Gibson Dunn, where his duties have included leading its Covid-19 UK Task Force. Labour declined to reveal details of Lord Falconer's pay at the company, although it was reported in 2019 that full partners at the firm took home an average of 2.5 million a year. The embarrassment comes after a torrid week for Starmer, who had to apologise to Boris Johnson for making false accusations in the Commons. The Labour leader had called it 'complete nonsense' for the Prime Minister to claim that Starmer had wanted Britain's vaccines to remain under the regulation of the European Medicines Agency post-Brexit. He later had to admit the charge was true. Constituency Labour parties have also reportedly been drawing up censure motions against Starmer as they lose faith in his ability to win a General Election. The most recent opinion poll put the Conservatives three points ahead of Labour, while one survey found that just 16 per cent of people thought Starmer would have done a better job in handling the pandemic than Johnson. The Labour leader had called it 'complete nonsense' for the Prime Minister to claim that Starmer had wanted Britain's vaccines to remain under the regulation of the European Medicines Agency post-Brexit. He later had to admit the charge was true As well as being a full-time member of the Shadow Cabinet, Lord Falconer who served as Tony Blair's Lord Chancellor is a partner at the international law firm Gibson Dunn, where his duties have included leading its Covid-19 UK Task Force. Labour declined to reveal details of Lord Falconer's pay at the company, although it was reported in 2019 that full partners at the firm took home an average of 2.5 million a year. (Above, Lord Falconer in 1997 when he was Tony Blair's Solicitor General) In a recording obtained by The Mail on Sunday, Lord Falconer can be heard introducing a Gibson Dunn 'webinar' on 'how the law has been changed by Covid' by saying: 'This is a gift that keeps on giving, the law keeps on changing, keeps on getting more complicated, and is always interesting.' By the time of the webinar, on June 29, in the UK some 43,575 people had died with coronavirus, with the country established as the worst-hit nation in Europe. Lord Falconer, who also once shared a flat with Mr Blair, inhabits a world which contrasts starkly with that of voters in those 'Red Wall' seats in the Midlands and the North which Labour hopes to reclaim from the Tories at the next Election. In September, Starmer's Shadow Education Secretary, Kate Green (above), called the pandemic a 'good crisis' which Labour could exploit Last year, three partners at Gibson Dunn, which has 20 offices worldwide, wrote an article for a legal journal which advised private equity firms on how to invest in the 'distressed environment' of Covid. It started: 'The current Covid-19 pandemic while providing unprecedented challenges for many portfolio companies will also present some unique investment opportunities to invest in distressed businesses.' The article suggested the 'strategic purchase of debt as a path to obtaining control' of failing firms. Lord Falconer, who was appointed to Labour's front bench last April, is a member of the Privy Council, which technically entitles him to receive sensitive Government information although there is no suggestion that he has ever used the privilege for commercial advantage. The source close to Lord Falconer said of his opening comments last night: 'Charlie was referring to the pace at which the Government is making changes to the law. 'He regrets his choice of words, which he understands could be misinterpreted.' A source present at the meeting said: 'Lord Falconer's comments to a group of legal advisers were solely about it being an interesting time to study the law.' In September, Starmer's Shadow Education Secretary, Kate Green, called the pandemic a 'good crisis' which Labour could exploit. She said: 'I think we should use the opportunity, don't let a good crisis go to waste. We can really see now what happens when you under-resource schools, when you under-resource families.' Last night, Ms Milling said: 'One Shadow Minister previously said this awful pandemic was a 'good crisis' for the Labour Party. Now these troubling comments by another Shadow Minister emerge. 'All of this sums up Labour's approach throughout the pandemic, which has been to play politics at every opportunity.' New Delhi, Feb 7 : A year ago, a peculiar question was posed before the Supreme Court: should it allow a railway over bridge (RoB), which saves human lives, but costs felling of several heritage trees, which survived over a century? It was argued that human lives assume precedence over trees. Though, the issue at the surface looked simple but a closer look revealed an extremely complex developmental challenge. A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde sensed it and on January 9, 2020, appointed an expert committee to examine issues of loss of trees and explore alternatives to the proposed felling of heritage trees, which have irreplaceable value. The committee pointed out that felling of 356 trees for construction of 5 RoBs on NH 35 in West Bengal, in a larger perspective is a complex issue, which entails environmental management and its relationship with human development. The expert committee comprises Soham Pandya, Nishikant Mukarji, Sunita Narain, Bikas Kumar Maji and Niranjita Mitra. The Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) moved the top court against tree felling for the project. The committee emphasised that indiscriminate tree felling cannot be justified as development, instead suggested measures to create both economic and environmental wealth. According to a Ministry of Environment and Forests circular if a road length is less than 100 Km, 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 implementing agency (West Bengal)," said the committee. The committee said the current compensatory afforestation policy is not sufficient to protect the environment. "To compensate for the trees that are cut, the present policy norm is that 5 trees are planted to compensate for the cut tree. This policy actually begs the issue. There is obviously no equivalence between a 100-year-old tree and fresh sapling," said the committee in a report. The committee recommended that given this enormous imbalance, the effort should be to achieve as fast as possible, the original lead area index (LAI), which has been lost with the cut tree. A majority in the committee concluded that 10 saplings should be planted to compensate for a tree with a small crown size; 25 saplings for a tree of medium crown size and 50 saplings for a tree with a large crown size. "There is enough land available for this measure to be successful and land is not a constraint," said the report. The committee pointed out that the compensatory planting often fails in the absence of an accountable mechanism to protect and nurture the newly planted saplings. It recommended organisational structure within the project organisation to be made accountable. The experts reckoned that the tree should be nurtured for at least 10 years against the existing 2 years and compensatory planting should begin parallel with the project. This project is a part of a mega project outlined by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in which 208 RoBs are to be constructed in 19 different states of the country with Rs 20,800 crore. Out of these 22 RoBs were identified in West Bengal. The case is related to 5 RoBs where 356 trees are to be cut to implement the project and no environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been done in this project, which covers 59 Km (Barasat to Bongaon) The committee also calculated that total cost of a tree per year, which is Rs 74,500. This means that 300 trees if allowed to live for a period of 100 or more years, will give products worth Rs 2.2 billion. On February 3, the Chief Justice asked advocate Prashant Bhushan, who was representing APDR, to draw a protocol where governments explore possibility of using either railway or waterways, instead of cutting trees. The top court will further hear the matter after two weeks. (Sumit Saxena can be contacted at sumit.s@ians.in) Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 12:15:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Yeung Siu-lung stands in one of his orchid greenhouses in Hong Kong, south China, Jan. 28, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang) The flower fair is a popular festive event in Hong Kong held each year around the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. Because of the COVID-19 epidemic, this year's busy season is unusual for flower farmers. HONG KONG, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Buying flowers ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year is a tradition in Hong Kong as flowers in full blossom are considered an auspicious omen for a new year. It is also a once-a-year opportunity for flower farmers to reap the rewards of a year of hard work. Because of the COVID-19 epidemic, this year's busy season is unusual for Yeung Siu-lung. Known in the sector as the "orchid king", Yeung, 59, has planted flowers for 24 years and could always weather out hardships from spiking rents to the adverse climate. But the government's decision to call off the annual flower fair scheduled at the beginning of February still caught him unprepared. Customers visit a Lunar New Year flower market at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, south China, Feb. 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang) The fair is a popular festive event held each year around the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. Markets are usually set up in multiple places where people can purchase flowers and festive products. As infections continued to rise, the government in early January announced the cancellation of the fair for public health risk, which caused immediate outcries of flower growers. Customers visit a Lunar New Year flower market at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, south China, Feb. 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang) "Flower farmers like me have been working so hard for a year and we mainly rely on the fairs to sell flowers," Yeung said. He planned to set up 16 stalls at Victoria Park and Mong Kok sites and has employed workers and made preparation for the event. The cancellation would be unbearable for numerous farmers like Yeung, who estimated a loss of three million Hong Kong dollars (387,000 U.S. dollars) himself. Fortunately, after days of appeals, the government backtracked on the decision and allowed the fair to be held on schedule with anti-epidemic measures put in place. Customers visit a Lunar New Year flower market at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, south China, Feb. 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang) For six days starting Saturday, there are sales points at 15 sites in Hong Kong. The number of flower booths inside each site is halved from a year ago, and florists are required to offer hand sanitizers at their stalls and take virus tests before the fair opens. Relieved by the news, Yeung could refocus on tending his orchids. Yeung Siu-lung stands in one of his orchid greenhouses in Hong Kong, south China, Jan. 28, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang) Yeung owns 10 greenhouses in Hong Kong and the largest one can hold 40,000 orchids at the same time. Over the past year, he has planted some 180,000 orchids covering over 60 different varieties. "There must be at least eight buds at each stem and the stem should also be long enough to bend into various shapes," Yeung said. Before putting flowers up for sale, every orchid is carefully examined and sometimes a single flawed bud could lead to the whole pot discarded. Photo taken on Jan. 28, 2021 shows one of Yeung Siu-lung's orchid greenhouses in Hong Kong, south China. (Xinhua/Li Gang) It usually takes more than two years for an orchid to bloom and the cultivation requires some very special conditions such as sharp temperature difference. "The weather has been very friendly to orchids this year so the flowers are the most beautiful I've ever seen," Yeung said. Customers visit a Lunar New Year flower market at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, south China, Feb. 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang) As the new year is coming, the number of customers coming to his greenhouses has exceeded Yeung's expectations. He guessed that more people will stay in Hong Kong for the holiday due to the epidemic, rather than traveling abroad, which leads to more demand for flowers. "I may have 20 percent more customers than last year," he said. "Hong Kong people really love flowers." It has been nearly a year since the new Vang Bridge replaced the old and dilapidated version spanning the Cau Chay River in the central province of Thanh Hoa but 74-year-old veteran Nguyen Thi Khanh Van still talks about how much she has benefited with sparkles in her only eye. People transport cross the new Dinh Bridge located on National Highway 48E, connecting Nghia Dan Districts Nghia Hung Commune with Quy Hop Districts Nghia Xuan Commune of the central province of Nghe An. VNS Photo Viet Cuong The American War took Van's left leg and an eye while her husband lost both his legs. The two met and became a couple when they were both being treated for injuries in the north. In 1984, Van moved to live in her husbands hometown in Thanh Hoa Province, next to the Vang Bridge. The old Vang Bridge was built in the early 1980s together with the construction of the then Lam Son Sugar Factory, connecting Yen Dinh Districts Yen Thinh Commune with Tho Xuan Districts Xuan Minh Commune. For Van and her husband, the cruel legacy of the war made crossing the bridge a nightmare. The old bridge was very narrow so we found it difficult and unsafe to cross the bridge, especially when we had to go with other vehicles, Van said. The twisty bridgeheads which were hidden from view had also caused many traffic accidents in the area, she said. She added that the bridge was constructed in a low position so whenever there was a flood, it was deep in water so people were forced to travel by fragile bamboo rafts pulled by rope from side to side. It was extremely difficult and dangerous to travel during that time, Van said. Things completely changed for local residents like Van when the Vang Bridge was selected as one of 25 bridges in Thanh Hoa Province to be replaced under a project to replace ageing and dilapidated bridges on national roads nationwide, with the funds coming from Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) loans. After eight months of construction, a new concrete Vang Bridge, 33m in width, was completed in May last year. Nguyen Thi Khanh Van stands on the new Vang Bridge, pointing at the old Vang Bridge. VNS Photo Hong Minh Now my husband and I can go to the market or visit relatives on the other bank with the new bridge much easier, without fear and no need for help from others as before, Van said. According to Le Van Luong, Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of Yen Thinh Commune People's Council, besides the convenience and safety for local residents, the new bridge has also helped improve livelihoods. Since the opening of the new bridge, the locality has seen investment projects coming in and the industrial zones are expected to attract 1,500 workers, contributing to the effective implementation of hunger eradication and poverty reduction in the area and helping people access culture, health and education, he said. Previously, it took 50 minutes to travel from the commune to Sao Vang Airport (the old name of Tho Xuan Airport), but now it only takes 20 minutes, Luong said, adding that local farmers had also seen the value of agricultural production increase as their products are transported smoothly to neighbouring provinces by car or by air to the south. The neighbouring province of Nghe An had 10 bridges replaced under the JICA project. Most of the old bridges were spillway bridges which had deteriorated. The old Dinh Bridge is one of the degraded spillway bridges on the Dinh River, located on National Highway 48E, connecting Nghia Dan Districts Nghia Hung Commune with Quy Hop Districts Nghia Xuan Commune. In the past, when the rainy season came, floods affected local people with water levels up to 3-5m and lasted for days or even months. The bridge was submerged, seriously affecting travel, especially for those in the poor commune Nghia Hung. A man crosses the old Dinh Bridge, which was a spillway bridge in the past. A new Dinh Bridge has replaced the old one since June last year. Photo courtesy of JICA Bui Xuan Quy, 59, a resident in Nghia Hung, said during the flooding seasons in the past, people in his commune used to be isolated from the outside world as the old Dinh Bridge was the only way to leave the commune. Sometimes we had to hire a boat to rush sick people to hospital in the neighbouring commune during the flood, he said. The inconvenient bridge also affected peoples cultural life as mobile cinema teams or music and dance shows could not visit the commune. The new Dinh Bridge that opened in June last year is not only convenient but also helps local people improve their income and cultural life, he said. Now people can easily go to Nghia Xuan Commune for cinema and karaoke, or even for breakfast, he added. The Vang Bridge and Dinh Bridge are among 242 bridges on national highways in 40 provinces which have been replaced under the JICA project. According to To Duc Luu, Head of Project 3 under the Ministry of Transports Project Management Unit 6, the criteria to select bridges to be replaced is based on the importance and transport demand on the route. The bridges will also be replaced if they lack the required load capacity or width compared to the scale of the route. Hong Minh (VNS) She was born enslaved and remained that way her entire life, even after she became Richard Mentor Johnson's "bride." Johnson, a Kentucky congressman who eventually became the nation's ninth vice president in 1837, couldn't legally marry Julia Chinn. Instead the couple exchanged vows at a local church with a wedding celebration organized by the enslaved people at his family's plantation in Great Crossing, according to Miriam Biskin, who wrote about Chinn decades ago. Chinn died nearly four years before Johnson took office. But because of controversy over her, Johnson is the only vice president in American history who failed to receive enough electoral votes to be elected. The Senate voted him into office. The couple's story is complicated and fraught, historians say. As an enslaved woman, Chinn could not consent to a relationship, and there's no record of how she regarded him. Though she wrote to Johnson during his lengthy absences from Kentucky, the letters didn't survive. Amrita Chakrabarti Myers, who is working on a book about Chinn, wrote about the hurdles in a blog post for the Association of Black Women Historians. "While doing my research, I was struck by how Julia had been erased from the history books," wrote Myers, a history professor at Indiana University. "Nobody knew who she was. The truth is that Julia (and Richard) are both victims of legacies of enslavement, interracial sex, and silence around black women's histories." Johnson's life is far better documented. He was elected as a Democrat to the state legislature in 1802 and to Congress in 1806. The folksy, handsome Kentuckian gained a reputation as a champion of the common man. Back home in Great Crossing, he fathered a child with a local seamstress, but didn't marry her when his parents objected, according to a 19th-century biography, "The Life and Times of Richard M. Johnson." Then, in about 1811, Johnson, 31, turned to Chinn, 21, who had been enslaved at Blue Spring Plantation since childhood. Johnson called Chinn "my bride." His "great pleasure was to sit by the fireplace and listen to Julia as she played on the pianoforte," Biskin wrote in her account. The couple soon had two daughters, Imogene and Adaline. Johnson gave his daughters his last name and openly raised them as his children. Johnson became a national hero during the War of 1812. At the Battle of the Thames in Canada, he led a horseback attack on the British and their Native American allies. He was shot five times but kept fighting. During the battle, the Shawnee chief Tecumseh was killed. In 1819, "Colonel Dick" was elected to the U.S. Senate. When he was away in Washington for long periods, he left Chinn in charge of the 2,000-acre plantation and told his White employees that they should "act with the same propriety as if I were home." Chinn's status was unique. While enslaved women wore simple cotton dresses, Chinn's wardrobe "included fancy dresses that turned heads when Richard hosted parties," Christina Snyder wrote in her book "Great Crossings: Indians, Settlers & Slaves in the Age of Jackson." In 1825, Chinn and Johnson hosted the Marquis de Lafayette during his return to America. In the mid-1820s, Johnson opened on his plantation the Choctaw Academy, a federally funded boarding school for Native Americans. He hired a local Baptist minister as director. Chinn ran the academy's medical ward. "Julia is as good as one half the physicians, where the complaint is not dangerous," Johnson wrote in a letter. He paid the academy's director extra to educate their daughters "for a future as free women." Johnson tried to advance his daughters in local society, and both would later marry White men. But when he spoke at a local July 4 celebration, the Lexington Observer reported, prominent White citizens wouldn't let Adaline sit with them in the pavilion. Johnson sent his daughter to his carriage, rushed through his speech and then angrily drove away. When Johnson's father died, he willed ownership of Chinn to his son. He never freed his common-law wife. "Whatever power Chinn had was dependent on the will and the whims of a White man who legally owned her," Snyder wrote. Then, in 1833, Chinn died of cholera. It's unclear where she is buried. Johnson went on to even greater national prominence. In 1836, President Andrew Jackson backed Vice President Martin Van Buren as his successor. At Jackson's urging, Van Buren - a fancy dresser who had never fought in war - picked war hero Johnson as his running mate. Nobody knew how the Shawnees' chief was slain in the War of 1812, but Johnson's campaign slogan was, "Rumpsey, Dumpsey. Johnson Killed Tecumseh." Johnson's relationship with Chinn became a campaign issue. Southern newspapers denounced him as "the great Amalgamationist." A mocking cartoon showed a distraught Johnson with a hand over his face bewailing "the scurrilous attacks on the Mother of my Children." Van Buren won the election, but Johnson's 147 electoral votes were one short of what he needed to be elected. Virginia's electors refused to vote for him. It was the only time Congress chose a vice president. When Van Buren ran for re-election in 1840, Democrats declined to nominate Johnson at their Baltimore convention. It is the only time a party didn't pick any vice-presidential candidate. The spelling-challenged Jackson warned that Johnson would be a "dead wait" on the ticket. "Old Dick" still ended up being the leading choice and campaigned around the country wearing his trademark red vest. But Van Buren lost to Johnson's former commanding officer, Gen. William Henry Harrison. Johnson never remarried, but he reportedly had sexual relationships with other enslaved women who couldn't consent to them. The former vice president won a final election to the Kentucky legislature in 1850, but died a short time later at the age of 70. His brothers laid claim to his estate at the expense of his surviving daughter, Imogene, who was married to a White man named Daniel Pence. "At some point in the early twentieth century," Myers wrote, "perhaps because of heightened fears of racism during the Jim Crow era, members of Imogene Johnson Pence's line, already living as white people, chose to stop telling their children that they were descended from Richard Mentor Johnson ... and his black wife. It wasn't until the late 20th century that younger Pences, by then already in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, began discovering the truth of their heritage." - - - Shafer is a former editor at the Wall Street Journal and the author of "The Carnival Campaign: How The Rollicking 1840 Campaign of Tippecanoe and Tyler Too Changed Presidential Elections Forever." THE REV. JAMES HULL is an award-winning journalist and a communications consultant. Readers can contact him at hullmulti- mediams@aol.com. DR. ED HOLLIDAY is a Tupelo dentist who has written two successful books. Readers can contact him at ed@docholliday.org SHURNUKH, Armenia -- As a shop owner in Armenia's southern province of Syunik, Lusine Aleksanian sells produce, bread, cheese, juice, cigarettes, and alcohol. Just a few meters from her shop in the village of Shurnukh is the border with Azerbaijan. Russian peacekeepers and Azerbaijani soldiers arrived in Shurnukh at the beginning of the year under the terms of the November 2020 peace agreement that brought an end to the war over Nagorno-Karabakh. Using GPS locators, they determined that 12 of the houses in Shurnukh are in Qubadli -- one of the seven Azerbaijani districts that surround Nagorno-Karabakh and had been occupied by ethnic Armenian forces since the early 1990s. The border was never meant to be international. It had divided two Soviet-era districts by cutting across villages and roads to the south of the Armenian city of Goris. For now, there is no border post to stop Shurnukh's residents from crossing back and forth between Armenian and Azerbaijani territory. The only indication of the border is a small blue sign recently erected by Azerbaijani soldiers. But Aleksanian can see the flags of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Russian peacekeepers from outside her shop. She says she has sold items to some Russian peacekeepers and would sell to Azerbaijanis or anybody else who comes into the shop to buy something. "Why not? I am a shopkeeper," she told RFE/RL. "What difference does it make for me if they are Armenian, Azerbaijani, or Georgian?" But upon hearing her declaration, Aleksanian's husband, Harutyun Ghazarian, was infuriated. "If [the Azerbaijanis] come here I will shoot and kill them...and I will kill you," he told his wife. So far, no Azerbaijanis have come into the shop. Aleksanian says she's aware of rumors circulating in other parts of Armenia about some of Shurnukh's 80 residents doing barter deals for firewood from the freshly arriving Azerbaijanis. But she and other villagers say those rumors are untrue. "Maybe after a year or two this will be possible," she says. "But now, we can't. It's a very emotionally charged situation." Tradition Of Trading Carnegie Europe's Caucasus expert, Thomas de Waal, says he's not surprised there are rumors about barter trade in frontier villages like Shurnukh -- despite the fears and animosities expressed by people on both sides of the border. "Anyone who has spent time in the region knows that Armenians and Azerbaijanis have a long tradition of trading with one another, particularly in [neighboring] Georgia," de Waal told RFE/RL. De Waal notes that an open market in Georgia near both Armenia and Azerbaijan had been the scene of brisk trade between tens of thousands of Armenians and Azerbaijanis before it was closed by customs officials. "I visited the market in Sadakhlo in Georgia when it was thriving, when it was still open, and there were no Georgians there. Only Armenians and Azerbaijanis," de Waal says. "More recently, you hear reports of Armenians and Azerbaijanis doing business in cars in Rustavi in Georgia. Used cars." "I think there are many Armenians and Azerbaijanis who have a good experience of trading with one another," he continues. "If the politicians don't get in the way, and if they feel safe, I think that's eminently possible." "Obviously, it's not easy, given the bitterness, the loss of life, and the tragedies people have suffered," he says. "But I think it's possible. It's all about making it mutually beneficial so that this trade becomes not dependent, but interdependent -- that each side feels that it benefits from the trade." Border Blockades The border market at Sadakhlo -- a village populated mostly by ethnic Azeris -- had become a hot spot for regional trade after direct links between Azerbaijan and Armenia were severed during the early 1990s because of the Nagorno-Karabakh war. Turkey has also kept its border with Armenia closed since then in response to the occupation by ethnic Armenian forces of Azerbaijani territory around Karabakh. A 2009 accord was signed that aimed to restore ties between Turkey and Armenia, as well as open their shared border. But the deal collapsed in 2018 without being implemented. Yerevan blames the failure to normalize Turkish-Armenian relations on a century of hostility stemming from the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I and the postwar years. Turkey denies there was an organized campaign of genocide against Armenians, as Yerevan insists and several foreign countries have declared. The disputes have left Armenia with only two overland routes for imports and exports -- through Georgia to the north and through Iran to the south. Meanwhile, the development of transit routes linking Baku with Turkey have bypassed Armenia -- with projects like China's Belt and Road Initiative and the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline going through Georgia instead. Matthew Bryza, a former U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan who mediated on the Karabakh conflict as U.S. co-chair of the OSCE's Minsk Group more than a decade ago, says the November peace accord has the potential to kick-start economic growth across the Caucasus. Bryza, who now lives in Istanbul and is on the board of the Turkish energy firm Turcas Petrol, told RFE/RL that the return to Azerbaijan of its territory around Karabakh could clear the way to reestablish Armenia's long-severed trade ties with Turkey and Azerbaijan. In an opinion piece published by the Atlantic Council, Bryza said the peace agreement "not only ends one of the world's longest-standing conflicts, but also could catalyze other diplomatic and economic agreements that can restore peace, prosperity, and stability throughout the region." Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met in Moscow on January 11 with President Vladimir Putin to flesh out details unresolved by the Russian-brokered accord -- including how to reestablish rail, road, and communication links. One project they announced was the restoration of a Soviet-era railway line that had linked Yerevan to Russia, passing through Azerbaijan's exclave of Naxcivan before crossing back through southern Armenia and then Azerbaijan proper. The project would also give Azerbaijan a direct rail link to close ally Turkey by branching off from the same route through Naxcivan. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Iran also wants to establish a rail link with Armenia that passes through Naxcivan. "That is one requirement for both Iran and Armenia as well as for the region, and we are working with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia," Zarif said after talks with Pashinian in Yerevan on January 27. Meanwhile, deputy prime ministers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia have been meeting in Moscow as part of the broader infrastructure initiative. This week, they set up working groups that are scheduled on February 5 to start delving more deeply into details. De Waal says he thinks the OSCE's Minsk Group and other international bodies can also help bring much-needed financing to restore transport and border infrastructure. "This is where the importance of restoring economic relations is very great," he told RFE/RL. "This has to be done in a way that doesn't just benefit Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Russia. The Armenians have to feel that they are benefiting from the restoration of economic relations -- including the Armenians of Karabakh." De Waal cites Azerbaijan's western Kalbacar region, one of the seven districts recently returned to Baku's control, as an example of how reestablishing cross-border trade can benefit both Azerbaijanis and Armenians. "The Kalbacar region is very isolated," he says. "I think it's very hard to think of it as being economically viable without proper trade with Karabakh and with Armenia. If the Minsk Group and other international actors can work on economic co-activity in support of peace, that's a good project to be getting on with." Postwar Peace Benefits International financial institutions have long held that the best way to foster peace and stability in a postwar reconstruction scenario is by building economic ties between former adversaries. The World Bank says that needs to be done not only through policies of national governments, but especially by improving trade ties and cooperation between local communities on both sides of the tense borders. The idea is to avoid replicating the mistakes made by the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I -- the destruction of regional trade. This regional approach to improve cross-border ties was the model used for the reconstruction of Western Europe under the Marshall Plan following World War II, particularly across the French-German border near the region of Alsace-Lorraine, a disputed region that has changed hands many times in history. It was also used as a model for reconstruction in the Balkans following the wars of succession in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. However, suspicions and animosities between former warring states can also mean a lack of state financing for cooperative projects in border areas. That leaves frontiers devoid of the infrastructure needed for the quick movement of trade and traffic. "Pragmatically speaking, the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the seven territories [around Karabakh] means the impediment has been removed to Armenia-Turkey normalized relations and opening the border," de Waal explains. "That was really Turkey's main problem with Armenia." But de Waal say relations between Ankara and Yerevan now are "incredibly bad given the fact that Turkey helped Azerbaijan win the war." "As far as Armenians are concerned, Turkey has new blood on its hands," he said. "I think the historical grievances are still very strong, and with much justification on the Armenian side. So I think we'll see a move toward opening the [Turkish-Armenian] border -- some kind of trade restoration and economic relations. But my guess is that Armenians are not in a hurry to do that, maybe, as long as [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan is in power." A World Bank study on the impact from the lifting of the blockades by Turkey and Azerbaijan concluded that the "potential peace benefits are especially high for Armenia" and could help Armenia "more than double its total exports." "If the blockades are lifted, trade distortions will be alleviated, bringing about positive short-term welfare effects -- including more rational trade flows, resumption or a major increase of regional trade in some major commodities such as energy, and lower prices and/or higher profit margins on some important consumption and production goods," the World Bank economists said. Nevertheless, the government in Yerevan has shown it may not yet be ready to allow free-flowing trade with Turkey. At the beginning of the year it became illegal for stores in Armenia to sell Turkish goods. The ban was announced in late October while war was still raging in Karabakh. The Armenian government said it was motivated by "the open and evident promotion and support by Turkey of [Azerbaijani] aggression." In fact, the move has badly hit Armenian traders who'd been bringing Turkish goods into the country via Georgia. As a member of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), Armenia can only unilaterally impose such a ban for six months. But the ban can be extended indefinitely. "There are good economic reasons both for Armenia and for Turkey, for the Kars region [of northeast Turkey], to open the border and restore trade," de Waal says. "But I don't have to tell your Armenian audience that there are big historical issues there. So, if this is just given as an economic offer, it won't work -- I'm sure -- on the Armenian side." "There have to be other measures toward the Armenians on the historical record," he said. "I don't think we're talking about genocide recognition [by Ankara], but sort of memorializing the Armenian genocide in some way. [And also] some efforts [by the Turkish government] on Armenian churches [within Turkey]. I think that is where the conversation also needs to happen." Written by Ron Synovitz in Prague with reporting by Susan Badalyan in Shurnukh, Armenia, and RFE/RL Armenian Service Director Harry Tamrazian The Indian diaspora which celebrates its 176th Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago is not an abstract entity, but one that flowers the socio-economic and cultural growth and development of our peoples. It remains a proud moment for all of uspoliticians, sociologists, economists, civic, religious and cultural leadersin world history. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 facility in Esch-sur-Alzette offers work space to companies and start-ups from the biomedicine sector. On Thursday, Minister of the Economy Franz Fayot met with Esch-sur-Alzette Mayor Georges Mischo and Jean-Paul Scheuren, who is the administrator of the House of Biohealth. Their discussions revolved around the new "bio incubator" and the role of the sector in the age of the pandemic. Both public and private companies can benefit from the offer of the House of Biohealth. The centre holds 9,500 square metres of laboratories and 7,800 square metres of office space. Currently, there are 450 employees with 100 different nationalities working in Esch-sur-Alzette. Scheuren elaborated that the House of Biohealth is thus at 95% capacity, and that a third building is set to open this summer. A quarter of the new space is already booked. The facility now also holds its first bio incubator, an internal space where young and innovative start-ups conduct research and development across 350 square metres. The space can be used for up to three years to launch a new business. Minister Fayot emphasised that the government will guide those teams with resources and advice to support their first steps. It is therefore especially suitable to young university graduates. One of the companies already installed in the House of Biohealth is Siemens Healthineers, who assigned their Fast Track Diagnostic team to the Luxembourgish facility. They helped develop and produce PCR tests, which have been used in the Large Scale Testing for Covid-19. Team member Alexander Soccarras noted: "This was a test that we developed very quickly in record time last year in 4 months. These tests typically take years to develop and we have done it here. And at the heart of this facility is where we both develop and manufacture these tests for the world. So, we are very proud to be a part of the Luxembourg establishment." The competence centre brings together a variety of experts from different fields. The entire project costs around 60 million and is entirely funded by private investors. Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government distributed to more than 400 papers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. Just two weeks into Bill Clinton's nascent presidency, the 1993 Family Medical Leave Act was the first bill he signed into law. Advocates said the FMLA, which guarantees certain employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid time off for family or medical reasons, would be a springboard to expansive leave protections. Instead, it proved to be a stopping point: More than 28 years later, Congress hasn't passed significant legislation to broadly expand family and medical leave. As the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate workers - particularly women - a new generation of advocates are hopeful a more expansive iteration of the FMLA might finally have a shot. On Friday, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., reintroduced the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, which would grant workers up to 12 weeks of paid leave, whether to recover from illness or childbirth, or provide care for a loved one. "Long before this crisis, there has been a desperate need for paid family and medical leave," DeLauro said in a statement Friday. "This problem, made worse by the pandemic, must be addressed in a permanent way." Ellen Bravo, co-founder and strategic director for the progressive labor advocacy group Family Values at Work, told The Washington Post that the coronavirus has created a new urgency to pass the FAMILY Act. "There's no way we are going to stop this virus unless people can take time off to quarantine or isolate when they need to, and we can't do that when they might fall off an economic cliff," said Bravo, whose organization supports the legislation. Gillibrand has introduced the bill in every congressional session since 2013. Two years ago, she reintroduced the bill with DeLauro shortly before announcing her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in which paid family leave was the defining issue of her ultimately short-lived campaign. Under the 2019 version, the FAMILY Act would pay out 66% of a worker's salary, with a monthly floor of $250 and a cap at $4,000, and would be funded by a 0.2% wage tax. Bipartisan support for family and medical leave has grown since the pandemic began, though most Republican lawmakers oppose paying for it with taxes, instead favoring a framework that would allow workers to borrow against their Social Security savings. Paid leave benefits for federal employees has already gained momentum: A 2019 expansion for family leave took effect in the fall, while a measure introduced last month would grant paid leave benefits for reasons other than birth, adoption or placement of a foster child. The initial expansion of protections for federal workers in 2019 left out swaths of employees, including those working at agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. Postal Service. The loophole was closed when the Republican-led Senate used it as a bargaining chip to facilitate the Trump administration's creation of Space Force. The absence of an expansive paid family leave policy made minor waves in Washington last week when several political appointees from the Trump administration vented their frustrations in a Politico report about being left without paid leave benefits when the outgoing administration ended Jan. 20. The Trump aides, who had either recently given birth or had a spouse who did, did not have the same protections as career civil servants, whose pay and benefits typically span administrations. The Biden White House did not respond to requests for comment on the issue, but told Politico it couldn't grant the Trump-era employees' requests because they were received too late. (Several experts on federal employee benefits and presidential transitions said there's no precedent for honoring such requests. They also said that the Trump aides were seeking an exemption that was unlikely to be granted under any circumstance given logistical challenges.) Bravo, the labor group advocate, said this was another example that shows that a federal law is needed to cover workers so that paid leave is not dependent on an employer's policies, or on a worker living in one of the handful of states that have enacted their own paid leave laws. "It doesn't matter where you work, or where you live, who you love, or why you need to give or receive care - you should be able to have [the safety net] when you need it," Bravo said. "Being there for your loved ones, following doctor's orders - these are fundamental values in the U.S." Almost 34,000 Australians withdrew more than half a billion dollars from their retirement accounts last year for medical treatments such as IVF, weight-loss surgery and dentistry, amid concerns from the superannuation industry about a surge in applicants taking money out early. Australian Taxation Office figures show 59,900 applications to access super were made on compassionate grounds in 2019-20, a 10 per cent annual increase. About 33,700 of these were approved in full or in part worth $513.5 million. In the year before, 53,700 applications were made, 31,100 were approved and $456.5 million worth of funds were released. In 2014-15, $184 million was released to 14,000 people. IVF procedures are one of the medical treatments on the rise. Credit:Craig Abraham Applicants are able to ask the ATO to let them use money from their retirement to pay for various treatments, palliative care, home renovations for the disabled, funeral costs or to avoid foreclosure on their home under a scheme allowing superannuation to be accessed for compassionate reasons. This is separate to the COVID-19 superannuation scheme, which allowed struggling workers to withdraw up to $20,000 from their accounts during the pandemic, and is separate to financial hardship access managed by the funds themselves. The ongoing rise in withdrawals has prompted concerns from major superannuation funds and lobby groups over the past two years which have recommended the government tightens the scheme and consider what support is available outside of retirement savings. But medical groups support access to the funds for those unable to cover the cost of necessary procedures. Kolkata, Feb 7 : Ahead of the crucial state Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit West Bengal's East Midnapore district on Sunday to inaugurate a number of infrastructural projects in the industrial town of Haldia. To ramp up the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) campaigning efforts, Modi is slated to address a public rally in Haldia. Besides that, he will lay the foundation stones for key infrastructure projects like inaugurating a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) import terminal, built by Bharat Petroleum at an investment of around Rs 1,100 crore and has a capacity of 1 million metric tonne per annum. The initiative will cater to the growing requirement of LPG in West Bengal and other eastern and north-eastern states of India. It will be an important step towards realising the vision of the Prime Minister to provide clean cooking LPG to every household. Modi will also open the 348-km Dobhi-Durgapur natural gas pipeline section, which is a part of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Project, in order to achieve an important milestone of 'one nation, one gas grid' project of the government. Apart from this, PM Modi is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the second Catalytic-Iso-dewaxing unit of the Haldia refinery of the Indian Oil Corporation which will have a capacity of 270 thousand metric tonne per year. The unit is expected to result in a saving of about $185 million in foreign exchange. During his visit Modi is slated to address a public rally in Haldia at 4 p.m. today, marking it as his first election rally in the run up to the high-voltage state Assembly elections. This is going to be the Prime Minister's second visit to the state in a fortnight. Earlier, he had visited Kolkata on January 23 to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's 125th birth anniversary as Parakram Diwas. According to experts, the key infrastructure push by Modi at Haldia is targeted to bolster the state's dwindling economy ahead of the state elections. This is also going to be a step towards the motto of establishing good governance which is the key to a nation's progress, for the welfare of the common citizen. "Any step towards the industrial development of the state is a welcome move. I support it as people get benefitted from it. I don't want to make a political statement. But I would say that the government should make it people friendly," said economist Dipankar Dasgupta. He said that there is no power cut in Bengal. But the paradox is that there has not been any industrial development in the state in the last 10 years. "So what can we say? Is it good or bad for our state?" Dasgupta added. Interestingly, the event will be held at Haldia which is known to be the stronghold of Suvendu Adhikari, the former West Bengal transport minister who joined the BJP in December last year. His father Sisir Adhikari and Dibyendu Adhikari, both Lok Sabha MPs, are also invited in the programme. Along with them, another Trinamool Congress MP from Ghatal and actor Dipak Adhikari (Dev) was also invited at the event. The list of final attendees is expected to send out political signals as both Sisir and Dibyendu Adhikari are still with the state's incumbent Trinamool Congress. Developed with more than 350 sq-km area, Haldia is an industrial belt established in East Midnapore district of West Bengal. This industrial area is housed in the centre of Haldia Port and the main industrial centre of this city is Petrochemicals. According to sources at the state secretariat Nabanno, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is expected to skip the government programme on Sunday. Last time on the occasion of Parakram Diwas at Kolkata's Victoria Memorial, Banerjee got infuriated as a section of people from the audience shouted 'Jai Shree Ram' slogan when PM Modi and other ministers were present on the stage. Nadhim Zahawi today said he is 'very concerned' at levels of vaccine uptake in some BAME communities as he urged social media firms to do more to tackle anti-vax content. The Vaccines Minister warned that if 'one particular community remains unvaccinated, then the virus will seek them out and it will go through that community like wildfire'. He insisted the Government is already working with social media companies to tackle disinformation and conspiracy theories but 'we can always do more'. His comments came after the Royal College of General Practitioners called for a high-profile national campaign to support the effort to increase coronavirus vaccine uptake in some BAME communities. A recent survey by the college found that 94 per cent of GPs are experiencing a high uptake of the vaccine appointments being offered. But its analysis of NHS England vaccination data shows 90.6 per cent of all recipients of coronavirus vaccines so far have been white. The college said that 'comparing uptake with other ethnicities shows that people of mixed ethnicity, Asian and black are, respectively, approximately only 33, 47 and 64 per cent as likely to receive the vaccine as white people'. Nadhim Zahawi today said he is 'very concerned' at vaccine uptake in some BAME communities as he urged social media firms to do more to tackle anti-vax content Asked how concerned the Government is about the takeup levels, Mr Zahawi told Sophy Ridge on Sky News: 'Very concerned. If you look at the ONS data, vaccine acceptance in the UK is incredibly high which is very positive; 85 per cent of the adult population say they will very likely take the vaccine but the 15 per cent that are vaccine hesitant skew heavily towards BAME communities and especially Afro-Caribbean, black communities and of course other Asian and BAME communities. 'So, the NHS, throughout the whole deployment programme, we have a standard daily equality section that we go through and make sure we are targeting both with the national message, the regional message and then the local message, the hyper-local message, engaging with those faith leaders, community leaders.' He added: 'If one particular community remains unvaccinated, then the virus will seek them out and it will go through that community like wildfire and thats not something any of us wish to see which is why we are spending a lot of time and a lot of resource in this area and youll hear more on this from me in the coming days as well.' The Vaccines Minister said efforts to increase uptake would not force vaccinations 'down peoples throats' and that it would succeed through 'persuasion'. Asked if social media companies could help by doing more to combat anti-vax content, Mr Zahawi said the firms are 'doing quite a bit but we are continuing to work with them'. He said: 'We have set up a unit across government that looks at all these anti-vax messages and alerts the social media platforms to them to help take them down as quickly as possible. 'We want them to do as much as they can as quickly as they can and we continue to work with them very closely but we can always do more because theres too much I can tell you from my own community, I look at the Middle Eastern community, at the conspiracy theories.' Prisoners live with fear and anxiety as prisons keep volunteer ministers out during COVID-19 Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment As many prisons nationwide have limited visitor access to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, advocates warn that life in prison under lockdown can be hopeless when access is restricted to chaplains and ministry volunteers. Without access to volunteer Christian ministries that show love to prisoners, life in prison under lockdown is dark, former prisoner Rodney Massey told The Christian Post in a recent interview. Its very gloomy. Youre already in an environment that is very dark and is hopeless. Its torture not to know the state of your family and loved ones. That begins to mess with your psyche, said Massey, who served a 25-year sentence in Illinois for drug dealing but now serves as a ministry volunteer. If not for the grace of God, my mind would have been messed up. Ive seen a lot of people literally lose their mind in there. Without the Lord Jesus at my side, I dont know what I would have done. Its only because of the believers in my life. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Illinois Department of Corrections stopped all visits to prisons. This ban includes volunteer prison ministry visitors like Massey, who visited prisoners with the prison ministry Koinonia House. Massey went to prison after being shot four times and arrested by the police, he said. While lying on a hospital bed in the county jail, he remembered how his mother used to tell him about Jesus. And that's when he realized he needed Jesus to make a difference in his life. The love that prison ministry volunteers showed him helped him get through his sentence. Volunteers have shone a light in a place of darkness, he said. Prison ministry volunteers play a massive role in supporting prisoners in their walk with God, said Illinois Department of Corrections Chief Chaplain Chase Wilhelm. Religious volunteers play a huge role, he said. Theyve historically been crucial. They have remained crucial through this time period as well. Weve been leaning on tech services as well. Every prison chaplain relies on the support of 13 to 100 volunteers to provide religious services, depending on the size of the prison they serve. Illinois has 28 prisons. Without volunteers and with heavy restrictions on movement during COVID-19, chaplains have merged services and used resources like pre-recorded videos to continue reaching prisoners, said Wilhelm. Although these efforts often lead to good conversations between Christians from different denominations, the overall situation remains difficult. [Emotion inside prisons now is] overwhelming, the chaplain said. Anxiety is high. Fear is very, very real right now. Theres a high-risk factor there. I think that amps everything up. Were really in the dark night of the soul for many people. The Illinois prison system employs 12,719 people who consistently enter and exit prisons for their jobs. Koinonia House prison ministry Executive Director Manny Mill told CP that Illinois has approximately 1,000 prison ministry volunteers. Of course, they all dont come every week, Mill said. As of Dec. 22, the Illinois prison system experienced over 10,000 COVID-19 cases among both staff and inmates. According to the COVID Prison Project, the rate of coronavirus infections inside prisons is on average almost four times greater than the rate of infection for the general population. Mill said Department of Corrections leaders dont have full control over how they design policy for religious volunteers. If COVID-19 cases resulted from volunteer entry, they could get sued. Their view is to bring in the least people because those offices are essential. The main thing for any prison is only one thing security, Mill detailed. If you have a grandfather or grandmother who lives in a nursing home, they wont let you in either. But we believe that we are also essential workers. According to Department of Corrections statistics, the Illinois prison system has 4,494 inmates 55 and above out of a total of 29,111 inmates. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that older adults are at a greater risk of requiring hospitalization or dying if diagnosed with COVID-19. Corrections officers and others who consistently enter and leave the prisons bring the virus in, argued prison ministry volunteer Mark Macy. He doesnt know why religious volunteers arent allowed into prisons when thousands of other employees enter and leave every day. Macy recently applied to become an associate prison chaplain. Ive never heard an answer to that, he said. If it was posed to decision-makers, they would say they cant not have the officers come in, and the fewer people, the lesser the risk. I do think that they have to begin to think about a change. It is inhumane. When the COVID-19 lockdowns first started, even official chaplains werent allowed in prison and prisoners couldnt leave their cells, Macy recalled. The restrictions became less strict as the pandemic wore on but remained challenging. When chaplains were finally allowed in, they could only visit inmates one at a time and couldnt host group services. Wilhelm said the Department of Corrections keeps religious volunteers from visiting prisons for their own protection. COVID-19 might endanger older prison volunteers. The demand signal to protect everyone is so paramount that I personally do not want to take a risk for any of my religious volunteers if I dont have to, the prison systems chief chaplain said. It only takes one person to get it and then it can ravage an entire population. The last thing that I would ever want on my heart is to have one of my religious volunteers come down with COVID-19 and pass [away]. Massey said he longs to get back into prison for ministry. Prisoners need people who will visit them and love them, he believes. I was in prison for 25 years and [ministry visits] were the wind beneath my wings. Nothing takes the place of a corporate anointing. Nothing takes the place of corporate gathering, he contends. I cant even imagine the loneliness. We were never created to be alone. Around 40 large vaccination centres are to be set up across Ireland to facilitate the rollout of jabs through the year, the HSE has said. Chief executive Paul Reid said some of the facilities would have up to 50 lanes to maximise the number of people receiving doses. Next Monday three large GP-led mass centres will open in Dublin, Cork and Galway as part of the rollout of vaccinations among the over-70s. The majority of over-70s will still receive their jabs at their own practice. We are in parallel working on an overall plan for bigger vaccination centres all across the country, probably about 40 of those all across the country, Mr Reid told RTE Radio One. Expand Close The HSEs Paul Reid (Niall Carson/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The HSEs Paul Reid (Niall Carson/PA) Between some of them being 30 to 50 lane or places for vaccination, to some of them between 10 and 20. Weve significant progress made across those deployments all across the country and equally in terms of the workforce that we need to do that. So weve made really good progress about where we will deploy vaccination centres all across the country. Mr Reid said the Defence Forces could be involved in efforts to ensure older people living in remote areas were able to get access to a vaccine. The first batch of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines arrived in Ireland on Saturday. The 21,600 jabs, which were transported from Belgium, will be given to healthcare workers from Monday. Expand Close A woman walks past a billboard in Dublin urging people to hold on and heralding the arrival of vaccinations (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A woman walks past a billboard in Dublin urging people to hold on and heralding the arrival of vaccinations (Brian Lawless/PA) Ireland is using the two other approved vaccines, from Pfizer and Moderna, to vaccinate the over-70s amid uncertainty of the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca jab on older people. The vaccination programme carried out by GPs begins on Monday week, with the over-85 age group being prioritised. A further 12 Covid-19-related deaths were confirmed in Ireland on Sunday, along with another 1,024 new confirmed cases of the virus. As of 2pm on Sunday, 1,204 patients with Covid-19 were being treated in hospital, 178 of whom were in ICU. Mr Reid said hospital inpatient numbers were dropping but he warned that they still remained significantly higher than wave one of the pandemic. Were still 50% higher of hospitalised cases than we were at the peak back in April of the first wave, he said. So some relief for us (in terms of falling admissions) but were a long way from being out of the woods in the pressure on our hospital system just yet. Expand Close Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the UK should share any excess vaccines with Ireland (Niall Carson/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the UK should share any excess vaccines with Ireland (Niall Carson/PA) Earlier, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald urged the UK to share any spare coronavirus vaccinations with Ireland. Mrs McDonald said a spirit of generosity and solidarity on vaccine sharing should extend globally. She was asked on Sky News if she would like to see excess UK doses being diverted to the Irish Republic, given the slower pace of vaccine rollout in the EU. Certainly if there is an excess of supply in Britain and if there is a capacity for that to be shared with Ireland at some point, well, yes, of course, absolutely, the project here is to get people vaccinated, she replied. This is a race against this virus and against death so, yes, I think a spirit of fairness and generosity needs to prevail in this, my goodness, above all other issues. So, yes, is the answer, and if the scenario were vice versa I would expect that a similar generosity would be afforded to the British people because the virus doesnt care about politics or borders or any of these things. We all share the same human biology and its just so important that the incredible work that has been done by scientists internationally, including at Oxford University, and across the globe, that the fruits of that endeavour and knowledge and expertise is shared in the way that good science would intend, and that means keeping all of our fellow human citizens safe and alive and well. Amid growing outcry against the Centres move to privatise Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) which has a steel plant in Visakhapatnam, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider the decision. He said the state government is ready to work with the Steel Ministry to protect the Public Sector Enterprise, which provides employment to 20,000 people directly and many others indirectly. "The Government of Andhra Pradesh is ready to work with the Ministry of steel to protect the jewel of Andhra Pradesh. Therefore, I request you to kindly reconsider the disinvestment plans of RINL Visakhapatnam and explore other opportunities to put the plant back on track," he said in the letter, written on Saturday. RINL the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) a Navratna Company under the Ministry of Steel, currently has a capacity of 7.3 million tonnes per annum and took up plant modernisation and capacity expansion borrowing loans from banks. Recently the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given in-principle approval for 100 per cent strategic disinvestment of the Centres shareholding in RINL, along with management control by way of privatization. The Chief Minister said the Cabinets clearance for the privatization has become a point of discussion among people of the state and a cause of concern. Owing to the unfavourable steel cycle globally, the company was making losses since 2014-15 and was finding it difficult to service the debt, he said "One of the major structural issues that also leads to high cost of production is the absence of a captive mine, thereby affecting the profitability," he said. Reddy suggested that the PSEs short-term loans, along with long-term loans, be converted into equity, taking off repayment pressures and interest burden. He also suggested that RINL be allotted captive Iron Ore Minister in order to reduce the input cost. Employees of the steel plant and civil society, supported by various political parties, have taken out rallies, demanding that the Centre roll back its decision. 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. Cooking for people I love, creating deliciousness out of fresh ingredients, browsing through cookbooks for inspiration, perusing grocery shelves for choice items and writing about my expat life enriched by food. That's what I do here. Leave me a comment or write me at foodlustpeoplelove [at] gmail [dot] com. Two men have been arrested in Larne on suspicion of painting graffiti condemning Irish Sea border checks. At around 9.40pm on Saturday, police received a report in relation to two males reportedly spray painting graffiti on property on Main Street in the port town. Slogans were painted at various locations in the town on Saturday, one stating Larne says no to Irish Sea Border. Officers responded to the report and located two males in the area of Main Street. Police searched a vehicle in the area and a number of items were seized and taken away for examination. Officers subsequently arrested two men in the Church Road area of Larne on suspicion of offences, including criminal damage and possessing of an article with intent to damage property. They both remained in custody on Sunday evening. Police are also investigating further reports of graffiti in the town on Point Street, Bank Road and Redlands Road. Expand Close Trucks arriving from Scotland leaving Larne Port (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Trucks arriving from Scotland leaving Larne Port (Brian Lawless/PA) Inspections at Belfast and Larne ports were suspended last Monday amid concerns over the safety of staff. That came after separate graffiti appeared last month threatening port staff. Officials from Mid and East Antrim Council, Stormonts Department of Agriculture and the EU Commission all stopped working at the facilities, which conduct checks required as part of Brexits controversial Northern Ireland Protocol. Environmental health staff from Mid and East Antrim Council returned to their duties at Larne Port on Friday. It has not been confirmed when the other officials, who work at both Larne and Belfast, might return to work. Trade unions have denied raising concerns about suspicious activity at Larne port checks ahead of the councils decision to withdraw staff. Announcing the decision on Monday, DUP mayor Peter Johnson cited serious concerns raised by trade unions over increasing suspicious activity including the recording of number plate details of staff members. Police later insisted there was nothing to substantiate claims of number plate details being gathered. The three unions representing the council workers Nipsa, GMB and Unite have denied making the claims referenced by Mr Johnson. TUS secretary Alan Law, on behalf of the three unions, wrote to Mr Johnson asking him to withdraw his comments. It is understood the council did receive correspondence from a union representative prior to the withdrawal of staff that referenced members being threatened via graffiti and potentially other methods. The correspondence did not make reference to number plate gathering. On Sunday, the council issued a statement in response to the unions concerns about Mr Johnsons comments. The health, safety and well-being of our staff remains our top priority and our threshold for risk when it comes to our staff is very low. On Monday 1 February, the Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council was made aware of correspondence to Councils HR department from a major trade union setting out their concerns. Mid and East Antrim Borough Council staff returned to their inspection duties at Larne Port on Friday evening following the completion of a PSNI threat assessment and subsequent risk assessment by the Council. We continue to update our risk assessment in partnership with the PSNI, and correspond with the trade unions accordingly. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Uttarakhand flood: Macron expresses solidarity; US wishes for a speedy recovery of injured India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Feb 07: French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday expressed France''s full solidarity with India in the wake of a glacier burst at Joshimath in Uttarakhand''s Chamoli district that triggered a massive flood in the region. "France expresses its full solidarity with India, after a glacier burst in the Uttarakhand province, leading to the disappearance of over 100 people. Our thoughts are with them and their families," Macron said on Twitter. The US state department also condoled the loss of lives due to the glacier burst in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district and extended wishes for a speedy recovery of those injured. "Our deepest condolences to those affected by the glacier burst and landslide in India. We grieve with the family and friends of the deceased and extend our hopes for a speedy and full recovery for the injured," the state department tweeted. Glacier Breaks: 10 dead bodies found, atleast 125 feared dead| Oneindia News Uttarakhand flood: Green experts point at increased human intervention in Himalayan region A portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off on Sunday, triggering a deluge in the Alaknanda river system that washed away hydroelectric stations, and leaving at least seven people dead and 125 missing who are feared dead. A massive operation has been launched to rescue people from the flood-affected areas. he remote islands of Uist are considered one of the nations best-kept secrets With their wild terrain and pristine beaches, the remote islands of Uist are considered one of the nations best-kept secrets. But the Outer Hebrides were almost overrun with celebrity presenters last autumn after the Covid pandemic curtailed globetrotting. Joanna Lumley recalls today how she bumped into Jeremy Clarkson, James May, Richard Hammond and their 45-strong crew as they filmed The Grand Tour on the six-island chain, which has a total population of just over 5,000. The trio also crossed paths with comedians Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse, no doubt keen to catch some of the areas abundant trout and salmon for their BBC2 series Gone Fishing. The Outer Hebrides were almost overrun with celebrity presenters last autumn after the Covid pandemic curtailed globetrotting (pictured: the coast of Lochboisdale, South Uist) Joanna Lumley (pictured left) recalls today how she bumped into Jeremy Clarkson (right) on the six-island chain Just weeks later, Dame Darcey Bussell would make the 40-mile journey from the mainland for her new Wild Coasts Of Scotland show. And Romesh Ranganathan also visited the Outer Hebrides namely the isles of Skye, Harris and Lewis for his Christmas BBC show The Misadventures Of Romesh Ranganathan. Clarkson recently quipped how the Outer Hebrides must have done pretty well out of Covid in terms of visitors a sentiment not disputed by publican Alan Graham, from South Uists Orasay Inn. Dame Darcey Bussell (right) would make the 40-mile journey from the mainland for her new Wild Coasts Of Scotland show. Left: Paul Whitehouse Weve had a lot, he said. Obviously, these kinds of programmes help us. We always appreciate the publicity it gives us. There is no doubt about it, this is a very interesting place to visit. Ms Lumley, whose previous travel shows have included sailing the Nile, admits in todays You magazine that the travelogue market is saturated. Michael Palin kicked it off, she says. And Romesh Ranganathan (left) also visited the Outer Hebrides namely the isles of Skye, Harris and Lewis for his Christmas BBC show The Misadventures Of Romesh Ranganathan. Right: Bob Mortimer James May and Richard Hammond were also seen with their 45-strong crew as they filmed The Grand Tour But now everybodys doing it. Stephen Fry, Sue Perkins you name it, somebodys been there before you. The world has become very small in terms of what has not been done. Ms Lumley had planned to make a documentary last year retracing the ancient spice route, but ended up filming at beauty spots across the British Isles during the brief lull between lockdowns. Her Home Sweet Home launched on ITV last week, highlighting the best of the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales and Essex. Patricia Yates, of VisitBritain, said: These programmes are very good at finding out the expected and the unexpected and, of course, always looks beautiful. Having a personality that connects you to it is always a real positive. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. According to the IMARC Group, "Carsharing" refers to a car rental service where individuals hire cars for a shorter period of time. It supports community transit, improves urban land use and development, decreases personal car ownership, helps in achieving environmental goals, and provides affordable access to vehicles. At present, the rising need for affordable and convenient mobility services, coupled with several technological advancements that facilitate simplified access to shared mobility platforms, are positively influencing the demand for car sharing. Request for a free sample copy of this report: https://www.imarcgroup.com/car-sharing-market/requestsample The growing environmental concerns towards rising air pollution levels due to expanding vehicle fleet are augmenting the market for car sharing. The governments across several nations are undertaking numerous initiatives for promoting the benefits of car sharing pertaining to cost-effectiveness and reduction of carbon emissions, thereby propelling the market growth. Apart from this, the growing prevalence of peer-to-peer (P2P) lending services, which allow private car owners to rent their cars, is also augmenting the global market. Furthermore, various organizations are utilizing corporate car-sharing services as they enable employees to be punctual, lessen the fleet management costs of the company, and minimize the requirement for large parking spaces. Moreover, the increasing penetration of the Internet-of-Things (IoT)-based devices, along with the growing number of software-based mobile applications for ride-sharing will continue to drive the market growth in the coming years. Key Market Segmentation: IMARC Group provides an analysis of the key trends in each sub-segment of the global car sharing market report, along with forecasts for growth at the global, regional and country-level from 2020-2025. Our report has categorized the market based on region, car type, business model and application. Explore full report with table of contents: https://www.imarcgroup.com/car-sharing-market Breakup by Car Type: Economy Executive Luxury Others Breakup by Business Model: P2P Station Based Free-Floating Breakup by Application: Business Private Breakup by Region: North America United States Canada Asia-Pacific China Japan India South Korea Australia Indonesia Others Europe Germany France United Kingdom Italy Spain Russia Others Latin America Brazil Mexico Others Middle East and Africa Competitive Landscape: The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being Autolib (Bollore), Cambio Mobilitatsservice GmbH & Co. KG, Car2Go Ltd., CarShare Australia Pty. Ltd., Cityhop Ltd., Communauto Inc., DriveNow GmbH & Co. KG (BMW AG), Ekar FZ LLC, Getaround Inc., HOURCAR, Locomute (Pty.) Ltd., Lyft Inc., Mobility Cooperative, Modo Co-operative, Turo Inc. (ICA) and Zipcar Inc. (Avis Budget Group). Browse Related Report https://www.imarcgroup.com/angioplasty-balloons-market https://www.imarcgroup.com/cloud-professional-services-market About Us IMARC Group is a leading market research company that offers management strategy and market research worldwide. We partner with clients in all sectors and regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their businesses. IMARCs information products include major market, scientific, economic and technological developments for business leaders in pharmaceutical, industrial, and high technology organizations. Market forecasts and industry analysis for biotechnology, advanced materials, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, travel and tourism, nanotechnology and novel processing methods are at the top of the companys expertise. Contact US: IMARC Group 30 N Gould St, Ste R Sheridan, WY 82801, USA Website: https://www.imarcgroup.com/ Email: sales@imarcgroup.com USA: +1-631-791-1145 Follow us on twitter: @imarcglobal Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/imarc-group As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis takes over the world, we are continuously tracking the changes in the markets, as well as the purchase behaviours of the consumers globally and our estimates about the latest market trends and forecasts are being done after considering the impact of this pandemic. Beirut: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor on Tuesday said that ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead. The monitor said that it had information from top Islamic State group leaders confirming the death of the jihadist organisations chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Top tier commanders from IS who are present in Deir Ezzor province have confirmed the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, emir of the Islamic State group, to the Observatory, director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. We learned of it today but we do not know when he died or how. It is not first time that reports of IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi being dead has come to the fore. On June 11, 2017, Syrian state TV had claimed al-Baghdadi has been killed in a US-backed airstrike. Prior to that, there were almost more than 5 occasions when reports of IS chief being dead surfaced. With PTI inputs Also read: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Not his first death, know about past claims on his life by various nations For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Chief Minister on Saturday said his government wants to ban liquor. "We want to make MP a liquor-free state. It cannot be done with a alone. Liquor will keep getting supplied if there are people to consume it. We will run a liquor-free campaign so that people stop consuming alcohol and we become a good state. We must take a resolution for this," Chouhan said in a rally. The Chief Minister announced that in the next three years every village house of Katni district will get a supply of clean drinking water through taps. "In next three years, there will be taps and drinking water in every house," he said. Chouhan also said poor people would be provided with money to build pucca houses, adding that about 3,25,000 Ayushman cards were made including free treatment of up to Rs 5 lakhs for the needy. Chouhan asserted that is the first government that announced capital punishment for misconduct with daughters of the state. "Under Muskan Abhiyan in Katni, 50 girls have been saved." "So far 37 have been sentenced, two have filed mercy petition," Chouhan added. The Chief Minister made these statements while inaugurating a project in Katni. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also participated in the meeting organised with the public representatives and senior officials for the presentation of the five-year action plan for the urban areas of Katni district. "I have given instructions that the riverfront should be developed on both sides of the river in Katni and it should be a place that will increase the glory of the city of Katni," he said while addressing a press conference. Chouhan inaugurated several projects here to bring about an Atmanirbhar New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid a scathing attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and said that she gets angry when people chant Bharat Maata ki jai but not when conspiracies are hatched to defame India. The Prime Minister was addressing a rally at Haldia in West Bengal on Sunday (February 7), where he said, She gets angry when people chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' but not when conspiracies are hatched to defame India. Modi also targeted the ruling TMC government in West Bengal and said that it gave rebirth to erstwhile Left rule, corruption, crime, violence and attack on democracy. In the first year of Mamata government, it became clear that what Bengal had got was not 'parivartan' but revival of the Left and that too with interest. Revival of the Left meant revival of corruption, crime, violence, and attacks on democracy, PM said in Bengal. He also accused the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government of looting public money. People of Bengal are watching and very soon Bengal is going to show 'Ram card' to TMC, the PM added. Modi was on a two states visit on Sunday to Assam and West Bengal. He had earlier visited Dhekiajuli in Assams Sonitpur district and laid the foundation stone for two medical colleges in Biswanath and Charaideo. He had also expressed his desire to establish at least one medical college and one technical college that imparts education in the mother tongue. The states of Assam and West Bengal will witness Assembly elections, likely to be held in April-May. Live TV Honor received Helen Lavelle, president and chief creative strategist of Lavelle Strategy Group, is the 2020 recipient of American Advertising Federations Barton A. Cummings Gold Medal Award. Established by the American Advertising Federations board of directors in 1994, AAFs highest volunteer service award recognizes distinguished individuals for their volunteer service to advertising through work with the AAF. In this, the 25th year of the American Advertising Federations Barton A. Cummings Gold Medal Award, AAF honors the legacy of Barton A. Cummings and its 2020 award recipient, Helen Lavelle, said AAF President and CEO Steve Pacheco. Helen embodies the spirit and the actions of a distinguished industry leader and visionary. Lavelles connection to the AAF has spanned nearly 35 years. Shes served at each level of the organization including as club president, District 2 governor (two consecutive terms) and ultimately as the Council of Governors chair and Eastern Region chair. Shes been involved with the National Student Advertising Competition, the American Advertising Awards, Mosaic Awards and more. The organization called her a guiding light for AAF members throughout the country seeking to not only give back to the industry but to bring a voice to the importance of diversity. Formally educated in fine art and advertising art, Lavelles advertising career began in Pennsylvania where she worked as art director, television producer and promotion artist for Ralph Lauren and Halston. At the Lavelle Strategy Group, she has been the recipient of countless creative awards and the prestigious AAF Silver Medal. She also remains dedicated to her gift as an exceptional artist. High notes Retired Scranton Police Detective Robert McAndrew in January received a Commendation of Merit from U.S. Security Care Inc. in conjunction with Pocono Mountain School District. McAndrew, who worked for the Scranton Police Department for 27 years, is a school protective officer at the Tobyhanna Elementary Center. Elementary Principal Dr. Anastasia DeAngelo and Assistant Principal Dr. John Kevra honored McAndrew with the commendation. U.S. Security Care is proud to recognize Robert McAndrews exemplary performance in ensuring the safety and security of the students, staff and public at the Mount Pocono School District, the honor states. McAndrew has been employed with the company since 2018. His concern for everyones safety is outstanding, states the commendation signed by Brian Cosgriff, vice president of U.S. Security Care Inc. Premier League: Man Utd 3 Everton 3 A last-gasp goal from Domic Calvert-Lewin denied Manchester United the win they wanted to mark the 63rd anniversary of the Munich tragedy and draw level on points with neighbours City at the top of the Premier League table. Calvert-Lewin pounced from close range in added time to earn Everton a draw just as United thought the three points were in the bag. Goals from Edinson Cavani and Bruno Fernandes gave United a 2-0 lead at the break but Everton had wiped that out within seven minutes of the second period starting with goals from Abdoulaye Doucoure and James Rodriguez. Scott McTominay restored United's lead with a header from Luke Shaw's free-kick but Calvert-Lewin pounced to level it at the death. United have now conceded 18 goals in 12 Premier League home games this season, one more than they did in the whole of last season at Old Trafford. The hosts will be wondering how they conspired to throw away victory here, especially having gone into half-time two goals up thanks to Cavani's fine header and Fernandes' moment of magic. Everton were level within seven minutes of the second half getting under way as Doucoure turned home before Rodriguez rifled home the leveller, only for McTominay to head home Luke Shaw's free-kick. The hosts, buoyed by the win against Saints, started the brighter, with Mason Greenwood whipping in a superb left-footed cross that Mason Holgate put behind after it just evaded Cavani. ED IT IN SON: Man Utd's Edinson Cavani celebrates scoring his side's opener at Old Trafford Paul Pogba's header from the resulting corner was hacked clear and Greenwood was soon causing problems again, turning Andre Gomes inside out before hitting a mishit shot across the face of goal. The France international, who was named United's Player of the Month for January, pulled up with what looked to be an issue with his right thigh, leading Fred to replace him in the 39th minute. Victor Lindelof was breathing a sigh of relief after his clearance under pressure was blocked and Richarlison subsequently sent an effort across out-of-position De Gea's goal, before Fred missed as the first half looked set to peter out. But Fernandes had other ideas. Without options on the edge of the box, he struck a sublime right-footed shot that beat Olsen and nestled in the top left-hand corner. But while Everton may have ended the first half with their shoulders slumped, they had their tails up after the break. Shortly after a Shaw snapshot was denied by Olsen, Calvert-Lewin was sent through and De Gea could only parry his shot into the path of Doucoure. That 49th minute blow was soon followed by another gut punch. United's defence failed to effectively clear a cross and Doucoure drove a ball back to Rodriguez, who took a touch and fired a low left-footed strike past De Gea. Solskjaer's side were rocked on their heels but slowly began to regain their composure and build pressure, with Rashford forcing Olsen into a save at his near post. United edged back ahead in the 70th minute. Shaw sent in a fizzing free-kick from the left and McTominay directed it past Olsen. Fernandes and Rashford tried to extend United's lead and avoid a nervy ending, with Lucas Digne hitting the foot of the post before Richarlison fired off target at the other end. They were warning shots that United failed to heed. Deep in stoppage time, Digne's free-kick was flicked on by Keane and Calvert-Lewin pounced from close range. MAN UTD: De Gea 5, Wan-Bissaka 6, Lindelof 5, Maguire 5, Shaw 7; McTominay 7, Pogba 5 (Fred 38, 6); Greenwood 6, Fernandes 8, Rashford 7; Cavani 7. Subs not used: Martial, James, Henderson, Alex Telles, Matic, Williams, van de Beek. EVERTON: Olsen 5; Holgate 6, Keane 6, Godfrey 6, Digne 6; Doucoure 6 (King 81, 5), Gomes 5 (Iwobi 75, 5), Davies 5; James 6 (Sigurdsson 69, 5), Richarlison 6, Calvert-Lewin 7. Subs not used: Delph, Mina, Nkounkou, Bernard, Coleman, Virginia. Referee: Jonathan Moss. In addition, the supply of vaccines though still well below demand is growing. Federal officials recently increased shipments to the states to 10.5 million doses a week, as Moderna and Pfizer gradually increase production. The two companies have deals to supply the United States with a combined 400 million doses enough to vaccinate 200 million people by the summer. Pfizer recently said that it would deliver its doses two months ahead of schedule, by May, in part because it is now counting an additional dose in each vial it is manufacturing. And Moderna is considering a production change that would allow it to increase the number of doses in its vials to 15 from 10. Officials are also counting on the Food and Drug Administration authorizing a one-dose vaccine from Johnson & Johnson later this month. Although that company will initially provide the United States with only a few million doses, it is expected to step up output considerably by April. Other vaccines from Novavax and AstraZeneca could also be authorized for U.S. use in the spring, further increasing supply. Officials are racing to vaccinate as many people as possible in order to outpace more contagious variants of the virus that were first identified in Britain and South Africa. The variant from Britain, known as B.1.1.7, is spreading rapidly in the United States, with its prevalence doubling roughly every 10 days, according to a new study. The C.D.C. said it could become the dominant form of the virus in the United States by March. Although that variant is worrisome because it is more transmissible than earlier variants, vaccine developers are more concerned about a variant discovered in South Africa, known as B.1.351, because it appears to make current vaccines less effective. Several manufacturers have said they are addressing the problem by developing new versions of their vaccines, which could act as booster shots. The Food and Drug Administration has said it is working on a plan to allow those new vaccine versions to be authorized. Posted Sunday, February 7, 2021 7:54 am Washington State Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz is championing a proposed bill that would establish a dedicated funding stream to prevent and fight wildfires. "The status quo isn't working for us. Last year we had another horrific fire season," Franz said. Currently, the state's Department of Natural Resources relies on the emergency fund to pay for expenses incurred while fighting wildfires. The system amounts to "just throwing money at the fire, versus investing up front," Franz said. It keeps the department from being able to proactively assign resources to mitigate disaster, she said. It's reactionary, and it's also not saving the state any money. "The way we are currently funding wildfires, we get a base budget of about $45 million a year," Franz said. "On average, we spend about $153 million a year." The bill would set aside $125 million each biennium. The largest chunk, $75 million, would go toward wildfire response, including hiring 100 more firefighters, buying two new airplanes and upgrading outdated helicopters. Another $37 million would be set aside for forest restoration under the DNR's existing 20-year plan, the agency has pledged to restore 1.25 million acres of forestland and $13 million would be dedicated to community resilience, helping high-risk towns develop strategies for mitigating fire damage. The legislation, House Bill 1168, was introduced in the Rural Development, Agriculture & Natural Resources on Jan. 13. Franz had pushed unsuccessfully last year for a similar fund that would have relied on a surtax on home insurance premiums. The new legislation doesn't identify a specific funding source. "Everyone agrees on the 'what,'" Franz said, "The disagreement is on the 'how'." Several bad years Wildfires in Washington over the last few years caused more destruction than in past decades. Last September, more than 1,600 fires burned more than 800,000 acres. The fires all but leveled the Whitman County town of Malden, and a 1-year-old boy died in Okanogan County. In Clark County, the air was so smoky it surpassed the maximum "hazardous" metric used by the Air Quality Index. Evacuees from rural Oregon where the fire threat was even more immediate relied on services from Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency to find temporary accommodations. "We were making pleas for resources at the federal level," Franz said. "We couldn't get anything they were already fully deployed in California and Oregon." "We had 10 helicopters in the air fighting those fires. Nine of them were (surplus) from the Vietnam War," she added. If the bill passes, the DNR should be able to start accessing the funding as early as next spring, Franz said. She added that she's "cautiously optimistic" that the legislation will earn support from the Democratic majority. "My No. 1 goal here is to come out of the Legislature with the critical funding that our state (needs) to ensure we will not continue to see loss of life, loss of our natural resources, loss to our economy, and communities, and home, and property," Franz said. ___ (c)2021 The Columbian (Vancouver, Wash.) Visit The Columbian (Vancouver, Wash.) at www.columbian.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Talented actor Suriya, who recently tasted big success with Soorarai Pottru, has tested positive for COVID-19. The update was revealed by Suriya through his official Twitter page. The actor revealed that he is under treatment, and thanked the doctors for their support. The industry members and fans are now showering the Ghajini actor with wishes for a speedy recovery. "I am getting treated for coronavirus and am better now. Let us all realize that life has not yet returned to normal. Can't be paralyzed with fear. At the same time it is necessary to be safe and careful. Lots of Love and thanks to the dedicated and supportive medical staff," wrote Suriya on his Twitter page. As reported earlier, Suriya is all set to kickstart the shooting of his 40th outing in Tamil cinema, which has been tentatively titled Suriya 40. The project which is said to be a family entertainer, is directed by Pandiraj. The untitled film, which is bankrolled by the renowned banner Sun Pictures, will now start rolling only after the leading man Suriya completely recovers. Suriya will next be seen in the upcoming anthology web series Navarasa, which is slated to be released on Netflix. The talented actor has played the lead role in the segment directed by Gautham Menon in the web series, which is produced by the veteran filmmaker Mani Ratnam. Navarasa thus marks Suriya's reunion with Gautham Menon, after Vaaranam Aayiram (2008). After wrapping up Suriya 40, the actor is expected to kickstart the highly anticipated project Vaadivasal, which marks his first collaboration with the National Film Award-winning filmmaker Vetrimaaran. As per reports, Suriya is planning to get trained in the classic Tamil sport Jallikattu for his character in Vaadivasal. Also Read: Master: The Deleted Scene From The Thalapathy Vijay Starrer Is Winning The Internet! Vijay Sethupathi's Role In Vetrimaaran-Soori Project: Director Reveals Exciting Details! NATIONAL INTEREST on ECT development project By Shelton Hettiarachchi View(s): View(s): The loud cry of the port workers today backed by the shadow political economy, echoes the misconceptions around the landlord system of port management. The error is not with the port workers who seem to believe in their cry simply because they have been repeatedly misled. What is regrettable is that, it is only the port workers who seem to show an interest in this matter of national importance. This is because a port providing services to both domestic and international trade should have more than just its workers as stakeholders. These stakeholders should lend their voice to correct these misconceptions. The stakeholders of national ports in the country include all of us as below: 1. Sri Lankan nationals The ports are the heart of the nation. Thus, any decisions have to keep national interest as priority. 2. Port trade unions- Trade unions are there by design to ensure employee interest over others. 3. Regional competitors Nations in the Indian sub-continent who can squeeze / deactivate transshipments through ports in Sri Lanka. 4. Global investors and large international traders: They bring in much needed Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), expertise and help promote efficient seaborne trade. 5. Ports regulators: Should manage the regulations relating to administrative, landlord and harbour control. In order to make the reader understand clearly, let me share a recent statistic of the current status. The Colombo Port has three main terminals. Two managed under the landlord system (SAGT, CICT) and the Jaya terminal, managed, run and operated by the SLPA. The below table indicates the performance in 2019. As we can see from the table, it is only the CICT terminal (one of the few such terminals in the world for handling 18000 TEU container vessels), that has the capacity to accommodate ships of more than 14.25m draft. Therefore, it is important that the country expands port investments allowing for business from deep sea vessels at other terminals. By delaying such investment which is the current discussion and has been delayed due to trade union action for over six years, the only party gaining is the CICT (85 per cent owned by China). Can you see the potential of the port that is getting wasted due to inaction? Sri Lanka has the potential to emerge as the Maritime Hub of the Indian Ocean with ability to facilitate deep sea vessels. Despite this potential, Sri Lanka has not been able to maneuver the tricky waters of internal politics in moving ahead. Consecutive regimes have been misguided in driving the country to reach its full vision for proper port development. The latest news headlines relating to the East Container Terminal development makes it necessary for us to revisit the very foundations of Sri Lankas port development and its unique status today (see below) in order to understand the true nature of the issues at hand. A well negotiated landlord system would bring in benefits to the country, by allowing Sri Lanka reach its true maritime potential. Therefore, the proposed action by the government with regard to the ECT is not only timely but also addresses the true national interest to bring in efficiencies through the private sector whilst ensuring much needed foreign income, employment opportunities and business. Types of Public Port Management The basic port management systems of public ports operating worldwide (Thoresen, 19XX), are described in literature as follows: (a) Tool (Resource) port (also known as the French Model): The port owns the land, infrastructure and fixed equipment, provides common-user berths and rent-out equipment and space on a short-term basis to cargo-handling companies and commercial operators. (Eg. Ports in Sri Lanka from 1854 to 1979, minor ports) (b) Operating (service) port: The port provides berths, infrastructure and equipment together with services to ships and their cargo. (Eg: Ports of Sri Lanka from 1979 to 1999) (c) Landlord port: For larger ports this is the most common system where the port owns the land and basic infrastructure and allows the private sector to lease out berths and terminal areas.(Eg: Ports in Netherland-Rotterdam Port & regional ports, Ports in Singapore( PSA ++ )) (d) Private Port: Private ports do not belong to any of above categories (Eg. Hambantota Port) (e) Hybrid type Port system used in this article to refer to the current port management system of Sri Lanka, i.e. a combination of Landlord, Service and Private. It is a complex, inefficient and uneconomical per expert analysis. Port Management Best Practice How are public ports managed elsewhere? All major public ports in the developed world practice the landlord system. There are private ports as well in the developed world. Ports in developing world are in transition from service ports to tool port and subsequently landlord port as the final destiny. Singapore transition was made from tool port to landlord port in late 1960s, which was an easy jump. In Sri Lanka, transition was made in the reverse direction, from a Tool port to Service port and now the big jump from Service port to Landlord port is a painful process. What is best practice? The best practice for ports in the developing world is Landlord where state engages in statutory duties to the nation, and the private sector engages in connected commercial activities in a level playing field regulated by the state. Is there a regulator for different aspects as well as other players? Yes. In the telecom industry re-structuring, public land is vested with public operator, and private operators invest in private land. Only an administrative regulator (TRC) will do statutory duties. But, in the ports industry, for all public ports and private ports as well, the sea bed or the river bed is public property and not considered as land, but identified as Roads in transportation networks. All infrastructure in the public transportation industry are developed on roads (public property) and it involves a landlord regulator for attending to statutory duties of roads. In land transportation, the Road Development Authority (RDA) is the landlord regulator for roads, and inland waterways while the CGR is the landlord regulator/operator for rail roads. The administrative regulator for land transport is the National Transport Commission. In regulating ports, there comes another regulator, for sea lanes, as Law of the Sea is different from Laws of Land, where ships enter in coastal waters of harbour basins and sea lanes developed by the port engineer. Regulatory duties of sea lanes are entrusted to a Master Mariner, better known as Harbour Control regulator. As for who the landlord regulator (i.e the regulator who attends to statutory duties of ports) it is unclear. But as per statute, this function can be fulfilled by the Director (Technical) of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA). The three regulators, Administrative, Landlord and Harbour Control have to work in unison, but different regulatory functions, as roads and sea bed beyond high water line are the property of the state, and public administration of functions similar to duties of the TRC to create a level playing field for all stakeholders of the ports industry. History of Port Management in Sri Lanka Colombo was the main recognized deep-water facility close to the East West shipping route in competition to Singapore, Aden and Dubai. The British used Tool ports port management system, with private port operators handling operational activities, regulated by the Traffic Department of Harbour Board / Colombo Port Commission. Colombo Port was nationalised in 1958. The consequent politicisation of the port led to ship operational delays resulting in losing both transshipment business to regional competitors as well as shifting of domestic trade to ports of Galle and Trincomalee. The Tool ports port management system, was continued until 1979, with the public port operator handling operational activities, with disastrous dents in ports industry. With the introduction of the open economy in 1977, Colombo commenced development activities to handle containers with technical assistance from Japan. Given Colombo ports deep water facilities, with the expansion of containerization, giants of international seaborne trade, wanted to re-introduce transshipment activities in Colombo, mainly to handle large volumes of containerised cargo to and from the Indian Subcontinent. The SLPA was created in 1979 by introducing the Operating/Service Port system of port management. From 1979 until 1999, the SLPA handled all port terminal operations as the sole public port operator for all ports, together with regulatory functions under statute. These included being the regulator for national port administration, national landlord regulator and national harbour control regulator. There was a major change in port management in container operations, with creation of the landlord system of port management in 1999. (The writer is a port management consultant with over 50 years of experience having also served as a senior official of the SLPA. This article was submitted before the government on Monday decided to allow the ECT to be run solely by the SLPA). The Boring Company CEO Elon Musk told the Miami mayor that he could finish a two-mile underground tunnel in Miami for just $30 million, disproving what local transit officials estimates as a $1 billion project. Moreover, the world's richest person as per Bloomberg told the Mayor that his company will be able to complete the project in just a span of six month, again contrary to what was initially a four-year estimate. Musk Focuses on 'Maximum Utility' for 'Least Amount of Money' As The Verge reports, Mayor Francie Suarez of Miami shared these details through a video uploaded in his official Twitter account. According to Mayor Suarez, "He's focused on trying to deliver a project that will have the maximum utility for our residents for the least amount of money." "The order of magnitude in terms of savings is significant.", he added. Just had my call w/ @elonmusk regarding @boringcompany tunnels coming to MIA DETAILS BELOW pic.twitter.com/NsJFYcvGeQ Mayor Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) February 5, 2021 Back in January 18, Musk had already tweeted about the idea of digging a tunnel under Miami. The billionaire is known to be transparent about his projects in his Twitter account. Musk said "Cars & trucks stuck in traffic generate megatons of toxic gases & particulates, but @boringcompany road tunnels under Miami would solve traffic & be an example to the world." Furthermore, he mentioned that he had already spoken to the Florida Governor Ron DeSantis about his plans. "If the Governor & Mayor want this done, we will do it.", he added. Cars & trucks stuck in traffic generate megatons of toxic gases & particulate, but @boringcompany road tunnels under Miami would solve traffic & be an example to the world. Spoke with @RonDeSantisFL about tunnels last week. If Governor & Mayor want this done, we will do it. Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 18, 2021 Mayor Suarez is open about pursuing the project with the cooperation of DeSantis as well as the mayor of Miami-Dade county. "I think we have a unique opportunity to create a signature project not just for Miami, but for the world," Suarez said. Read more: OECD 'Highly Likely' to Tax Tech Giants for a Better EU-US Relationship this Summer Underground Tunnel Project in Miami, a Challenging Feat The underground project is definitely not easy since Miami's foundation is built on limestone. Thus, it can be a bit challenging because of its spongy structure. That is also the same reason why city experts have estimated the price to be a billion dollar project back in 2018. As The Miami Herald reports, the challenges in the project are mainly the limestone foundation and the rising sea levels, which can make it more unstable. However, Musk has confidently spoken about digging tunnels as a solution for the rising traffic. He adds that he could dig deeper than the height of skyscrapers. The Boring Company began in 2016 and has commenced their city projects for a few years now. Over the years, their goals of building a tunnel modify over time. Recently, the company aims to create a tunnel where Tesla cars could drive through at a much faster pace. Currently, the company is working on the commercial service that is almost completed in Las Vegas. Aside from the Miami underground project, the company is also working on proposals for a project in San Bernardino County, California. Related article: Elon Musk Explains SN9 Explosion and What SpaceX Did Wrong-CEO Says Next is 'Pull Up' Method! This article is owned by Techtimes Written by Nikki D 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. It wasnt until the final days of his presidency that the media finally began to figure out how to cover the provocateur Donald Trump, calling his lies lies and cutting away when he complained without evidence about the election being rigged. Now, journalists face a fresh challenge in Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Trumpiest but far from the only new member of Congress to spew dangerous hatred and falsehoods. That the freshman representative from northwest Georgia supported a Facebook post that House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi should be shot in the head and her belief that mass shootings were false flag operations plus her nutty notion that some kind of Jewish-backed space laser caused Californias wildfires have in a month generated more coverage than most politicians will generate in a lifetime. Newly elected Lauren Boebert of Colorado has also expressed support for the baseless QAnon theory, promised to carry her Glock into Congress, was fined for setting off the metal detector, and is being investigated for her possible role in coordinating the mob that ransacked the Capitol. Madison Cawthorn, the 25-year-old newly elected representative from North Carolina, has parroted the false conspiracy about thousands of children being sold into sex slavery and encouraged people last December to lightly threaten members of Congress. There have, of course, long been legislators with anti-Semitic, racist and crazy beliefs. But whereas recent ones like Iowa Republican Steve King who was stripped of his committee assignments before being ousted were marginalized, Greene, Boebert and Cawthorn feel like a bellwether of a deranged Republican Party increasingly willing to propagate insane notions for political gain. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawleys move to obstruct certification of President Bidens victory led to his biggest fundraising month ever. In todays politics, outrageousness to the point of recklessness is being rewarded. Should reporters relentlessly cover Greenes loony lies, as Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell described them? Or, in doing so, does the media risk exposing more Americans to conspiracies? Would it be better to ignore media-manipulators like Boebert who are too junior to have real impact in Congress? I am generally unsure what the best way to handle MTG is now that shes a lawmaker, Charlie Warzel, a New York Times technology reporter, wrote on Twitter referring to Greene by her initials. She is clearly an attention hijacker ... more shitposter than politician ... but also ... a Rep. We cant worry any longer about inadvertently directing people to conspiracies by writing about Greene and her ilk now that the Department of Homeland Security has declared ideologically motivated violent extremists ... fueled by false narratives a terrorist threat. Congressmembers who spread these falsehoods are not only a political story they are a national security one, too. In an email accompanying a petition for her expulsion, the Jewish advocacy group J Street summed up how I think about this: It would be a huge mistake to ignore the serious threat posed by Greene and the far-right antisemitic conspiracy theorists to whom she is now proudly giving voice in the halls of Congress. When I reached out to John Bailey, editor of the Rome News-Tribune, the main newspaper in Greenes home district, to get his take on how the media should cover Greene, he said he wrestles with how to write about conspiracists without amplifying false messages. He doesnt have a lot of time to think through a strategy for covering her in between processing photos and managing coverage. Its a day-to-day decision. You have to make a call, he says, especially without a dedicated politics reporter and a staff of only five that needs to cover school boards and local government and sports, too. Whats more important? he asks. Reporters need a plan. This is why my colleague Andy Grotto and I drafted guidelines for newsrooms on how to report on lies. Greene will never merit as much attention as a president. Media outlets both national and local need to signal in story placement and length that she isnt the most important story of the day. Editors should develop stock language about Greene that is included high up in every story such as, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the freshman representative, who has endorsed executing prominent Democrats and backed the QAnon movement now deemed a terrorist threat by the FBI before saying she no longer believed it ... (In an attempt to prevent the U.S. House from stripping her of her committee assignments, Greene said in a speech Thursday she had stopped believing in QAnon and that some of her words of the past dont represent her today, before calling the media just as guilty as QAnon of presenting truth and lies. The House then voted 230-199 to remove her from the education and budget committees.) Never write a headline that directly quotes her without context. As Grotto and I wrote, remember that journalists are a targeted adversary and see yourself this way when digesting disinformation ... Ask yourself: Are we being used here? Rather than covering publicity stunts, reporters should dig further into who Greene and other representatives pushing QAnon really are. The Nations investigation into the deceits of Cawthorn a Trumpy freshman member who misled the public about training for the Paralympics, just as he misrepresented his education and business history was a model. A 2019 video of Greene harassing David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland high school shooting, was chilling and important. Media Matters publication of Greenes 2018 Facebook posts in which she endorsed the idea that 9/11 was an inside job and that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was staged was the kind of reporting that should have been done before the election. Too often, Republicans were able to duck questions about Trumps inanities. They cannot be allowed to do this again. A journalists job is to report what people need to know to be informed citizens and to help them make sense of what is most important. To that end, I wish every column devoted to her including this one could instead be about the existential threat of climate change. But, unfortunately, the media is going to have to rigorously cover legislators like Greene. They are simply too dangerous to disregard. Janine Zacharia, a former Washington Post reporter, is the Carlos Kelly McClatchy lecturer in the department of communication at Stanford University. Amazon and other online retailers are facing the prospect of a double tax raid, including one on the huge profits made by some web-based businesses during the Covid pandemic. Treasury officials are reportedly weighing up plans for an online sales tax in a bid to re-balance the scales between booming online businesses and struggling high street firms. Sources close to Rishi Sunak say the Chancellor believes the current taxation system around online business is 'killing the High Street', reports suggest. Downing Street's policy unit meanwhile are looking into the possibility of a Covid windfall tax, which will target 'excessive' profits of those who have cashed in during the pandemic. Tech firms and online retailers are now set to be called in to give their views on a new tax plan, according leaked emails seen by the Sunday Times. Amazon and other online giants are facing the prospect of a double tax raid, including one on the massive profits made during the Covid pandemic Such a tax, dubbed the 'Amazon Tax', is aimed at targeting major online retailers who are posting huge profits while avoiding pricey high street rent costs and overheads - giving them a big advantage over traditional retailers. The online sales tax could be introduced as part of a shake-up of business rates - a council-tax-like charge based on the rateable value of non-domestic properties in the UK. Online retailers such as Amazon currently pay business rates on their huge warehouses and office spaces. But unlike traditional retailers they have no need for expensive High Street stores - which often attract big business rates. Sources close to Rishi Sunak say the Chancellor believes the current taxation system around online business is 'killing' the High Street, reports suggest The advantage is particularly clear in the fashion industry, where online giants such as Boohoo and Asos have been able to keep costs down by avoiding the expensive rents paid by their High Street rivals. Bohoo recently brought the failed Debenhams brand to use online, but says it does not want to operate its huge department stores. It comes as Amazon's sales in Britain increased by 51 per cent last year to 19.5billion, as Britons turned to home deliveries during lockdown. However Amazon UK paid 14.5million in corporation tax in 2019. The firm, which employs 30,000 people UK-wide, says its tax bill was offset by government incentives related to its investment in infrastructure. The online marketplace is not the only online firm to benefit hugely from the pandemic, with delivery firms Ocado, Just Eat and clothing retailer Asos also seeing huge profits leaps during the pandemic. Companies that have seen a large profit spike during the pandemic could be hit with a one-off Covid windfall tax. Treasury officials reportedly hope to use the money to help cover the 300billion cost of Covid on the UK - which includes the Government's furlough bill, grants to help struggling businesses and other recovery schemes. Neither of the taxes will be introduced in the upcoming budget in March, according to the Sunday Times, but both could play a key role in the treasury's plan to slash Britain's 2trillion debt, the paper adds. Bohoo recently brought the failed Debenhams (pictured) brand to use online, but says it does not want to operate its huge department stores A Treasury spokesman told the Sunday Times: 'Our business rates review call for evidence included questions on whether we should shift the balance between online and physical shops by introducing an online sales tax. We're considering responses now.' It comes as earlier this week ministers were urged to delay any planned tax rises for up to two years today in order to let firms left shell-shocked by Covid to recover - as ministers mull an online sales tax. Jesse Norman, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, told MPs this week that such a levy is a possibility as Chancellor Rishi Sunak tries to raise money to pay off the UK's pandemic debt pile. Mr Norman did not give any detail about what an online sales tax might look like, but the idea was first suggested when the Treasury reviewed business rates in July. It was the clearest hint yet that Mr Sunak might look to raise taxes amid fears about the long-term effect of heavy public borrowing. However the Confederation of British Industry earlier this week warned against a fresh tax burden on UK businesses. Some economists have suggested taxes will need to go up for covering the cost of the pandemic, but CBI chief economist Rain Newton-Smith said: 'We don't see now as the time to be increasing taxes. 'You need to wait until one or two years after you've seen the trough in GDP when growth is back on a sustainable trajectory before really trying to think about either significant cuts in Government spending or significant increases in taxation.' There has been speculation that a levy of 2 per cent on all goods bought online potentially raising 2billion a year could be implemented. Critics say the tax will push up prices for consumers. Online retailers have thrived during the lockdown with customers unable to visit non-essential shops for months. 'When we thought about business rates in the recent consultation, we touched on the idea of an online sales tax and just put that out there for discussion and evaluation and we're still reflecting on that,' Mr Norman told the Treasury Committee. Back in September, Lee Chef Evans was a desperate man in a Montgomery hotel room, separated from the love of his life by more than 5,000 miles. Hed been that way for about eight months. I just want to go home, the international chef, a Tallassee native who was raised in Eclectic, told the Montgomery Advertiser then. Home isnt a place to him. Its a person. The great fear of not knowing what could happen if I couldnt find my way home was unlike anything I had experienced before, said Evans, who contacted the Advertiser from Agugliaro, Italy. I was a total wreck at times, and I know many people are living with the same thing. Beyond the distance to Italy, what stood between him and fiancee Katia Chieregato was a mountain of travel restrictions due to COVID-19. The pair could only connect through video calls with a seven-hour time difference. That wasnt enough, especially since Chieregato has health issues, including multiple sclerosis. Evans was seeking help from anyone he could to get approval from for a flight to Italy. Hed reached out to every Alabama politician he could think of, and then contacted the Advertiser. What frustrated him most was news of athletes and celebrities being allowed exemptions to fly internationally, while regular people like himself were left to wait. Waiting finally paid off. Evans received a travel exemption from the Italian government to fly to Chieregato. He arrived In Italy on Oct. 4. By then, he said stress had taken a toll on him. By the time I finally made it home, I was almost unrecognizable and it took me a few weeks to return to normal, Evans said. After having to change their wedding plans several times due to restrictions, Evans and Chieregato (who call each other Lupo and Lupa) were married. We had to have a civil ceremony because of the COVID restrictions, so it was a very small private ceremony, Evans said. Though theyre together, challenges remain. Evans said his planned job fell through, and he is unable to work in Italy for now. Im volunteering as an English teacher in a local school until things return to normal, Evans said. I teach basic English to challenged and special needs students... Most of my time is dedicated to helping my wife with her recovery and daily life. Hed also like to help the many others who are separated from loved ones, couples and family members. Evans has been active in that on Twitter through Love Is Not Tourism. Many, like him, had no idea getting approval to travel was just the first hurdle. My trip home was an uphill battle, Evans said. THE FIGHT TO FLY HOME My flights were cancelled days after I booked them, and I ended up waiting my turn in line for refunds with literally millions of other people, he said. Evans is still waiting for several refunds. I almost extended my credit past its limit and things got pretty scary, he said. I quickly found myself at the point where I couldnt buy another ticket on credit. I literally got my documentation submitted hours before the deadline. I was a nervous wreck. The trip was full of unexpected moments as well. Evans said there is a gray area in the rules that can result in people being turned away at the airport. I had all of the information required by the EU and the Italian government and my passport is current, Evans said. But when I arrived at the airport to check in, I was asked for more information that wasnt mentioned anywhere else. I needed to have my fiancees identification before I was able to be checked in for the flights. Fortunately, Evans was able to contact Chieregato in time to get pictures of her identification, which had to match exactly with the information on the travel exemption documents. Eventually he was allowed to board the flight, only to have the entire process repeated in Amsterdam. Each time I was taken aside and held until everything was confirmed, and they had to confirm all of my fiancees information, Evans said. It was the most stressful experience of my life. More stressful that the current situation he and his bride are in, now that a second wave of infections have swept through Europe and Italy has imposed strict lockdowns again. Some people see this as Draconian and a compromise of peoples rights, but I strongly disagree, Evans said. People tend to forget just how small Italy is, and though the country is very modern in many ways it is built on some of the oldest infrastructure in human history. So much of Italy is still the Old World, which is why I love it so much. as a matter of basic self-preservation, Italy has to be strict. Family and home. Those are the images Indian Arrival Day evoke in the ticking mind of mas designer Valmiki Maharaj. The Lost Tribe creative director says he will spend today ruminating on stories relayed by his beloved mother Basdaye and other family members who no longer walk this earth, knowing that with his every breath he carries on their legacy. A Phillipsburg man faces drug and weapons charges following an 8-week investigation into drug dealing, said Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer. Matthew Williams, 37, was arrested after authorities executed a search warrant Friday morning at his apartment on South Main Street, according to the prosecutor. Authorities reportedly seized heroin, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, marijuana and synthetic marijuana, as well as a loaded firearm and an imitation handgun. Williams is charged with third-degree heroin distribution; third-degree heroin possession with intent to distribute; and single counts of second-degree possession of a weapon while committing a drug offense, second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, fourth-degree possession of an imitation firearm and possession of drug paraphernalia, a disorderly persons offense. Upon conviction, the second-degree offenses carry a maximum 10 years in state prison, with up to five years on the third-degree offenses and up to 18 months on the fourth-degree charge. The disorderly count carries a maximum 180 days in jail. Assisting Phillipsburg police in executing the warrant were New Jersey State Police, Pohatcong Township police, Hackettstown police, Washington Township police and the prosecutors office narcotics unit, according to the release. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Its been almost two years since 11-year-old Amberly Alexis Barnett was found strangled to death in the woods near her DeKalb County, Alabama, home in March 2019 and the man facing the death penalty in her slaying is still no closer to trial or even a grand jury presentation. Christopher Wayne Madison, now 35, was charged in Amberlys death the day after her body was found behind his house, next door to the girls aunt at whose home she had been staying when she disappeared. Analysis of forensic evidence in the case was pending throughout 2019, and when the coronavirus struck in 2020 the case stalled completely, according to the Ninth Circuit District Attorneys Office in Fort Payne. Those forensic reports are still pending from the FBI and the case cant move forward until it can be presented to the grand jury, according to chief deputy district attorney Bob Johnston. Johnston said in April 2019 that forensic analysis and processing could take an extended amount of time, and the presentation to the grand jury could be delayed for months. The case didnt make it to the grand jury by the end of 2019. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic closed or greatly limited operations at crime labs that perform that kind of analysis and the case has remained stalled, Johnston said Thursday. Decatur, Alabama-attorney Brian White, one of Madisons two lawyers in the death penalty case, declined to comment Friday on the delay. Whites co-counsel on the case is Huntsville, Alabama, attorney Robert Tuten, White said. The previous co-counsel in the case, Jake Watson, since took a federal job and withdrew from the case, White said. A contact for the Barnett family could not be found to comment on the case. Amberly disappeared March 1, 2019, authorities said at the time. Just after dawn on March 2, 2019, the girls body was found by DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden, a couple of police K-9 handlers and others who were searching the area where she was last seen, department spokesman Tyler Pruett said of the discovery. Pruett also helped in the search. Welden spotted a shovel standing straight up at the back of the yard at Madisons residence and Pruett followed the sheriff along a foot trail that led to the back of Madisons yard. The officers fanned out about 100 yards as they searched. After proceeding about 150 yards up the trail, I noticed Sheriff Welden begin to run as if he had seen something. I began to run to catch up, Pruett said in 2019. Before reaching his location, the sheriff asked me to hang on a minute, so that he could make sure it wasnt a doll or something he had found. Welden got close enough to confirm it was the missing girl, and to see a blue rope around her neck. Pruett said Madison was then held at his home to make sure he didnt try to leave. He was charged later the same day. Case details were revealed in a March 18, 2019, preliminary hearing before DeKalb County Judge Steve Whitmire to bind the case over to the grand jury, including state testimony that Madison himself initially joined in the search and had told police of a dark-colored SUV he said he saw at the home, according to 2019 reports in the Times-Journal newspaper in Fort Payne. David Davis, chief investigator for the DeKalb County Sheriffs Office, testified that on March 1, 2019, the girls aunt and her aunts boyfriend went to Walmart in nearby Centre around 6 p.m. CST, leaving Barnett and her younger brother with their grandfather, who lived on the same street, the newspaper reported. When Amberlys aunt and her boyfriend returned, Amberly was missing and they checked with neighbors who said they hadnt seen her. Madison reportedly searched the tree line behind the property multiple times and told searchers it was good and there was no more need to search there, according to testimony. Near Madisons home, Davis and Welden spotted the trail that led to the girls body. According to preliminary hearing testimony, a pine tree along the trail appeared to be disturbed and had strands of long, blonde hair stuck to it. Beyond the tree, investigators saw a dragging pattern on the ground, a sock and then a machete. Amberlys body was found another 40 feet down the trail, one sock missing amid evidence of foul play, Davis testified. Amberlys face was reported as red and discolored, and a dark hair was found on her stomach, according to testimony. The preliminary autopsy report said she died by strangulation. Other testimony on case evidence included blood found in the bathroom and two bedrooms of Madisons home, hair suspected of belonging to the girl found in the bathroom sink, an account from Madisons wife regarding Madisons interest in bondage and how unusual it was for him to have washed clothes or cleaned the bathroom. Davis testified under defense questioning that Amberly had been staying at her aunts home since the summer of 2018, the paper reported. Davis also said no fingerprints were found. Evidence, including blood and hair, were collected from Madisons home and the scene where the body was found. This week, officials said theres no timeline on when court will resume normal operations. Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1. ___ (c)2021 the Chattanooga Times/Free Press (Chattanooga, Tenn.) Visit the Chattanooga Times/Free Press (Chattanooga, Tenn.) at www.timesfreepress.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Russias coronavirus cases rose by 16,048 in the past day, a record low since October 22, and the total case tally hit 3,967,281, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Sunday, TASS reports. The average growth rate in new cases reached 0.41%. The lowest growth rates were registered in the past day in the Tuva Republic (0.1%), the Chukotka Autonomous Region, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, the Jewish Autonomous Region, the Magadan Region, the Nenets Autonomous Region and the Khakassia Republic (0.2%). Some 1,175 COVID-19 cases were registered in St. Petersburg, 923 in the Moscow Region, 469 in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 370 in the Voronezh Region and 360 in the Rostov Region. The FBI arrested Jerry Harris after investigating reports made to police by two 14-year-old boys who claim Netflix "Cheer" star solicited explicit photos and sex. Video Transcript CHARLIE: What everyone is seeing of Jerry Harris from the outside view from social media is a completely different person from when you actually know him. SARAH KLEIN: Yes, he might be charming, and funny, and lovable, and also, be engaging in sexual activity with children. KRISTEN: My first indication that there was something going on was I found a series of text messages on Charlie's phone with Jerry Harris. I feel like I was attuned to the fact that they were friends with him, but I wasn't aware that there was something inappropriate about that relationship. That caused me to sort of delve deeper with Charlie, and look in his Snapchat and things like that, and see that there was-- it was more than just text messages. CHARLIE: Jerry would send me photos and videos of himself, send me, obviously, nude pictures of himself, like saying all of the things that he wants to do to me and stuff like that. If I didn't, like, comply with or do it, he'd be like, oh, I will block you or un-add you. Like, I don't like when people are mad at me, so I was trying to please him. SAM: He's asked me for nudes, I think, maybe two or three times. And every single time, I just shut him down and just said no. He said a couple of weird things to me before, but it nearly wasn't to the extent that, like, what happened to Charlie. CHARLIE: It was super uncomfortable for me, especially at competitions. Because when I would see him, like, I just really wouldn't want anything to do with him. Because I know what his motives would be. He would try to be, like, go somewhere with me and hook up with him. I'd to be like, no, I don't feel comfortable with that. KRISTEN: I made the report about Jerry Harris, and that was in early May. And I guess I just made the assumption that somebody with USASF was doing something about the Jerry Harris stuff, because I did receive a confirmation that they had received my report back in May. But I didn't hear anything else from them, until early July when, I think, I got an email from Amy Clark, saying, "would it be possible for us to get together on the phone and talk about this? I'm kind of confused." So it was kind of at that point that I realized that nothing had been done on USASF's part at all. It really made me realize that there was nobody that had my back in this situation, that I was really the only person that was looking out for my kids. CHARLIE: I would not be putting myself out there, and doing all this stuff, and literally losing my friends about this for no reason. Now it is up to voters to decide whether Pennsylvanias General Assembly should have a say in how long a governors emergency disaster declarations should last. The state House of Representatives on Friday cast the final vote on needed to get three proposed constitutional amendments on the May 18 primary ballot for ratification by voters. The legislation passed the chamber by a 116-86 vote. It passed the Senate by a 28-20 vote last week. Two of the proposed amendments deal with the fight that has been brewing between Gov. Tom Wolf and lawmakers since last spring over the governors handling of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A third deals with enshrining in the state constitution that individuals cannot be discriminated against because of their race or ethnicity. There is broad bipartisan support for the proposed anti-discrimination amendment, although Democratic lawmakers made it clear they would have liked to see it extended to the LGBTQ community as well. The backing of the other two amendments dealing with emergency disaster declarations fell closely to party lines in both chambers. Specifically, one of the amendments would limit the length of an emergency disaster to 21 days, but it could be extended through passage of a concurrent resolution of the General Assembly. Currently, the constitution allows a governors emergency disaster to last up to 90 days and can be extended indefinitely. A separate amendment would allow the General Assembly to terminate an emergency disaster without having to present it to the governor for his signature. This stems from a state Supreme Court ruling that said the General Assembly cant act unilaterally to end a governors emergency declaration. The court said it would have to win the governors approval to take effect. Wolf has extended his COVID-19 disaster declaration three times since the first case emerged in Pennsylvania on March 6. He has renewed his January 2018 opioid disaster declaration to help the state fight the then-burgeoning opioid and heroin epidemic 12 times so far. Lawmakers havent bemoaned the renewals of the opioid disaster declarations as much as they have the ones dealing with the pandemic. Wolf, in trying to curb the transmission of COVID-19, ordered businesses his administration determined to be non-essential to close with little advance notice. Schools were ordered to halt in-person learning and extra-curricular activities. Restrictions that continue to be placed on restaurants and bars limiting occupancy continue to enrage that industry and caused some to close. Masking orders and crowd limits, among other decisions made without having to obtain legislative approval, also angered legislators. In June, the GOP-controlled Legislature passed concurrent resolutions that sought to end the COVID-19 emergency. Wolfs veto of that resolution when it was presented to him led to the Supreme Court case that resulted in the court upholding the governors veto. The high court ruled the General Assembly gave the governor expansive powers through its passage of the Emergency Services Management Code and so it must adhere to the constitutional requirement of presentment even when attempting to overturn the governors delegated putative authority to suspend laws. Republicans lawmakers argue these proposed constitutional changes will put key decisions in responding to emergencies in the hands of elected state officials who closest to the people. Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland County, said last week having one person calling all the shots in an emergency is a recipe for a constitutional crisis. We will make this work better for Pennsylvanians, Ward said. During Fridays House debate of the proposal, Rep. Seth Grove, R-York County, pointed out similar efforts to clip a governors emergency powers are happening in other states, including several where Republicans control both the Legislature and the governors office. He also pointed out in other states where their Legislature already has the power to end emergency declarations, they havent. This is about us the legislative branch. This is about retaining our power within our constitutional boundaries, Grove said. He called it necessary to provide a check and balance on the executives powers. Its time this body reaffirmed itself in this crisis. Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon County, reminded that the legislation gives the voters the final say in whether these amendments are added to the states constitution. It will give the people of our commonwealth, our bosses, the chance to reform and alter their form of government, he said, in urging support for its passage. Talking to reporters afterward, Grove said if approved by voters, this wouldnt affect other executive powers such as the discretion the state health secretary has under the Disease Prevention and Control Act to do such things as issue mask orders but it would provide lawmakers with the opportunity to negotiate with a governor in deciding an appropriate path forward in dealing with an emergency. Wolf and many Democratic lawmakers maintain that protection of the health and safety of the states residents is at the heart of the governors decisions made during the COVID-19 emergency. They see the proposed amendments as an attempted power grab by the Republican majorities in the legislative chambers to take over the responsibilities and duties of a governor. They also say it could endanger the speed of responding to emergencies by having to wait for legislative approval. Given that it would limit a governors emergency declaration to 21 days, Rep. Margo Davidson, D-Delaware County, said, On Day 22 of any emergency, what will happen? She said it could leave the commonwealth woefully unprepared to deal with a disaster. Opponents of these constitutional changes also maintain that ending the COVID-19 emergency could jeopardize the states receipt of federal funding but Republicans dispute that would be the case as it relates to the pandemic assistance coming from Washington, D.C. Wolf, in a statement about the proposed constitutional amendments, said these emergency disaster amendments would force partisan politics into the commonwealths disaster response efforts and could slow down or halt emergency response when aid is most needed. Further, he added: Premature termination or non-renewal of the current COVID-19 disaster emergency will be disastrous for the commonwealth. It will undo all of the progress that has been made in combatting the spread of COVID-19 and saving the lives of Pennsylvanians and put the commonwealth in a poor position to address another resurgence. Because this legislation seeks to change the state constitution, identical legislation had to pass both the House and Senate in two consecutive legislative sessions. The same language in the bill the House passed on Friday won passage in the last session by 115-86 vote in the House on July 14 followed the next day in the Senate, by a 33-17 vote. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. Led by one of the youngest governments in the world, Lithuania is looking to broad-base ties with India in emerging high-growth areas like fintech, life sciences, digital technology and pharmaceuticals while offering a dynamic business environment to Indian investors, its ambassador Julius Pranevicius said on Sunday. The Lithuanian envoy said his country has emerged as a burgeoning fintech hub globally and Indian companies wanting to expand their presence in Europe can use the Baltic nation as a "gateway" to the larger markets in the region. Lithuania's new dispensation led by Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, which assumed office in December, is being hailed as one of the world's most gender-balanced and young governments. Out of 15 members in the cabinet, seven are women and nine ministers are under the age of 40 years. Pranevicius said the "young" government of Prime Minister Simonyte is leading Lithuania with "new energy and dynamism" with a focus on high-growth areas for economic growth, and the relations with India stand high on its priority. Lithuania, a prominent Baltic nation, is a member of the powerful NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) as well as the European Union. In a historic first for the country that regained its independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, the new government was formed by three conservative parties which are all led by women The main agenda of the government is to deal with the challenges of the coronavirus crisis as well as to focus on growth in futuristic areas for strengthening Lithuania's economy and make it a hub of new innovation and technologies. "The new government is looking at expanding cooperation with India in the emerging areas of financial services, life sciences, digital technologies, pharmaceutical and education," Pranevicius told PTI. The ambassador said there has been a steady increase in leading financial technology firms setting up bases in Lithuania as a result of the Brexit and Indian companies too can take advantage of the favourable investment climate in his country. "Lithuania is a young dynamic country which is trying to focus on innovative and high-tech areas to spur growth. I think the image of the young country has been further strengthened by the new gender-balanced and young government," Pranevicius said. Describing India as a world leader in the pharma sector, the envoy said Lithuania was looking forward to bolstering cooperation with it in biotechnology, life sciences and related areas that will have mutual benefit. "India is a world power in pharmaceuticals. We hope major breakthroughs will come from India in the sector. In our case, we are also a regional hub for biotechnology as we are enjoying an annual growth of 20 percent in the life sciences sector," he said. "We expect that 5 percent of our GDP will come from the life sciences sector and we have the potential to become number one in Europe in the life sciences sector. We think both India and Lithuania can expand cooperation in the sector," Pranevicius said. He also identified digital technology and financial services as potential areas for expanding cooperation, noting that it will transform the economic engagement between the two sides. "If you look at the number of fintech companies in different European countries, you will see that Lithuania is on top. Our government has established a favourable condition for international companies to start their operation in Lithuania," he said. "Any company from anywhere in the world can choose Lithuania as a gateway to the broader European market. As the government, we surely will provide the best conditions for them," the envoy added. Pranevicius said Indian companies in Lithuania will be able to get faster access to the European market and their expansion will be relatively easier because of the investor-friendly regulatory environment and infrastructure. The envoy also hoped that India and European Union would be able to move forward on the long-pending free trade agreement and said it would help in further boosting trade ties. "We expect that the negotiations will intensify in coming months and I strongly hope that the agreement will be signed and come into force. It will be helpful for Lithuania and other EU member countries as well as India," he said. Launched in June 2007, the FTA talks have been stalled since May 2013, when both sides failed to bridge substantial gaps on crucial issues, including data security status for the IT sector. The bilateral trade between India and Lithuania reached a record USD 367 million in the year 2016-17 before decreasing to USD 339 million in 2018-19, according to Indian statistics. Lithuanian language, which is the oldest living Indo-European language, has a lot of similarities with Sanskrit, signifying a possible close ancient link. The Oxford/AstraZeneca jab does not appear to offer protection against mild and moderate disease caused by the COVID variant found in South Africa, a recent study has stated. For the purpose of the study, which is still awaiting peer review, 2,000 healthy and young patients infected with 50Y.V2 were given doses of AstraZeneca/Oxford shots. Although none of them died or hospitalised, the jab showed significantly reduced efficacy against the mutant virus. The two-dose regime of the vaccine did not show protection against mild to moderate COVID-19 infection caused by the South African variant, Financial Times reported citing authors of the randomised, double-blind study. In addendum, they also revealed that the efficacy of the vaccine against severe cases, hospitalisations and deaths were not yet determined. This comes as many European countries including France and Germany showed scepticism for the AstraZeneca jab to be administered on the elderly. Currently, only two vaccine manufacturers-Johnson and Johnson and Novavax-have confirmed that their shots were efficient against the South African variant. Read: France Receives First Batch Of AstraZeneca Vaccines Pertaining to the same, Moderna asserted that it will test a booster shot and a reformulated vaccine to target the South African variant after studies showed its vaccine was significantly less effective. While Pfizer/ BioNTech have admitted that their vaccine was slightly less effective in a lab study using a pseudovirus with some mutations from the 501Y.V2 variant. However, study results are yet to be published. France restricts Astrazeneca vaccine On Tuesday, February 2, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine will only be administered to people of age under 65. This came after the governments health advisory body said that there is a lack of sufficient data about its effectiveness in older people. This could deeply impact Frances vaccination strategy as the country has prioritised people over the age of 75. Read: COVID-19: France Restricts AstraZeneca's Vaccine To People Under 65 Years Read: France Receives First Batch Of AstraZeneca Vaccines The recent development completely differs from the guidance given by the European Medicines Agency. It authorised AstraZenecas vaccine for use by all adults all across the European Union. The authorities in Germany also raised concerns that the company did not test the vaccine on people over 65 to prove if it works for them or not. Read: Biden Administration Moves To Reverse Trump's Migration Agreements With Three Countries San Francisco police officers found two missing children early Sunday after their fathers SUV was stolen while they were inside. Police said the victim left his silver Honda Odyssey parked on the 2100 block of Jackson Street and left the engine running while he made a food delivery at 8:47 p.m. His two young children a one-year-old boy and a four year old girl were in the vehicle as it was stolen, police said. Blinken and Yang Jiechi Discuss the Future of U.S.-China Relations Feb. 6 , 2021 (EIRNS)U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, to discuss U.S.-China relations under the Biden administration. Blinken reiterated the confrontational approach taken by Biden in his foreign policy speech earlier this week, stating through his spokesperson Ned Price that the United States will continue to stand up for human rights and democratic values, including in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, and ... [will] hold the P.R.C. accountable for its efforts to threaten stability in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait, and its undermining of the rules-based international system. Yang Jiechi, according to Xinhua, stated that China urges the United States to rectify its mistakes made over a period of time and work with China to uphold the spirit of no conflict, no confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, focus on cooperation and manage differences.... Yang stressed that the two sides should respect each others core interests and choices of political system and development path, and manage their domestic affairs well. Yang made it clear that China will unswervingly follow its path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and no force could stop the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.... The Taiwan question, the most important and sensitive core issue in China-U.S. relations, bears on Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity, Yang said. The United States should strictly abide by the one-China principle and the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques, he said, adding that Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet-related affairs are all Chinas internal affairs and allow no interference by any external forces. According to the Chinese read-out of the meeting, Blinken said that the U.S. side will continue to pursue the one-China principle, although this was not mentioned in the State Department communique. Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin commented hopefully on Feb. 6 that By initiating the phone call, Blinkens primary purpose was to make constructive communication with China. It is unlikely that he wanted to call just to blast China in opposition on multiple fronts. But he then warned: It is obvious to the world that Chinas development is unstoppable. It is wishful thinking for the U.S. to try and rope in its allies to oppose China. European countries have made it clear that they do not wish to blindly follow Washington in fighting against Beijing because doing so is not in line with their core interests. The same goes for most countries in the Asia-Pacific. Therefore, Hu concluded, The Biden administration is well versed in terms of strategy. We believe that they can distinguish the pros from the cons. No matter what they say to the American people, we hope their actual actions can bring the U.S. China policy from the cloud of fantasy back down to pragmatic ground. Former Independent senator Ian Marshall could thwart a voting pact between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael in two forthcoming Seanad by-elections after claiming that TDs and senators from both parties have privately promised him their votes. The Armagh man, who is from a unionist background, lost his Seanad seat last year. The former president of the Ulster Farmers Union claims he also has pledges of support from members of the Green Party. This says to me (the election) is not a foregone conclusion, Mr Marshall told The Sunday Times. Im not naive but I detect a lot of internal politics in Fianna Fail, and people will not be led by the nose. And there are people in Fine Gael saying its candidate (Maria Byrne) is wrong because she has no background in agriculture. Mr Marshall was left disappointed last June after he was overlooked by Micheal Martin who did not make him one of the Taoiseachs 11 nominees to the upper house. The two Seanad vacancies follow the resignations of Sinn Feins Elisha McCallion in October and Fine Gaels Michael DArcy the previous month. Former Sinn Fein MP Ms McCallion and two party officials resigned from the party over the failure to return 30,000 in Covid-19 support funds wrongly allocated. The money was mistakenly paid to three Sinn Fein party offices under the Executive's Small Business Support Grant Scheme. Fine Gael has selected Maria Byrne, a Limerick former senator, to contest Mr DArcys seat on the Seanad agricultural panel. Fianna Fail posted ballot papers to its parliamentary party on Friday so members can choose its candidate to replace Ms McCallion on the industrial and commercial panel. Sinn Fein is not contesting DArcys seat and is backing Marshall for that vacancy. It has yet to decide whether to field a candidate for Ms McCallions seat. The Green Party is not part of its government partners pact. The understanding is that it will get the next Seanad seat that comes available. Hazel Chu, the Green lord mayor of Dublin, has told party leader Eamon Ryan that she wants to contest the seat vacated by Ms McCallion. Voting, by secret ballot, is confined to TDs and senators. The election quota is expected to be 110 votes. The combined voting strength of the Republic's three government parties is 123. Mr Marshall would need 14 government party votes plus all opposition and independents votes to take the seat. Don't insult me like this: Mamata Banerjee to PM Modi 'All lies': Suvendu Adhikari hits out at Mamata over Cyclone Yaas review meeting row Mamata Banerjee likely to skip PM Modi's event in Bengal India oi-Madhuri Adnal Kolkata, Feb 7: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is unlikely to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s scheduled programme at Haldia in Purba Medinipore district on Sunday evening, a top official at the state secretariat said. The exact reason for this uncertainty has not been specified, but the "insult meted out to her" on January 23, when Jai Shri Ram'' slogans were raised at an event just before her speech, could be the cause, he said. Modi is set to inaugurate four projects in Haldia in oil, gas, and infrastructure sectors. "Madam (CM) is unlikely to attend this evening''s programme at Haldia where PM Modi will be inaugurating projects," the official told PTI. SC heard the most number of cases through video conferencing during COVID: PM Modi The TMC boss has also asked her party members to skip the programme, he added. Banerjee had on January 23 refused to deliver her speech at an event on the occasion of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose''s 125th birth anniversary, after a section of the audience raised ''Jai Shri Ram'' slogans in the presence of the prime minister. She had said that such "insult was unacceptable". Sources in the Raj Bhavan said Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar is scheduled to attend Sunday''s event. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, February 7, 2021, 10:37 [IST] Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Construction of the bridge is underway while the zipline has already been fixed. SDRF personnel used the same to reach areas that were cut off. Ration is being transported & emergency cases are being attended to with help of helicopter: Chamoli District Magistrate One Million Moms boycotts American Girl's 'Girl of the Year' doll over LGBT storyline Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Over 20,000 people have backed an online petition asking The American Girl company to scrap an LGBT storyline tied to its 2021 Girl of the Year doll, urging the company to remain neutral in what they call a culture war. One Million Moms, a Christian conservative organization that regularly launches campaigns against organizations that produce questionable content, launched an online campaign after Mattel named 10-year-old Kira Bailey from Michigan the 2021 Girl of the Year in December. The doll comes with an accompanying book Kira Down Under. In the book, Kira visits an animal sanctuary in Australia operated by her great aunts, who are in a same-sex marriage. The book details how the aunts got married after laws were changed in 2017 to allow for same-sex marriages. The One Million Moms petition, backed by 20,665 signatories as of Sunday afternoon, calls the storyline unacceptable. As Christians, we know that even though something is legalized doesnt make it moral or right, One Million Moms argues. American Girl could have chosen another storyline or characters to write about and remained neutral in the culture war. American Girl is attempting to desensitize our youth by featuring a storyline with two lesbian aunts. The organization calls on parents to not let their daughters see the doll so they can avoid a premature conversation that she is far too young to understand. American Girl, which is known as a brand that helps girls grow up with confidence and character, argues that its line of contemporary characters is designed to inspire children to make a positive difference in the world. Kira is the first character whose story mentions a same-sex relationship, according to Yahoo Life. But the brand has produced other LGBT-related content. The organization previously updated its book A Smart Girls Guide: Crushes to include same-sex relationships. The book was previously known as A Smart Girls Guide to Boys. The news outlet also reports that the company also plans to publish a book that features a mixed-race family with two dads in February. Julie Parks, an American Girl spokesperson, defended the storyline in a statement made to Yahoo Life. From the beginning, our Girl of the Year characters have been designed to reflect girls lives today and the realities of the times, Parks stated. As a brand, weve always strived to share the message that theres no magic recipe for a family and that families can be made up of all kinds of ingredients and each is unique and lovely. Parks added that there are girls that can directly relate to Kiras circumstances, whether that be a girl whose father passed away or family members in same-sex relationships. American Girl was built on a foundation of diversity and inclusion, and we remain committed to empowering the next generation of girls who will emerge as leaders who value empathy, equality and respect, Parks stressed. Were proud of our reputation for having a wide range of inclusive and diverse dolls, accessories and content and were excited about our upcoming plans that will allow for even more girls to see themselves reflected in our products. One Million Moms is not the only organization that has voiced its opposition to the storyline. Kimberly Fletcher, president and founder of Moms for America, argues that American Girl is destroying yet another valuable support for mothers raising children. My daughter grew up with American Girl dolls. She not only had the Josefina doll, she watched all the movies, read all the books and learned the stories of America's history and heritage while developing strong moral values, Fletcher said in a statement shared with Charisma News. It is heartbreaking to learn that such a trusted and cherished franchise has given in to feminist lies and deception, destroying yet another valuable support for mothers raising children. You are here: Business A China-Europe freight train bound for Duisburg of Germany prepares for departure at Tuanjiecun Station in southwest China's Chongqing, Jan. 1, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua] The number of China-Europe freight trains hit 1,165 in January, up 66 percent year on year, data from the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. showed. This was the ninth straight month that China-Europe freight train trips exceeded 1,000, according to the company. The freight trains carried 109,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit containers of goods last month, surging 73 percent from a year earlier. The freight trains have played a crucial role in stabilizing the international logistics supply chain, promoting Sino-European trade and helping with the global fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. Some 9.97 million pieces of anti-epidemic supplies, weighing 80,000 tonnes, have been sent to European countries including Germany, Poland and Belgium by the trains since the epidemic outbreak, the company said. Washington, February 07: The US State Department Spokesperson, Zed Tarar has said that President Joe Biden wants an immediate solution to Kashmir issue. He said in an interview that President Joe Biden has made it clear that human rights are a fundamental issue for the United States. He also said that the US understands that Kashmir is a human rights issue. He said that the US wants that mobile service and 4G should be restored in Kashmir immediately. He said that the new US President has announced that the superpower has returned to the world. The new US president wants all the problems in the world to be solved together. Zed Tarar is a Deputy Director of the London Media Hub where he handles media engagement through South Asia. Meanwhile, New York State Assembly has passed a resolution to observe February 5 as Kashmir American Day. As per the details, the resolution has been passed by a majority vote in the New York State Legislative Assembly. New York has become the first state to recognize Kashmir American Day. Many years ago, as a young foreign correspondent, I went to Beirut to cover the Lebanese civil war. On the wall of the newsroom where I worked, someone had posted a running count of how many truces had come and gone. This ceasefire is #35, it read. Next ceasefire is #36. Ive been thinking about those scrawled reminders as Ive watched the Republican Partys internecine struggles after the chaotic departure of Donald Trump. The party has descended into a state of virtual civil war between unrepentant loyalists to former President Trump and those impatient to cast off the chaos of the last four years and begin a post-Trump era. And as in Lebanon, the hostilities promise to be a prolonged series of flare-ups, with neither side willing to permanently lay down arms. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. Pro-Trump forces have won the early skirmishes. In the Senate, most Republicans have made it clear that they intend to acquit Trump in his impending impeachment trial. In Arizona, the state Republican Party censured its own GOP governor for certifying that Joe Biden had won the presidential election there. Malmo: Julian Assanges accuser has come under fire in Sweden after she went public for the first time with a tell-all book centred around her allegations of sexual abuse. Anna Ardin Anna Ardin, previously known as just Miss A, stepped into the limelight to release a book, In the Shadow of Assange: My Testimony, and has since appeared on Swedish televisions top chat show, been the subject of a two-part documentary, and been interviewed in every major Swedish newspaper. But the sudden sweep of publicity has triggered controversy. After Ardins main TV appearance, Anne Ramberg, the former head of Swedens bar association, wrote that the interview with the aggrieved lady who provided her home and bed to Assange, was extremely worrying. High school students are not penalised for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors when taking their HSC English exams, outraging experts. Students are currently graded on their understanding of the books, poems and literature they have been studying throughout the year. The New South Wales Education Standards Authority even told students spelling was not 'explicitly marked' ahead of last year's exam, Daily Telegraph reported. Australian Tutoring Association co-founder Mohan Dhall has called for an added marking criteria for spelling. High school students are not penalised for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors when taking their HSC English exams, outraging experts Students are currently graded on their understanding of the books, poems and literature they have been studying throughout the year 'I would have thought across all subject areas, particularly English, that it should be considered by the marker and have its own criteria,' he said. University of Technology literacy expert Dr Don Carter added teachers were letting down their students in junior years by not focusing on spelling and physical writing activities. 'To me, clear and quality communication depends on a number of things including accurate spelling - a mathematician would not get away with sloppy calculations and a writer should not get away with sloppy spelling,' he said. The comment comes after a damning review into the NAPLAN test - taken by students in years 3, 5, 7, and 9 - was released in September 2020. The review found writing has not improved since 2011 and the gap remains significant between male and female students. Almost a quarter of Year 9 boys failed to meet the minimum standards, while 10 per cent of Year 9 girls fell short. The New South Wales Education Standards Authority says it has to take into consideration the time restraint of exams when marking the student's HSC papers. 'Students are not penalised for errors that may be due to writing under exam conditions, with little time to review or edit their work,' a spokeswoman said. 'The emphasis is always on students showing markers their understanding of texts.' The spokeswoman said students had to display a 'minimum standard' before reaching Year 12 in order to be eligible for a HSC completion certificate. Daily Mail Australia contacted the NSW Education Standards Authority for comment. (Natural News) Since the start of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic nearly a year ago, the United States stock market has soared much higher than many anticipated based on the circumstances. And according to the latest data, it is more overvalued right now than it was at the start of the 2000 dot-com crash. Right at the peak of the dot-com bubble before the bubble burst, the markets were overvalued by anywhere from around 170% to 200%. Today, the Q Ratio, which represents the total price of the market divided by its replacement cost, suggests that the markets are as much as 245% to 290% percent overvalued. Based on the latest S&P 500 monthly data, the market is overvalued somewhere in the range of 108% to 245%, depending on the indicator, up from 103% to 233% the previous month, writes Jill Mislinski for Advisor Perspectives, noting that this is based on an arithmetic mean assessment of the markets. Using a geometric mean assessment, the range of overvaluation in the markets is somewhere between 125% and 290%, up from last months 120% to 276% range. Recognizing that these figures are not necessarily an indicator of what might happen in the near-term, they do suggest that the bubble is bigger than ever, and will eventually have to burst. The question that remains is when this might happen. As weve frequently pointed out, these indicators arent useful as short-term signals of market direction. Periods of over- and under-valuation can last for many years, Mislinski explains. But they can play a role in framing longer-term expectations of investment returns. At present, market overvaluation continues to suggest a cautious long-term outlook and guarded expectations. With the markets so heavily manipulated, is there really any way to know fundamentally where its all headed? Parts of the market are being driven by so-called meme stocks like GameStop (GME) that retail investors, tired of being screwed over by the illegal operation of hedge funds, are trying to buy and sell to their own advantage. The bull run on GME sent the hedge funds, which had over-shorted the stock using illicit means, into a tailspin where they were forced to pull out all the illegal stops or else lose everything. Trading on amateur platforms like Robinhood were halted for no reason, keeping the price of GME stock artificially lower than it should have been. This prevented the short squeeze that did still occur from becoming a much larger one. There are still many holding on to GME awaiting next weeks short report to try to determine where the stock is headed next. Some are still of the persuasion that the real short squeeze on GME has not yet occurred, though the data will make that clearer in the coming days. Meanwhile, the mainstream media has been trying to steer all eyes away from GME and onto silver, which was driven up slightly before coming back down to roughly where it was in early January. Points of secular undervaluation such as 1922, 1932, 1949, 1974 and 1982 typically occurred about 50% below historical mean valuations, and were associated with subsequent 10-year nominal total returns approaching 20% annually, says John Hussman about the current situation. By contrast, valuations similar to 1929, 1965 and 2000 were followed by weak or negative total returns over the following decade. Thats the range where we find ourselves today. Of course, we also wont be surprised if the S&P 500 ends up posting weak or negative total returns in the 2007-2017 decade, which would require nothing but a run-of-the-mill bear market over the next couple of years. You can keep up with the latest news about the stock market and the way it is constantly being manipulated by the fat cats by visiting DebtCollapse.com. Sources for this article include: AdvisorPerspectives.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Ahead of the Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited southwest China's Guizhou Province, home to the last nine counties removed from the country's poverty list. By choosing Guizhou, Xi wanted to see in person the living conditions of those who had shaken off poverty. As China has attained poverty relief achievements, its experience and vision on ending absolute poverty and promoting development can provide insights for the entire international community. The following are some of his remarks on poverty reduction and sustainable development in the international arena. Speaking at the 12th BRICS Summit in November 2020 that also gathered leaders from Russia, India, South Africa and Brazil, Xi said: "We need to call on the international community to place the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the heart of international development cooperation." Poverty eradication must be made a primary goal, and more resources must be channeled to poverty reduction, education, health and infrastructure development, he noted. "We need to support the UN's coordinating role and foster global development partnerships that are more equal and balanced, so that the fruits of development will spread to more developing countries and the needs of underprivileged groups will be better addressed," he said. Addressing the 27th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November 2020, Xi said the digital economy represents the future direction of global development, while innovation has fueled the economic takeoff in the Asia-Pacific. "We need to proactively seize the opportunities of our times and fully harness our region's abundant human resources, solid technological foundation, and enormous market potential to gain a new competitive edge and open up new possibilities for the betterment of our people's lives," he said. Xi pledged in the meeting that "China will host a workshop on digital technology-enabled poverty alleviation, in a bid to unleash the role of digital technologies in eradicating poverty in our region." In his special address at the World Economic Forum Virtual Event of the Davos Agenda in January, Xi said as a steadfast member of developing countries, China will further deepen South-South cooperation, and contribute to the endeavor of developing countries to eradicate poverty, ease debt burden, and achieve more growth. China will get more actively engaged in global economic governance and push for an economic globalization that is more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all, he added. Speaking at the 20th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in November 2020, Xi said that true development is development for all and good development is sustainable. "We need to be guided by the vision of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development and open up more opportunities for practical cooperation to facilitate economic recovery and betterment of people's lives," he added. "China supports setting up an SCO joint working group on poverty reduction and stands ready to share our good experience with other parties," he said. Bob Seaman's passion has always been art. It is what's kept the Army veteran going since he moved into a New Hampshire nursing home at the start of the pandemic. I knew I'd be isolated here, you know, so I needed to entertain myself initially, so I started doing these doodles, Seaman said. Now he's drawing a doodle a day. I literally wake up looking forward to doing another doodle every day. There isn't much else to do, he said. But Seaman's doodles are going far beyond his art desk. They're sort of spreading all over the place, he said. An email with his daily doodle started for family and friends is now delivered to a growing list of "doodles." The thought that it might be giving someone else a bit of a kick every day is gratifying, Seaman said. The doodles have become so popular on Facebook that his daughter Robin Hayes is now selling them on Etsy. Shes donating half the proceeds to the World Health Organizations COVID-19 Response Fund. Any resources that can help end this thing, Hayes said. It's not the first time Seaman and his daughter have worked together. They've also published two children's books. Now, this is helping them connect at a time when they can't be together in person. And it's giving Seaman a way to transcend the walls of his room and make a difference doing what he loves. So I have something to look forward to each day, he said. Kathmandu, February 3 The Nepal Communist Party faction led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal has called a nationwide general strike for Thursday. The party has been organising stage-wise protest programmes against Prime Minister KP Sharma Olis decision to dissolve the House of Representatives. As the Oli government appointed over 30 officials of various constitutional bodies without a parliamentary hearing, the party modified its protest programmes and decided to resort to the strike. It has been learned that the party will announce other protest programmes also today itself. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 03:58:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi expressed confidence on Saturday in the African Union's (AU) efforts aimed at reaching an agreement on the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Sisi made the remarks during the two-day virtual 34th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU, which kicked off on Saturday, Egyptian Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement. The assembly is anticipated to deliberate and consider the report on the institutional reform of the AU, report on the progress of the AU response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa, as well as elections and appointments of the leadership of the AU Commission. During the summit, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will officially take over the rotating chair of the continental bloc from the outgoing chair South Africa, according to the AU. Addressing the summit, Sisi said he is confident that the AU, under the leadership of the DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, will contribute to pushing forward the efforts to reach the desired agreement in a manner that takes into account the interests of the parties concerned and preserves Egypt's Nile water rights. Sisi also thanked the outgoing chair of the AU, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, for his efforts within the framework of sponsoring the tripartite negotiations seeking a "comprehensive, fair and binding agreement on the filling and operation of the GERD." Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have been negotiating under the mediation of the AU over technical and legal issues related to the filling and operation of the GERD. Enditem Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. An 18-month-old girl has been undergoing intensive medical treatment for severe burns in southern Turkey, after a fire ravaged her family's tent at a Syrian camp. Doctors told British broadcaster Sky News that at first they thought there was little chance of Dalal surviving due to the seriousness of her injuries, as almost her entire body appeared burned. But despite major burns on her face and scalp, badly damaged lungs and amputated fingers, she is alive. Dr. Bahar Aydinli, director of Mersin City Hospital, said that in spite of the progress, there was a "very very long way" to go. Aydinli showed Dalal's parents their hospitalised daughter over a video call, almost fully wrapped in bandages. They were relieved to see Dalal moving. According to Sky News, the toddler's family ended up at the Idlib camp after moving several times due to fighting in the Middle Eastern country. Like many others, they had been using a stove to heat their flimsy tent when a fire broke out, Sky News reported. Rescuers worked to save the children at the camp including Dalal who survived, but her older sister Yasmeen didn't make it. Dalal was then rushed to Mersin City Hospital in Turkey for treatment. A recent UN statement said that at least 121,000 people in 304 sites in Syria's north west were badly affected when torrential rain and strong winds damaged or destroyed at least 21,700 tents. The harsh weather conditions add to an already disastrous humanitarian situation with the spread of the coronavirus and a worsening economic crisis. The rebel-held Idlib province and western parts of Aleppo last year witnessed a crushing Russian-backed government offensive that displaced hundreds of thousands and damaged dozens of clinics and hospitals. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio -- Although it is the dead of winter, The West Woods Nature Center will soon be a-buzz, a-flutter and crawling with artful images of real and fanciful creatures. Whats the Buzz? Insect & Arachnid Inspired Art Exhibition opens 10 a.m. Saturday (Feb. 13) and will be on display to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily through April 26. From the sheer beauty of butterflies, intricate and iridescent dragonfly wings, and dew-covered spiderwebs to powerful grasshoppers and formidable flies and mosquitoes, the works displayed by regional artists will prod you out of your winter hibernation and awaken your sense of wonder for the tiny warriors of the natural world. Visitors can cast ballots for peoples choice awards through April 15 in categories of drawing/painting, photography, other media/recycled materials and youth artist. Your vote counts, as you will be entered into a raffle to win one of several insect houses donated by Natures Way Bird Products. For a unique gift, you can also purchase jewelry and small art objects created by local artists in the Buzz Boutique. The items, priced at $40 and under, can be picked up at the end of the show in April. According to Teresa Runion, Geauga Park Districts special events coordinator, some of the earliest human art featured insects. Therefore, it is fitting to feature them in the parks biennial art show. The West Woods is located at 9465 Kinsman Road in Russell Township. Face coverings are required indoors at all times inside the center. Contact geaugaparkdistrict.org or 440-286-9516. Have some Purim fun: From a free concert, megillah reading, food drive and more events for all age groups, Temple Emanu El is creating 10 days of online socially distanced events for Purim. The celebration begins at 5:20 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19, with Shabbat Sprouts featuring a Shabbat service, songs and games for families with children up to age 6. An interactive all-ages Shabbat service with song, prayer, art and spirit will be held via Zoom at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. Purim is a joyous holiday commemorating events in the Book of Esther, known as the megillah, which tells the story of Queen Esther and her cousin Mordechais actions to help foil a plot to kill all the Jews in Persia by Haman, an adviser to King Ahashverosh. The Purim celebration commemorates the outcome with silliness, including noise-making when Hamans name is spoken during the reading of the story. Another custom is sending and receiving treats and warm wishes to emphasize the importance of Jewish unity and friendship. Participants should get ready to shout and stomp their feet with a festive Absolut Purim megillah reading via Zoom from 8 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25. The best Zoom Shoulders-up costumed participant will win a prize. A food drive is being held, with drop-offs accepted of non-perishable food or a check, through Sunday, Feb. 28, at the temples entrance, 4545 Brainard Road in Orange. Also, enjoy a free concert at 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28, with Nefesh Mountain, which combines bluegrass, old-time and American roots music with Jewish heritage and tradition. Attendees will receive a digital download of the groups album. The concert is sponsored by Temple Emanu El, Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple, Congregation Rodef Shalom, Congregation Shaarey Tikvah, Surburban Temple-Kol Ami and The Temple-Tifereth Israel. To participate in any of the events, contact teeclev.org. Valentine workshops offered: Fairmount Center for the Arts will feel the love Saturday (Feb. 13), with busy hands creating valentines using paper-cutting and collage techniques. Workshops are offered for children ages 5-7, accompanied by an adult, and ages 8-11 in separate sessions. The cost is $18. Classes are held both onsite and online simultaneously. An onsite Presidents Day art sampler workshop, from 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Feb. 15, is offered for children ages 5-10. The cost is $36. Face masks are required. The art center is located at 8400 Fairmount Road in Russell Township. Contact fairmountcenter.org. To post your news and events, contact Rusek at jcooperrusek@gmail.com. Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun. Members of county assemblies across the country are under pressure to pass the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) constitutional amendment Bill 2020 in the next one week, the Nation has learnt. The renewed sense of urgency has seen President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Handshake partner Raila Odinga set an end-of-February deadline for at least 30 counties out of 47 to endorse the Bill and forward it to Parliament for consideration. The country, therefore, could hold a referendum before June this year as earlier scheduled. To achieve this, counties identified as "friendly" by the BBI secretariat have been tasked to ratify the document by next Thursday as Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga rally assemblies still fence-sitting to support the push. Three clusters The secretariat has also zoned the country into three clusters -- red, orange and green -- according to a source familiar with the strategy but who spoke in confidence. While red zones like the Rift Valley, where Deputy President William Ruto holds sway, have not openly said they will oppose the referendum, their lukewarm support means they may fail to endorse it to show "displeasure" at how their regional kingpin is being treaty by the Jubilee administration. The rejection may thus not be expressly because they disagree with the proposed changes, but only to make a strong political point ahead of the 2022 elections. Dr Ruto said Saturday he is not expressly opposed to the document, but wants wananchi to be given the chance to read it for themselves rather than be bamboozled by politicians. Areas deemed hostile will not receive much attention from the Handshake brothers given the strict timelines, the pro-BBI source told the Nation. Nandi Speaker Joshua Kiptoo, whose county is perceived to support Dr Ruto, said: "There is no pressure on us to either pass or shoot down the Bill, but let us see what our people will say next week when we will start public participation campaigns." Green counties -- or those that are safely within reach, such as Mr Odinga's Nyanza backyard, Nairobi, Western and parts of Coast -- will be mobilised to ensure optimal support, a paper prepared by the secretariat and seen by the Nation notes. A number of assemblies in Mr Kenyatta's Central backyard have also been put in the green category. Saturday, Majority leader at the Nairobi County Assembly Abdi Guyo said it was all systems go this week to endorse the Bill. "We will table it on Tuesday and pass it by Thursday. We want to lead the way as the capital city," he said. Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja said they had aligned the assembly, with the Senate equally waiting to consider the Bill as fast as possible. "The engagements are on high gear and Nairobi is ready to pass the Bill. We (Nairobi) are the biggest beneficiaries in terms of more representation in Parliament and more revenue share," he said. Multi-pronged strategy Mr Odinga, who is also the ODM party leader, hosted Turkana MCAs on Friday night as part of a multi-pronged strategy to achieve the requisite numbers. After the meeting, he said the people of Lodwar and Kakuma "have spoken in one voice; that they don't want to be left out as the rest of the country reaps from the proposed allocations to the counties". Turkana, Mandera, Isiolo and Marsabit are some of the counties put in the orange zone, meaning they can be flipped to the Yes side with just a little effort or persuasion. Mr Odinga is expected to make more stopovers there. The promise of a ward development fund in the proposed changes is already working miracles in counties as sitting MCAs and those plotting to inherit their seats next year incite the public against any of those opposing the document. Already, Siaya County has passed the Bill. At the same time, Mr Odinga is Monday set to chair the Luo Nyanza regional consultative meeting in Kisumu, where he will meet ODM elected leaders at all levels as well as businessmen, professionals and the Luo Council of Elders. In one of the meetings with Mr Odinga a fortnight ago, President Kenyatta is said to have offered to personally take charge of the Central region. He has since met with MCAs from the region to lobby them. The President is responding to concerns in his camp that if any of the counties in his backyard shoots down the Bill, that would injure his standing as the regional kingpin as he approaches the end of his term. Such would also see more politicians from the region openly defy him. For a man keen to play an influential role in his own succession, he is fired up to avoid that pitfall. The Nation learnt this week that initially, there was a plan to tag along Mr Odinga in the Mountain tours but this idea was dropped at the eleventh hour to deny the Tangatanga group that oscillates around the Deputy President William Ruto -- who has since fallen out with the president -- a chance to make the BBI about 2022 succession and the ODM leader. 2022 campaigns Making BBI about Mr Odinga in Central is a potent tool to have it shot down in some counties where DP Ruto has made inroads, according to another source in the BBI secretariat. Mr Kenyatta's handlers, who are concerned that the debate to amend the laws is being linked to the 2022 campaigns by key political players, are behind the idea of conducting the referendum earlier than scheduled in order to muddy the political field. Pro-BBI MPs, governors and senators -- buttressed by a few civil servants -- have been split into groups as the campaign to pass the Bill enters the homestretch, with its promoters taking no chances. That DP Ruto has refused to lead the 'No' camp has also left those opposed to the initiative rudderless, and this promises to give Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga an easy time in realising the constitutional changes. National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi has already indicated that Parliament only needs three weeks at most to dispense with the Bill after at least 24 county assemblies endorse it, and these sentiments have given the BBI team more impetus. 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. "I have directed that we have the Legal Committee Bill as the anchor Bill so that if there are any amendments to it, they can be informed by the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) Bill. That way we will not have different committees doing the same thing," Mr Muturi said. Secretariat chairman Denis Waweru said they had reached out to counties to avoid any surprises at the last minute, and that Mr Kenyatta's Sagana meetings are already bearing fruit. "We have lobbied all counties to support the Bill. Those who are waiting for Mount Kenya to embarrass the President are in for a rude shock. The House of Mumbi (the Agikuyu) is solidly behind its leader, the President. The deal is done and dusted," he said Saturday. Mr Waweru's co-chairman Junet Mohamed added: "We will have the necessary numbers in county assemblies by the end of the month. We have done our simulations. They show that already we have more than enough." Homa Bay County Assembly is set to debate the Bill on Thursday. Speaker Elizabeth Ayoo said, while in Kisumu Speaker Elisha Jack Oraro said the document will be tabled on Tuesday. Speakers of the counties that approve the constitutional amendment Bill are required by law to prepare a certificate of approval to the two speakers of the Senate and National Assembly. Parliament, which will be the next stop for the Bill if it is approved by at least 24 counties, plays a nominal role, however, as the Bill will end up in a referendum whether or not they approve it. Additional reporting by Rushdie Oudia, Onyango K'Onyango and George Odiwuor The new research offers the first nationwide look at the history of the variant, known as B117, since it arrived in the United States in late 2020. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that B117 could become predominant by March if it behaved the way it did in Britain. The new study confirms that projected path. One. Just give me the liquor neat Two, and one of them is ice Three is the perfect, simple combination Four or more! Let's get creative A beer and a shot, please Vote View Results CPS leaders said Friday that they proposed a staggered return of teachers and students over the course of several weeks. After the union rebuffed the final offer in communications to members and reporters, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS CEO Janice Jackson issued a statement saying they had not received a formal written response from CTU. In a statement, CTU President Jesse Sharkey said union members remain willing to negotiate an agreement and to work remotely in the meantime. Damian DeRousha, 43, was arrested on Thursday after he allegedly shot a coworker whom he believed was sleeping with his wife A love triangle among three employees at a county vehicle maintenance facility in Florida turned deadly late last week as a gunman shot dead a co-worker that he believed was having an affair with his wife. Damian DeRousha, 43, is accused of fatally shooting Donald Geno, 31, at point blank range on Thursday morning at a Volusia County vehicle repair facility in Daytona Beach. Police were summoned to the scene along Lake Road just after 10:39am to reports of multiple shots fired and a male victim bleeding profusely. Officers arrived to find Geno unresponsive on the ground in a pool of his own blood. He had been shot multiple times and was later pronounced dead in hospital. DeRousha, a father-of-two, meanwhile, was arrested at the scene and charged with first-degree murder. After the shooting, he reportedly dropped his weapon and sat in a white pickup truck, waiting to be detained, Sheriff Mike Chitwood said. The suspect later told police he lost his mind, having found out earlier the same morning his wife was allegedly having an affair with Geno. Police said Donald Geno (above) was shot multiple times at point-blank range. He later died in hospital Officers arrived to find Geno unresponsive on the ground in a pool of his own blood in a garage at Volusia County vehicle repair facility in Daytona Beach (above) According to Chitwood, moments after finding out about the alleged affair, DeRousha came into work and told his supervisor he had to attend a family matter. DeRousha then reportedly drove to a garage in another part of the facility where Geno was working and parked his truck. He confronts the guy and shoots him multiple times, Chitwood told the Daytona Beach News Journal. He then leaves the gun where he shot the victim, takes off his county jacket and walks to this truck and waits for deputies. When deputies arrived, DeRousha allegedly told them: I shot him, though couldnt recall how many times. A witness later told police DeRousha had shot Geno several times, then, as the victim lay bleeding on the ground, stood over him and fired again. Two men called 911 as the shooting unfolded. I believe its over a husband and wife dispute, I dont know, one of the men tells dispatchers, according to audio of a call obtained by Click Orlando. The caller said he ran away from the area when he heard the sound of gunshots and screaming. DeRoushan, a father-of-two, later told police he lost his mind, having found out earlier the same morning his wife was allegedly having an affair with Geno After the shooting, DeRoushan reportedly dropped his weapon and sat in a white pickup truck, waiting to be detained, Sheriff Mike Chitwood said The second man who called 911 was with Geno before first responders arrived. Hes barely conscious, the man is heard saying, with the panic evident in his voice. Hes losing a lot of blood. The man later described that Geno was bleeding profusely, but other co-workers were doing their best to render aid. Despite life-saving efforts, Geno, died at an area hospital. The 31-year-old was a master mechanic for the county who 'loved his job', family members said. DeRousha, meanwhile, worked in the maintenance facility as a special projects coordinator and was hired by the county in 2003, police said. The shooters wife, who was not named, also works at the facility as an inventory control specialist. Matt Phillips, the defense attorney representing DeRousha, said in a statement: My client told them that he became aware of a relationship between this other individual and his wife and that lead to this tragedy. DeRousha has reportedly confronted his wife via text message moments before shooting Geno. He later told investigators, I lost my mind, according to a police report. Despite life-saving efforts, Geno, who was a master mechanic for the county, died at an area hospital Matt Phillips, the defense attorney representing DeRousha, said in a statement: My client told them that he became aware of a relationship between this other individual and his wife and that lead to this tragedy' DeRousha worked in the maintenance facility as a special projects coordinator and was hired by the county in 2003, police said. The shooters wife, meanwhile, has been employed as an inventory control specialist since 2018 Phillips said he will be investigating his clients mental state to see if it could potential provide DeRousha a defense. A GoFundMe set up to help DeRousha's children reads and pay his legal fees reads: 'Anyone that knows Damian knows this isnt who he is.' Volusia County spokesman Gary Davidson said officials are extremely shocked and saddened by the shooting. The county has reportedly mobilized its critical incident stress management team, as well as addition resources to help provide emotional support to employees. County manager, George Recktenwald, also released a statement that described how shaken up employees of the facility are after the shooting. This is a terrible tragedy and were still processing todays events, supporting our county family at this difficult time and grieving the loss of one of our own, he wrote in his statement. DeRousha appeared in court for arraignment on Friday. An investigation into the shooting remains ongoing, police said. Journalists are big proponents of government transparency. Readers have a strong interest in the workings of government, which, after all, their tax dollars pay for. Reporters fight for public records, open meetings and open courts as a proxy for the public. As I often say, we are fighting for the information not simply because we think we have a right to it but because we think you have a right to it. Last week, the Oregon Health Authoritys Vaccine Advisory Committee held its final meeting and excluded the press and the public, even though its previous meetings had been public. Then it doubled down and held another secret meeting, this time announcing no notes would even be kept. Transparency is central to trust, and during the coronavirus pandemic Oregon time and again has landed on the side of keeping information secret. Oregon has an open meetings law to ensure the public is informed of decisions by public bodies, such as school districts and city councils. So, by law, should the vaccine meeting have been public? The committee had the authority to advise OHA, a public body, on the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines beyond the first groups. By the plain language of the committees description, it would appear to be subject to the open meetings law. And, in fact, the health authority told committee members that all of its meetings would be held in accordance with the open meetings law. But heres the next question: Was the vaccine committee conducting a meeting? That sounds simple, right? For the purposes of the public meetings law, however, a meeting is the convening of any governing body for which a quorum is required in order to make a decision or to deliberate toward a decision on any matter, according to the attorney generals guidance. OHAs press release in advance of the meeting said this: The committee has an optional meeting on Feb. 2 to discuss implementation issues. On Tuesday afternoon, however, the health authority changed its tune. The public agenda for the Feb. 2 session listed only debrief and evaluation. In other words, no decisions. The health authority told The Oregonian/OregonLives reporter Fedor Zarkhin that the committee had completed its official duties when it made its recommendations. It turns out that was not entirely transparent, either. The health authority acknowledged on Friday that the final meetings were held behind closed doors in what sounds like a well-intended effort to create a safe environment for members to discuss their experiences after some volunteers had received racist and threatening comments about their vaccine work. Rachael Banks, public health director for the Oregon Health Authority, told me committee members had received troubling messages and she was motivated by a desire for protection of the members, who were, after all, private citizens and in some cases members of vulnerable communities. One volunteer received multiple racist emails and a second reported upsetting communications. Let me be clear: Intimidation of people conducting the publics business, whether late-night visitors to Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryans house or threats to these volunteers, has no place in a civil society. We all have an obligation to call it out and condemn it. I do so, unreservedly. Recall that the purpose of the committee was to advise on the rollout of vaccinations to groups beyond the governors first phases, with an emphasis on health equity. The health authority said: The committees goal is to co-create a vaccine sequencing plan focused on health equity to ensure the needs of systemically affected populations, including communities of color, tribal communities are met. For that reason, the state wanted volunteers who represented diverse communities to serve. They included people not typically in the publics eye. Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, assured the committee his agency would follow its recommendations. Were going to go with your answers because you represent the communities most directly impacted by the coronavirus, Allen told committee members. However, that didnt happen. Zarkhin reported that the group recommended Black, Indigenous and other people of color be vaccinated after the governors priority groups. Health officials responded that the state could not legally allocate vaccines based solely on race or ethnicity, so that recommendation was removed from the groups advice. One can imagine the final debrief might involve complaints about the process, the goal, and the entire point of the eight-meeting exercise, given the outcome. But the spirit of Oregons form of governing should eliminate the need to imagine anything. We have the right to know our governments decisions and the discussions that led up to them. I am not an attorney, but I believe when the committee deliberated and then gave advice about future oversight and implementation of its recommendations, that should have occurred in public. I also think the threats should have been disclosed. I believe shining a light on racism is important: It forces a reckoning for people who have the privilege of believing it does not exist in Oregon. Last month, the health authority also made the decision to stop reporting daily details about COVID-19 deaths. The agency said it was simply too much work. Its a decision Gov. Kate Brown first defended, then asked to be modified to ensure release of the details, albeit weekly rather than daily. It is unfortunate that when there is tension between openness and secrecy, too often the state of Oregon chooses secrecy. When the lives of Oregonians are literally at stake, transparency is needed now more than ever. Towards a people- friendly judiciary View(s): The visions of a Supreme Court (SC) in the eyes of the newly appointed judges are contained in their statements made at their ceremonial sittings. These statements are reported in the Sunday Times of January 24. Their assertions being candid about the fact that the SC is not people friendly as it stands kindle hope in the people that the SC means business. This clarion call is most welcome. For, in fact, and, in truth, the idea of a people-friendly legislature or executive is presently not there. For the judiciary, the SC is then the last bastion of hope the people can have, of such people-friendly idea that is owed to the people. Of course, there have been other vision statements of a people friendly nature elsewhere, for instance in the National Police Commission. But in most of these instances, these expectations were not realised. Reasons for disappointment were many. In the current context, too, law and order also fail people-friendly requirements, as evident in the SC call. With SC now taking upon itself to help out, the prospect springs hope in the peoples hearts. Some previous experiences of a setback in the people-friendly vision are nevertheless useful to recount here to prevent a recurrence. Unlike perhaps the more isolated previous SC calls, it is noteworthy that the latest SC call is from a fuller bench. Laws not people-friendly The SC call now speaks of people-friendly laws for judicial administration, with yet more authority. For, laws relevant to law and order of the people, made since independence, are laws not people friendly. Instead they are lawyer friendly. They are made so by the law professionals themselves to serve their vested interests. The exceptions in this manner of lawmaking are few and even negligible, in effect. These laws, different in that they were people friendly, were even actively resisted by court administration. The Administration of Justice Law (AJL) of 1973 is a case in point where such resistance denied the people of a people-friendly law just because it was people friendly in particular and was not lawyer friendly. This reality is one further difficulty the SC would therefore face in its people friendly endeavour. Ethics are only platitudes The SC call then beckons action. People-friendly notion entails a value. Another difficulty the SC needs then to contend with is the ethical value in a people-friendly idea. Albert Camus said in the Rebel Part III, The Fastidious Assassins: A value to come is, moreover, a contradiction in terms, since it can neither explain an action nor furnish a principle of choice as long as it has not been formulated. A people-friendly value will then surely have to contend with this fact too, that value can have any meaning only with action. In fact, field experience in law and order tells of values emerging from within the very action, itself; the people know this well. All our codes of ethics and oaths taken with no action, fail effect, on these very grounds. No action, no value. Value codes in ethics do not halt action, nor start action. Law and order likewise falls short of the action-oriented value of people-friendly aspect. The SC call needs, therefore, to focus attention on this aspect, specifically. People-friendly social action In further explanation of its call, the term social action is used by the SC judges. That plea has possibly the makings for great expectations. The reason is that social action is intrinsically people-friendly. Consequently, they are different from executive action, from judicial action and even from legislative action. Social action, as termed by Max Weber, is action taken on by the response of the person acted upon, the society. Action independent of such social response is then less likely to be people-friendly. The SC reference to social action is, therefore, entirely pertinent. No action; no value. People-friendly administration of law All these ideas are, nonetheless, submerged within the better-known notion of rule of law. Bingham identified administration of the law in courts as one vital ingredient and element of rule of law. Laws delay, notwithstanding any other, has strained the rule of law beyond its elasticity, and this just by simple effort. Laws delay is then surely not people-friendly. Law and order stretched so to breaking point is surely not people-friendly. Disappearances too from police custody, added to the unfriendly law administration, somehow do not engage any other authority on a people-friendly note. Rule of law is then helpless to promote the people-friendly concept in such law administration. The task for the SC is here onerous. The SC plea is clearly for equal access to friendly justice without discrimination. People-friendly lawyers The call of the SC must necessarily resonate the same in all aspects. This SC plea, however, incurs much poignancy because the assistance of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) that the SC seeks in its ceremonial invocation is, itself, severely faulted, in limine. The problem is corruption in the lawyers. This ranges between 95% and 99% as they have reported to Parliament. Can the SC then deliver on its ceremonial call for people-friendly law and administration aided by lawyers? The SC call nonetheless needs support. The prayerful invocations of the SC are then surely not to be reduced to mere utterance, just by this one fault. Unfriendly executive and legislature The SC call may not reverberate as well outside the courts. It is important nonetheless, that there should be no reversion to business as usual. The worth and the dignity of the SC in its statements should be upheld in a meaningful manner. This call to the SC is from the perspective of law and order as well as with justice. The prospect, however, for law and order from the Executive is deeply disturbing. Interference in law and order by the Executive is political and invidious. For such involvement of the Executive with law and order only brings in the influence and the votes, not law and order. The legislature, on the other hand, meekly passes to the judiciary the laws that are not people-friendly, but only lawyer-friendly. The hope, therefore, for the people-friendly law and order from that quarter of the Executive and the Legislature is, possibly, rendered in vain. Post-colonial yet? The pleas of the SC are in fact for the people-friendly, for the sovereignty of the people, and for law and order. We hear all this, in fact, in a continuing supplication and in a familiar petition of our post-colonial mindset. We have now to ask for what we ourselves have not given to us for over 70 years without SC appeals. The ongoing denial or neglect of these virtues, we yet ask, even though constitutionally stipulated, they yet bespeak of a post-colonial failure. No country that has been forever independent, with never a colonial past, did ever ask for the likes of these, for sovereignty of their people, for people-friendly laws and for law and order of the people, and not of an elite. Even at this point after much lapse of time, it is now left to the constitutional reformers to set this aright, to straighten what has been going erringly. These reformers may fare better if they get over their colonial and elitist mind set and make with firm assertion for sovereignty of the people in which a people-friendly law and, law and order administration, are implicitly asserted. With the avowed call of Supreme Court justices, Hope springs eternal in the human breast. (Alexander Pope) (The writer is a Retired Senior Superintendent of Police. He can be contacted at seneviratnetz@gmail.com TP 077 44 751 44) Up to 750,000 pensioners are refusing to pay for a TV licence in protest after free licences for over-75s were scrapped. The protesters, who make up 14 per cent of the UK's population of their age range, have ignored the flurry of reminders they have been given and are holding strong. The BBC is now facing a 117million funding shortfall unless the over-75s fork over the 157.50 fee. Dennis Reed, from pensioners' campaign group Silver Voices, told The Mirror that a hard core of pensioners are refusing to pay up even though they are risking being fined or even jailed. The protesters, who make up 14 per cent of the UK's population of their age range, have ignored the flurry of reminders they have been given and are holding strong Over-75s were able to watch terrestrial channels live for free for 20 years, until the Government scrapped the scheme last year. The Sunday Mirror has revealed the scale of the rebellion as pensioners refuse to back down and celebrities joined the cause. BBC Radio 2 host Paul O'Grady, 65, told the publication: 'It's so mean spirited cancelling the over-75 concession. The BBC is now facing a 117million funding shortfall unless the over-75s fork over the 157.50 fee 'For a lot of people their age the TV is the only company they have, so good for them for getting together and refusing to pay.' Actor Christopher Biggins, 72, also added his support to the cause and showed his sympathies for elderly people being pressured into forking over large sums. Former Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe, 73, who appeared on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing said she believed the corporation was in the wrong. Author Jilly Cooper, 83, said it was 'wicked' of the BBC to get rid of the free licences considering some may not be able to afford it. The UK's full basic state pension in 2020 was just 134.25 per week. Pictured: The BBC's new director general Tim Davie, who stepped into the role in September last year Plans to decriminalise non-payment were postponed last month, leaving the over-75s in the lurch. While the BBC claims it couldn't afford to reinstate the concession, critics have denounced this and said the corporations can make savings. In 2019/20 the BBC generated 4.94billion - 71 per cent of which came from licence fees. The corporation also gets money by selling its programmes to other countries - Planet Earth generates 200million a year. In 2019/20 the BBC generated 4.94billion - 71 per cent of which came from licence fees. The corporation also gets money by selling its programmes to other countries - Planet Earth generates 200million a year TV Licensing, on behalf of the BBC, said: 'There is no evidence to suggest that customers we are yet to hear from are refusing to pay. 'Around 80 per cent of over-75 households have transitioned to the new system, including those in receipt of Pension Credit eligible for a free licence funded by the BBC. 'We're giving people time to get set up, the process is Covid-secure and we have measures to support people, including payment plans. We are not visiting households registered as having held a free over-75s licence.' One man, Keith Abendroth, 78, has joined the protest and is refusing to pay his licence fee. Mr Abendroth, of Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute, said: 'It's a terrible taxation and the BBC has decided we've got to all pay it again, while they're paying Claudia Winkleman and Gary Lineker a fortune.' He even pointed out that if he was eventually jailed for refusing to pay he'd be able to watch television for free in prison. Hubbcat believes its "geofencing" solution could play a significant role in introducing mandatory quarantine for arrivals into Ireland. Hubbcat, an Irish telecommunications company based in Co Wicklow, is to pitch its quarantine solution to the Irish Government after successfully launching it in the Bahamas. The company believes its "geofencing" solution could play a significant role in introducing mandatory quarantine for arrivals into Ireland. Niall O'Toole, chief commercial officer at Hubbcat, said the system could play a role in providing care to those who are in isolation. "The advantage of the Hubbcat system is that it allows an operative to immediately reach out to someone in isolation and talk directly to them," he said. "While this could mean asking them why they have left the property, it also means regularly checking in on them, seeing if they are OK, if they have any symptoms or if they need medical assistance. "The system has been tried and tested by the government in the Bahamas, and it works. It allows people to self-isolate in houses, as well as hotels, which will make mandatory quarantining much safer and cheaper," he added. The Hubbcat App can be downloaded by those arriving in Ireland. Supervisors can use geofencing technology to establish an invisible perimeter around a property they will be self-isolating in. If the person breaches the perimeter before their 14-day isolation period ends, an alarm is automatically triggered. The person's phone then becomes a walkie-talkie, and a supervisor can immediately talk to the individual supposed to be quarantining. The Hubbcat App was used successfully to enforce a mandatory quarantine in the Bahamas. It found the technology had a compliance rate of well over 90pc. Hubbcat hopes to make an extensive pitch to the Irish Government with a view to the system being rolled out as soon as possible. Hubbcat was founded in 2019 by a group of telecommunications professionals providing communications and business-critical solutions to businesses and organisations in six countries worldwide. That tweet... Reply Thread Link The Daily Telegraph is Murdoch tabloid garbage. Pretty much everything they say is terrible. Reply Parent Thread Link Glad its not super bad Reply Thread Link lmao I love this Reply Parent Thread Link so he's going to play starlord AND thor? good for him Reply Parent Thread Link he has the range darling Reply Parent Thread Link Oh fuck tbh i W I S H he was starlord Reply Parent Thread Expand Link thor 3: a one man play! Reply Parent Thread Link Was hoping this would be posted. Reply Parent Thread Link Is Kevin Feige watching this? Give this man a role! Reply Parent Thread Link HOMG I laughed so hard. LOL Bless. Reply Parent Thread Link I always forget how athletic Jack Black actuallly is. Reply Parent Thread Link I love his videos. Reply Parent Thread Link Can they take this time to recast Starlord's cameo please? Reply Thread Link you're being hopeful that it's just a cameo lol Reply Parent Thread Link Im trying but Im not confident. Reply Parent Thread Link My friends and I were talking about him being recast with Pedro Pascal and I want this so bad and get angry that it's not happening. Reply Parent Thread Link I mean, his workouts are INSANE, no wonder his back is fucked up. Reply Thread Link I know he works with probably highly qualified trainers and dieticians, but his body fat percentage is so low that I wonder if that's long-term healthy for the kind of workouts he does. Reply Parent Thread Link It really makes you wonder just how much longer he can keep up that intense physical activity/diet without steroids while pushing 40 Reply Parent Thread Link The only reason I don't think he already takes or has taken steroids (like I'm sure plenty of these super hero actors have done) is because the photos of his dad are crazy. Reply Parent Thread Link lmao your icon Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lol they make it sound so dramatic that he had to go to the Gold Coast instead of Byron for treatment. Byron has one tiny hospital and the GC is only an hour away and has multiple hospitals. Reply Thread Link Right? Why even mention that? Reply Parent Thread Link they are crafting a whump narrative for those of us who have no way of knowing what you just said. thanks for explaining! Reply Parent Thread Link I don't wish back problems on anyone. I have to pep talk myself to get out of bed some mornings I know it will hurt so bad. Reply Thread Link Same. I have cried from being in pain. Reply Parent Thread Link Same. I'm contemplating a muscle relaxer tonight. Reply Parent Thread Link my back is super sore and i usually take a muscle relaxer when the pain is too much but i just got my covid vaccine today and idk if its safe to take the muscle relaxer yet so ive got an ice pack trying not to die Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I have back pain and it is so debilitating. Reply Parent Thread Link Oh, dude, I got sciatica back in 2013 or so. And it just made life hell. Standing, sitting, lying down. There was no reprieve from the pain. Thankfully, it got under control with PT, and didn't require any cortisol shots or surgery. But fuck if it wasn't mind-numbingly painful. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I had radio frequency ablation on my spine the other day and Im in the increased pain period before it starts feeling better, so I feel him on the back issue. But oh my god why is this framed like he was rushed to the hospital w a life threatening injury Reply Thread Link i'm so sorry, my mom gets that done every few months and its not fun. feel better Reply Parent Thread Link Its a life changing procedure though, so totally worth it! Reply Parent Thread Link I mean I guess. I didnt realize specialists were needed for cortisone shots but ok. Reply Thread Link I get cortisone shots in my spinal column. Those ones you definitely need a specialist for. Reply Parent Thread Link that headline is giving very much "not so tough after all huh" vibes Reply Thread Link Not so Mighty are you now, Mighty Boss Tones Reply Parent Thread Link that part Reply Parent Thread Link I hate getting older and being more prone to injuries. I hurt my shoulder today lifting a bookshelf that isn't even that heavy so I feel for him. Reply Thread Link my lower back is always aching these days so. Reply Thread Link Back pain is the worst! I wish him a speedy recovery. Reply Thread Link i slept weird last week and my back was out for a week lmao Reply Thread Link Back pain fuckin suuuuucks. I feel like I personally keep Tiger Balm in business sometimes. However, I got this new nanotech patch that actually...works? It's amazing. Reply Thread Link Tell me more about this mythical healing patch?!?? Reply Parent Thread Link Its called Signal Relief which works with your bodys electricity to idk, make magic (and now youll probably get all the ads for nano tech patches, lmao). Its expensive BUT it works. It feels a little tingly at first like a slight tens unit sensation, and after a while youre like..wait? No pain?! Reply Parent Thread Link The Duke of Cambridge has suggested young people could be the champions of environmental change in homes across the globe. Williams comment came as he chatted to young activists recognised by a United Nations initiative. He highlighted how the next generation could educate their families about the 'environmental impact' of their actions. Seven young people have been named 2020 Young Champions of the Earth by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and William told them they could 'easily be in the mix' for his Earthshot Prize. Among them are an engineer who turns plastic rubbish into paving stones and an activist fighting to save endangered salmon. All will receive more than 7,000 in seed funding and tailored training to help scale up their ideas. Prince William, 38, listened to all the participants projects and said he was 'hugely honoured' to have met them during the video call. Prince William, 38, told young activists recognised by the United Nations' 2020 Young Champions of the Earth they are 'shining lights' for the environment in a recent video call (pictured) Nzambi Matee, from Kenya, who manufactures sustainable building materials, told the duke it was hard to change the attitudes of older people, although her grandmother had adopted sustainability easily. She laughed: 'If we can convince my grandmother not to use plastic bags, we can do anything.' The duke agreed, saying the next generation did not have to start ambitious projects like the seven recognised by the UN to do their bit. He added: 'If every young person educates their family on the environmental impact they are having, that in turn is making a difference, and changing the tide, and creating that momentum.' The Duke of Cambridge said he was 'hugely honoured' to meet the seven activists - addingthey each could be in the mix to win his 50million Earthshot Prize William launched his ambitious 50 million Earthshot Prize project in the autumn with his Royal Foundation and it aims to recognise solutions, ideas and technologies that 'repair the planet.' UNEP is a global alliance partner of the dukes project and shares its mission to incentivise change and inspire the public to safeguard the natural world. As the group told the duke about their various initiatives during a video call on Wednesday, he said he was 'hugely honoured' to speak to such 'brilliant young people doing such fantastic things.' He added: 'Theres a lot of opportunity in the environmental space. If young people have a tiny bit of that passion that you have clearly shown a lot of then theres a really good opportunity to find your feet and find a way and do good in the environmental world. William will give out five 1million prizes per year for the next ten years to environment pioneers trying to find solutions for the issue of climate change (pictured with naturalist Sir David Attenborough discussing the Earthshot Prize on Octobert 7 2020 in Kensington Palace) 'You are the shining lights of that movement and that interest. It allows people to see your path, your journey and go "do you know what, I want some of that, I can do that, Ive got some ideas too".' William told the group about his Earthshot Prize explaining that it had been launched to 'bring hope and optimism back to the environment debate' and to 'try and encourage change through hope and action rather than pessimism and despair.' 'Why do you think the optimism part, which I felt very strongly about, is so important?' he asked. Lefteris Arapakis, from Greece, who co-founded an organisation that teaches sustainable fishing, said the pandemic had 'changed everything.' He added: 'I am from a family of fishermen and every year for the last 20 years we get less fish, my family has less and less of everything. 'Personally, I believe that we can make the change, because if we dont believe that, we can just give up. Its our only choice. Optimism is our main weapon against the climate crisis.' US President said the United States will not lift its economic sanctions on Iran in order to get Tehran back to the negotiating table to discuss how to revive the Iran nuclear deal, according to a video released by CBS News on Sunday. Asked if the United States will lift sanctions first to get Iran back to the negotiating table, Biden replied: "no" in the interview, which was recorded on Friday. Asked if Iran had to stop enriching uranium first, Biden nodded. It was not clear exactly what he meant, as Iran is permitted to enrich uranium under the 2015 within certain limits. Also, Joe Biden, the first sitting US president to openly oppose the death penalty, has discussed the possibility of instructing the Department of Justice to stop scheduling new executions, officials have told The Associated Press. If he does, that would end an extraordinary run of executions by the federal government, all during a pandemic that raged inside prison walls and infected journalists, federal employees and even those put to death. The officials had knowledge of the private discussions with Biden but were not authorized to speak publicly about them. White House press secretary Jen Psaki, when asked Friday about Biden's plans on the death penalty, said she had nothing to preview on the issue. Action to stop scheduling new executions could take immediate pressure off Biden from opponents of the death penalty. But they want him to go much further, from bulldozing the federal death chamber in Terre Haute, Indiana, to striking the death penalty from U.S. statutes entirely. Besides, the Biden administration said it is withdrawing the US from agreements with three Central American countries that restricted the ability of people to seek asylum at the southwest border, part of a broad effort to undo the the immigration policies of President Donald Trump. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday the administration had notified El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that it had started the formal process of terminating agreements that had been part of Trump's effort to restrict asylum. The agreements, which had been on hold since early in the coronavirus pandemic, required many people seeking asylum at the US-Mexico border to go instead to one of the three Central American countries and pursue their claims there. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 8) - President Rodrigo Dutertes executive order mandating a price ceiling on pork and chicken could expose consumers to more headaches ahead: a pork supply crunch. Thats what both local retailers and meat importers flagged as, over the weekend, public wet markets brace for raids amid a government crackdown targeting profiteers. For the past five years, Jemer Yarza has been hauling live pigs in a truck from Batangas pig farms to Manilas public markets. His daily drives end today (Monday) as the price freeze takes effect. Yung mga susuplayan namin sa palengke eh baka hindi magtinda gawa ng baka makumpiska lang kung may magtanong o magsurvey sabihin overpriced sila, the middleman said on Sunday. [Translation: Our client retailers at public markets might not sell pork at all for fear of confiscation or apprehension if accused of overpricing.] Pork price has soared because too many people in the supply chain want a cut. The middleman gets pork straight from the pig farm at 230 per kilo. He seeks a 40-cut so he delivers to public markets at a wholesale price of 270 to 280. Retailers pencil in a profit margin of at least 50, bumping up the price to 330 a kilo and exceeding Dutertes price cap of 270 to 300 per kilo. Yarza said the finger of blame must not point squarely at middlemen like him. Lets say 1,000 yung baboy nila, then tinamaan yung 500 ng ASF, siyempre ipapashoulder nila yung mga natalo nila sa mga hauler, the middleman said. Mataas kasi yung mortality rate ng baboy ngayon. [Translation: Lets say a hog raiser has 1,000 pigs, then 500 die of the ASF disease. Of course, the losses will have to be passed on to haulers. Hog mortality rate now is high.] The Meat Importers and Traders Association, which groups the countrys largest pork sellers, said the government must instead take aim at containing the African swine fever. Because hog raisers hedge against possible losses as the disease destroys farms, prices inevitably will be higher. They are working in a very hostile and risky environment. So the hog producers have said in order to stay viable, they have to add a risk premium of 30 to 40 percent, Jess Cham, president of Meat Importers and Traders Association, told CNN Philippines. The debate versus price control gains momentum. The root of the problem is tight supply as the African swine flu decimates herd, and price ceilings will not solve that, meat importers and economists said. They asked the Agriculture department to intervene by raising the volume of pork imports from the current 54,000 metric tons per year. Chams group pegs the meat supply deficit at six million metric tons. Aside from raising import quotas, or in their parlance -- minimum access volume government must also bring down tariffs on imported meat. This is long overdue. They should have liberalized a long, long time ago Our consumer should have benefited, Cham said, referring to major global reforms in agricultural trade rules dating back to the Uruguay Round that came into effect in 1995. As middlemen for local pork stay on the sidelines given a government crackdown, and as meat importers said the first batch of orders for the year will not come until April, expect fewer source of protein from today till March. WASHINGTON: This matters. The outcome may seem preordained in the unprecedented second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Democrats prosecuting the former president for inciting a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol will struggle to persuade at least 17 Republicans to convict Trump and bar him from office. Forty-five of the 50 Republican senators backed a bid last month to dismiss the trial, essentially telegraphing how the final vote will play out.But the trial set to begin Tuesday is ultimately a test of whether a president, holding an office that many of the nations founders feared could become too powerful in the wrong hands, is above the law. Senators will be forced to sit still, listen to evidence and wrestle with elemental questions about American democracy. There will be visual, visceral evidence, and the American people will also be sitting in their own form of judgment as they watch. The verdict and the process itself will be scrutinized for generations. For historians, what that trial does is to provide additional evidence and documentation under oath, said Carol Anderson, a professor of African American studies at Emory University. It also gives us a sense of the strength, or the weakness, in American democracy as the senators are confronted with this evidence. That record is certain to be grisly, a reminder on a human level of the horror at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Senators will review Trumps call that morning to fight like hell before the mob of loyalists showed up to Capitol Hill to do just that. Senators will be reminded of the rioters chants calling for then-Vice President Mike Pences hanging. House prosecutors could resurface the image of a police officer crushed between doors, blood trickling from his mouth, as the violent crowd moved in. There might be additional evidence of how another officer, Brian Sicknick, died defending the building. If thats not enough, senators will be reminded of their own vulnerability as they fled the mob entering their chamber one of the most rarefied spaces in Washington in fear of their lives. And then theyll have to decide whether there should be consequences. But the potential of an acquittal doesnt mean the trial should be abandoned before it begins, said Rep. Val Demings, who was an impeachment manager in Trumps first trial. The jury not convicting is always a possibility, the Florida Democrat said, recalling her previous career as the chief of the Orlando Police Department. But decisions are never made solely on that. Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe Trump bears at least a moderate amount of responsibility for the riot, according to a poll released last week by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That includes half who say Trump bears a great deal or quite a bit of responsibility. Most Republicans absolve him of guilt, but about 3 in 10 think he bears at least a measure of blame for the events. Of course, Congress has more on its plate than another fight over the previous president. In the early days of his administration, President Joe Biden is pushing a $1.9 trillion package to confront the coronavirus pandemic. Hes also pressing lawmakers on immigration, health care and climate change. Lee Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana who served during President Bill Clintons impeachment, said a trial could be a distraction from larger priorities. He suggested censure could be a better use of time and that the historical record could be achieved through the creation of a commission like the one he helped lead to investigate the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But, he said, that only works if Congress is united on the need for a thorough investigation of what happened during the insurrection and provides the resources to back it up. If youre going to do it, do it right, Hamilton said. As much as the trial is about history, the implications are just as powerful in the present moment. Leaders in capitals across the world are watching what happens in Washington to assess whether the U.S. remains committed to democratic principles. Steadfast American allies, including Germany and the United Kingdom, expressed shock at the insurrection. U.S. foes seized on the violence to say that the United Sates could not now lecture others on the sanctity of democracy. American democracy is obviously limping on both feet," Konstantin Kosachev, head of the foreign affairs committee in Russias upper house of parliament, said after the riot. America no longer charts a course and therefore has lost all rights to set it and even more so to impose it on others. Its telling that Republicans arent going into the trial with a robust defense of Trump. Few are publicly defending his behavior in the runup to the insurrection, whether its his baseless insistence that the election was stolen or his more specific and troubling calls to supporters to rally on his behalf. Instead, the GOP is narrowly focused on a more technical constitutional issue, arguing that a president cant face an impeachment trial once out of office, a path they believe is easier to defend than trying to rationalize Trumps actions. Anticipating that posture, Democrats filed a pretrial brief noting theres no January exception in the Constitution. Presidents do not get a free pass to commit high crimes and misdemeanors near the end of their term, the House impeachment managers wrote. The trial comes as the GOP is struggling with its future. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader, has flirted with the potential of purging Trump from the party. If Trump is convicted, the Senate could vote to bar him from seeking office again, a notable punishment for someone who has dangled the potential of a 2024 presidential run to keep bending the party to his will. McConnell hasnt yet said how hell vote, and, so far, only a few moderate Republicans seem certain to convict. Theyre running into the reality that Trumps supporters remain a dominant force in the party. The trial really will only reinforce what we already know about American politics, said Brendan Buck, a top adviser to former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. And in that, I mean we are so tribal and divided that theres really no question where people will fall down on something that should generate thoughtful discourse and reflection about a fundamental democratic principle. ___ EDITORS NOTE Political Editor Steven Sloan has covered politics for The Associated Press since 2018. Follow him at http://twitter.com/stevenpsloan 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 New Delhi, Feb 7 : Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday said the Union government was ready to resume talks with the farmers' unions if they (farmers) came out with some new proposals. Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Goyal, who is part of the government team of negotiators with farmer unions along with others, said the Modi government is sensitive towards the farmers' concerns and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the whole government was ready to resolve the issue through dialogue. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the government is a phone call away but someone has to call to talk or move ahead. If farmers have any objection to the laws then let us know and the government is willing to address it," he said. Goyal pointed out that farmers are misled on some issues and few people succeeded in misleading them in certain areas by creating doubts. "Farmers have been confused and the government has proposed to clear the confusion. We have given 'proposal after proposal' to address farmers' concerns. But when I heard in media reports, 'tarikh pe tarikh' which is actually wrong, instead it must be said that the union government has given 'proposal after proposal'," he said. Condemning the violent clash at the Red Fort on January 26, Goyal said that despite the unfortunate incident we believe that it must be resolved by dialogue and the government has offered to suspend the laws for 18 months but we have not received any concrete proposal from farmers till date. "The government brings Bills to benefit people. These new farm laws have been introduced to increase the income of crores of farmers, especially small farmers of the country, and it has been welcomed by the farmers across the country. The laws that have been brought for the benefit of the farmers of the country, they should not be deprived of its benefits," said the minister. The Centre has so far held 11 rounds of talks with the representatives of the farmer unions from December last year to January this year. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday (February 7, 2021) hit out at the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in Maharashtra and said that it is a result of the lust for power. Shah said that the MVA government in Maharashtra (comprising Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress) is like an auto-rickshaw whose three wheels were pulling in different directions. The Union Home Minister stated that ahead of the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not promise Shiv Sena - then its alliance partner - to share the chief minister's post. He said, "I don't make promises in closed rooms. Whatever I do, I do it openly. I don't do politics in closed rooms." Amit Shah was speaking after inaugurating a private medical college at Kankavli in Sindhudurg district. "This (MVA) is an unholy alliance and an outcome of betraying the people's mandate which was for a BJP-Shiv Sena government led by (BJP's) Devendra Fadnavis," Shah said. This is to be noted that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena parted ways with the BJP after the 2019 Assembly polls over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post with the saffron party. Subsequently, Shiv Sena formed the government after joining hands with NCP and Congress. Thackeray had claimed that Amit Shah (the then BJP president), had assured at his Mumbai's 'Matoshree' bungalow that the CM's post would be shared by Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena, and the BJP reneged on the promise. "It is being claimed that the BJP broke the promise," Shah said, adding his party honours the promises it makes. "We don't speak white lies. We are the ones who honour commitments. In Bihar, we had said that even if the BJP gets more seats, Nitish Kumar will continue to be the CM," Shah stated. Shah slammed Uddhav Thackeray and said that the Shiv Sena leader addressed poll rallies with him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the Maharashtra Assembly polls. He said, "In the poll posters of Shiv Sena candidates, Modi's pictures were bigger than Thackeray's." "We sought votes for the BJP-Sena alliance led by Fadnavis. Why didn't you speak out then? You just garnered votes in Modi's name," Shah added. (With inputs from PTI news agency) Live TV live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has picked up two-thirds of its own new gas from KG-D6 block that was auctioned under new rules with state-owned GAIL and Royal Dutch Shell getting smaller volumes, sources said. Reliance and its partner UK's BP Plc on Friday auctioned 7.5 million standard cubic metres per day of incremental gas from the R-series gas field in the KG-D6 block, benchmarking it to a gas marker for the very first time in the country. The auction was held under the liberalised price discovery rules notified by the government that allowed affiliates of the gas producer to bid and buy natural gas. Reliance O2C, an affiliate of Reliance, picked up 4.8 mmscmd of gas in Friday''s auction that lasted for seven-and-a-half-hours, sources with direct knowledge of the development said. State gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd won 0.85 mmscmd of supplies while Shell picked up 0.7 mmscmd. Adani Total Gas Ltd got 0.1 mmscmd, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) 0.2 mmscmd and Torrest Gas 0.02 mmscmd. Other buyers include IRM Energy (0.1 mmscmd), PIL (0.35 mmscmd) and IGS (0.35 mmscmd), they said. Sources said the gas was bought at a price of USD 0.18 per million British thermal unit discount to JKM i.e. price of JKM (minus) USD 0.18 with tenures ranging from 3 to 5 years. Reliance did not respond to email sent for comments. Reliance O2C is the new unit that holds the firm''s refinery and petrochemical assets. E-bidding process was conducted through an online web-based electronic bidding platform by CRISIL Risk and Infrastructure Solutions Limited (CRIS), an independent agency empanelled by Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). CRIS partnered with e-Procurement Technologies Limited (EPTL) and developed e-bidding platform. The bidding process was carried out as per the guidelines notified by the government in October 2020. Sources said the bidding process for sale of gas was launched on December 30, 2020 and it witnessed participation from around 15 bidders from city gas distribution sector, steel, power, refineries, petrochemicals, resellers and other industries. The e-bidding process required bidders to submit their price bids linked to international LNG price benchmark JKM (Japan Korea Marker). The JKM represents price for spot LNG delivered in Asian market and is now being widely used in LNG industry as a marker for in medium/ long term LNG contracts instead of traditional linkage to oil. This was second time Reliance-BP conducted an e-bidding process which ran on a dynamic forward auction basis for sale of KG-D6 gas. Earlier in November 2019, 5 mmscmd of natural gas was sold at price in range of around 8.6 per cent of Brent crude oil for tenure ranging from 2 to 6 years. Reliance-BP started production of gas on December 18 last year from the R Cluster ultra-deep-water gas field in block KG D6 off the east coast of India. The duo developing three deep-water gas projects in block KG-D6 -- R Cluster, Satellites Cluster and MJ -- which together are expected to meet around 15 per cent of India''s gas demand by 2023. R Cluster is the first of the three projects to come onstream and is the deepest offshore gas field in Asia. E-bidding auction rules asked bidders to "quote the variable denoted as ''V'' in USD per million British thermal unit (MMBtu) terms." "The gas price (in USD/MMBtu (GCV)) shall be = JKM + V," the bidding notice said. GCV stands for gross calorific value. ''V'' can be a positive, zero or negative number and up to two decimal places but it cannot be less than (-)0.30 USD/MMBtu, it said. This means users will have to quote -0.30 or higher value of ''V''. If JKM averaged USD 6 per MMBtu, the price will be USD 5.82 per MMBtu. But Reliance-BP will only get the government notified cap price for gas from deep-sea fields. Pricing of gas at JKM will be the first time that domestically produced gas is being sold at rates linked to an international gas benchmark, industry sources said. Also, this will be the first discovery of gas price since the October 2020 decision of the government setting out uniform e-bidding norms for finding the market price. That Cabinet decision also allowed the sale of gas to ''affiliates'' and so while Reliance-BP affiliate companies couldn''t participate in the November 2019 price discovery, they did in e-bidding on February 5. The government has given operators the freedom to discover market prices but this rate is subject to a pricing ceiling or cap that the government notifies every six months. The cap for six months to March 31, 2021, is USD 4.06 per mmBtu. And accordingly, Reliance-BP would get only that amount for the gas. Essar Steel, Adani Group and state-owned GAIL in November 2019 bought the majority of the initial 5 mmscmd of gas planned to be produced from R-Series in the KG-D6 block by bidding between 8.5 and 8.6 per cent of dated Brent price. In that bidding, Reliance-BP had asked gas users to quote a price (expressed as a percentage of the dated Brent crude oil rate), supply period and the volume of gas required. A floor or minimum quote of 8.4 per cent of dated Brent price was set, which meant that bidders had to quote 8.4 per cent or a higher percentage for securing gas supplies. Dated Brent means the average of published Brent prices for three calendar months immediately preceding the relevant contract month in which gas supplies are made. Reliance got USD 4.205 per MMBtu for gas from D1 and D3 and MA fields during April 2019 and March 2014. It would have got double of that rate if a new formula proposed by the Rangarajan committee was approved but the new BJP government scrapped it and brought a new formula on pricing gas at rates prevalent in export surplus nations such as the US and Russia. The rates came to USD 5.05 in 2014 and are currently at USD 1.79 per mmBtu. Reliance-BP is investing USD 5 billion in bringing to production three deepwater gas projects in block KG-D6 R-Cluster, Satellites Cluster, and MJ which together are expected to meet about 15 per cent of India''s gas demand by 2023. R-Cluster will have a peak output of 12.9 mmscmd while satellites, which are supposed to begin output from the third quarter of the 2021 calendar year, would produce a maximum of 7 mmscmd. MJ field will start production in the third quarter of 2022 and will have a peak output of 12 mmscmd. Reliance has so far made 19 gas discoveries in the KG-D6 block. Of these, D-1 and D-3 -- the largest among the lot -- were brought into production from April 2009 and MA, the only oilfield in the block was put to production in September 2008. While the MA field stopped producing last year, output from D-1 and D-3 ceased in February. Other discoveries have either been surrendered or taken away by the government for not meeting timelines for beginning production. Reliance is the operator of the block with 66.6 per cent interest while BP holds the remaining stake. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. A batch of COVID-19 vaccines donated by China to Cambodia arrives in Phnom Penh on February 7, 2021. /AP The Cambodian government on Sunday received the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Chinese government. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian attended a handover ceremony that was held at the Phnom Penh international airport on Sunday afternoon, shortly after the donations arrived. Cambodia was among the first batch of countries to receive vaccine donations from China. According to ambassador Wang, some of the 600,000 doses to Cambodia are donations from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). Cambodian Ministry of Health authorized the emergency use of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, saying that "the vaccine is used safely in China and other countries." The vaccines will be provided free-of-charge to people who are at a high risk of getting infections such as medics, teachers, armed forces and taxi drivers, among others. The man who has been in charge of overseeing President Joe Biden's daily intelligence briefings will no longer do so. Morgan Muir will be moved to a new role within the White House and is now expected to oversee the assembly of the written President's Daily Brief instead. The brief is assembled from various reports from across the intelligence community, but he will no longer lead the in-person briefings. The move comes after it was revealed on Saturday that Muir, who was formerly a senior CIA analyst, was part of a group advocating for the agency with regards to false claims about its torture program to a powerful Senate committee. Muir essentially put together what would become the report on the agency's torture program in 2013. The CIA official in charge of overseeing President Biden's daily intelligence briefing reportedly lead a standoff between the CIA and Senate Intelligence Committee An article by BuzzFeedNews quoted Daniel J. Jones, one of the lead committee staff members at the time, who noted how Muir had defended the value of the CIA's torture program in private talks with Senate aides and made false claims. Jones told the publication that Muir could no longer be trusted to 'convey accurate information.' 'I would not trust him,' Jones said, given Muir's past statements. 'There's no room for you in senior positions anymore.' CIA spokesperson Timothy Barrett has called Jones' characterizations 'baseless' and defended Muir calling him 'an exemplary career intelligence officer whose strength of character is unquestionable.' A Senate report which was finally issued in 2014, was a sweeping indictment of the CIA and outlined the clear abuses and torture by the agency while interrogating terrorism suspects in the years after the September 11th terror attacks alongside a pattern of misleading Congress and the White House about it. In 2013, Morgan Muir, who was a senior CIA analyst, played a lead role and advocating for the CIA's (pictured) inaccurate claims defending its torture program The article reveals how in 2013, there was a dramatic standoff between the Senate Intelligence Committee and the CIA in which Muir played a pivotal role. After the senate committee found 'enhanced interrogation techniques' against terror suspects were not effective, Muir led a series of tense meetings in which the CIA attacked the findings. A 6,700-page report was produced, yet Muir continued to defend the value of the torture program and based his assertions on information the CIA later admitted was inaccurate. The 2013 meetings which were led by Muir continued for a month at the Hart Senate Office Building, where classified information is discussed. Jones recalled how those on either side of the argument were so far apart that even discussing basic facts was a challenge. 'We would say, 'Here's a piece of paper. It is red. We can all see that it is red,' Jones said. 'And they would say, 'No, it's blue.' ' Muir continued to defend the CIA's response to the torture report despite being shows version of the agency's own records that contradicted its claims Muir continued to defend the CIA's response to the torture report despite being shown a version of the agency's own records that contradicted its claims. 'He continued to double down on the false assertions,' Jones said. After the Senate report into torture was released, the CIA then quietly posted a series of three pages of corrections but it was almost a full year before the Senate Intelligence Committee and public even learned of its existence. With Muir now working in the Biden White House, former Democratic senator Mark Udall also expressed reservations over Muir's suitability to be compiling intelligence reports for the president. 'President Biden has assembled a strong national security team, but he should have serious concerns about entrusting his Presidential Daily Briefing to anyone who may have helped cover up this dark chapter in our nation's history,' Udall wrote in a statement. 'I can attest that it's critical that intelligence agencies provide the president and other leaders with unbiased, factual and honest information. As we now know, the CIA and its leadership misled the public, senators, and Senate staff for years about the CIA's systematic and brutal torture of detainees.' After the publication of the BuzzFeed article, officials insisted Muir's interactions with the Senate committee had nothing to do with the decision to change how and by whom Biden was being briefed. 'Morgan Muir is a widely respected intelligence officer who has demonstrated the highest standards of integrity and professionalism throughout his career,' Amanda J. Schoch, the spokeswoman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said to the New York Times. 'He is not the President's briefer as that term is generally understood, and there are no plans for him to be in the oval.' The Indian diaspora which celebrates its 176th Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago is not an abstract entity, but one that flowers the socio-economic and cultural growth and development of our peoples. It remains a proud moment for all of uspoliticians, sociologists, economists, civic, religious and cultural leadersin world history. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 22:55:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Myanmar's State Administration Council changed the name of President's Office into the Office of State Administration Council, an order issued by the council said on Saturday. The name of the Union Government Office was replaced with the Office of State Administration Council, the council's order said. The State Administration Council also formed a three-member press team which will be led by Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun. The Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services recently formed the State Administration Council, after Myanmar declared a one-year state of emergency and the state power was handed over to Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing on Monday. The declaration of the state of emergency came after the military detained President U Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other government figures of the National League for Democracy (NLD) early Monday. The military said there was massive voting fraud in the parliamentary elections in November 2020, and demanded postponement of the new parliamentary session. The Union Election Commission dismissed the allegations. The newly-formed State Administration Council also reformed the Union Election Commission to review the electoral process of last year's elections during the state of emergency. The first regular session of the new parliament sessions which was scheduled to be convened on Monday was cancelled. Following the declaration of the state of emergency on Monday, a major cabinet reshuffle was announced among ministers and union-level government organizations. Meanwhile, the president and state counsellor were being remanded in custody until Feb. 15 for violating the Natural Disaster Management Law and the Import-Export Law. The NLD party posted statements on its social media page, demanding the release of its detained leaders, acknowledgement of the results of 2020 general elections and the convening of the new parliamentary session. Myanmar held multi-party general elections on Nov. 8 last year and the ruling NLD won the majority of seats in both houses of the Union Parliament. Produced by Xinhua Global Service Armenia ex-minister of emergency situations hospitalized with heart attack Mher Grigoryan: Clarification of border points is possible only after withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from Armenia Suspicious deal: Whether there was profit from buying DNA IDs? Armenia ex-president says current authorities are trying to blame Russia for defeat in war 4 people killed in Afghanistani bus attack Robert Kocharyan: This war could not have happened, it was a consequence of the policy of the authorities Kocharyan: I have to ask people how it happened that overwhelming majority elected this leader Armen Gevorgyan presents 'Armenia' bloc program: We offer the concept of a working country Biden's administration proposed to leave unchanged amount of financial support to Armenia US Embassy in Baku calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release Armenian POWs Luxembourg MFA calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release all Armenian prisoners 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 Planned legislation to establish new business areas in Nevada would allow technology companies to effectively form separate local governments. Democratic Gov Steve Sisolak announced a plan to launch so-called Innovation Zones in Nevada to jumpstart the state's economy by attracting technology firms, Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Wednesday. The zones would permit companies with large areas of land to form governments carrying the same authority as counties, including the ability to impose taxes, form school districts and courts and provide government services. The measure to further economic development with the 'alternative form of local government' has not yet been introduced in the Legislature. Democratic Gov Steve Sisolak (pictured) announced a plan to launch so-called Innovation Zones in Nevada to jumpstart the state's economy by attracting technology firms, Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Wednesday Sisolak named Blockchains, LLC, which is owned by Jeffrey Berns (pictured) as a company that had committed to developing a 'smart city' in an area east of Reno Sisolak pitched the concept in his State of the State address delivered January 19. The plan would bring in new businesses at the forefront of 'groundbreaking technologies' without the use of tax abatements or other publicly funded incentive packages that previously helped Nevada attract companies like Tesla. Sisolak named Blockchains, LLC as a company that had committed to developing a 'smart city' in an area east of Reno after the legislation has passed. Blockchains is a tech firm owned by cryptocurrency millionaire Jeffrey Berns. The company, in 2018, purchased about 67,000 acres of undeveloped and uninhabited land in Storey County for $170million. Since 2018, Blockchains and Berns have given heavily to political candidates. In 2019, Berns gave $50,000 to the state Democratic Party. According to an update on the company's website, Blockchains is expected to break ground on the Nevada project in 2022. 'All our technology development is done with an eye toward future integration with major technology research and development at our land in Innovation Park and eventually the blockchain-based smart city,' the update reads. 'A smart city built from the ground up is a long-term vision that requires extensive planning and resources, a vision that is and always has been a 10- to 15-year project,' the company said. However, Storey County Commissioner Lance Gilman told the Review-Journal that the Blockchains project is 'going to have an impact on Storey County, and the jury is still out on whether that will be positive or negative'. 'Were going to want to know that Storey County gets the benefit of the bargain,' Gilman added. Blockchains is a tech firm owned by cryptocurrency millionaire Jeffrey Berns. The company, in 2018, purchased about 67,000 acres of undeveloped and uninhabited land in Storey County for $170million. This mock-up shows what the smart city could look like when its complete Berns is seen presenting his vision for the blockchain Innovation Park in Nevada in 2018 According to Blockchains, the Innovation Park is a 10- to 15-year project (mock-up pictured) The draft proposal said the traditional local government model is 'inadequate alone' to provide the resources to make Nevada a leader in attracting and retaining businesses and fostering economic development in emerging technologies and industries. The Governor's Office of Economic Development would oversee applications for the zones, which would be limited to companies working in specific business areas including blockchain, autonomous technology, the Internet of Things, robotics, artificial intelligence, wireless, biometrics and renewable resource technology. Zone requirements would include applicants owning at least 78 square miles of undeveloped, uninhabited land within a single county but separate from any city, town or tax increment area. Companies would have at least $250million and plans to invest an additional $1billion in their zones over 10 years. The zones would initially operate with the oversight of their location counties, but would eventually take over county duties and become independent governmental bodies. The zones would have three-member supervisor boards with the same powers as county commissioners. The businesses would maintain significant control over board membership. The governor's economic development office did not respond to questions about the zones Wednesday. Vogue Williams slipped into an all-white ensemble on Sunday as she headed to work on her radio show. The bronzed beauty, 35, wowed in an array of white and off-white hues as she stylishly sashayed into work. She wore a long cardigan with pearl stud buttons and skinny white jeans. Stylish: Vogue Williams slipped into an all-white ensemble on Sunday as she headed to work on her radio show She wore a stone winter coat and matched this with a cream clutch. Vogue finished things off with trainers and an array of necklaces and earrings in white gold. She swept her dark blonde locks back from her features, white were accentuated with smokey eyes and a slick of pink to her lips. Chic:T he bronzed beauty, 35, off-set her deep tan in an array off white and off-white hues as she stylishly sashayed into work. A laugh a minute: She wore a long cardigan with pearl stud buttons and skinny white jeans Strutting it fine: She wore a stone winter coat and matched this with a cream clutch. Vogue finished things off with trainers and an array of necklaces and earrings in white gold Vogue looked towards the future as she marked the end of January last month. She shared a sweet clip of her daughter Gigi in a bid to uplift her fans on Monday amid the pandemic. The Heart FM star kissed her six-month-old in the adorable video as she admitted she's 'so happy that we've said goodbye to January' and enthused 'the days will be brighter' in the summer. Her happy place: Vogue looked towards the future as she marked the end of January last week Rubbing her head against her baby's neck, the model appeared in great spirits as she rocked her beaming child. The Jump star shared words of encouragement during the global crisis in an accompanying caption as she said: 'Happy 1st of February, goodbye January see ya next year and not a moment too soon!!! 'I have to say I feel so happy that we've said goodbye to January... the days will be brighter the temperature will get warmer and we can be safe in the knowledge that summer is well and truly on the way. 'Have a fab day everyone and if it hasn't been fab here is a giggling Gigi to make you smile!' Spreading positivity: The Heart FM star kissed her six-month-old daughter in the adorable video as she admitted she's 'so happy that we've said goodbye to January' Motherhood bliss: Rubbing her head against her baby's neck, the model appeared in great spirits as she rocked her beaming child 'Have a fab day everyone and if it hasn't been fab here is a giggling Gigi to make you smile!' The Jump star shared words of encouragement during the global crisis Vogue - who also shares son Theodore, two, with husband Spencer Matthews - recently admitted she hadn't been home to Ireland in over a year, in part due to lockdown restrictions. Addressing fans in an Instagram Q&A, the presenter said she was planning a long trip to her motherland once restrictions have eased as she wants her two children to develop an appreciation for her home country. A fan asked: 'Ideally, how much time would you like to spend in Ireland every year?!' to which the model replied with: 'I love Ireland so much! 'Ideally I would like to spend 3 months a year there. I haven't been home in over a year so as soon as I can I'm gonna stay a couple of weeks for sure. It's really important for the children to grow up knowing and loving Ireland as much as I do.' Vogue also revealed she and former Made In Chelsea star Spencer, 32, would like another baby despite her two 'difficult' pregnancies. Family first: The Irish broadcaster also shares son Theodore, two, with husband Spencer Matthews The media personality shared: 'We would love one more for sure! We always said four but our house is v busy so we would have to see!' Vogue recently faced backlash as it was claimed she'd broken the rules on travelling while London was in Tier 4 by flying abroad for the family break. Addressing the criticism, the blonde said: 'I would like to assure my lovely Instagram family that I have not broken the government guidelines since rules and guidance came into effect last March. 'I also had Covid tests to ensure I travelled safely and I adhered to all safety guidelines recommended. It's not ideal to be away working during these times but it had been booked in since last year.' Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 03:07:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People wearing face masks cross a street in Toronto, Canada, on Feb. 6, 2021. Canada's cumulative COVID-19 cases surpassed 800,000 as of Saturday noon, with the total hitting 800,348, including 20,680 deaths, according to CTV. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua) OTTAWA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Canada's cumulative COVID-19 cases surpassed 800,000 as of Saturday noon, with the total hitting 800,348, including 20,680 deaths, according to CTV. The data indicate a continued downward trend in daily case counts, with a seven-day average of 3,947 new cases daily on Jan. 29 - Feb. 4 and 107,609 tests daily, with 4.2 percent positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 24-30, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada on Saturday. Ontario reported 1,388 new cases of COVID-19 and 45 more deaths Saturday morning, bringing the province's seven-day average to 1,479. Now, there are 164 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7. COVID-19 variant in the province, up from the 155 infections reported on Friday. There continues to be only one case of the South African B.1.351 variant, according to the Ontario government on Saturday. The total number of lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario now stand at 276,718, including deaths and recoveries. Of the 6,483 deaths recorded in Ontario, 4,454 were people over the age of 80. A little more than 3,700 were residents in long-term care homes. There are at least 1,021 people being treated in Ontario hospitals. Of those patients, at least 325 are in the intensive care unit (ICU) while 228 of those in the ICU are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator. As of Friday night, 96,573 people in the province have been fully vaccinated against the disease. Quebec reported 1,204 new cases Saturday morning, bringing the total number of cases in the province since the start of the pandemic to 268,977, including 9,999 deaths and 246,695 recoveries. The 1,204 new cases were the highest in a week, and above the seven-day average, which is now 1,088 new cases daily. Hospitalizations continue to drop in the province with Quebec reporting 58 fewer patients are receiving care in the province's hospitals for a total of 982. Of those, 159 people are in the intensive care ward, a decrease of nine. As of Friday, the province administered a total number of 253,904 vaccinations. On Friday, Canadian Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said that active cases are still double what they were at the peak of the pandemic's first wave last spring and those new variants are cause for concern. As of Friday, the country reported a total of 278 variants, which include 260 cases of B.1.1.7 and 18 cases of B.1.351, according to CTV. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on Canadians on Friday not to worry about the increasing concerns on COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the country. Trudeau said that he had spoken with Pfizer and Moderna. "I speak almost every week with CEOs of these vaccine companies, and they have assured me that they will meet their obligations." "I want to reassure Canadians that we're on track," he said, adding that as many as 20 million more doses will start to arrive in the spring as his government keeps its sights on vaccinating all people who want a shot by the end of September. Shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, one of two approved in Canada, have slowed as a plant in Belgium is retooled to eventually churn out more doses. Canada is reportedly getting about one-fifth of previously planned shipments this week and next. This past week's shipment of the Moderna vaccine had 50,000 doses less than previously expected due to production delays in Switzerland. The company has reportedly signaled the next shipment in three weeks will also not be as big as initially planned. Enditem International students in Shanghai favor festive Chinese Spring Festival By:Zheng Qian | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-02-07 10:04 With the Chinese New Year approaching, Hujiang School of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology launched a Chinese culture experience activity for international students who are staying put in China due to the anti-pandemic policy. 15 international students experienced drinking tea, listening to the seven-stringed zither and enjoying calligraphy during this winter holiday. Students learned the types and uses of tea sets before making tea under the guidance of a tea master. The Chinese guqin performance and calligraphy writing made them praise the charm of the traditional Chinese culture. Returning to school, the students posted the Spring Festival couplets they wrote at the calligraphy activity on the walls of their dormitory doors.This event allowed me to personally experience the traditional Chinese festival culture, and I can feel the warmth between people even in a foreign country, said Muha, an international student. Photo from newsxmwb.xinmin.cn/ He's the proud father of a baby girl for the fourth time over. Entrepreneur David Beador has welcomed his first child with wife Lesley Cook, after fathering three girls with ex-wife and Real Housewives of Orange County star Shannon Storms Beador. The businessman, 56, appeared alongside Lesley, 37, on her Instagram feed on Saturday night, seated on a bench in Emerald Bay with their newborn daughter. New parents, again: David Beador has welcomed a baby girl with wife Lesley Cook, as he appeared alongside Lesley on her Instagram feed on Saturday night 'Our first sunset with our sweet little Anna. (Pronounced Ah-na),' Cook wrote in the caption, along with a twinkle emoji and a string of hashtags. David is also father to daughters Sophie, 19, as well as 16-year-old twins Stella and Adeline, whom he shares with reality star Shannon, 56. Shannon and David were married from 2000 until 2019, when their union ended in a publicity-grabbing divorce. Just two days before the post announcing she had given birth: Lesley shared a splendid photo showing off her very pregnant baby bump, in a beachside snap in the arms of her husband Lesley, for her part, is also already mother to two children from a previous relationship. Just two days before the post announcing she had given birth, Lesley shared a splendid photo showing off her very pregnant baby bump, in a beachside snap in the arms of her husband. The blonde beauty was in a sheer white skirt with high slit, and off-the-shoulder bandeau top that accentuated her beautiful belly. Girl dad: Beador is father to three girls with his ex-wife and Real Housewives of Orange County star Shannon Storms Beador; seen here with Shannon and daughters Sophie, 19, as well as 16-year-old twins Stella and Adeline in 2017 David twinned her in a white dress shirt, along with dark jeans as the pair were snapped in Laguna Beach, California. 'I just want to hold your hand at 90 & say we made it,' she wrote in the caption. 'p.s. one week left!' Cook added, along with a string of hashtags. Last July, the couple announced their pregnancy news, going on to tie the knot in October. 8 Shares Share An excerpt from 50 Years in the OR: True Stories of Life, Loss, and Laughter While Giving Anesthesia. Chronic long-term alcoholism causes many health problems, not the least of which is cirrhosis of the liver. In advanced cases of cirrhosis, the liver becomes full of scar tissue and its many functions are then impaired, causing blood circulation through it to be impeded, leading to esophageal variciesvaricose veins in the esophagus. These veins are very fragile and can rupture easily and spontaneously. When this happens, its an emergency situation, since massive bleeding usually occurs out of the persons mouth and, if left unchecked, the patient will bleed to death. One treatment for esophageal variceal rupture in the 70s was to insert a large multi-lumen balloon catheter called the Sengstaken-Blakemore tube into the patients esophagus. When inflated, the balloon puts pressure against the ruptured area(s) to stop the bleeding. Our little hospital had its own blood bank which kept a selection of all the blood types on hand. Some blood types are more uncommon than others, and the blood bank usually just had one unit of those available because they outdated frequently and would call in donors if they needed more. It happened that our town drunk had one of those uncommon blood types, which was the same as mine (A negative) and a few other folks in town. He was a pleasant fellow, but every year it seemed, in the dead of our northern Minnesota winters, hed show up in the emergency room bleeding profusely from his esophageal varicies. Also, every year, wed have to call all the donors in with his blood type to donate for him. It wasnt uncommon to have to give him four or five units of whole blood by the time his bleeding was under control. He was always a mess in the emergency room, covered with blood coming out of both ends. We had to work fast getting him to the OR so we could get a Blakemore tube in him and get it stopped. As you might expect, maintaining his airway under these circumstances was crucial. Each time, I had my circulating nurse suck the blood out of his mouth so I could see, to get a breathing tube in his trachea to seal off his airway. He was usually in shock, and so weak and barely conscious that he couldnt put up much resistance. Once the Blakemore tube was in place and inflated and the bleeding controlled, we could empty his stomach. I kept a large-bore IV running to give him fluid to hold his blood pressure up, and when the blood was ready, we would transfuse him until he was stable. Its absolutely amazing what the effect a few units of freshly-drawn, warm whole blood has on a person in his condition. Within the hour, he was pretty much wide awake, responding to commands, and aware of his circumstance. After a while, we could very carefully remove the Blakemore tube, and almost always, the bleeding had stopped by then. He would spend the night in ICU and a few days on the ward afterward. There is always a chance that a chronic alcoholic might go into DTs from alcohol withdrawal, which has a significant mortality rate. To keep that from happening back in those days, the doctor would order a 5 percent solution of alcohol to be run in his IV, which kept him pretty happy. This sequence of events went on for five years. Whether I was on call or not, I was always called in to donate a unit of blood for him, and it always seemed to be on a cold winter night. One year, when they called me to donate, I was so sick with the flu that I couldnt make it. He died during that episode. I doubt that not getting a unit of my blood was the reason. I think his body just couldnt take any more insult. Ron Whitchurch is a nurse anesthetist and author of 50 Years in the OR: True Stories of Life, Loss, and Laughter While Giving Anesthesia. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, which challenged the state's ban on indoor services, said it would hold in-person worship Sunday. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) Some California churches on Saturday said they planned to reopen their doors this weekend after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the state's ban on indoor worship services during the pandemic, ruling that Gov. Gavin Newsom's strict orders appear to violate the Constitution's protection of the free exercise of religion. Bishop Arthur Hodges, senior pastor of South Bay United Pentecostal Church in the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista, called the ruling a major victory. We are thrilled and excited to go back to church without legal threat of fines or arrest, Hodges said in a television interview broadcast on Fox 5. And it opens up churches in the entire state of California. So this is a win for every church, every house of worship and every individual of faith that wants to go to their house of worship this Sunday. He said the church would hold indoor services this weekend. It had previously offered online services but they were not an adequate substitute, he said, likening them to a virtual campfire or tele-health medicine. Online can only go so far, he said. It really doesn't satisfy the person of faith whos needing their church. South Bay United Pentecostal was one of two churches that challenged the state's ban in separate lawsuits. The other, Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, said it would also hold indoor services Sunday. "While we have come under fire from some community members, we stand firm that the fruit of meeting in person lies in the spiritual, emotional and physical healing that worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ has brought to so many throughout the world, Che Ahn, the church's senior pastor, said in a statement. He said the church decided to challenge the ban after it was singled out by confusing California edicts that give first-rate essential preferences to abortion clinics, marijuana dispensaries, and liquor stores. While it is one thing to lock down based on data, it is an entirely different motive to allow some groups a right that is denied to others, he said. Story continues Gov. Newsom's office said Saturday it will issue revised guidelines for indoor church services. We will continue to enforce the restrictions the Supreme Court left in place and, after reviewing the decision, we will issue revised guidelines for worship services to continue to protect the lives of Californians, Daniel Lopez, Newsoms press secretary, said in a statement. The justices in a 6-3 decision granted an appeal late Friday evening from South Bay United, which has repeatedly challenged the state restrictions on church services, including its ban on singing and chanting. The ruling set aside decisions by federal judges in San Diego and San Bernardino, and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which upheld the state's orders despite earlier warnings from the high court. But the high court said the state may limit attendance at indoor services to 25% of the building's capacity, and singing and chanting may be restricted as well. California has enforced "the most extreme restriction on worship in the country," the court was told by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. While several states set limits on attendance at church services, the group said, California is "the only state to ban indoor worship" in all but sparsely populated counties. The six conservative justices in the majority differed among themselves, but they agreed California had singled out churches for unfair treatment. "Since the arrival of COVID-19, California has openly imposed more stringent regulations on religious institutions than on many businesses." wrote Justice Neil M. Gorsuch in one of three concurring opinions. "California worries that worship brings people together for too much time. Yet, California does not limit its citizens to running in and out of other establishments; no one is barred from lingering in shopping malls, salons, or bus terminals." Gorsuch along with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. voted to lift all the restrictions, including limits on attendance and singing. Justice Amy Coney Barrett said she was not convinced the ban on singing should be lifted. The state argued that singing in a group indoors will spread the airborne virus, and Barrett said the churches had the burden of "establishing their entitlement to relief from the singing ban. In my view, they did not carry that burden at least not on this record," she wrote. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh agreed with her. In May, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. cast a key vote in a 5-4 decision to reject an early challenge to California's restrictions on church services. He said then that he believed in deferring to state officials who were coping with the pandemic. But he wrote Friday that he could not accept California's "present determination that the maximum number of adherents who can safely worship in the most cavernous cathedral is zero. ... Deference, though broad, has its limits." The state's ban on indoor services was challenged in separate lawsuits by the South Bay United Pentecostal Church and the Harvest Rock Church, and Friday's order applies directly to them. But its legal logic would block enforcement of a similar ban at other churches. The court's three liberals Justices Elena Kagan, Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor dissented. "Justices of this court are not scientists. Nor do we know much about public health policy. Yet today the court displaces the judgments of experts about how to respond to a raging pandemic," Kagan wrote. "The court orders California to weaken its restrictions on public gatherings by making a special exception for worship services." Two months ago, the justices put Newsom and the 9th Circuit on notice that the state's ban on indoor worship services may have gone too far. On the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, the high court struck down part of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's COVID-19 rules, which limited gatherings at houses of worship to 25 persons in a few neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens where the virus was spreading rapidly. It said the state's rules "single out houses of worship for especially harsh treatment" compared to retail stores, the court said in Roman Catholic Diocese vs. Cuomo. Eight days later, the justices granted an appeal from the California churches and told federal judges to reconsider their decisions that had upheld Newsom's ban on indoor church services in all of the state's heavily populated counties. The justices "vacated" or set aside those decisions based on their ruling in the New York case. But two district judges and the 9th Circuit Court upheld the state's restrictions again in late January. They said California was facing a steep rise in COVID-19 cases, and they agreed with the state that worshipers at indoor church services posed "an exceptionally high risk" of spreading the virus because people were gathered together for an hour or more. By contrast, "patrons typically have the intention of getting in and out of grocery and retail stores as quickly as possible," the 9th Circuit said. The state also argued that churches were free to hold services outdoors. Lawyers for the churches urged the Supreme Court to grant an emergency appeal and lift the state's restrictions on worship services. They cited a dissent from one of the 9th Circuit's senior conservatives. "A simple, straightforward application of these controlling cases compels what should be the obvious result here: Californias uniquely severe restrictions against religious worship services including its total ban against indoor worship in nearly the entire state are patently unconstitutional and should be enjoined," wrote Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain in Harvest Rock Church vs. Newsom. "California is the only state in the country that imposes such a ban," he said, "Yet, in exactly the same locales where indoor worship is prohibited, California still allows a vast array of secular facilities to open indoors, including (to name only a few): retail stores, shopping malls, factories, food-processing plants, warehouses, transportation facilities, childcare centers, colleges, libraries, professional sports facilities, and movie studios." The two sides in the case differed on the current situation in Los Angeles County. Lawyers for the churches told the court that in late December, Los Angeles County said it would not enforce the restrictions on church services, citing court rulings. But the state's lawyers said the county did not have the authority to waive the state's rules. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Its time for SBC leaders to take racial turmoil to God, Illinois pastors say Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A group of black and white pastors from the Illinois Baptist State Association are calling for a return to the Bible and the setting aside of politics to help heal the racial divide in the Southern Baptist Convention that has erupted over politics and theology in recent months. I think the Southern Baptist Convention says a whole lot and has great statements out and has strong theology. I think the Convention needs to work more on what we call doalogy living out our faith, living out the great commandment. And the more we live out the great commandment, the more well be conformed to the image of Christ and the more we will break down the man-made barriers and the demonic barriers that are between us, said Adron Robinson, senior pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Country Club Hills at a virtual town hall Thursday, moderated by IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams. Robinson who is black, was one of three former presidents of the association, along with current leader, Pastor Sammy Simmons of Immanuel Baptist Church in Benton, who met to discuss ways in which Americas largest Protestant denomination could overcome the ongoing divide over race and critical race theory. Simmons agreed that instead of creating more problems with resolutions, perhaps SBC leaders could focus more on practically working together. Ive never liked resolutions. Maybe instead of statements, I just think we need substance. We need to work together, he said. Not only do we need minorities at the table, we need minorities to help us make the table, he continued, referencing a comment made by another fellow Southern Baptist. Along with tensions triggered by mass protests against racial injustice and police brutality in 2020, 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 now 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 critical race theory as an analytical tool that can aid in evaluating a variety of human experiences, is rescinded at the SBCs annual meeting this summer. The pastors, whose churches are part of the IBSA partnership of nearly 1,000 SBC-affiliated churches, church plants and mission congregations working together to advance the Gospel in Illinois and around the world, all raised concern over the ongoing tensions. This sort of national cultural discussion thats already so grieved and volatile have also entered the controversial subjects of critical race theory and intersectionality, and I wrote in my column, a year ago I couldnt have told you what those were and I suspect most church members and even pastors would need to look them up to have their first orientation to them, and yet theyre becoming more common in our conversation and for some, these theories risk becoming an ideological wedge which can threaten our larger unity and cooperation and the priorities of our common ground, said Adams. The Rev. Donald Sharp of Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church in Chicago, who was the first African American elected as the president of the IBSA in 1983, stressed that the SBC is not a monolithic group, no more than the black church is not a monolithic group, and everybody is not moving in lockstep with each other. He also suggested that politics, and not Christ, has been a big driver behind some of the tensions. Weve got to deal with some very hard, hard issues. The reality is that much of the politics has bled over into the pews of our churches, and its also mitigated and created a lot of problems that otherwise have gotten in the way of us being able to communicate with each other more openly, because of the politics of the country over the last four years, he said. Robinson lamented that black churches have felt abandoned by their white brothers and sisters in the struggle against racism. The New Testament writers constantly tell us we are to have compassion for one another, bear one anothers burdens, love one another, be gracious to one another. And oftentimes, the black church doesnt feel like the rest of the church community in America helps to or at least share our burden and have compassion for our brothers and sisters, he said. The pastors shared a variety of reactions to the protests over police brutality and systemic racism last summer, and Kevin Carrothers, associational mission strategist for the Salem South Association since 2017, said he sometimes feels helpless even though he agrees that white Christians need to show more empathy. I appreciate what brother Adron said about the one anothers. And I was thinking about when Paul talks about in that letter to the Corinthians, one member of the family grieves, we all should grieve. And we share that burden together. Ill just speak personally. I think sometimes when those issues arise and were confronted, there is a sense of helplessness from my perspective because I dont know what to do, he said. I dont know how to influence change. I dont have that role to . [make] changes [to] the systems and the organizations or structures. Simmons, who said his community is predominantly white, admitted that there are things members of his church community also dont understand. My town is 96% white and less than 1% African American, and so it raises lots of questions. For us, that was individual conversations, but we dont understand the same things because we live in totally different contexts. I guess its a little bit quite different in Benton than it is in Chicago, he said. Pastor Sharp said the George Floyd protests triggered anger in his Chicago congregation. Well of course, the first word is anger. Anger frustration, and when its gonna ever end, he said. What it does for our congregation, it just reinforces history, past pains, past histories. I grew up in Chicago. I remember as a boy going down to Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ on a hot August day and seeing the body of Emmett Till. And it just raised even more pain and raising the question, when its gonna ever end? On Aug. 28, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till, an African American from Chicago, was brutally murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman four days earlier while visiting family in Money, Mississippi. I think it hit different congregations differently. Like Pastor Sharp said, the long line of historic events in this vein has caused us to get angry that its still going on, Robinson said. Here it is in 2020 or even 2021, and black lives are still devalued on a regular basis in America. It causes frustration but also causes us to focus in on God because we know that God is where justice comes from. God is where our value comes from. God is where our love comes from. And so we look to the Kingdom to do what our government does not do. So theres always pain, theres always hurt. But within that pain and hurt we always take it to God, Robinson said. And Robinson believes now is the time for Southern Baptists to come together and take things to God. Pastors have to be intentional to disciple out racism. Racism is a sin like any other sin. The Gospel is the only cure for sin, and so pastors have to be intentional about discipling out racism. Teaching people what the Bible says that theres only one race the human race, that all humans are created in the image of God. And then not letting the cultural influences bleed into the church and not be challenged by the truth of the Gospel," Robinson said. "Its OK for them to come in with those ideas because they come from the world. You should come with worldly ideas. The churches got to disciple them into the truth with a relationship with God, he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to Assam has slammed the opposition and foreign celebrities for "maligning" India's image and said a "conspiracy" is being hatched to target Indian tea. Addressing a rally with Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal in Sonitpur, Modi said those who were out to malign India's image also wanted to "systematically" attack Indian tea. Assam, which is due to hold assembly elections in April or May, is among the largest tea-producing regions of India. "People who are conspiring to defame India have stooped so low that they are not sparing even Indian tea. You must have heard in news that these conspirators are vowing to malign the image of Indian tea in a systematic manner across the world," Modi said. Also read: PM Modi pitches for medical colleges, tech institutions imparting education in local language He was referring to a so-called toolkit tweeted by Swedish climate campaigner Great Thunberg, which allegedly talked about disrupting "yoga and tea image" of India. The tweet sharing the toolkit was deleted by Thunberg, who late posted an "updated" toolkit. Thunberg, American pop star Rihanna and other foreign celebrities have in recent days extended support to protesting farmers. The Prime Minister also panned the opposition, saying it would be answerable to the people of Assam for backing the "conspirators". "Some documents that have come up reveal that some foreign powers are planning to attack India's image associated with tea. Will you accept this attack? You will accept the people involved in this attack? Will you accept those praising these attackers?" Modi questioned. Modi also talked about the alleged lack of development in Assam before 2016, when the BJP was voted to power for the first time in the state. "Till 2016, Assam had only six medical colleges. In the last five years, we have begun work on the construction of six more medical colleges," Modi said. The Prime Minister laid the foundation stones of two more medical colleges in Biswanath and Charaideo. The colleges, to be built at a combined cost of Rs 1,100 crore, will have 500-bed capacities and 100 MBBS seats each. Modi also promised to set up a medical and a technical institute where the medium of instruction would be the "local language" if the BJP was voted back. The state is expected to go to the polls in April or May this year. A memorial for Dr. Li Wenliang is pictured outside the UCLA campus in Westwood, Calif., on Feb. 15, 2020. (Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images) Wuhan Residents, Intl Groups Pay Tribute 1 Year After Chinese Whistleblower Doctors Death Thousands of Chinese netizens and scores of international rights groups paid tribute to Chinese whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang on Feb. 7, marking the one-year anniversary of his death from the virus that he had sought to warn other doctors about. Li, an ophthalmologist, was one of eight whistleblowers who warned on Chinese social media in late December 2019 about an unknown pneumonia outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Local authorities didnt welcome the warning and only confirmed the outbreak after the doctors posts went viral. He was summoned on Jan. 3, 2020, to a police station, where he was reprimanded for rumor-mongering and forced to sign a confession statement. The document accused him of disturbing social order and breaking the law for his online activities. It warned that he would be punished by the law if he continued such illegal activities. On Feb. 1 last year, Li announced on his Weibo social media account that he had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which is commonly known as the novel coronavirus. He said he had contracted the virus while unknowingly treating an infected patient at the Wuhan Central Hospital. That Weibo post turned out to be Lis last; he died in the early hours of Feb. 7. Since his death, Chinese netizens have regularly visited the same Weibo post to leave messages, such as to wish Li a happy New Year. His Weibo post was flooded with thousands of comments over the weekend. On Jan. 7, one netizen from Wuhan wrote: Last night, my friends and I walked past the [Wuhan] Central Hospital. We all thought about you and our hearts hurt. Time flies and it has already been a year. Many netizens decided to leave comments with Lis own words. A healthy society should not have just one type of voice, a comment made by Li during a January 2020 interview with Chinese media Caixin. Asked what he thought of authorities punishment for him, Li had said he didnt agree with excessively exercising public power to interfere in society. One netizen from southern Chinas Guangdong city left this message: Today I cry. In this current environment for speech, I feel that tragedies like [Lis] will happen again. Days before the anniversary of Lis death, Ms. Fang, a Wuhan resident who declined to give her full name, said during an interview with Epoch Times affiliate NTD that there are still many unanswered questions about the initial outbreak in China, Who prevented [Li and others] from telling people what they knew? Fang said. As residents of Wuhan, we know nothing. How come we still know nothing after more than a year? The Chinese regime eventually investigated Lis case and punished two police officers in March last year for their inappropriate actions in punishing him. Many people expressed dissatisfaction with the investigation, saying the two officers were merely scapegoats. Fang also questioned why Chinas state-run media initially claimed that the virus wasnt contagious, and yet the media hasnt been punished for rumor-mongering. Chinas state-run media didnt acknowledge that the virus could spread among people until Jan. 20, 2020. Fang added that due to Chinas internet censorship, she is unable to share her opinions on social media. She said that its abnormal for any society to have only one narrative, adding, A government that is not subjected to any supervision means that its officials are emboldened to do anything. Many U.S. officials have voiced support for Li. The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) honored Li on Feb. 7 on Twitter. The Chinese govt should allow Dr. Li to be freely mourned & honor this sad anniversary by being completely transparent about the viruss origin & spread, CECC wrote. On Feb. 5, U.S. Rep. Roy Chip (R-Texas) introduced a resolution (H.R. 896), calling on Congress to posthumously award Li the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award issued by Congress. The resolution was co-sponsored by nine other Republican lawmakers, including Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Gregory Steube (R-Fla.), and Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas). Roy introduced a similar resolution in April last year. In addition, Republican lawmakers in both the Senate and House introduced a bill last year to rename the street outside of the Chinese embassy in Washington as Li Wenliang Plaza. Outside of the United States, many rights groups and organizations posted Twitter messages in remembrance of Li, including Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch; Dr. Maurizio Cecconi, president of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM); Theresa Fallon, director of the Brussels-based think tank Centre for Russia Europe Asia Studies; and Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. One year after the death of Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, others who spoke out about the #COVID19 pandemic are still being targeted. China must end the repression of freedom of expression, Amnesty International wrote on Twitter. TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - A Wabash valley teen says he wants to make it big in the dirt bike racing world and he signed a sweet deal to get him closer to the goal. Jack Joy is a student at Terre Haute North Vigo high school. He's been racing since he was 7-years-old. He says it was just for fun at the start but, he was pretty good so he got more competitive. Now, he's training and working on bikes all the time. He's doing so well, he just signed a deal with Sherco USA. The company is giving him 4-free bikes, a parts allowance, and a chance to get to the top! Jack Joy, dirt bike racer says, "It means a lot to me. It's a lot of dedication I've put into it and I've been working to get this deal for a while. I'm finally happy we made it happen." Joy says he hopes this all leads to big money down the road. He's already traveling across the Wabash Valley and the country for Indiana Cross Country Racing and Grand National Cross Country Racing. By Brendan O'Brien CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago schools could gradually start to reopen for in-person learning this week under a tentative agreement with the teachers union on a COVID-19 safety plan, a major milestone that will put an end to a bitter labor dispute and avert a possible strike. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the deal on Sunday between the nation's third-largest school district and the Chicago Teachers Union, which represents 28,000 educators. The two sides have been locked in talks for months, with teachers demanding stronger safety protocols to prevent the spread of the virus in classrooms. The Chicago Teachers Union said members have yet to approve the tentative deal. "What we have is a framework that all of our members must first review and assess, because it is our members who are being asked to return to school buildings in the midst of a global pandemic," the union said in a tweet after Lightfoot's announcement. After Lightfoot spoke, school district CEO Janice Jackson outlined a plan to bring students, who opt to resume in-person learning, back to schools pending the union's ratification of the agreement. If approved, pre-kindergarten and special education students would return on Thursday, Jackson said. It is unclear when their teachers would be expected to report to work this week. Elementary school educators would report to work on Feb. 22 with their students returning a week later on March 1. Middle school staff would return to school on March 1 with their students would come back on March 8, she said. "It's important to me to see our students return to the classroom. That sense of normalcy not only will help them become better educated but will bring back so much that has been lost throughout this pandemic," she said. Over the last three weeks, tensions intensified between the two sides when union membership voted not to return to schools until a deal was reached. Jackson then threatened to lock out 13,000 educators from their online systems if they refused to report to work. Story continues The union has said teachers would stop working altogether, form picket lines and strike if the district retaliated against any members who refused to teach in school buildings. Similar labor disputes have unfolded across the country, pitting teacher unions against district officials over conditions for reopening, almost a year after the virus shut down schools for 50 million students nationwide. The labor dispute in Chicago comes 15 months after the citys teachers staged an 11-day strike over overcrowded classrooms, support-staff levels and pay. On Sunday, Lightfoot struck a conciliatory tone with the teachers during her remarks, given that they have taught the district's 355,000 student remotely since the pandemic forced CPS to close school buildings last spring. "You have been champions. ... I understand that and I want to thank you," she said to teachers. On Friday, Lightfoot and Jackson said agreements were reached on health and safety protocols, ventilation in schools, testing, contact tracing and creating health committees. (COVID-19 graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi) But the parties remained at odds on vaccinations for teachers and infection metrics used to decide when to close schools. Another sticking point was accommodations for teachers to work remotely if they have or live with people who have medical conditions, the district said. About 62,000 elementary and middle-school students signed up to take some classes in person starting last Monday. Some 5,200 pre-kindergarten and special education students who chose the same option had been taking classes in their schools up until Jan. 26, when the district canceled in-person instruction for them because of the dispute. The district has yet to announce when high school students will have the option to return to school. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Lisa Shumaker and Diane Craft) Masks will be mandatory for teachers and senior school students in the Perth, Peel and South West regions. Western Australia recorded no new cases of Covid on Sunday, both within the community and in hotel quarantine. Schools across the state will resume on Monday. WA Premier Mark McGowan said while the state is tracking well, it's still too soon to lift all restrictions. 'These are all encouraging numbers for WA. Please keep getting tested - let's not take our foot off the pedal now,' he said. WA ended its tough five-day lockdown of the Perth, Peel and South West regions at 6pm on Friday. The lockdown was sparked by one case in a security guard at the Sheraton Four Points hotel who unwittingly roamed the streets of Perth while infectious. Masks will be mandatory for teachers and senior school students in the Perth , Peel and South West regions WA Premier Mark McGowan said while the state is tracking well, it's still too soon to lift all restrictions Officials are continuing to investigate how the guard contracted the highly contagious UK strain of the virus from an infected guest. Mr McGowan previously announced a range of restrictions will remain in place for Perth and Peel until 12:01am on Sunday February 14. All residents, including teachers and high school students, must wear masks while outside of their homes except for during vigorous outdoor exercise. A 20-person limit will be imposed on all private indoor gatherings while a four square metre rule and a cap of 150 attendees will apply to hospitality and retail venues and weddings. Restaurants, pubs and bars can only have seated service and only essential travel is permitted in and out of the combined Perth and Peel regions. No restrictions will remain for the South West. New Delhi, Feb 7 : For ensuring biodiversity conservation and livelihood improvement in sustainably managed tropical forests through landscape restoration and expansion of natural protected areas, the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have renewed their longstanding collaboration for another five years. With the aim of supporting CBD parties, including India, and ITTO member countries in the tropics in their efforts to conserve biodiversity, the collaboration will implement sustainable forest management, restore degraded forest landscapes, and encourage the sustainable use of forest resources. The collaboration to 2025 was formalised with the signing last week of a memorandum of understanding (MoU). The ITTO and the CBD have been collaborating closely for a decade. The first MoU between the two bodies, signed in 2010 in the framework of the International Year of Biodiversity, gave birth to the ITTO-CBD Collaborative Initiative for Tropical Forest Biodiversity. A second MoU spanning 2015-2020 was signed at the 12th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD in Pyeongchang in Republic of Korea in October 2014. To date, the collaborative Initiative has encompassed 16 projects in 23 tropical countries, all of which had experienced biodiversity losses and decline in the forest area and have large numbers of forest-dependent people. At $13 million, the total budget of the 16 projects is modest, but a recent technical review found that they have achieved extraordinary success in improving local livelihoods and forest management, restoring degraded forest landscapes and conserving biodiversity. Examples of the collaborative initiative's achievement include increasing the size of a mangrove protected area in Peru by more than 7,00,000 ha; providing more than 400 foresters and technicians in Central Africa with education and training on sustainable forest management; enabling previously difficult transboundary cooperation on the management of the Emerald Triangle between Cambodia and Thailand; and restoring 130 ha of mangroves in Fiji. The renewed collaboration between the CBD and ITTO will include assisting countries to recognize and enhance the values of forest landscapes, including their biodiversity and ecosystem services, assisting countries to collect and use ecological and biological data that contribute to sustainable management and use and the restoration of tropical forests. The new MoU will also help facilitate collaboration with, and access to, bilateral and multilateral funding sources such as the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund on emerging issues related to biodiversity conservation, climate-change mitigation and adaptation, and sustainable development. Innovative aspects of the collaboration between ITTO and the CBD include exploring opportunities for harmonised reporting on the sustainable use, restoration and conservation of tropical forests in the context of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, which is being developed under the CBD, and supporting regional and South-South cooperation, thus contributing to and leveraging the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). God Himself was their King, but that was not enough for the nation of Israel, resulting in them demanding an earthly king like all the other nations; which, like the human judges, quickly led to disappointment. But when they said, Give us a king to lead us, this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king (1 Samuel 8:6-7). Related - Why You Really Should Read 1 Samuel 2 Samuel God appointed David to reign as the second king over Israel and entered into a covenant with him (known as the Davidic Covenant), a significant moment in the narrative of the Bible, as Jesus Christ (the King of Kings) would come from the earthly line of King David. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever (2 Samuel 7:16). 1 Kings God required the kings of Israel to lead in obedience to His law but the majority of them did evil in the eyes of the Lord, encouraging idolatry (the worship of false gods) rather than confronting it, resulting in judgment and the division of the nation of Israel into two kingdoms (Israel and Judah). So the Lord said to Solomon, Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen (1 Kings 11:11-13). 2 Kings The rebellion of the kings of Israel and Judah resulted in God allowing His people to be taken captive, paved the way for the prophets, and foreshadowed the coming King (Jesus) who would live in complete obedience to the will of God. The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them until the Lord removed them from his presence, as he had warned through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria (2 Kings 17:22-23). Photo credit: Pexels/Oladimeji Ajegbile ALTON Patrons turned out on Saturday in Madison County to take advantage of what had become a rare treat: eating a meal inside of a restaurant. When they opened up it was like heaven, said Donna Berning of Godfrey, who was enjoying a meal at Santinos Steak and Pasta House in Alton. I praise the ones that were able to stay open with takeout orders during the pandemic, and now Ill try to keep restaurants busy and give them money every day When everything was closed it was horrible, she said. Im retired, and its bad when you have to stay home and cook. Santinos owner Sonny Asani is grateful for customers like Berning. I have the best people as customers, he said. They are supportive and loving. They do anything they can to help us out. Being in Alton is the best thing that ever happened in my life, Asani Asani said his business went through some tough times during the pandemic when all indoor dining was shut down. Its not just rough for me; its rough for the whole nation, he said. Everybody is struggling, and hopefully this will be over with and everybodys going to get back to normal. We have to stick together, he said. We have to be strong and move forward. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) on Thursday announced that Madison County and the rest of Region 4 had moved to Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan. That means restaurants and bars are now permitted to have indoor dining and drinking for parties, under certain restrictions. Region 4 which also includes Bond, Clinton, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair and Washington counties was the last of Illinois 11 regions to have COVID-19 mitigations lessened. The lowered restrictions were welcome news for Renee Goodpasture, owner of the R & R Clifton Country Inn in Godfrey It feels so amazing. I havent seen it like this in a year, said Goodpasture as she took orders from a full house on Saturday. I feel so blessed with all of the regulars that have been so awesome, she said. Im more thankful for my customers than Ive ever been. I could cry it feels so good. Chris Kelley of Edwardsville was among those enjoying a meal at the Clifton Country Inn on Saturday. It feels good to support local businesses to keep them running, Kelley said. This is kind of a mom and pop place, and we like to contribute to places like these rather than fast food restaurants. At the Bluff City Grill in downtown Alton, diners like Brett Barnes of Godfrey were pleased to be able to order food and eat it inside. To not be able to go out and enjoy a meal has not been fun at all, he said. We were completely bored. Its good to get out and support businesses and actually eat out, he said. Bluff City Grill owner Cathy Gross said she was raring to go when the restrictions were eased. Were ready to get back to it, Gross said. Its been a long winter so far and we are ready to move into a positive direction. We will get banquets going back up in April. Weve had a lot of to-go orders, which helped out tremendously, and definitely some loyal customers, Gross said. December and January got a little rough. But we made it through and we are excited. Information about indoor dining and other COVID mitigation measures is available online at https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/restore-illinois-phase-4. From prison cells to Ph.D.: Advocates push to restore college access in prison Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment What started as selling drugs as a teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, led to a pattern of more serious poor decisions for Stanley Andrisse as he grew up. By his mid-20s, he found himself convicted of three felony drug trafficking charges with a prosecutor calling for 20 years to life in prison. The sharp words said by the prosecutor that day in 2006 stuck with Andrisse. As he began a 10-year prison sentence, he contemplated the label he was given by the attorney. Could he really be a career criminal with little hope of leaving the criminal lifestyle? Looking back on his life choices as a teenager and young adult, he was led at the time to believe that the prosecutor was right. For much of my early incarceration, I saw myself as a bad person, Andrisse told The Christian Post in a recent interview. I saw myself as this career criminal. I saw myself as being someone who was hopeless. Once I got out, I thought the only thing that was really left for me to do was to continue doing what I had been doing. But thanks to encouragement from a mentor and his pursuit of higher education, Andrisse turned his life around. Today, Andrisse is living proof of the abundance of talent and intelligence living within people imprisoned in correctional facilities across the United States. And if given the opportunity and access to postsecondary education, they are capable of reaching extraordinary heights many never thought possible. What we seek to do is really change that narrative around what that potential is [for people in prison], he said. Years removed from his imprisonment, Andrisse is an endocrinologist scientist and assistant professor at Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C., where he is researching Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. He also holds a visiting professorship at Georgetown University Medical Center and previously held an adjunct position at Johns Hopkins Medicine a far cry from the career criminal label that had been pressed on him over 13 years ago. Additionally, Andrisse serves on the frontlines of the growing bipartisan push to restore access to federal postsecondary education grants for people serving behind bars. He also mentors 100 formerly and currently incarcerated people each year as the executive director of a nonprofit called From Prison Cells to PhD (P2P). P2P is one of many organizations advocating on Capitol Hill for a measure to restore incarcerated students eligibility to receive Pell Grants. Pell Grants are a federal subsidy provided to low-income students to help them pay for college and other forms of postsecondary education. The grants are provided to all eligible students who apply. But after tough-on-crime legislation passed in 1994, students in prisons have been barred from receiving Pell Grants. Since then, most college education programs in prisons have vanished. Restoring Pell Grants to prisons, Andrisse argues, would provide more access to vocational classes as well as college and university degree programs. In due time, proponents contend, improving access to education in prisons will only reduce the nations troubling recidivism rate. Nationally, 43.3 percent to 51.8 percent of formerly incarcerated individuals will recidivate within three years of leaving prison, Andrisse explained. Education has been correlated with a drastic reduction in recidivism rates. What does the data say? A research report from the independent national research and policy organization Vera Institute of Justice, published last January, states that most people in prison in the U.S. are not receiving postsecondary education despite the fact that 64 percent are academically eligible. The report explains that 58 percent of people who are incarcerated in the U.S. do not complete any education program at all while in prison. Citing 2014 data, the report suggests that only 9 percent completed a postsecondary program during their prison time. Part of the problem is that access to postsecondary education in prison is extremely limited. Most existing programs are funded through the federal Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative, which serves a maximum of 12,000 incarcerated students nationwide annually through partnerships with over 60 higher education institutions. The Vera Institute report estimates that if the ban on Pell in prisons is lifted, about 463,000 incarcerated people would be eligible to receive Pell Grants. According to a 2014 RAND Corporation report, the odds of recidivating are anywhere from 36 percent to 43 percent less likely for those who take part in correctional education programs than for those who do not. The RAND report also found that the odds of finding post-release employment for those who participated in a correctional education program was 13 percent to 48 percent higher than for those who did not. Britains enemies are attempting to use social media to tear the fabric of society apart, one of the countrys top military generals has warned. In a candid interview about cyber warfare, General Sir Patrick Sanders said the threat was not like that seen in films where power plants are targeted, but was rather a more subtle influence of sowing discord and propagating conspiracy theories. Speaking to Sky News Into The Grey Zone podcast, the Commander Strategic Command said: In some respects, the most important, the most relevant use of cyberspace is that the real power is in influence and not in sabotage. You could go so far and describe it as almost fuelling a civil war inside some of these societies General Sir Patrick Sanders And so what youre seeing are our adversaries, our rivals, exploiting the tools that are meant to make for a more utopian society so things like social media against us, fuelling conspiracy theories and really sowing division and tearing the fabric of society apart. You could go so far and describe it as almost fuelling a civil war inside some of these societies. Sir Patrick said that offensive cyber striking against enemies before they inflict damage on Britain was unquestionably one of the ways in which the military was protecting our democratic processes. He said, with countries such as Russia and China switching to non-military means of activities to secure their aims, the most important weapons dont necessarily fire bullets. Expand Close General Sir Patrick Sanders (Owen Humphreys/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp General Sir Patrick Sanders (Owen Humphreys/PA) His comments come after a report published last year by MPs on the Intelligence and Security Committee found there had been credible open source commentary suggesting Russia tried to influence the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Ministers are also looking to counter misinformation about coronavirus and its vaccines, as the inoculation rollout continues at pace in the UK. GCHQ director Jeremy Fleming, also interviewed on the podcast, said the UK was ready to strike and had the tools to hack into the phones of adversaries engaging in cyber warfare. We might deploy capabilities to counter individual criminals or serious and organised crime gangs and that could include getting onto their phones or the technology they are using, he said. Mr Fleming suggested the UK had not yet utilised an offensive cyber on another state. Expand Close GCHQ director Jeremy Fleming (Joe Giddens/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp GCHQ director Jeremy Fleming (Joe Giddens/PA) Asked whether it had been deployed against another nation, he said: Were able to say that its available to governments to use in that context. The men went into detail about how cyber attacks on so-called Islamic State (IS), as well as supporting the rebels on the ground, helped to bring down the self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq. British forces and security experts were involved in disabling laptops and phones and even meddling in the terrorists communications networks, to spread confusion among its troops, they said. They either couldnt trust the messages that were coming to them or they werent working, Sir Patrick said. Much of the work was carried out from GCHQs headquarters in Cheltenham, thousands of miles away from where the fighting was playing out. Mr Fleming added: We tactically disrupted the communication of the Daeshs (IS) fighters on the battlefield at times and that gave the military commanders the element of surprise, enabled them to adopt a different posture in that combat. The Wyoming Republican Partys central committee voted Saturday to censure U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R- Wyo., for her recent vote to impeach President Donald Trump. The vote to approve a resolution to censure Cheney came in the weeks after the congresswoman voted to impeach Trump for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Cheney joined nine other Republicans in Congress who voted to impeach the now-former president Jan. 13, making Trump the only president to be impeached twice. The partys vote, which came after GOP committees from more than half of Wyomings 23 counties had already approved similar resolutions, was confirmed to the WTE by Laramie County GOP Chair Dani Olsen. Due to inclement weather that caused road closures along much of Interstate 80 this weekend, Olsen and the countys other two delegates were not able to attend or send a proxy vote to the meeting in Rawlins. The resolution approved Saturday, a copy of which was provided to the WTE, calls on Cheney to immediately resign, stating she has violated the trust of her voters, failed to faithfully represent a very large majority of motivated Wyoming voters, and neglected her duty to represent the party and the will of the people who elected her to represent them. The resolution also indicates the Wyoming GOP will withhold any further political funding for Cheney, though it is unclear whether the party has never given her any campaign funds. And it falsely asserts that the U.S. Capitol riot was instigated by Antifa and ( Black Lives Matter) radicals. Carbon County GOP Chairman Joey Correnti, whose county committee already approved a censure resolution in mid-January, said the estimated 57-9 vote Saturday was the proper step based on the overwhelming will of the people that weve been dealing with since this has happened. (Impeachment) was not a question of a regular floor vote, which I dont expect her to poll every Wyoming Republican on every time shes got to go to the floor of the House to vote, Correnti said in an interview after the meeting. This was a known question that already had a poll done on Nov. 3, and the voters in Wyoming resoundingly supported President Trump. Up until I see some true evidence that support any of the accusations in the articles of impeachment, I will not only consider the impeachment a complete sham, but I will hold my representative accountable for not looking for actual evidence to support the charges that they put forth to the Senate, he added. In a statement Saturday in response to the vote, Cheney defended her decision, saying she will always fight for the issues that matter most to our state. Foremost among these is the defense of our Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees, Cheney said. My vote to impeach was compelled by the oath I swore to the Constitution. Wyoming citizens know that this oath does not bend or yield to politics or partisanship. I will always fight for Wyoming values and stand up for our Western way of life, Cheney continued in a prepared statement. We have great challenges ahead of us as we move forward and combat the disastrous policies of the Biden Administration. I look forward to continuing to work with officials and citizens across Wyoming to be the most effective voice and advocate in defense of our families, industries and communities. Cheney, who was not present for the meeting in Rawlins, had already drawn sharp criticism from some Wyomingites, as several hundred protesters and a handful of supporters gathered at the Wyoming State Capitol in late January to express their frustrations. The rally was headlined by U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R- Fla., who called on Cheney to step down from her third-ranking position in House GOP leadership. However, Cheney easily survived an attempt last week to remove her from the leadership position, with more than two-thirds of House GOP members voting to keep her on. Cheneys impeachment vote has already drawn some to begin weighing primary challenges in 2022 against the congresswoman, who was elected to her third two-year term last November. State Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R- Cheyenne, who announced his 2022 bid against Cheney last month, took to social media to criticize her Saturday, stating the censure vote illustrates that Liz Cheney is hopelessly out of touch with Wyoming, Trumps best state TWICE. Maybe Liz should run inside the DC Beltway in VA, where she lives full-time, because shes never here and has no clue how we think. And doesnt care. #AWOL, Bouchard wrote in a Facebook post Saturday, accompanied by a picture of an empty chair with Cheneys name on it that was left in the meeting room in Rawlins. Although the Wyoming GOPs central committee has now passed a censure resolution, county GOP committees that have yet to vote on a censure measure could still do so, according to Olsen. In Laramie County, a resolution to censure Cheney is slated to be on the agenda during the county GOPs central committee meeting Feb. 16. Correnti, meanwhile, emphasized the state partys vote was mainly an attempt to strengthen the voice of the people. A statement I made on the floor was the question we have to ask ourselves is, is the voice of the people important? And if it is, the second question is, is it only important on Election Day? Correnti said. Because I think that people should be able to affect the posture and the decisions of their representatives. Otherwise, you dont have a representative. You have a proxy that can do whatever they want with your voice. Tom Coulter is the Wyoming Tribune Eagles state government reporter. He can be reached at tcoulter@wyomingnews.com or 307-633-3124. Follow him on Twitter at @tomcoulter_. ___ (c)2021 Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, Wyo.) Visit Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, Wyo.) at www.wyomingnews.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A 93 year-old woman was killed in a crash Saturday in Springettsbury Township, police said. The crash happened about 2:30 p.m. at the intersection of East Market Street and South Mills Street, according to a release from Springettsbury Township Police, when a Mazda CX7 struck a Ford F150 while attempting to make a left turn. York Area United Fire and Rescue Battalion had to extricate both passengers from the Mazda before rushing them to the hospital. One of those passengers was a 93 year-old woman from Columbia, Lancaster County, who died following the crash, police confirmed later Saturday. The other passenger was being treated Saturday evening for his injuries, police said. The driver of the Ford was treated on the scene for minor injures, police said. The deceased woman had not been confirmed as of 6 p.m. Saturday Any witnesses to the crash are asked to call Springettsbury Police at 717-757-3525. One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 Guwahati, Feb 7 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that some people sitting abroad are conspiring against India, but the people of the country would not allow them to succeed. Addressing a massive public gathering at Dhekiajuli in northern Assam's Sonitpur district, the Prime Minister without naming any person and organisation said that the conspirators sitting abroad not only conspiring against India but also maligning the world famous Indian and the Assam tea. He said: "Some documents have revealed about such conspiracies plotted abroad. Despite the conspiracy, Assam and India would go forward. Let them do their conspiracy, but the people of India would not make them succeed." Modi said that in this year's Budget major thrusts were given in infrastructure development in India and the northeast region. Image Source: IANS News "With the development of the connectivities, trade and business would further flourish. New India would be Atmanirbhar Bharat." From the Dhekiajuli public meeting, Modi laid the foundation stone for two medical colleges in Biswanath Charali and Charaideo and launched the 'Assam Mala' project to upgrade the state highways. The two medical colleges and hospitals are being set up at a total estimated project cost of over Rs 1,120 crore. Each hospital will have a 500-bed capacity and 100 MBBS seat capacity. Under the 'Assam Mala' scheme, the state Public Works Department would upgrade 2,500 km state highways at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore in 15 years. Image Source: IANS News Sunday's visit is the Prime Minister's second visit in the poll bound Assam in a fortnight. On January 23, Modi had launched the allotment of land "pattas" (land allotment permit) to 1,06,940 landless indigenous people at the historic Jerenga Pothar in Sivasagar district. Elections for the 126-member Assam Assembly are expected to be held along with the Assembly polls in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry in April-May. -- Syndicated from IANS Types of obituaries The Missourian publishes two types of obituaries family obituaries and life stories. A family obituary is the version submitted by a funeral home or family. Please see the submission form for details on cost and deadlines. Family obituaries A life story is a closer look at a person's life and involves a reporter contacting family and friends. Life stories are based on newsworthiness and consent of the family. Life stories. A Saturday morning avalanche in Utah has resulted in the death of four skiers, with four others being rescued in what tied for the deadliest snowslide in state history. The avalanche reportedly happened in in the Wilson Glade area of the Wilson Fork, which is near Alexander Basin and Gobblers Knob. FOX 13 reports the Unified Police Department responded to a distress call in Millcreek Canyon around 11:40am. All eight skiers were wearing avalanche beacons, electronic devices equipped with radio signals, which helped rescuers find the victims. None of the victims have been identified publicly at this point. The medical conditions of the four survivors is unknown, though one who reportedly had hypothermia was taken off the mountain ahead of the others. An avalanche in Millcreek Canyon on Saturday morning killed four skiers Four others managed to survive the avalanche and were later rescued from the mountain Conditions were dangerous for Utah skiers on Saturday, with a high danger of avalanches At least one helicopter was used in the rescue of the skiers. Meanwhile, the recovery efforts are ongoing for those who died in the avalanche. The skiers all reportedly knew one another and were between 23 and 38 years old. The ones who survived reportedly dug their way out of the snow and had to dig out the ones who did not survive as well. 'This is a terrible tragedy and our prayers go out to the victims and families involved,' Utah Governor Spencer Cox tweeted. 'We are grateful to the first responders and others who engaged in this rescue and recovery effort. With avalanche danger high right now, please exercise extreme caution.' At least one helicopter was used in the rescue of the skiers who survived the avalanche Pictured: Medical personnel responding to the scene of the avalanche Pictured: Medical personnel responding to the scene of the avalanche 'We are heartbroken over the tragic news of four fatalities as the result of an avalanche in the Millcreek Canyon area this afternoon,' Mayor Jenny Wilson told ABC4. 'The Salt Lake County Sheriffs Canyon Search and Rescue Unit, Unified Police Department, Unified Fire Authority, and other partners are on-site responding to the situation. Additional details will follow as they become available throughout the evening. We deeply mourn the loss of life due to this devastating incident.' The Utah Avalanche Center warned of a high avalanche danger on Saturday morning. On Friday, there was an avalanche in the same relative area as Saturday's avalanche, though there were no people who were affected by it. Six people have died in Utah as a result of avalanches this winter, including Saturday's tragedy, according to FOX 13. Two people died in the back country of Park City, with one skier killed in Square Top and one snowboarder killed in Dutch Draw. Pictured: The approximate coordinates for Saturday morning's deadly avalanche FOX 13 reports that Saturday's avalanche is tied for the deadliest in Utah's history since the state started recording in 1958, matching the death toll of an avalanche that happened almost exactly 29 years ago in the Gold Basin of Moab in 1992. This is the first time since 2013 an avalanche in Utah killed multiple people. Since 1958, 124 people have been killed by avalanches in the state. Avalanches occur when the accumulated snow on a side of the mountain is disturbed in some way. They can be caused by natural disturbances, such as wind, rain, snow, earthquakes, or warm temperatures. They can also be caused by people, whether it be skiers, snowboarders, or hikers, or by loud noises brought on by people. MUMBAI: The Mumbai Crime Branch raided a bungalow in Madh Island in Malad on Saturday (February 6) and arrested five people, including popular television actress-model Gehana Vasisth, for allegedly shooting and uploading pornographic content on a website. The raid was carried out by Property Cell following a tip-off of a porn film racket, which circulated videos via mobile applications. According to ANI report, actress Gehana Vasisth, who has been booked by the Mumbai Police, is a model and an actor. Gehana is the actors stage name, her real name is Vandana Tiwari. A native of Chirimiri, Chhattisgarh, Gehana was born in 1988. Her mother Meena Tiwari is a housewife and her father Rajendra Tiwari was an education officer. She did her schooling from Chirimiri and Bhopal and completed her engineering degree in Computer Science from All Saints College of Technology, Bhopal. She was first approached by a TV guy, Shahryar Khan, after which she got her first modeling advertisement for a leading apparel brand. She then went on to appear as a model for multiple international brands. According to reports, she has appeared in over 80 advertisements. She was crowned as Miss Asia Bikini in 2012. Apart from being a model and an actress, Ghehna was also a television presenter for a brief period. Gehana entered the film industry with 'Filmy Duniya' where she played the protagonist in the film. She also appeared in Telugu cinema where she performed a handful of lead roles. She also worked in several web series, including Ekta Kapoor's 'Gandi Baat' season 3. Reporter Heather Bellow, a member of the investigations team, joined The Eagle in 2017. She is based in the South Berkshire County bureau in Great Barrington. Her work has appeared in newspapers across the U.S. Pregnant model Jesinta Franklin welcomed her first child - daughter Tallulah in 2020, and is due to give birth to her second child in March. Now the former Miss Universe Australia has detailed her struggle with body image and 'self love' after becoming a first-time mother. Speaking to The Daily Telegraph on Sunday, the 29-year-old was candid as she revealed: 'I probably don't feel as confident as I used to feel in a swimsuit.' Changes: Pregnant model Jesinta Franklin, 29, reveals her struggle with body image and confidence wearing swimsuits after becoming a first-time mother. Pictured: January 2020 Jesinta, who is married to AFL star Lance ' Buddy' Franklin, told the publication it has been a long journey 'of self-love' and 'learning to love my new body'. 'Your body goes through so many changes when you're pregnant, I probably don't feel as confident as I used to feel in a swimsuit,' she added. Jesinta recently shot a campaign for Australian swimsuit brand, Seafolly, where she happily showed off her blossoming baby bump in a bikini at her home in Sydney's Rose Bay. 'Your body goes through so many changes when you're pregnant': Jesinta told the publication it has been a long journey 'of self-love' and 'learning to love my new body' The shoot featured a rare appearance from her adorable toddler Tallulah, who will turn one next month. Jesinta said she likes to limit posts about her daughter on social media until she has a choice in how she interacts with the platform. 'It's never been about trying to hide Tallulah it's about allowing her to have the choice of how she interacts with social media,' Jeasinta explained. 'I was working too much, training too hard and not eating enough': Jesinta previously said she gained 18kg during her first pregnancy. Pictured in 2010 Jesinta revealed with her first pregnancy that she gained 18 kilograms. But said she was unbothered by it in an Instagram Q&A. 'I was working too much, training too hard and not eating enough as I was always on the go,' she said, prior to getting pregnant. 'Since giving birth, I just look at my body in awe now. I cannot believe I grew and birthed a little human, it is truly amazing and I am so grateful,' Jesinta added. And baby makes four: Jesinta confirmed she was 'halfway through' her second pregnancy in an interview with Vida Glow in October Jesinta confirmed she was 'halfway through' her second pregnancy in an interview with Vida Glow in October. 'It was a very big surprise for us. Tullulah [her daughter] will be getting a sibling at the end of March next year, so she will have just turned one,' she said. 'So I'll have a 13-month-old and a newborn, which was very daunting at first,' she added. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Insufficient coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine supply has been the largest obstacle to inoculating New Yorkers as quickly as hoped, say city and state officials -- but could the reliance on one vaccine over the other be contributing to the supply issues? The rollout of the coronavirus vaccine in New York City has been less than perfect, initially due to lack of immediate infrastructure and further complicated by more demand than supply. Although Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city officials have talked generally about using both the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, when speaking about supply shortages and site-specific vaccines the mayor specifically references only Moderna. Additionally, all city vaccination sites -- those run by the city Department of Health (DOH) and New York City Health + Hospitals -- administer the Moderna vaccine, according to the citys COVID-19 Vaccine Finder website, with only a handful additionally administering Pfizer. And appointments needed to be rescheduled and vaccination sites across the city closed in January after a shipment containing 103,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine was delayed. If the city stocked and administered the Pfizer vaccine at more locations, could it prevent more closures and cancellations? PFIZER REQUIRES SPECIAL STORAGE Some vaccination sites have no choice but to rely on Moderna, because the Pfizer vaccine requires ultra-cold storage -- community-based organizations, schools and other city-run pop-up sites would have to be specially equipped with the needed freezers. When the city was forced to reschedule appointments in January due to lack of supply it primarily impacted DOH sites that exclusively use the Moderna vaccine. Even so, the city is not willing to say that a focus on increasing the ability to distribute Pfizer vaccine at more sites will help with the shortage challenges. A city Department of Health spokesperson said instead that its not about Moderna or Pfizer, and insisted that the capacity exists to store both. Between healthcare facilities, pharmacies, clinics and hubs we have the ability to store and distribute what we are allocated, a spokesperson said when asked if equipping sites to administer the Pfizer vaccine would help with supply issues and subsequent appointment cancellations. What we need is more supply. The city said it has sites that are equipped with ultra-cold storage, and more ultra-cold storage would not change our ability to vaccinate New Yorkers. According to the citys website, though, even if those Health + Hospitals facilities have Pfizer storage available, the vast majority are only administering Moderna. The COVID-19 Vaccine Finder showed only a few Health + Hospitals sites using the Pfizer vaccine as of Friday, despite the City Department of Health Commissioner, Dr. Dave Chokshi calling those sites more readily available to administer Pfizer than the DOH-run sites. We are using both vaccines at city sites but generally its split in that way [with Moderna at DOH sites and Pfizer at Health + Hospital sites] to ensure the vaccine is safely stored, Chokshi told the Advance/SILive.com. There is only one Health + Hospitals site on Staten Island, at the Gotham/Vanderbilt clinic, which is a mass vaccination site and open 24 hours a day. Staten Island residents have expressed frustration about the inability to get an appointment at any site, and those who could get one, about rescheduled appointments. My fear is dying before this vaccine becomes available, Joanna Filosa of Dongan Hills told the Advance/SILive.com. Filosa, 82, has been trying to schedule an appointment since the moment the state expanded eligibility to include those 65 and older. I try my best to do everything that is asked of me. Cant they do better, or do they not really care about the older folks like Cuomo did with the nursing homes, Filosa said. Im not ready to die. RUMC, SIUH ADMINISTER BOTH VACCINES, NO APPOINTMENT CANCELLATIONS Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC) and Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH) are administering both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to their staff as part of Phase 1a of the states vaccination plan. A RUMC spokesman told the Advance/SILive.com the hospital has not experienced any supply disruptions that forced them to reschedule appointments. Similarly, a SIUH spokesman said the hospital is managing as best they can with limited supply but did not say appointments needed to be rescheduled. As New Yorks largest health care system and private employer, Northwell Health remains focused on vaccinating our workforce against COVID-19. We have now vaccinated 46,000 team members more than half our entire workforce and as that number grows, along with our continued effort to educate our staff about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, more people are becoming comfortable with getting the shot, the spokesman said. On Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the hospitals have until Feb. 15 to finish vaccination of their staff. At that time, and leftover doses will be reallocated to health departments around the state, and vaccination eligibility will open to New Yorkers with co-morbidities like cancer, heart conditions and developmental disabilities. LACK OF SUPPLY CLOSED SITES, DELAYED OPENING OF 24/7 SITES The vaccine shortage that closed vaccine hubs and rescheduled 23,000 appointments also delayed the opening of three mass vaccination sites, including Empire Outlets, which was supposed to open on Jan. 22. Even though this was the first time hubs were closed and appointments were rescheduled, de Blasio has voiced concern about insufficient vaccine supply since day one, continuously asking the state and the federal government for increased allotments. Recently the mayor and city health commissioner began talking about the Johnson&Johnson vaccine, which is not yet available. They have said it will further increase the citys supply and hopefully prevent further cancellations. That increased supply is also needed to open the additional mass vaccination sites. I dont have an exact number, but I can say if we have on hand at any time enough to at least guarantee us that we could meet our weekly goal, thats when we can put this kind of site into action, de Blasio said last week, when asked how much stock would be needed before the new mass vaccination sites could open. Thats the kind of supply level that will guarantee us that we can have the 24-hour sites, he said. Since then, the city has moved forward with one of the planned mass vaccination sites, which opened Friday at Yankees Stadium. FOLLOW KRISTIN F. DALTON ON TWITTER. Late this January, TikTok user thezenblonde started what turned into a 12-part series about the book, Surviving My Birthright, a 2015 memoir written by Armie Hammer's paternal aunt, Casey. In the book, Casey writes about growing up in the Hammer family, including awful abuse at the hands of her father and brother. With Armie's sadistic grossness coming out these last few months, it's understandably started to get renewed attention. Before we get deeper into all that, let's start with the basics: Armie's great-grandfather was Armand Hammer, an multi-hyphenate industrialist who was chairman/CEO of Occidental Petroleum from 1957 until his death in 1990 whose parents had immigrated from Russia to the US in 1875. Armand had tight relationships with leaders of the socialist/community party (like his homie up above) and later confirmed he was named after the Arm and Hammer symbol. Fun fact: Former VP Al Gore's lawyer father, Al Gore Sr., used to represent Occidental. Armand encouraged and sponsored Gore Jr. to get into politics and wanted to make him President. (Weird coincidence, but Armie's ex wife Elizabeth got her career start working at Al Gore's channel, Current TV) Did not invent Arm & Hammer baking soda, but ended up buying controlling shares of its parent company and eventually tried to buy the whole brand because the misperception kept going invent Arm & Hammer baking soda, but ended up buying controlling shares of its parent company and eventually tried to buy the whole brand because the misperception kept going Armand had one child, Julian (Armie's grandfather). Julian would go on to father Michael (Armie's dad) and Casey (Armie's aunt and the author of the book) AFAICT, Casey had a good relationship with Armand at least. Okay, so back to Casey. Here's are some of details from the book, as retold by thezenblonde: Armie's grandfather (Casey's dad) Julian was a meth addict would beat his wife and give out guns like party favors Made Casey put a phonebook on her head and shot at her for target practice Casey remembers finding pictures of her dad watching a housekeeper performing sexual acts on a man [OP note: in the book, as a kid she tries to reason that if her dad was watching, then it couldn't be bad right? Heartbreaking.) This triggered memories of her father and brother Michael (Armie's dad) assaulting her multiple times; her dad even threatened to assault her half-sister if she told anyone Casey was once chased around the house by a methed out lady dressed as a ghost with a butcher knife Armand had worked with a lawyer and Casey to leave a portion family fortune to Casey before he died, but mysteriously that will went missing and Armie's dad ended up becoming the executor, leaving Casey with nothing Armie's dad might have been in cahoots with Armand's mistress to "fix" the will (who was the anesthesiologist of Armand's previous wife who had died soon after falling down a flight of stairs, wtf) Soon after Armand died, Armie's grandpa Julian started acting erratically and would point guns at people and yell about alien conspiracy theories, but could supposedly act lucid enough to get away with shit whenever the cops were called Casey ended up moving back home to take care of her dad, who eventually got arrested for meth and checked himself into a mental institution for a brief period to avoid charges When he left the institution, Julian was still acting erratic, accusing people of being alien spies, and even threatened to kill Casey's cats (don't worry they didn't get hurt!) When Julian died he left everything to his girlfriend, despite the fact that Casey had been caring for him this whole time; the gf refused to give Casey anything, not even her own baby photos Armie's dad may have also convinced Casey's ex-husband to take half of what little (comparatively) money she had in their divorce Casey Hammer is fairly active on IG and also started a TikTok after support came flooding in. She recently went on Heather Macdonald's podcast Juicy Scoop to talk about Armie and the family. She stated that she "wasn't surprised" that Armie is in this position and that they all grew up to be "perfect on the outside and twisted on the inside." She works at Home Depot now as a kitchen designer, seems to be have a normal life otherwise, and is working on a second book about her life titled Hammertime. source: Wikipedia, Casey's IG, TikTok Counting everyone in the United States every 10 years is a daunting task even in normal times. And the 2020 census was even more challenging because normal is not an adjective that can be applied to that year. The census was conducted amid a raging pandemic by an administration that was committed to manipulating the count for its own political objectives. Fortunately, there still is time to get it right. Recently, the Supreme Court punted on the Trump administrations plan not to count undocumented immigrants a clear violation of the Constitutions mandate to count all persons residing in the United States. The Biden administration since has said that everyone will be included in the count. And the Commerce Department inspector general has begun an investigation into whistleblower complaints that agency staffers were pressured to rush final census reports even though they lacked complete data. Nationally, 67% of Americans voluntarily responded to the census questionnaire (69.6% in Pennsylvania).There is no doubt, however, that the pandemic limited in-person contacts. Congress should provide Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo more time to deliver official results. It also should ensure that states, which have conducted their own calculations, have an adequate mechanism to challenge the official count. And Congress should commission a study of the 2020 census methodology, processes and results by the National Academy of Sciences, the American Statistical Association or some other independent entity. The census will determine congressional apportionment and the distribution of more than $8 trillion in federal funds over the next decade. Congress should make sure that it is accurate. Thanks to COVID-19, public health is at the top of Ohioans list of concerns. On that front, Senate President Matt Huffman and House Speaker Robert Cupp, both Lima Republicans, are clueless. Huffman appointed state Sen. Steve Huffman, a suburban Dayton Republican and medical doctor, to chair the Senate Health Committee. Steve Huffman is also Matt Huffmans cousin. That isnt necessarily a concern. This is: At a committee hearing in June, Steve Huffman referred to Black Ohioans as colored and suggested that personal hygiene might be a reason Black Ohioans suffer a disproportionately higher share than white Ohioans of COVID-19 deaths and infections. Could it just be that African Americans the colored population do not wash their hands as well as other groups? Steve Huffman asked then. Or wear a mask? Or do not socially distance themselves? Could that just be maybe the explanation of why theres a higher incidence? That was not merely racism or ignorance speaking. It was a dangerous failure to understand the nature of the problem, and challenge. Steve Huffman has apologized, and said hes taken steps to make amends. Theres no reason to doubt that. But theres also no reason to doubt that Huffmans chairmanship will justifiably lead Black Ohioans to doubt his commitment to their health needs. Meanwhile, the Huffman cousins should consider seeing an audiologist about their tin ears. Maybe Speaker Cupp should tag along. He reappointed Rep. Scott Lipps, a Republican from suburban Cincinnatis Franklin, to chair the House Health Committee. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Lipps, in an April conference call, said of the Health Committees agenda: Were gonna face a couple bills that this group does not like. And I have to have energy to stop this vaccine ---- thats coming. Lipps, to set the record straight with the liberal #FakeNews media, replied that he doesnt oppose vaccines, just forcing vaccinations on Ohioans (something that is not happening). As for my record, Lipps went on, my children and grandchildren are all vaccinated and I personally arranged for my parents of 87 and 85 years of age to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Thats genuinely good news for the Lipps family, and no reason to begrudge it. But hundreds of thousands of Ohioans frustrated by the states confusing (arguably, incomprehensible) vaccination plan might want to wonder how they, too, can land one of those vaccination slots. About our editorials: Editorials express the view of the editorial board of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer -- the senior leadership and editorial-writing staff. As is traditional, editorials are unsigned and intended to be seen as the voice of the news organization. Have something to say about this topic? * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this editorial to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com. Hajj Ibrahim Umar, the Imam of Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jamaa, an Islamic religious organization, has commended Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for renovating the Islamic Research Centre at Nima. The famous three-story building had been in a dilapidated state for many years and the Vice President intervened to get it renovated through the Zongo Development Fund. The roofing, ceilings, wall, floor tiles, plumbing works, ceiling fans, and other facilities were completely replaced to give the facility a refreshing look. The refurbished facility was handed over to the Ahlu Sunnah leadership on Friday, February 5, 2021. During the handing over ceremony, Hajj Umar expressed delight over the new look of the building and applauded Dr. Bawumias intervention and philanthropic gesture. The building is a multi-purpose facility, which serves as an educational research center, a school, and a community library. 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 Haiti - News : Zapping... FLASH : Coup attempt foiled Sunday morning at Toussaint Louverture International Airport, before taking the plane to launch the Jacmel Carnival, President Moise during a press briefing announced that thanks to the intelligence services, an attempted coup which aimed to overthrow and physically eliminate him Saturday had been foiled by agents from the General Security Unit of the National Palace, indicating that around 20 people were arrested in the plot. 6 members of Congress against Moise Saturday February 6, the day after Washington's support for the President of Haiti 6 members of Congress sent a letter to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinkendans in which he asks to no longer support Jovenel Moise "[...] As members of Congress, we believe deeply in democracy and the rule of law and we feel that it is essential that the United States unequivocally rejects any attempt by President Moise to remain in power in violation of these principles. The time for a Haitian-led democratic transition is now [...]" Address to the Nation On his Twitter account the Head of State writes "To mark the 4th anniversary of my five-year term, which ends on February 7, 2022, I will address the Nation, this Sunday from 3:00 pm on Facebook and on several others online platforms, to present to the Haitian people the results of Year IV of my Administration." 4G contracts signed in Haiti Jovenel Moise, announced that the Government had signed the contracts authorizing the use of 4G technology between the National Telecommunication Council (CONATEL) and the companies Digicel and Natcom which shares the market for a total amount of 407 million dollars. London : Ambassador of Haiti meets the diaspora Haitian Ambassador Saint Amand in London had fruitful discussions by videoconference with the Haitian community in the United Kingdom on topics such as immigration, the new Constitution and elections among others... New Government Commissioner The Minister of Justice, Rockefeller Vincent informs that Me Bed-Ford Claude is appointed Government Commissioner near the Court of First Instance of Port-au-Prince (the 7th under the Moise Government), he was substitute Government Commissioner within of this same tribunal for 2 years. HL/ HaitiLibre On the night of January 21, 1897, a mob of White men armed with pistols and shotguns surrounded the home of freed slave George Dinning in southern Kentucky. They falsely accused him of stealing livestock from a neighboring farm and unleashed a hail of bullets into his house, wounding him in the arm and forehead. Terrified for his wife and children, Dinning fired back, killing one of his assailants. In a remarkable story filled with dramatic twists and unusual alliances, Dinning eventually became perhaps the first Black man in the country to win damages against a White man after a wrongful manslaughter conviction. That fateful night and the harrowing months that followed are chronicled in a new book, "A Shot in the Moonlight: How a Freed Slave and a Confederate Soldier Fought for Justice in the Jim Crow South," by Ben Montgomery. Montgomery recounts how Dinning's trial deeply divided the state, with lynch mobs hovering around the courthouse, waiting for opportunities to strike. Gov. William Bradley posted soldiers to protect Dinning in the jail and the courtroom. Not surprisingly, Dinning was found guilty by a jury of 12 White men and sentenced to seven years in prison. But then the story took a dramatic turn. In what was a bold decision for a White Southern governor at the time, Bradley pardoned Dinning two weeks after the sentencing. Bradley kept his decision a secret until the next day to give Dinning time to hop on a train out of town. Dinning later moved to Jeffersonville, Indiana, where he changed his last name to Denning. With the help of Bennett Young, a young Confederate soldier and lawyer, he also successfully sued the men who had attacked his house that winter night in Kentucky. For Anthony Denning, reading about his great-grandfather's ordeal in Montgomery's book was surreal. Denning grew up in Jeffersonville and has stashes of old newspaper clippings and historical records from years of research. But the book provided new information that filled in some gaps. "The story has been handed down, my family talked about it a lot while I was growing up," Denning, 59, told CNN. "But to finally read the details of what took place that night was very emotional. It gave us such a sense of pride." The book also shed new light on the people who helped his great-grandfather, including Young and the many Black and White people who lobbied the governor to demand justice, he said. CNN talked to Montgomery, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, about his journey to document this largely forgotten story. His answers have been edited for length and clarity. How did you find this story? I spent the last three years of my stint at the Tampa Bay Times working on a massive public records project to account for six years of police shootings in Florida. We learned that in about 40% of police shootings, the victim was a Black male and that is way out of whack with Florida demographics -- only about 15% of the population of Florida is Black. I just became overwhelmed by the level of tragedy. I found myself longing for a story that involved a Black male character that didn't end in tragedy, and I began to actively search for a story that fit that. I had to go way back to 1897 to find one, unfortunately. The more I learned about it, the more it felt pressing to tell. It was a story that happened more than 100 years ago, but ... felt immediate. The George Floyd protests led to pivotal conversations about race. Did that factor into your decision to tell this story now? Absolutely. Not only was it a story that allowed me to talk about White violence, the history of White violence, the history of White supremacy -- but it also featured a character, Bennett Young, who is the lawyer who represented George Denning in federal court pro bono. He was a complicated man. He not only founded an orphanage for Black children and represented Black men and women for free in federal court, but he also did more than any man of his era to promote the sort of Southern mythology that's so closely akin to White supremacy. This story was a vehicle to renew our conversation about who we are and how we should remember the Confederates. He (Young) spent a ton of his time raising money for Confederate statutes -- a lot of which we're today thinking about pulling down. He delivered the keynote address at the unveiling of the General Lee statue in New Orleans. .... so this guy was involved in a lot of things, and part of what I wrestle with in the book is how should he be remembered? Because when the war started, there's no doubt that he came down on the side of slavery and we now judge every ancestor primarily on that fact. I don't think you'll see any other contemporary man, certainly not a Southern man, who did more for Black people than Bennett Young. He was on the forefront of fighting for civil rights and at the same time leaving a legacy that would impact civil rights all the way through our time. It's wild. What's the one thing that stays with you about this story? I always think about the courage of George Denning, this man who could have been a victim, and many other people of his era who were just victimized by White people. And he simply refused to submit ... and the courage it took for him to grab his shotgun and to defend his home and his family from this White mob that was attacking them. Almost brings me to tears. It took courage to walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge for those marchers in Selma, Alabama, in 1965. It took courage for college students in Greensboro (North Carolina) to occupy that Whites-only food counter. It took courage for Rosa Parks to refuse to give up her seat on the bus in Alabama. All of those stories are spawned by these other forgotten stories from the era before, from George Denning's era. He simply had the courage to not let himself get killed and then to go in search of retribution, and that's such an important thing. You met Denning's family. What was that like? I would not have done this story without their permission. So to meet Anthony Denning in Louisville in 2019 and to fall into his good graces was one of the highlights of my life. It's such a treasure to connect the story from the past -- this person I'd been thinking about for a couple of years. To connect him with a human in the flesh, a manifestation of his courage, was so important to me and such a beautiful moment. Was the family involved in the book's process? I sent Anthony (Denning) a copy of the manuscript. I'm an interloper in this story, and I recognize that I'm a White man who has chosen to tell the story about a Black man, and I did not want to do his family wrong in any way. And so Anthony has been a part of the process. He offered feedback on the manuscript and suggested some changes. We made those changes. His family read the book, they have joined us for a couple of online, book-talk type conversations now. It's such a treat to to not only feature this story from the past, but also to feature these people who are alive because of George Denning's courage. They would not exist if he hadn't done what he did. What challenges did you face while working on the book? I think primarily being a White guy and trying to dig into the story of a Black man. I approached this with great trepidation and sensitivity for that reason. Beyond that, George Denning was a man who, so far as I know, never learned to read or write. He died in the 1930s, so his personal record is scant. You know, there are no diaries, for instance, and there are no journals, no personal papers that can be found in an archive or a library. So the challenge for me was trying to create him as a vivid, detailed, textured human being that people could root for with such scant information. This meant spending tons of time in the archives and finding every little drip and drop of public record left behind. Do you believe he finally got justice? Someone asked on a book talk with his family the other day whether justice was achieved. He won $50,000 in damages from the lynch mob in that successful lawsuit. But he never recovered very much of it, certainly not the full amount. He tried for years to get these White farmers to pay up. And they didn't. And so that question, put to his family, was justice achieved? They said no. And hearing them without hesitation ... all these men and women say, no, no, no, no, cast this in a brand new light for me. And it's the reason that we should be having this conversation still, because ultimately what we're left with is a guy who won in words. He won a lawsuit, but he was stripped of the land that he had bought and paid for, his family was chased off. Imagine getting disconnected from all of your surroundings, the people that you knew and loved. Imagine getting just scared out of that place and having to relocate 150 miles away in a place that was completely new and completely foreign to you. And then multiply that by many hundreds of thousands of people that this happened to in the South. And that is a national tragedy that we have not yet dealt with. What do you hope people get from this story? That we're not finished talking about this. That Black history is not history. It is as important today to consider these stories as it was back in the 1890s. So many of the stories from that era -- post-Civil War and pre-civil rights movement -- have gone undiscovered. And those stories are as important to recall today as the bravery of Rosa Parks and the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. Uttarakhand glacier burst LIVE updates: Around 30 to 35 people including workers and employees of the 480 mw Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project on the Dhauli Ganga river are feared trapped inside one of the tunnels following the avalanche, project GM RP Ahirwar said Auto refresh feeds According to the Hindu, Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat in a press briefing said that seven bodies have been recovered so far after a glacier burst triggered flash floods. Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat announced a compensation of Rs four lakh each to the families of those who lost their lives in the flash floods triggered by the glacier burst in Joshimath. As per t he Hindu , Rawat said that five locals are reported to have been swept away in the flash flood. However, unlike the Kedarnath tragedy which struck after a downpour, the flash flood on Sunday occurred on a bright and sunny morning which helped in relief and rescue operations by police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel in the affected areas. Contrary to the bad weather that delayed launch of relief and rescue operations after the Kedarnath deluge whose magnitude could not be immediately realised, the clear weather on Sunday allowed helicopters to reach the affected areas quickly. The massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river triggered by a glacial burst in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday came as a grim reminder of the Kedarnath deluge of 2013 which led to widespread devastation in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region. A devastating natural disaster in the form of torrential rains of unseen magnitude had struck Kedarnath on 16-17 June in 2013. The banks of the Chorabari lake in Kedarnath collapsed due to a cloudburst that had resulted in a major flash flood causing widespread destruction in Uttarakhand and led to heavy losses to infrastructure, agriculture lands, human and animal lives. A team of DRDO experts on snow and avalanche issues from the Defence Geo-Informatics Research Establishment will arrive in Uttarakhand's Chamoli on Monday to assess the situation at the site where the Nanda Devi glacier burst on Sunday afternoon. The Times of India reported that the team will also take stock of other glaciers in the area. Both were extensively damaged with scores of labourers trapped in tunnels as the waters came rushing in. They were rescued from the NTPCs Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project, which was one of the projects affected by the flash flood that occured after a glacier burst in the area. The other affected project is the Rishi Ganga Hydel Project. Of the 150 labourers feared missing or dead after the flash foods in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, 16 had been rescued as of Sunday evening, PTI reported. At least 125 people are missing as of Sunday evening after a flash flood in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. However, PTI reported that officials feared that the missing people could be dead as rescue operations in the ecologically fragile Himalayas were hindered by night fall. An official on the condition of anonymity told PTI, "The local authorities have shut two power plants- Tehri and Koteshwar as a precautionary measure in view of the disaster. This has affected the overall power supply of not more than 200 MW to the national grid." The hydro power plants in the affected area are mostly under-construction or fall in small hydro project category which are of up to 25MW. These small hydro projects are mainly state-owned, PTI reported. Around 200 MW of power supply to the national grid was affected due to avalanche in Uttarakhand as local administration shut down two plants, Tehri and Koteshwar, as a precautionary measure. He said that people "should deal with this disaster with caution" and that the Central Government will provide all possible help to the state. Union tribal affairs Minister Arjun Munda on Sunday said he was deeply shocked over the disaster that struck Uttarkhand. Speaking to PTI, Munda said that he is deeply saddened by the natural disaster in Uttarakhand and prays to God to protect everyone. So far, 12 people have ben rescued, while 125 are feared missing or dead. NDRF director SN Pradhan was quoted by reports as saying that the teams of the ITBP, Indian Army, SDRF, and Uttarakhand Police will continue rescue operations overnight. "I pray for the safety of all and request Congress workers and volunteers to help people and authorities in their relief and rescue efforts. The Indian National Congress stands with the people of Uttarakhand in this hour of tragedy and crisis," she said. In a statement, the Congress chief expressed concern over the news of glacier breaking off in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, triggering an avalanche and a deluge in the Alaknanda river system that washed away hydroelectric stations, leaving at least seven people dead and 125 missing who are feared dead. Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday urged all party workers and volunteers to help the people hit by a massive glacier break-off in Uttarakhand's Joshimath in the relief and rescue efforts. During the 2013 Uttarakhand flash floods, the highest flood level (HFL) at Joshimath was 1,385.54 metres, he added. "At 11 am, the water level recorded at Joshimath was 1,388 metres," Central Water Commission chairperson Saumitra Haldar was quoted as saying by PTI. The water level of the Dhauliganga river at Joshimath flowed at a perilously high level, breaching all records on Sunday, Central Water Commission officials said. "France expresses its full solidarity with India, after a glacier burst in the Uttarakhand province, leading to the disappearance of over 100 people. Our thoughts are with them and their families," Macron said on Twitter. French president Emmanuel Macron on Sunday expressed France's full solidarity with India in the wake of a glacier burst at Joshimath in Uttarakhand''s Chamoli district that triggered a massive flood in the region. Sain added that Sunday's incident was quite "peculiar" as there was no rain or melting of snow. It had also conducted studies on the 2013 flash floods in Uttarakhand that killed nearly 5,000 people. "The teams will study the reasons behind the incident. Our teams will be looking into different aspects of glaciology," Sain said, adding that it is too early to comment on the development. Kalachand Sain said two teams of glaciologists, one with two members and other with three members, will leave Dehradun on Monday morning. The Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, under the aegis of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), studies various aspects of the Himalayas, including the glaciers and seismic activities in the region. Two teams of glaciologists will head to Joshimath-Tapovan on Monday to study the causes of massive flood caused after a part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand''s Chamoli district, the director of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology said. One engineering task force of the army was also deployed in Ringi village in Joshimath and a control room has been set up in the area, they said. The Indian Air Force and the Indian Army on Sunday swang into action as part of a multi-agency rescue operation in Uttarakhand's Chamoli region as it was reeling under a massive flood triggered by a glacier burst at Joshimath, officials said. They said the army deployed around 400 personnel in rescue operations besides sending two medical teams to affected areas. Taking to Twitter, the Uttarakhand Police said misleading news was being posted on social media regarding the rise in water levels in Joshimath. The police requested the public to ignore such rumours and trust only reliable sources. Three residents of the village including a 75-year-old woman identified as Amrita Devi who had gone out to work in her field close to the bridge on Rishi Ganga are missing since the avalanche struck after the Nanda Devi glacier burst. The scenes brought back to the people horrifying memories of the 2013 Kedarnath deluge that killed thousands. Many were feared swept away in the sudden floods on Sunday including those who were working near the river. "Before we could make out what was happening, the raging muddy waters of Rishi Ganga had devastated the landscape," says 50-year-old Dharam Singh, a resident of the village. It was a tranquil winter morning in Raini village until the residents were jolted around 10 am on Sunday by a loud sound and the sight of huge torrents of water and sludge in the Rishi Ganga river hurtling towards them. JCBs and Pokland machines are being used to cut into the debris clogging the tunnel to rescue the trapped workers, he said. Efforts are being made on priority to save as many lives as possible, he said. Around 30 to 35 people including workers and employees of the 480 mw Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project on the Dhauli Ganga river are feared trapped inside one of the tunnels following the avalanche, Project GM RP Ahirwar said. Rescue efforts are on to extricate 30 to 35 workers trapped in a tunnel of the Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project on the Dhauli Ganga river, following an avalanche triggered by a glacial burst near Joshimath in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, an official said late Sunday night. "I pray for the safety of all and request Congress workers and volunteers to help people and authorities in their relief and rescue efforts. The Indian National Congress stands with the people of Uttarakhand in this hour of tragedy and crisis," she said. In a statement, the Congress chief expressed concern over the news of glacier breaking off in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, triggering an avalanche and a deluge in the Alaknanda river system that washed away hydroelectric stations, leaving at least seven people dead and 125 missing who are feared dead. Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday urged all party workers and volunteers to help the people hit by a massive glacier break-off in Uttarakhand's Joshimath in the relief and rescue efforts. During the 2013 Uttarakhand flash floods, the highest flood level (HFL) at Joshimath was 1,385.54 metres, he added. "At 11 am, the water level recorded at Joshimath was 1,388 metres," Central Water Commission chairperson Saumitra Haldar was quoted as saying by PTI. The water level of the Dhauliganga river at Joshimath flowed at a perilously high level, breaching all records on Sunday, Central Water Commission officials said. "France expresses its full solidarity with India, after a glacier burst in the Uttarakhand province, leading to the disappearance of over 100 people. Our thoughts are with them and their families," Macron said on Twitter. French president Emmanuel Macron on Sunday expressed France's full solidarity with India in the wake of a glacier burst at Joshimath in Uttarakhand''s Chamoli district that triggered a massive flood in the region. Our deepest condolences to those affected by the glacier burst and landslide in India. We grieve with the family and friends of the deceased and extend our hopes for a speedy and full recovery for the injured. Sain added that Sunday's incident was quite "peculiar" as there was no rain or melting of snow. It had also conducted studies on the 2013 flash floods in Uttarakhand that killed nearly 5,000 people. "The teams will study the reasons behind the incident. Our teams will be looking into different aspects of glaciology," Sain said, adding that it is too early to comment on the development. Kalachand Sain said two teams of glaciologists, one with two members and other with three members, will leave Dehradun on Monday morning. The Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, under the aegis of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), studies various aspects of the Himalayas, including the glaciers and seismic activities in the region. Two teams of glaciologists will head to Joshimath-Tapovan on Monday to study the causes of massive flood caused after a part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand''s Chamoli district, the director of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology said. One engineering task force of the army was also deployed in Ringi village in Joshimath and a control room has been set up in the area, they said. The Indian Air Force and the Indian Army on Sunday swang into action as part of a multi-agency rescue operation in Uttarakhand's Chamoli region as it was reeling under a massive flood triggered by a glacier burst at Joshimath, officials said. They said the army deployed around 400 personnel in rescue operations besides sending two medical teams to affected areas. Taking to Twitter, the Uttarakhand Police said misleading news was being posted on social media regarding the rise in water levels in Joshimath. The police requested the public to ignore such rumours and trust only reliable sources. Three residents of the village including a 75-year-old woman identified as Amrita Devi who had gone out to work in her field close to the bridge on Rishi Ganga are missing since the avalanche struck after the Nanda Devi glacier burst. The scenes brought back to the people horrifying memories of the 2013 Kedarnath deluge that killed thousands. Many were feared swept away in the sudden floods on Sunday including those who were working near the river. "Before we could make out what was happening, the raging muddy waters of Rishi Ganga had devastated the landscape," says 50-year-old Dharam Singh, a resident of the village. It was a tranquil winter morning in Raini village until the residents were jolted around 10 am on Sunday by a loud sound and the sight of huge torrents of water and sludge in the Rishi Ganga river hurtling towards them. #Uttarakhand #UttarakhandGlacialBurst Indian Army columns working continuously to rescue people trapped in the longer tunnel. Work will continue through the night. #IndianArmy pic.twitter.com/nZV412F2Qc JCBs and Pokland machines are being used to cut into the debris clogging the tunnel to rescue the trapped workers, he said. Efforts are being made on priority to save as many lives as possible, he said. Around 30 to 35 people including workers and employees of the 480 mw Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project on the Dhauli Ganga river are feared trapped inside one of the tunnels following the avalanche, Project GM RP Ahirwar said. Rescue efforts are on to extricate 30 to 35 workers trapped in a tunnel of the Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project on the Dhauli Ganga river, following an avalanche triggered by a glacial burst near Joshimath in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, an official said late Sunday night. -- Uttarakhand glacier burst LIVE updates: Around 30 to 35 people including workers and employees of the 480 mw Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project on the Dhauli Ganga river are feared trapped inside one of the tunnels following the avalanche, project GM RP Ahirwar said The Indian Army on Twitter said the colummns were working continuously to rescue people trapped in the longer tunnel and that work will continue through the night. Taking to Twitter, the Uttarakhand Police said misleading news was being posted on social media regarding the rise in water levels in Joshimath. The police requested the public to ignore such rumours and trust only reliable sources. Two teams of glaciologists will head to Joshimath-Tapovan on Monday to study causes behind flood, an official told PTI. At least seven people have been left deed and 125 more missing after a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off and triggered a deluge. The water level of the Dhauli Ganga river at Joshimath flowed at a perilously high level, breaching all records, Central Water Commission officials said after a part of Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district leading to massive floods. The glacial burst triggered an avalanche and a deluge in the Alaknanda river system that washed away hydroelectric stations and trapped more than 100 labourers who are feared dead. The intensity of the river's flow in a short span of time was such that it engulfed whatever came in its way. This was a grim reminder of the Kedarnath deluge of 2013 which led to widespread devastation in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region. "At 11 am, the water level recorded at Joshimath was 1,388 metres," Saumitra Haldar, Chairman, Central Water Commission told PTI. During the 2013 Uttarakhand flash floods, the highest flood level (HFL) at Joshimath was 1,385.54 metres, he added. Around 200 MW of power supply to the national grid was affected due to avalanche in Uttarakhand as local administration shut down two plants, Tehri and Koteshwar, as a precautionary measure. The hydro power plants in the affected area are mostly under-construction or fall in small hydro project category which are of up to 25MW. These small hydro projects are mainly state-owned. Earlier in the day, a glacier broke off in Joshimath in Uttarakhands Chamoli district which caused a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and endangered lives of people living along its banks. It is reported that massive destruction is feared and many people were missing after the disaster. An official on the condition of anonymity told PTI, "The local authorities have shut two power plants- Tehri and Koteshwar as a precautionary measure in view of the disaster. This has affected the overall power supply of not more than 200 MW to the national grid." Of the 150 labourers feared missing or dead after the flash foods in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, 16 had been rescued as of Sunday evening, PTI reported. They were rescued from the NTPCs Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project, which was one of the projects affected by the flash flood that occured after a glacier burst in the area. The other affected project is the Rishi Ganga Hydel Project. Both were extensively damaged with scores of labourers trapped in tunnels as the waters came rushing in. A 13.2 MW small hydro project on the Rishiganga river was swept away in the glacier burst in Uttarakhand on Sunday, but there is no danger of floods in the downstream areas as the water level has been contained. This was conveyed to the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, at an emergency meeting held on Sunday evening. According to reports, Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat in a press briefing said that seven bodies have been recovered so far after a glacier burst triggered flash floods. The chief minister said that 125 persons were estimated to be missing and five locals were reported to have been swept away. The chief minister also announced Rs four lakh financial assistance to families of each of the deceased. According to the Prime Minister's Office, Prime Minister Narednra Modi has approved Rs two lakh ex-gratia to the families of those who died in the tragic avalanche caused by a glacier breach in Chamoli. Rs 50,000 would be given to those seriously injured. Atleast 12 persons have been rescued from an open tunnel by ITBP personnel said reports. adding that efforts are on to rescue the remaining. The Uttar Pradesh government has asked authorities in all districts on the banks of river Ganga to be on high alert and continuously monitor the water level after a glacier broke off at Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. The glacier burst triggered a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and caused large-scale devastation in the upper reaches of the ecologically fragile Himalaya. As per reports, the ITBP DG said that it was suspected that around 100 workers were at the site and 9-10 bodies have been recovered so far. Search operations are underway, he added. A section of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in the Joshimath area of Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. It has caused massive flooding in the Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers, reports said on Sunday. Three people have been reported dead, as per latest reports. PTI quoted ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey as saying, "More than 100 labourers working at a barrage and 50 plus working at a tunnel are feared dead or missing as per the site in-charge of Tapovan and the local administration. Three bodies have been recovered till now Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force, and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police have been deployed for rescue and relief operations." Several districts, including Pauri, Tehri, Rudraprayag, Haridwar, and Dehradun, have been put on high alert. NDTV reported that the state government has ordered the emergency evacuation of people in the immediate areas. No flood situation anywhere currently: CM Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, who said he will visit the affected site later on Sunday, tweeted at 1.21 pm on Sunday that the level of water in the Alaknand river is decreasing. "The reassuring news is that the flow of Alaknanda River beyond Nandprayag has become normal. The water level of the river is now 1 meter above normal but the flow is decreasing. The state chief secretary, disaster secretary, police officer and all my team are constantly monitoring the situation in the disaster control room," he said. 1 , , pic.twitter.com/MoY3LX49rF Trivendra Singh Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) February 7, 2021 Rawat also appealed to people to refrain from spreading rumours with old flood videos. "I am visiting the site myself. I request everyone not to spread panic by sharing any old videos. All necessary steps have been taken to deal with the situation," he tweeted. At 2.42 pm, Rawat posted an update saying, Currently no additional water flows are being reported & there is no flood situation anywhere. Water from the affected site has reached beyond Nandprayag and river was flowing 1 meter above normal levels. No loss has been reported from villages along Alaknanda. #Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) February 7, 2021 News18 has quoted Union Power Minister RK Singh as saying that 16 staffers of the NTPC were caught in a tunnel, and that contact has now been established with them. "At a second location, 45 people have been trapped. Tunnels are blocked by debris. Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Garhwal Rifle personnel are trying to open the tunnel and rescue the people," Singh was further quoted as saying. In a video shared by News18, ITBP personnel can be seen attempting to open a tunnel blocked by debris. .@ITBP_official personnel digging to open Tapovan Tunnel which is completely blocked due to debris pic.twitter.com/N2QKM3a0z4 Arunima (@Arunima24) February 7, 2021 India stands with Uttarakhand, says Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah said that they are monitoring the situation. Am constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation in Uttarakhand. India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyones safety there. Have been continuously speaking to senior authorities and getting updates on NDRF deployment, rescue work and relief operations. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 7, 2021 Shah said that teams of the NDRF, SDRF, and ITBP will work on "war footing" to rescue affected people. Soon after the incident, the Chamoli Police tweeted saying, "The public is informed that the Rishiganga power project has been damaged due to glaciers in the Tapovan Raini area, which has caused the river's water level to rise. The people living along the Alaknanda River are warned to leave the area." The Uttar Pradesh government also issued a high alert for areas along the Ganga river. The government has asked authorities in all districts on the banks of the Ganga to continuously monitor the water level. In a disaster alert issued to all the district magistrates in Uttar Pradesh, the Relief Commissioner said in a statement, "Report of breaking of a part of Nandadevi Glacier in Uttarakhand has been received. The districts on the Ganga river (banks) need to be on a high alert and the monitoring of water level needs to be done 24 7. If required, people need to be evacuated." With inputs from PTI Federal and county authorities rescued two immigrants who were being held against their will, according to an arrest affidavit field on Wednesday. The case unfolded on Feb. 1, as U.S. Border Patrol agents responded to information regarding two immigrants who were being held against their will in the 100 block of Clark Boulevard. Agents along with Homeland Security Investigations special agents and Webb County Precinct 3 Constables Office deputies responded to the location. Authorities obtained consent from the owner to search the property. Agents then approached a man who was later identified as Alberto Amilcar Ortiz-Ramirez. He admitted to being in the country illegally. A further search of the location yielded two men inside a small room, according to court documents. Both admitted to being in the United States illegally. In a post-arrest interview, Ortiz-Ramirez stated he repairs automobiles and leases a work area in the 100 block of Clark. He added that about a week ago, the two men found in the small room arrived at the location looking for work. Ortiz-Ramirez did not know the subjects names and stated both subjects would stay in a small room at the location. Ortiz-Ramirez denied being involved in human smuggling, states the affidavit. The two immigrants rescued stated they made arrangements to be smuggled into the United States for $8,000 each. Both stated that some smugglers were extorting their relatives for more money before they could be smuggled further into the country. Each identified Ortiz-Ramirez as the caretaker and added that he would provide them food and water, according to court documents. Ortiz-Ramirez was charged with conceal, harbor or shield from detection, attempt to conceal, harbor or shield from detection, and conspire to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection the immigrants. More than 80 families who couldnt make rent payments due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were helped in Carbon County, commissioners learned last week. Tom Miller, a community support supervisor for Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Allentown, said that people qualified for up to $750 a month, or a maximum of $4,500, through CARES Act funding. The county designated Catholic Charities as the agency to administer the states CARES Rent Relief Program through the state Housing Finance Agency for Carbon. All of the renters who applied received information and assistance, including food, clothing and baby items, through the agency, regardless if they received funding through the rent relief program, Miller said. Between August and November, 66 different landlords applied with 50 receiving assistance, and 97 tenants sought help with 81 receiving the funding, Miller told the county commissioners. The program allowed renters to keep up with rental payments despite income reductions due to the pandemic. The program paid for partial or complete rent payments up to $750, he said. Eligible landlords accepted the $750 as complete rent even if the actual rent was higher, keeping tenants from falling behind on payments while providing them an income. Awards averaged $3,000 and the average family size helped was 3.5 people, Miller said. The need is still there, he said. People still continue to reach out to us. Miller hopes that there will be additional funding with the next federal relief package and that theyll be able to continue to assist people, he said. The need remains, unfortunately, Miller said. Catholic Charities was the sole agency responsible for administering the program for Carbon County, and one of multiple agencies responsible in neighboring counties, he said. It was a privilege to work with Carbon County in administering the CARES Rental Relief Program, Miller said. Commissioner Chairman Wayne Nothstein thanked him for handling the program, and said the county looks forward to working with the agency should additional funding become available. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 9 series back in May last year. Surprisingly, rather than follow it up with the Redmi Note 10 lineup six months later, the Chinese company chose to launch the Redmi Note 9 4G, Redmi Note 9 5G, and Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G instead. It appears, however, that the Redmi Note 10 series is finally imminent. According to new information, Xiaomi will launch the Redmi Note 10 series this month in India. The lineup is tipped to include the Redmi Note 10 4G, Redmi Note 10 Pro 4G, and the Redmi Note 10 Pro 5G. It's unknown if the Redmi Note 10 Pro 5G will be launched in India, however. The upcoming Redmi Note 10 series is expected to be priced very aggressively in India, with Xiaomi looking to fight off competition from rivals Realme. A source expects an MSRP in the region of Rs 16,999, although that number doesn't appear to have substance behind it. The phones will, of course, be released in the global marketthe timeline for that is just unknown. Specs and features remain elusive at this point, but we'll be sure to keep you updated. Workers take part in a Spring Festival couplets writing activity at the construction site of the "Huawei Cloud" data center in Guian New Area, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 6, 2021. Workers who have decied to stay put celebrated the upcoming Spring Festival together at the construction site. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu) 14 1 [ Editor: WPY ] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. Qantas has launched a fare frenzy sale to destinations like Byron Bay, Melbourne and Hamilton Island - with prices starting at just $99. From Monday, customers can buy cheap fares for travel from beginning in mid-March. The Flying Kangaroo's Spirit of Australia sale of more than one million seats will last a week. Qantas has launched a $99 flight sale to destinations like Byron Bay, Melbourne (pictured) and Hamilton Island One-way flights from Sydney to Ballina near Byron Bay start at $99, while a trip from Adelaide to Melbourne is as cheap as $109 Launceston to Melbourne one-way flights are $99 as part of Qantas' fare frenzy Sydney to Hamilton Island one-way will set customers back just $164, with fares on sale from today One-way flights from Sydney to Ballina near Byron Bay start at $99, while a trip from Adelaide to Melbourne is as cheap as $109. Sydney to Hamilton Island one-way will set passengers back just $164, and Launceston to Melbourne flights are $99 as part of the fare frenzy. Cheap offers Qantas are advertising: Sydney - Byron Bay (Ballina) from $99 Launceston - Melbourne from $99 Adelaide - Melbourne from $109 Brisbane - Cairns from $124 Sydney - Hamilton Island from $164 Melbourne - Perth from $204 Advertisement Brisbane residents wanting a holiday in far north Queensland can fly one-way to Cairns for $124, while Melbourne to Perth fares are at $204. To further encourage domestic travel amid the pandemic, Qantas has also extended its 'no change fee' policy until 2022. Passengers will be allowed to make as many changes to their bookings as they like, without being charged any extra to do so. Qantas Group Chief Customer Officer Stephanie Tully said no longer charging passengers for flight changes is an incentive to book travel. 'Customers have told us that sudden changes to border restrictions by state governments are giving them second thoughts about going on holidays or taking a business trip,' she said. 'To help manage the uncertainty, we've introduced the highest level of flexibility in the market so people can plan their next trip with confidence. 'As the national carrier, we have an important role to play in helping the industry recover from COVID-19, and we know that given the right opportunity, people are keen to travel. 'By giving customers unlimited flight date changes for almost a year, we think it will encourage more people to book, helping to boost tourism which is so vital to local economies and businesses around the country.' KYODO NEWS - Feb 6, 2021 - 22:59 | All, Japan Eiko Harada, who has served as the head of the Japanese subsidiaries of McDonald's Corp. and Apple Inc., has been arrested for alleged domestic violence, Tokyo police said Saturday. Harada, 72, was arrested on Friday after his wife, who is in her 50s, called the police to say that she had been beaten by her husband, they said. Harada is credited with reviving Apple's operations in Japan as the head of the computer firm's local subsidiary from 1997 to 2004 and successfully restructuring the Japanese business of McDonald's as its CEO between 2004 and 2013. Istanbul: A Turkish composer known for several other works on such international issues as Jerusalem hopes to give voice to the plight of Kashmir with a new song he released Kashmir Solidarity Day. Turgay Evren added the song, I am Kashmir, which he composed for the regions day of remembrance on Feb. 5, to his repertoire of other works including The world is bigger than five, Dont cry Jerusalem and Erdogan a tall man. Introducing his new song to his audience via Twitter and YouTube, Evren said he had received many messages of thanks and prayers from Kashmiris after releasing an earlier song, Kashmir is my name, in June 2020. The song had been vocalized by Della Miles. The song made many people hear the pain of Indian-occupied Kashmir, said Evren, noting that he had managed to touch the hearts of millions. The Indian government abolished the special status of Kashmir and imposed a curfew on the Kashmiri people, sending in more than 800,000 troops. The global epidemic has extended the period of isolation experienced by the Kashmiri people. Meanwhile, things got worse for people in Kashmir from all sides, he added. After these events, Evren said he learned a lot about the troubles faced by Kashmiris and decided to write songs to raise awareness around the world. He also composed Permanent spring (Daimi Bahar), in Turkish, Urdu and Kashmiri in honor of the July 13 Kashmir Martyrs Day, as well as the July 15, 2016 attempted coup in Turkey. The other song, We will never betray, was also in Arabic and was dedicated to Palestine and Kashmir. Both songs reached hundreds, thousands of people all over the world. I am happy that all three songs we released were shared and appreciated by the president of Pakistan, Arif Alvi, Evren said. I know a lot about Kashmir now. Air guns and young people who are blind, half-widows who have not heard from their husbands and wives for decades, fake conflicts that meant the lives of innocent people. I was inspired to once again show the suffering of my Kashmiri sisters and brothers with my lyrics. It was my duty as a human being and as a brother from Turkey, he added. Evren also expressed gratitude to Los Angeles-based musician Ali Tolga Demirtas, with whom he collaborated on I am Kashmir. He said Demirtas is the hero behind all my human-based songs and the architect of our success in the music industry. Muhammed Ekrem Kahraman, a musician who grew up in Switzerland, also gave his voice to this beautiful song. The songs I had written before were sung by Ekrem and played in his own international programs. He sang this song not only with his voice, but also with his heart. The song has over 108,000 views on Twitter so far, and has been retweeted by several official accounts in Pakistan. National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Sunday said the results of the elections to the posts of chairpersons of District Development Councils (DDC) in Jammu and Kashmir were not a surprise. "Shopian DDC election, even Srinagar for that matter, aren't really a surprise. These people have been buying & selling elected representatives since 1984. Practice makes perfect!" Omar wrote on Twitter. Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP), led by former finance minister of the erstwhile state Altaf Bukhari, won two of the three chairperson posts for which the polls were held in the first phase. The NC alleged the JKAP "engineered defections" post the council elections in December last year to head the DDC councils in Srinagar and Shopian. "King's party which won only 2 DDC seats in Shopian distt, engineered defections post elections and are now heading the DDC Council there. Similarly in Srinagar, the party won just 3 seats and managed to take control of the district. Is ko bolte hai democracy is aisi ki taisi (sic)," NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar wrote on Twitter. While the JKAP would be heading the DDCs in Srinagar and Shopian, the CPI(M), part of the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) which is an amalgam of six mainstream political parties, got Kulgam in its kitty. Lumbini Royal College launches division council to mark 73rd Independence Day View(s): To commemorate the 73rd Independence Day, Lumbini Royal College in Kandy launched a division council encouraging students, well-wishers, past pupils and parents to develop schools. School principal W. M. Jayantha Bandara said he looks forward to encourage other schools to form such schools for the benefit of their schools. University of Peradeniya Professor Liyanage Amarkeerthi was the chief guest. The entire celebration was held at the schools playground, where discussions on various themes were held. The entire celebrations were held according to health requirements. The main scene enacted by the students was the bringing of the Sacred Tooth Relic by Prince Dantha and Princess Hemamali. The celerbation was coordinated by Yapa Bandara, a teacher at the college. (L.B. Senaratne) Over the past few days, the human rights abuses have started. Soon there will be serious violations of human rights, said activist Thet Swe Win. Riot police block a street as protesters gather for a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon, Feb. 6, 2021. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Myanmars major cities Saturday, the sixth day of military rule, as the junta shut down internet and mobile phone service lines in the country of 54 million people and rumors swirled about deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyis whereabouts. In a move that rights groups warned would leave millions vulnerable to abuses and cut off from coronavirus pandemic information, the Ministry of Transport and Communications cut off all telephone and internet service, following the suspension of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram over the past three days. The clampdown on social media aimed to stop information that could damage the stability of the state and undermine the interest of the people," a ministry directive issued Friday said. The online news outlet The Irrawaddy reported that parts of the France-sized country started losing internet access at 9 a.m. Saturday, while internet connectivity fell from 54 percent at 10 a.m. to 16 percent by 2 p.m., while online contact with the outside world was lost for most citizens by 11 a.m. The U.S. Embassy issued a notice to citizens that internet and cellular service, including mobile data, calling, and SMS, have been sporadic or unavailable most of the day and outages could persist through the weekend. The consular notice warned citizens that potential for political violence and civil unrest remains. Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty Internationals deputy regional director for campaigns, said shutting down the internet amid a volatile coup, a humanitarian crisis and a health pandemic is a heinous and reckless decision. With Myanmars population forced into a situation of abject uncertainty since the Feb. 1 coup, she said, an expanded internet shutdown will put them at greater risk of more egregious human rights violations at the hands of the military. On Monday, the military dissolved parliament, declared a one-year state of emergency, and took over all branches of government, citing unproven allegations of voter fraud in national elections last November. Aung San Suu Kyi, 75 and set to start a second five-year term, was arrested in the bloodless coup along with other ruling party leaders and cabinet ministers, and army chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing was installed as leader of a junta council of mostly military officers with some civilians. Protesters hold placards during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon, Feb. 6, 2021. Credit: AFP The human rights abuses have started In a tweet Saturday amid the faltering telecoms, the U.S. Embassy in Yangon said the mission backs the right of the people of Myanmar to protest in support of the democratically elected government and their right to freely access information. We repeat our calls for the military to relinquish power, restore the democratically elected government, release those detained, lift all telecommunications restrictions, and refrain from violence, it said. Demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other detainees and calling on the army to respect her National League for Democracy partys landslide win in November 2020 elections, tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in Yangon, Mandalay, Naypyidaw and other cities across the country, sources told RFA. As anger at the Feb. 1 coup built in a country that only started to emerge from five decades of military rule in 2011, protesters have turned to street demonstrations after nights of raucous ritual banging of pots and pans by coup opponents from their homes under COVID-19 restrictions or honking car horns to street protests. Under tight coronavirus restrictions and curbs on information transmission, RFA learned that a peaceful anti-coup demonstration in the city of Mandalay started with 30 people and reached tens of thousands by Saturday afternoon, as residents joined parading protesters who were shouting slogans against the military dictatorship and demanding the release of the detained leaders. In Yangon, Myanmars largest city, thousands also rallied at prominent Buddhist temples, and near Yangon University, scene of 1988 protests against the harsh military junta that brought Aung San Suu Kyi to national prominence. Todays protest was led by female factory workers and we are just coming to support them, said Thet Swe Win, civil rights activist who participated in Saturday protests in Yangon. We salute them. These people, they are real people real people who believe in democracy and loved the democratic values, he said. Thet Swe Win called the internet and mobile phone cutoff a really bad thing. Over the past few days, the human rights abuses have started. Soon there will be serious violations of human rights, he said. Rumors flow A student leader from the 1988 protests, Min Ko Naing, released a video late Saturday urging people not to believe rumors that he and other 88 Generation leaders would lead a big rally at noon Sunday at the Hledan junction near Yangon University, where pro-democracy protests began 33 years earlier. I suspect that they (the authorities) really want us to come out on the streets. We truly dont have such a plan at that place or time. We are working harder to take the Civil Disobedience Movement up to a stage that all employees are boycotting work and the government operations will be halted. That is our aim, he said from an undisclosed location. An anti-coup protest drew some 500 in the capital Naypyidaw, sources told RFAs Myanmar Service. In the war-torn western state of Rakhine, about 100 army veterans and their families held a rally in support of the coup in the state capital Sittwe, sources told RFA. The army has been at war in the state with the ethnic Arakan Army since late 2018. Aung San Suu Kyis lawyer on Saturday night denied rumors the 75-year-old Nobel laureate had been released by the junta, calling them psychological warfare by the authorities. We think this is just a psywar released to confuse people who are very willing to accept this wishful thinking. Its kind of an attempt by authorities to defuse the upcoming protest, said Khin Maung Zaw, who is representing Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, who remain under house arrest. These are online rumors. They have not been released yet, he said. Aung San Suu Kyi has been charged under Section 8 of the Import and Export Law with the ownership of illegal walkie-talkies, and President Win Myint under Section 25 of the Natural Disaster Prevention Law. Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Kyaw Min Htun. Written in English by Paul Eckert. Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar on Saturday reacted to the toolkit shared by Greta Thunberg on farmers protest and said that it revealed a lot. Speaking on the matter, the minister said that we would have to wait and see what else comes out. There was a reason why the foreign ministry reacted to statements made by some celebrities, who didnt know very much about the matter. Earlier, MEA and Indian celebrities like Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Sachin Tendulkar among many others took to social media to slam International pop sensation Rihanna and climate activist Greta Thunberg for engaging in an anti-India propaganda by expressing their solidarity with the farmers protesting at borders of the National capital, especially after the Republic Day violence. The official statement shared by Government of India read that the parliament had passed the reforms relating to the agricultural sector after a full debate and discussion. Aimed at expanding the market access and providing greater flexibility to the farmers, the reforms pave the way for economically and ecologically sustainable farming. A small section of farmers are upset with this move but a series of talks are underway to resolve this matter amicably. However, it is upsetting to see some of the vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests. It further requested the people to gain a proper understanding of the issues at hand before rushing to comment and give into the temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments. Reports were also rife that Delhi Police has registered an FIR against Greta Thunberg for commenting on the matter. However, it was later clarified that the climate activist has not been named in the FIR. The FIR is only against the creators of the toolkit and the matter is currently under investigation. The Delhi Police also revealed that the tool kit contain a proper action plan about a digital strike and initial probe reveals that the toolkit has been created by a pro-Khalistani organisation. A patch stuck on to the chest could protect thousands of Britons against deadly strokes caused by a common heart problem. The high-tech patch, the size of a small watch, monitors the hearts electrical activity, even during sleep or in the shower. It is able to detect abnormal patterns that indicate atrial fibrillation (AF), a major cause of potentially fatal strokes. The 245 patch is attached to the patient's chest for two weeks and records the electrical activity from their heart and could help diagnose atrial fibrillation before the condition develops into a major problem The 245 patch is being trialled in 12 NHS hospitals and could benefit 150,000 patients If these abnormal rhythms are picked up in time, and without the patient having to go to hospital, they can be easily treated. Now the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence the NHS spending watchdog has given the go-ahead for 12 NHS hospitals to use the patch, called ZioXT, in a drive to detect more of the estimated half a million people in the UK with undiagnosed AF. If this proves successful, the 245 patch could be made available across the NHS, benefiting at least 150,000 patients. Leading heart disease experts last night welcomed the initiative. Sticking a patch on your chest for two weeks could not be simpler, said Martin Cowie, professor of cardiology at Imperial College London. If it proves as good as initial results suggest, then the whole country could benefit. More than 1.2 million people in the UK are known to have atrial fibrillation, where the hearts upper chambers contract in an abnormal fashion. But nearly half as many again are thought to have it and not even realise it since, apart from a slight fluttering in the chest, there are often no symptoms. It causes blood to pool inside the heart, increasing the risk of a clot forming that can travel to the brain and cause a stroke. But diagnosing AF is difficult, as the abnormal rhythms may occur only now and then. Doctors often ask patients to wear a Holter monitor, a bulky electronic box connected to a series of electrodes that track the hearts electrical activity, on the upper part of the body for up to 48 hours. But it is uncomfortable and provides only a limited amount of information. The sticky-backed ZioXT, made from waterproof plastic, is much more discreet and works for two weeks at a time. It tracks electrical activity and heart rate second by second and also allows patients to log heart flutters when they feel them, via a button on the patch. A tiny microchip inside the gadget stores the data. After 14 days, the patch is removed and sent in a pre-paid envelope to the supplier Surrey-based iRhythm Technologies Ltd. Analysts translate the data into charts highlighting any abnormal patterns. These are emailed the patients doctor to help diagnose atrial fibrillation. Drugs that control heart rate can then be prescribed to banish erratic rhythms, or a procedure called a cardioversion where the heart is shocked back to normal rhythm can be carried out. A 2019 study at Kings College Hospital in London found the ZioXT patch was almost eight times more effective than current portable monitors at detecting heart-rhythm problems such as AF. One patient benefiting from the patch is Abigail Brown, a 41-year-old financial adviser from Leicestershire, who was fitted with one last autumn after suffering palpitations and dizzy spells for nine months. She was initially given a traditional monitor but it was unable to give a conclusive diagnosis, so cardiologists at a local specialist centre fitted her with the ZioXT patch. She says: It took no longer than five minutes and I barely noticed it was there, she says. It was a bit like a contraceptive teenagers get. I could shower and bathe with it on. After Abigail had worn the patch for two weeks, her consultant diagnosed atrial fibrillation, tachycardia and a heart flutter. She was sent for urgent ablation which involves using freezing cold probes, to destroy areas of the heart that are triggering the abnormal rhythms -and she wore the patch again on a few occasions in the two week period after the surgery, which took place at The Spire hospital. There had been a huge improvement in my heart rhythm, says Abigail. I basically dont have any symptoms anymore. Prof Cowie added: With the Covid pandemic, using wearable technology like this to track patients health remotely is a no-brainer. ADVERTISEMENT The Management of Kaduna State University (KASU) has described as fake news, trending social media posts purporting a change of name for Kaduna State University to Magajin Garin Zazzau Sambo University. A statement by Samuel Manshop, registrar of the institution, on Sunday, urged the public to disregard the information as it is the handiwork of mischief- makers. In a related development, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Muhammad Tanko, has equally disassociated himself from a Facebook Account recently opened in his name. The public is hereby warned to disregard the account. It is the handiwork of miscreants and mischief makers, Tanko , a professor, said, in a statement, also on Sunday. Some residents of Kaduna State have taken to their social media pages on Sunday talking about the purported change of name. A Facebook user, believing the information regarding the change of name to be true, urged Governor Nasir El-rufai, visitor to the school, to rename it after a late governor of the state, Patrick Yakowa. Mr Yakowa, who hailed from Southern Kaduna, died in a helicopter crash on December 15, 2012, while on a visit to Bayelsa State. (NAN) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Sergeant Stephen Loughnane rises in darkness, pulls on his army uniform and sets off for war with the coronavirus. The battlefield is a private nursing home in Cork that he is not at liberty to identify but which has been struck by Covid-19 in this third wave. A soldier since 2003, he has served six tours overseas, including tours in Lebanon, Liberia, Chad and Syria. He turns his focus now to the corridors of the troubled nursing home. "We start at 7am and finish at 7pm," he says. "In between we assist the nursing home staff, pretty much to give them a break so they can spend more time assisting the patients who need them more. "We take the pressure off - in the kitchen, moving stores, cleaning the kitchen, tables, countertops, any surface that's hard... Any tasks that we can do to make their lives easier." Sgt Loughnane and a colleague were first deployed to the nursing home three weeks ago as Covid-19 cases soared. He is one of about 25 Defence Forces personnel who every day support nursing homes that are struggling with depleted staff numbers caused by Covid-19. He dons a mask, gown, gloves and visor before entering the nursing home. Staff set out that day's tasks but having worked there for three weeks, the soldiers know the drill. They clean from top to bottom: countertops, trolleys, trays, walls, corridors and when they finish, they start all over again. They approach the task with military precision. The virus is the hidden enemy. They clean under every chair and behind every locker. "Dirt isn't going to be out in the open, so you think like a soldier. Where would it hide?" he says. They spend up to two hours on a methodical, "zonal clean" - a method learned in the army. "You do one area, you make sure it's clean and then you move on to the next area, and you try not to move back into the zone you've come from, so you're working your way out of the room," he says. At midday, he and his colleague retreat for lunch in a marquee outside the nursing home. Far from being chilly, it is literally "a breath of fresh air". When they finish, they don fresh PPE and go back inside for more zonal cleaning. Staff meals are staggered, and Sgt Loughnane and his colleague thoroughly clean the dining room between each sitting. They clean all afternoon, refill the sanitisers and shift heavy PPE boxes for staff. After a light tea at 5pm, their final job of the day is to sterilise the kitchen, leaving spotless walls and gleaming aluminium. At 7pm he strips his uniform off and puts it in a bin bag, then drives home to Mallow in his civvies. "I go from my door to the washing machine and straight up to the shower," he says. He's not too worried about Covid-19. The Defence Forces says 157 soldiers on frontline Covid-19 duties for the HSE have been vaccinated. Defence Forces personnel are trained not to interact with patients or staff to minimise the risk of contagion but Sgt Loughnane has witnessed sadness from a distance. "There was a married couple, and the husband died in the nursing home," he says. "That was sad. No wife should be only allowed five minutes to say goodbye to her husband, from a doorway. "One son, his father passed away and he was outside looking at him through the window after he died." Soldiers are trained to cope with such scenes, he says. "We've been overseas, we've been on missions, we're trained to work in pressurised environments. Defence Forces is a life less ordinary." The soldier's mindset is to get on with it. "At the end of the day, this is what the Defence Forces are for: we are here to assist the civilian community in any way that we can." Then he adds: "And I think that the Defence Forces are doing an outstanding job right now." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Hamid Shaaban Black History Month is often observed by commemorating Black excellence and honoring the remarkable achievements and contributions of Black people in the United States and around the world. This month, I propose to all my colleagues in healthcare and medicine to promote and advance education about the history of medical racism. That history is Black history and it is often neglected and remains largely unacknowledged. Its important to understand how the country today is faced with a glaring racially disproportionate burden of death among Black and Latino Americans, who, according to an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are dying of COVID-19 at nearly three times the rate of white Americans. A sincere understanding of the successes and failures of the past is necessary because only by completely embracing and acknowledging our undiluted past with all its ugliness and monstrosities can we make progress and move forward to end the loss of life from COVID-19. If we do not learn from our past mistakes, we are bound to repeat them. The history of medical racism is a grievous story of deception and discrimination of people on the basis of race or color which has culminated in very tangible emotions of fear, mistrust, and anger. This history is reflected in the lives of millions of people of color who have been subjected to cruelty and mistreatment at the hands of doctors who took an oath to protect them and healthcare professionals who were supposed to defend and safeguard their wellbeing. Their stories are real and ignoring them and telling marginalized communities to just trust the system or take my word for it only adds more fuel to that growing fire of skepticism. We need to educate ourselves and acknowledge these stories. The most notorious is the story of the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis, which was conducted by the U.S. Public Health Services (USPHS) starting in 1932 when 600 Black men 399 with syphilis, 201 without were intentionally misled about the studys purpose and were denied the facts required to provide true informed consent. This study secretly lasted for 40 years and aimed to follow the men until they died. Researchers lied to the men and withheld treatment for their syphilis even after penicillin became widely used to cure the disease in 1947 and actively discouraged the men from seeking treatment elsewhere. They simply watched the men suffer from the disease. It wasnt until 1972, when a USPHS investigator Bruce Buxton, troubled by the studys lack of ethics, leaked the story to the media. But the Tuskegee story is not the only one. In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a 30-year old African-American woman, died from an aggressive form of cervical cancer in a segregated ward of John Hopkins Hospital. Her cells were cultured on a mass scale and used in experiments without permission from her family. Her cells generated millions of dollars in profit for the research scientists who patented her cells for use in medical breakthroughs in vaccine development and oncology treatments. Or the story of JMarion Sims, dubbed the father of American gynecology, who for four years conducted 30 gynecological experimental procedures on 14 slaves without their consent. These stories and more are part of Black history. So is the present ongoing story. America has always had a pandemic of health disparities with Black people faring worse medically than white people. Data from the CDC shows the Black maternal mortality rate is about three times that of white women and Black men have the lowest life expectancy of any demographic group. The New Jersey statistics are even more troubling; Black mothers are seven times more likely to die during or after they give birth and Black newborns are three times as likely to die than white babies before they reach their first birthday. And now we have COVID-19. Higher mortality rates are seen in minorities not just because of pre-existing medical conditions but because they make up much of the frontline workers in groceries and hospitals and, in many cases, because they live in crowded apartments, making it impossible to fully quarantine from their family members. Many Black people also receive poor healthcare when they get sick. This was the tragic case with Susan Moore, a Black physician, who died from COVID-19 in December 2020 after having her symptoms downplayed. Even though she had an extensive knowledge of medical protocols, the doctors were dismissive, ignored her pleas and suggested that she be discharged from care. This brings us to the story of the COVID-19 vaccine. It is apparent that increased vaccination rates in Black and brown communities are crucial to end this pandemic. But how do we build this trust in the vaccine knowing the history behind the distrust? We start by being transparent, displaying empathy and by acknowledging and addressing the painful past. Establishing and building trust requires hard work. It requires going to a household and showing a family how to apply for the basic necessities, food, housing etc. before initiating difficult conversations about vaccines. Healthcare workers, especially Black and brown ones, will need to lead and show up at the frontline to show minorities that 2021 is not 1940, when there were no colored physicians or scientists or health policy leaders. And who knows. Maybe the moment when Black Americans overcome this virus will spark a movement to once and for all eradicate the racial disparities in healthcare in the United States. That would be a moment in Black history to be celebrated for future generations. Dr. Hamid Shaaban is the chief medical officer at Saint Michaels Medical Center. 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. "Im a career data center guy, but I dont want to be in the data center business, the mainframe business or the operations business. We have a managed service/outsourcing arrangement with the state network. Its the best service I have, its the most mature from a capabilities standpoint and its got the most uptime, so why would I try to do anything different? Id rather use public-private partnerships to figure out if someone can operate our services better than we can."I would really like to shrink my data center and get rid of everything storage-related. I know theres tons of data there that hasnt been touched in way too long, and I dont see a need to store legacy data. There are cheaper ways to do that without taking up expensive data center storage. Thats something I really want to get out of the business of, and something well really be looking toward doing in the next six to eight months."We are always looking to upgrade and build our tech portfolio, but smart portfolio management also involves retiring and eliminating. What Id like to get rid of is lightweight application development. While my IT staff can build small apps for users, there are increasing capabilities in the maker generation to build these themselves. This would free up IT staff to build APIs and integrate data sources. Also, this helps ensure that apps are very responsive to agency needs."We would like to get out of the data maintenance business altogether, decentralizing duties such as Web content and GIS data updates. IT departments should provide the infrastructure and systems to ensure data is properly collected, stored, retrieved, integrated and secured, but our data-related duties should really end there.The technology I would like to disrupt and replace is the password. Weve seen the human limits and resistance to strong password usage for too long to think it can be effective. Multifactor options that dont depend on memories are starting to show their viability. Along with that, Id love to see the password/IP address/anti-malware era of security come to a close in favor of pattern-based detection, prevention and response.In an ideal world, I would like to get out of the mainframe business. Unfortunately its very expensive for us to run the mainframe for the two remaining agencies that still use mainframe technologies, so we would like to see if there are other ways that we can migrate some of those applications to other platforms. Were looking aggressively at that now, how we might be able to save the state money, be more efficient and be a little more responsible with taxpayer dollars.All legacy technology needs to be replaced. Its like using a cellphone that is a decade old. Technology refresh is as important as infrastructure refresh and, more importantly, business process re-engineering must happen each time there is a major refresh.I wouldnt say any specific technology, but it needs to be based on your current investment portfolio and how you want to balance that. We do need to get out of those technologies that we dont have people who can maintain them anymore. Also, the technologies that are very difficult to interact with, like the green screens on the mainframe terminals. We need to start building a better front end to that. I think phasing technology out needs to be very calculated: Is the technology giving you the efficiency that you need or is it holding you back? The Department of Government Support - Abu Dhabi has announced reducing attendance at the workplace in Abu Dhabi government and semi-government entities to 30 per cent, to bolster precautionary measures. The department also approved remote working for all jobs that could be delivered fully from outside the workplace, employees older than 60 or with chronic diseases and weak immunity, and people of determination, a WAM report said. The department also approved a compulsory PCR test every week for all employees. Volunteers in vaccine clinical trials and those vaccinated as part of national vaccination programmes who have active icons (gold star or letter E) on Alhosn app are exempted from the weekly test. -- Tradearabia News Service Second infobox item goes here and is usually two lines deep. First infobox item goes here and is usually two lines deep. ---- With the stock market running strong, millions of Americans finally getting vaccinated and winter about halfway through, its tempting to think America is turning the corner in the COVID-19 pandemic. Even if it is, however, Americans are not. Thats why President Joe Biden and Congress need to, as the phrase goes, go big on a pandemic package one that provides not just relief, but stimulus. Mr. Bidens pursuit of bipartisanship is all well and good, but it shouldnt take precedence over the need for a strong and effective spending plan, especially when Democrats have the power in Congress to move forward. The two sides are far apart, with Mr. Biden proposing a $1.9 trillion package and a group of 10 Republicans suggesting, supposedly in the name of compromise, spending only about a third of that, $618 billion. Among their key differences: Mr. Biden proposes more in direct checks $1,400 per adult compared with $1,000 in the GOP plan and higher income limits for full benefits. Mr. Biden also targets $350 billion to states and $20 billion to public transit systems; Republicans have derided state and local relief a blue state bailout. The president also calls for increased child and earned income tax credits for low-income people; higher unemployment payments; health coverage to make up for loss of employer plans; and far more money $130 billion compared with the Republicans $20 billion proposal to help schools reopen, along with $35 billion for public colleges and higher education institutions that serve mainly minorities. Both plans include help for small businesses, though with somewhat different approaches. The economic context here is important. New labor numbers out Friday show employers added only 49,000 jobs in January after cutting 227,000 jobs in December, with losses in restaurants, retail, manufacturing and health care. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that while the gross domestic product may return to its pre-pandemic level mid-year, unemployment wont until 2024. In other words, we may be seeing early signs of the same jobless recovery we witnessed in the last recession. The country, then, needs more than the Republicans minimalist relief. State and local governments cant cut and tax their way out of this without harm to public services and education. There is room to talk about such details as how high the income levels should be to qualify for a check, but its inarguable that people who are out of work, or reduced to part-time shifts, or who depended on tips, need more than token help. Even what Mr. Biden proposes is likely just a start. The country needs to face the reality that many of the jobs lost and businesses closed in this pandemic may never come back, in part because the economic shutdown has accelerated a shift in consumption to online transactions that was already happening before the pandemic. We cant have a robust economy based on a few trillionaire online magnates and millions of low-wage distribution center workers. People may need retraining or a chance to go back to school for a new career. We are overdue, too, for strong government investment in the nations long-neglected infrastructure and in green energy. Republicans sudden warnings about excessive spending are ill-timed: This is the party that green-lighted a $7.8 trillion rise in the national debt during the Trump presidency, most of it pre-pandemic. Now is not the time for federal frugality. It is time to think big, and go big. What do the serosurveys say about urban-rural divide? The second and third national serosurveys and several local serosurveys suggest the rural spread of Covid-19 has been slower, in general, than the urban spread. However, the trends are not uniform, according to a report in the Scroll. For instance, higher seroprevalence was observed in more rural districts of Bihar covered in the second national serosurvey. Therefore, while urban areas will see more infections, it does not necessarily mean the rural spread will always be slow. It is key to understand how connectivity, the nature of housing, employment and travel, might contribute to accelerating rural spread, the report said. Read more here EXPLAINED: Why did Pfizer withdraw its emergency authorisation request? US drugmaker Pfizer withdrew its request for emergency authorisation of its Covid-19 vaccine in India after an expert committee under the country's drug regulator recommended against the approval. The decision was based on concerns over certain serious adverse events together with the fact that additional safety information had not been generated through local trials, according to a report in The Indian Express. The serious adverse events in question include palsy and anaphylaxis. However, this does not necessarily mean the vaccine will never be used in India. The drugmaker said it will "continue to engage" with the country's drug regulator and resubmit its request as additional information becomes available "in the near future." Read more here OPINION: Using community-based health infra will be key In an opinion piece in The Indian Express, professor of political science at Hindu College Chandrachur Singh highlighted some measures to beat the pandemic. Singh said a safe, effective, and reasonably priced vaccine will be critical. Involving the local health ministry and using community-based health infrastructure wherever it exists will be key as well. A communication management system involving the private medical sector should be put in place to improve the immunisation environment. And, if the government wants to remove barriers to immunisation, it should make clinical trials data public. Read more here Scientists urge public sharing of Covid-19 genome data Hundreds of scientists have urged that genome data of the novel should be shared publicly as it would allow scientists to better analyse how variants are spreading around the world, according to a report in The Indian Express. The most popular data-sharing platform, Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), hosts nearly half a million genomes of the novel But the platform does not currently allow sequences to be reshared publicly. The scientists, in an open letter, urged their colleagues to share genome data in databases that don't restrict resharing such as the US GenBank. Read more here Weekly tests, 14-day isolation most cost-effective way to check Covid spread: Study According to a new study published in The Lancet, weekly testing for Covid-19 and a two-week isolation is the most cost-effective strategy to check the transmission of the virus, a report in ThePrint said. The modelling study is the first to identify cost-effective strategies based on local transmission rates, the cost of testing and hospitalisations, and a societal willingness to pay in order to prevent Covid-19 deaths. Read more here GREENWICH In anticipation of more bad weather, the Board of Selectmen has declared a snow emergency in Greenwich effective 8 p.m. Saturday. Under a snow emergency, street parking is restricted in the town. People will not be able to park in designated snow emergency zones so streets can be more easily cleared and emergency vehicles can be able to move more effectively through town if needed. Signs are placed at snow emergency zones and a full list of them is available online at www.greenwichct.gov. The snow emergency will be in effect until it is lifted by the Board of Selectmen and during that time people will be able to park without charge at municipal parking lots. Residents are also encouraged to use their driveways, garages and even their front lawns. The selectmen also put in place a snow emergency last Sunday that lasted into Tuesday after the blizzard that left at least 15 inches of snow in the downtown area and even more in the backcountry. Sundays forecast isnt nearly as dire, however. According to the National Weather Service, a winter storm warning is in effect for Greenwich from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Sunday. There is a 100 percent chance of snow in the forecast, which much of it coming after 10 a.m. The range of snow for Greenwich on Sunday afternoon is forecast to be between three and seven inches and while the snow could be heavy at times it is not expected to be nearly as much as last weeks storm which required town work crews to be on shift and brought blizzard conditions to town at its peak. With the new snowfall expected on Sunday, the town reminded homeowners that by ordinance they are required to keep their sidewalks clear of snow and ice along their property. Additionally, town code prohibits plow contractors from pushing snow from driveways or parking lots onto town streets. This practice is dangerous and impedes the towns snow removal efforts, the town said in a Saturday news release. If there is no other alternative to pushing snow into the street, the private plow driver must plow off the windrow left across the street by re-plowing until the road is safe. If residents lose power and need to warm up or charge electronic devices, the lobby of Public Safety Complex off of Greenwich Avenue is open. kborsuk@greenwichtime.com Kathmandu, February 7 It has been over two and a half years since a 13-year-old girl named Nirmala Pant was raped and then murdered in the Kanchanpur district of Sudurpaschim. Nepal Police has not found perpetrators of the crime yet, making the incident one of the most mysterious crimes of the current times. Yet, another incident in the province has reminded the country of the heinous crime. A 17-year-old girl in Chadepani, Dokdakedar rural municipality-7 of the Baitadi district has been found murdered after rape last week. Bhagirathi Bhatta was a 12th grader at Sanatan Dharma Secondary School, around one hour away from her house. On Wednesday, February 3, her school closed at 2 pm and she left for her home. There is a forest between her home and school, hence Bhatta and her friends would cross that together on their way to school and back home. However, that particular day, her friends said they would go to a local hairdressers first before going home. Bhatta decided to walk alone. But, she did not reach home until the late evening, forcing the mother, Draupadi, to beg help from her neighbours for a search. The villagers gathered for the search mission, but all in vain. It was only on Thursday afternoon that the schoolkids found a bush in the forest cleared. As they were aware of Bhattas disappearance, they smelled a foul play and informed the villagers and then the police. I was told that there was a human body thrown, the rural municipalitys chairman Chakra Bahadur Karki says, Then, I visited the site. It was Bhagirathis. Investigators had found the body around 50 metres down the bush with fingerprints over her neck and her private organ bleeding. Police have collected the victims vaginal swab for further investigation. Her postmortem was carried out on Saturday, but the report has not been obtained, informs Police Inspector Janak Dhami at the District Police Office. A manhunt has been launched in search of the suspects. Dershowitz remarked that by going forward with the Trump impeachment, Congress violated the US Constitution. The DEMS are intent on weaponizing the impeachment to go after Trump. Congress DEMS are committed to persecuting Trump, a private citizen now, much to their disadvantage. Many see it as unconstitutional, but it's a political hit job for those who aren't bothered. DEMS are unconstitutional Many see the political implications by Congress dominated by Democrats as a blatant flaunting of the US Constitution, short of bastardizing its articles. This was best put by Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz as a gross violation of the Constitution. Calling it further a show trial on the former president, after getting vilified for four years, reported the Epoch Times. The basis of the impeachment by the House Democrats headed by Nancy Pelosi is a loose interpretation of the speech on January 6, alleging that Trump intentionally incited an agitated mob, but was disputed by defenders of the ex-president. Trump's legal team shot back and did not acknowledge the trial is even considered constitutional. Congress is trying a citizen who is not under their scope. Another is that Trump has a right to exercise his First Amendment privileges, which they cannot cancel out. Since taking power, the DEMS led Congress has been taking too many liberties to further their agenda. Dershowitz pointed out that a good defense for the embattled ex-president is for the legal team to call Trump Impeachment illegal and unconstitutional. Since 2016, the DEMS have been hurling everything they can except the kitchen sink. Also read: Trump Reveals New Attorneys to Represent Him in the Senate Impeachment Case He said in a Newsmax interview that the best arguments to use is the constitutional ones. Specifically, the Senate is out of the jurisdiction in trying Trump, and the First Amendment cannot be denied any American citizen. Further, based on the Law Professor's comments, the DEMS practice it without reproach. Congress cannot be above the Constitution Dershowitz said that Congress had made itself above the law. They proclaim the president cannot break the Constitution, but they are doing it now. Some provisions say what or cannot be done, and Congress broke the rules knowingly when to impeach a president, though Congress can never dictate the First Amendment's application. There lies the error of those pushing for impeachment. Trump is on social media website Gab Trump joined Gab, a free speech social media platform that became active this week. He made his first post when he got banned from major platforms. His account post a letter from Trump's lawyers to Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) of the DEMS. They called no appearance for the ex-president to testify in the show trial. The law professor added that Trump's lawyers are correct in not allowing the ex-president to appear in Congress. He said they are setting him up for a perjury trap. Also, they want it to happen to complete the show. He cited the House's impeachment as taking away the right to the First Amendment that is key to his defense. DEMS are sponsoring a dangerous attack on the freedom of speech in America, doing it with impunity. According to an op-ed for The Hill which Dershowitz stressed that the First Amendment in the impeach is not a valid defense. This is a direct attack on freedom of speech to pillory the Trump impeachment and justify it. It may even be weaponizing it to be used, not just for him. Related article: Democrats Cannot Impeach Trump Today, Even After His Term; Senate Rules Should be Followed @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. By Chang Se-moon I recently had occasions to entertain American families with to-go meals from local Korean restaurants: once from Arirang and another from Mahdang, both north of Washington DC. I was not quite sure if they would like Korean food, what types of food or flavors they might prefer, or even if they would have a taste for its usual spicy tastes and textures. Bibimbap, the Korean pancake called pajeon, and japchae are some of the most popular Korean dishes among non-Koreans who visit Korean restaurants. My decision was to serve alternative Korean food options to see how, and if, my American friends would enjoy the cuisine. First on the menu were two safe entries: LA galbi and Korean bulgogi. I was a bit unsure about the next two, thinking they could be "tricky" to someone's taste. One was pork belly, called samgyeopsal, with lettuce and spicy sauces. The second was grilled mackerel with soybean soup, called doenjang jjige. To my pleasant surprise, all four dishes were very popular, including the pork belly and grilled mackerel. Interestingly, contrary to Koreans and Korean Americans who eat pork belly and grilled mackerel as complements to rice, my American friends barely touched the rice and ate the pork belly and grilled mackerel as the main dishes. They even treated the soybean soup as a soup unrelated to the rice. These enjoyable dinners led me to ponder the food from our homeland in ways that I had never considered. Voluntarily, or involuntarily, in recent years, I have been to many different kinds of restaurants. Among my dining pleasures have been classic American, Tex-Mex, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Ethiopian, and, of course, Korean. It took a while, but I finally realized that Korean restaurants were the premier dining experience. My conclusion is based, not on being a Korean American, but on my repeated observations during many visits to all these restaurants. Here are the reasons. First, Korean food is the only one in which side dishes are served at no extra charge. In addition to that feature, Korean restaurants welcome requests for additional servings of one or more of the same side dishes, again, at no extra charge. In my experience, I do not recall any American or other restaurant providing side dishes free of charge. Any nationality who dines in a Korean restaurant typically loves kimchi. Korean restaurants will continue to serve kimchi refills while you are eating inside the restaurant. In addition to kimchi, there are multiple side dishes that often vary from one Korean restaurant to the next. Regardless of the types of side dishes, I have never experienced any reluctance to offer additional portions of these side dishes. Secondly, the share of a beverage (ice tea, soft drink, or coffee) in a meal cost is not insignificant when the taxes and tip are added. In Korean restaurants, good barley tea is provided at no charge. Your meal expenses are for the food only. I still remember visiting a famous lobster restaurant in Kennebunkport, Maine (U.S.). Kennebunkport, you may recall, was often featured in the news because former President George H. W. Bush had his family home compound there. It was a picturesque small town on the Maine coast. When I asked for a refill of my coffee, the waitress told me that I should pay for the refill. I was more surprised than disappointed. As for tipping service workers, there is no difference between Korean restaurants and other kinds of restaurants. I am aware that some Koreans living in America refuse to tip at Korean restaurants. This is not an acceptable behavior. In America, the wages of the wait staff are set below the minimum wage with the expectation that tips are to provide the difference. Tipping in America is estimated to cost around $40 billion a year, which is a significant share of the economy. The restaurant sector has been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has caused an added burden on Korean restaurants, which often struggle on a smaller financial margin, due partly to the multiple side dishes. With to-go business requirements, the side dishes must be separately prepared and packed, usually in small plastic containers. Not only has the labor increased, but the cost of the carry-out containers is an increase in operating expenses. If you appreciate the free side dishes of Korean food, you may consider giving a generous tip to the smiling waitstaff, even when you order a to-go meal. Hopefully with new vaccines, we may all be able to visit our local Korean restaurants regularly again. When you do, pause and take your time, as you sip your barley tea, to savor the numerous no-cost side dish additions to your meal. Keep in mind that both of these delights are part of a service at no extra charge, only in Korean restaurants. As quoted in various countries, "eat hearty," "eat up," "Guten Appetit," "bon appetit," and "please eat more," as Koreans often say. Chang Se-moon (changsemoon@yahoo.com) is the director of the Gulf Coast Center for Impact Studies. Flash Pakistan received 500,000 doses of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccines gifted by China on February 1, thus becoming the first country that has received China's vaccines as a donation. The friendly gesture has set up a new standard of global leadership and humanitarian spirit that ensures early accessibility and affordability of vaccines, especially to developing nations. This monumental show of humanity and friendliness comes as a result of Chinese President Xi Jinping's commitment to make China's vaccines a global public good. Guided by President Xi's clear message presented at the World Economic Forum Virtual Event of the Davos Agenda on January 25 to promote global public health governance, China doled out the first batch of China-made vaccines to Pakistan. The gift of Sinopharm vaccines landed in Islamabad at a time when China and Pakistan have been gearing up to celebrate their 70 years of diplomatic relations that have been tested and proven against all odds. The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has recently approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use. China approved the drug this month, which is also being used in several other countries, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping during the inaugural ceremony of the first inoculation drive in Pakistan for giving the country Sinopharm vaccines at the time when Pakistan people direly needed it. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi commented that, "The gift is a practical proof of the friendship between the two countries," and added, "China once again has demonstrated its everlasting friendship with Pakistan by helping it in times of need. This is even more important as we are celebrating seven decades of diplomatic ties this year." According to the priority ranking of those who receive the vaccine, health workers are at the top of the list. After this group will come elderly people above the age of 65, as another 1.1 million doses from China are expected to arrive later this month. Nong Rong, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan said, "Pakistan was the first country in the world to receive vaccines donated by the Chinese government," calling it a "manifestation of brotherhood." "President Xi has repeatedly said that the Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, once developed and put into use, will be global public goods. China has honored its commitment. Keeping in mind the huge global need for vaccine, China has done its best to offer assistance and support. Pakistan, as our closest friend, is the priority of our cooperation," Nong added. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a regular press conference on February 1, 2021, in addition to Pakistan, China is also providing vaccine aid to 13 developing countries and promises that "Going forward, we will also assist another 38 developing countries with vaccines. We also take an active part in the WHO-led COVAX and provide vaccines through this platform to developing countries." China supports Chinese companies in conducting joint vaccine R&D and production with foreign partners. Vaccines made by Sinopharm and Sinovac have been exported to countries including the UAE, Morocco, Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, and Chile, where clinical studies have been conducted. Wang also revealed that China supports relevant companies in exporting vaccines to countries in urgent need that have approved Chinese vaccines and authorized their emergency use. For instance, Serbia has started vaccination with recently imported Chinese-made vaccines. More and more countries are approving the domestic use of Chinese vaccines. Pakistan and China are also in partnership for conducting the phase-III clinical trial of CanSino's COVID-19 vaccine. On January 26, the trial with 18,000 volunteer participants concluded, and the survey indicates that trial participants showed complete satisfaction on the performance of CanSino vaccine. A man surnamed Hussain, aged 54, is one of the volunteer participants receiving CanSino vaccine during Pakistan's first ever massive phase-III clinical trial at the University of Health Sciences (UHS), the solely public sector institution, officially approved by the Pakistani government under strict guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO). "48 days after receiving vaccination, my health condition is 100 percent fit. My body has not experienced any change since the day I was injected with the COVID-19 CanSino vaccine on December 7, 2020," Hussain said, and then added, "I had a bit of sporadic feelings of nausea and soreness of throat, but it lasted only a few seconds." He appreciated the organizers for staying in touch with trial participants in order to be well-informed about day to day sensitivities of volunteers. "Such practices inculcate a sense of satisfaction among the trial participants, helping them feel that they are not used just as lab subjects, and also show that the prime motive of the organizers is about our wellness," he said. Debunking myths and neutralizing the mist of disinformation about Chinese drug makers and their vaccines' performance, Dr. Javed Akram, Vice Chancellor of UHS and member of Scientific Task Force on COVID-19, claims in an interview with China Today that the information which has been swirling around to smear China's work in distributing vaccines is a bunch of lies. "So far, thousands of shots from CanSino have been administered, and not a single case has caused adverse illness or death," he added. As for the vicious propaganda that downgrades Chinese vaccines in comparison to U.S. and European vaccines, he termed the debate invalid. Akram said that every vaccine has its own merits and demerits. "It is misleading to say that some vaccines either Chinese or Western are unfit for humans," he said. Dr. Shaheen Shah, an important figure in the Pakistan phase-III clinical trial which is an essential part of the global multi-country and multi-institutional trials, said that unless a peer review procedure is completed, any discussion about the percentage of efficacy of either Chinese or Western vaccines is meaningless. Under Good Clinical Practices (GCP), it takes more than one year to furnish the final findings, he added. Diffusing another myth, he said that scientifically approved vaccines with all safety rules that carry the seal of global authenticity are yet to be produced and hence are not in the market. "What is available and is being administered to people in many countries are a variety of COVID-19 vaccines that are allowed to market conditionally under emergency use authorization (EUA)," he said. Given the global crisis and shortage of time, "EUA is the order of the day," he added. It merits mentioning here that globally there is a strong voice to discourage conspirators for whipping up competition between China and other western countries. In this regards, People's Vaccine Alliance (PVA) is calling on all pharmaceutical corporations working on COVID-19 vaccines to openly share their technology and intellectual property so that billions more doses can be manufactured and made available to everyone who needs them. YASIR HABIB KHAN is special correspondent of China Today in Pakistan. He is also founder and president of Institute of International Relations and Media Research (IIRMR). President Joe Biden has struck a new tone in U.S.-Africa relations, recording a video message which promotes a "shared vision" of more trade and investment, peace and security for Read more The transcript of a message from President Biden to participants in the African Union Summit: Read more New US President Joe Biden's first major speech on foreign policy shows a very different style and ideas to those of his predecessor. But can the talk make the walk? Read more The United States of America, believed by many to be the sole superpower post-Cold War, has arguably the most staggering defence budget ever known to humanity. Post the cataclysmic Read more Uganda: Welcoming the Verdict in the Case Against Dominic Ongwen for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity State Department, 4 February 2021 The United States welcomes the verdict in the case against former Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) commander, Dominic Ongwen, for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Read more Despite the challenges of Covid-19 and Brexit, land prices in 2020 remained remarkably resilient throughout the country, according to the IPAV Farming Report launched by Martin Heydon, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture And while volumes may be down arising from the pandemic, with some vendors holding off on selling, demand is particularly strong with notable interest from cash rich non-farmers chasing a better return than they would get elsewhere. Tom Crosse, group director of GVM Limerick and president of IPAV, (Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers) said the Covid-19 crisis did not adversely impact land values. In County Limerick, prices averaged 11,000 an acre for larger sized holdings with smaller holdings securing in the region of 17,000. Demand is strong throughout the country for several reasons. Smaller farmers like to increase their holdings where neighbouring, usually small plots, come on the market; larger farmers continue to buy up smaller ones and there is continuing interest in land leasing, particularly by younger farmers who are not in a position to buy their own holdings, said Mr Crosse. He said new factors caused by Covid include returning exiles and working from home becoming more the norm. These augur well for the future of rural residential holdings and land values. If they are sustained they will improve viability on smaller holdings with greater opportunities for off-farm income, said Mr Crosse. Investors chasing a better return on their money than the banks are also looking at land. Mr Crosse said while the Covid-19 pandemic persists into 2021 it is likely to again impact the volume of land coming onto the market, at least in the first six months of the year. And he said the impact of Brexit remains to be seen. The age profile of Irish farmers is on the high side with about one-third over age 66. Leasing land long-term has become the only viable option in recent years for many young farmers hoping to run their own farms concluded Mr Crosse. U.N.-sponsored talks produced a new interim government for Libya on Friday aimed at resolving a decade of chaos, division, and violence by holding national elections later this year. Mohammed al-Menfi, a former diplomat from Benghazi, will head a three-man presidency council, while Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, from the western city of Misrata, will head the government as prime minister. Libya has been engulfed in chaos since a NATO-backed intervention ended Muammar Gaddafis four-decade rule in 2011 and has been split since 2014 between warring administrations backed by foreign powers in the west and east. However, with many factions in the country afraid to surrender influence they already hold, and with foreign powers invested in local allies, the new government may rapidly come under pressure. My appeal to everybody is to recognize and accept these results and to work with the new authorities that were elected, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. The appointment of a new government may also do little to change the balance of military power on the ground, where armed groups rule the streets and factions remain split between east and west along a fortified front line. This is the last chance for the Libyan people and political leaders to end the conflict and division in the country. We hope to reach the stage of elections, just as they have promised, to achieve the peoples demands, said Gamal al-Fallah, a political activist in Benghazi. Analysts describe the new government team as surprise winners of a leadership contest against three other groups of candidates presented to the 75 Libyan participants picked by the United Nations to take part in political talks. A slate that included the eastern-based parliament head Aguila Saleh and western-based interior minister Fathi Bashagha was widely seen as the most likely to succeed but lost in a run-off by 39 votes to 34. This is certainly a shake-up, and as a result it will get support from groups that were preparing to fight Aguila or Fathi, said Tarek Megerisi, of the European Council on Foreign Relations. PUBLIC PLEDGE The winning leadership group also includes Musa al-Koni, from the south, and Abdullah al-Lafi, from the west, in the presidency council. Bashagha tweeted his support for the process and for the new government after the vote. All candidates for the new government promised to honour the plans to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on Dec. 24 and not to run for office then. The U.N. publicly displayed their signed pledges. Dbeibeh has until Feb. 26 to present a new government to the parliament, which then has three weeks to approve it. The latest U.N. process emerged from a Berlin conference last year and gathered pace in the autumn after commander Khalifa Haftars eastern-based forces were repelled from a 14-month assault on Tripoli. It has also involved a military ceasefire, but not all terms of the ceasefire have been met - a sign of continued mistrust on both sides and internal fractures within both camps. The new government may make it harder to bridge the east-west divide, said analyst Jalel Harchaoui of the Clingendael Institute. Though born in the east, Menfi is seen as close politically to the current Tripoli government leadership and without strong ties to Haftar or other eastern leaders, he added. Some Libyans have been critical of a process which they view as being managed from abroad and which they fear will allow existing powermongers to cling to their influence. Its just a painkiller to portray Libya as stable for a while. But war and tension will certainly come back sooner or later so long as militias have power, said Abdulatif al-Zorgani, a 45-year old state employee in Tripoli. Turkey, which backed the Tripoli government, and the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, which have supported Haftar, publicly welcomed the new government. Source: reuters.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 He recently split from his girlfriend Natalie Kyriacou. And now The Project's resident funnyman Tommy Little is tipped to become the next Bachelor. According to a report in Woman's Day on Monday, the 35-year-old 'ticks all the boxes' for the network after I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star Ash Williams was sidelined from the role. Next Bachelor? The Project's Tommy Little, 35, (pictured) is tipped to be the 'next Bachelor' following his split from girlfriend Natalie Kyriacou according to Woman's Day magazine 'The producers are really excited about Tommy and say he ticks all the boxes,' a 'source' told the publication. 'He's handsome, funny and already knows how to work a camera.' Comedian Tommy is also already contracted to Channel Ten meaning he is a 'safe bet' for the network. Rose? 'The producers are really excited about Tommy and say he ticks all the boxes,' a source told the publication. He is also considered a 'safe bet' for the network. (L) Natalie Kyriacou Ash Williams pleaded not guilty to recording intimate images of a woman this month, when his matter was mentioned before Newtown Local Court. He is alleged to have been engaging in phone sex with a woman via Facetime when he took screenshots of her without her knowledge - and then sent them back to her. The matter is due back in court next month. Sidelined: Comedian Ash Williams (pictured) was apparently sidelined by the network after a number of controversies according to the report Tommy quietly split from his girlfriend Natalie earlier this month, and the couple have vanished from each other's social media feeds. They have stopped 'liking' each other's posts for months and have stopped following each other on Instagram. Tommy has reportedly surfaced on popular dating app Tinder in recent weeks, according to The Daily Telegraph. Court: Ash pleaded not guilty to recording intimate images of a woman this month, when his matter was mentioned before Newtown Local Court. He is due in court next month The couple first ignited rumours they were dating in February last year after Natalie, 34, uploaded a photo of them together on Instagram. Two months later, Tommy finally confirmed they were indeed an item. The pair went on to enjoy a whirlwind romance, celebrating Easter together and embarking on an idyllic getaway in Gippsland, Victoria. Disappearing act: Natalie was last pictured on Tommy's Instagram account in June, while Tommy last surfaced on Natalie's page in September Unfortunately, things appear to have fizzled during the Covid-19 pandemic. Successful in her own right, Natalie made the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2018 Social Entrepreneur list. She was described as the 'multi award-winning founder and CEO of My Green World', an organisation dedicated to educating young people about wildlife and environmental conservation. Jazmine Sullivan has gained recognition as one of musics top vocalists. Shes known for her powerful voice, piercing lyricism, and engaging performances. But there was a point when she seemingly became so frustrated with the industry that she walked away from it. Heres more on her career and the reason she stepped away from music. Jazmine Sullivan at an event in 2016 | Bryan Steffy/Getty Images North America How Jazmine Sullivan was discovered Born on April 9, 1987, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sullivan displayed talent from a young age. When she was older, she started singing at local events before earning a record deal with Jive Records at 15. Sullivan told The Philadelphia Inquirer she worked on hundreds of songs during her time with the label, but she ultimately got dropped shortly after she turned 18. Looking back on the experience, she said: That was a big blow. I was angry. Everybody was going off to school, and I had already decided I wasnt going to college because singing was going to be my career. But she would not be deterred Sullivan eventually found a new home with J Records, under which she released her debut album, Fearless, in 2008. The album, which featured Bust Your Windows and Need U Bad, performed well, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart and earning Sullivan her first Grammy nominations. Afterward, Sullivan followed up with 2010s Love Me Back an album she described to National Public Radio as deeply personal. But while it featured popular songs such as Holding You Down (Goin in Circles) and received Grammy recognition, it was not as commercially successful as her first effort. After Love Me Back, Jazmine Sullivan stepped away from music Months after the album released, Sullivan announced on Twitter that she would be stepping back from her music career. im making an official announcement that i am taking a break from music im trying to figure out who i am w/out a mike, paper or pen. i promised myself when it wasnt fun anymore i wouldnt do it. and here i am, she wrote, according to The Urban Daily. Going on, she added: i love u all and appreciate u soooooo much u have no idea how much uve inspired me and fed my ego. but the truth is that i have to believe in me whether you all do or not. and thats what im lookin for. that belief in myself. me. I. i love us. thanks for being here for me and riding with me on this journey. let us continue. As reactions poured in, Sullivan reportedly deleted the tweets, leading some to think shed changed her mind. But it turns out she was serious. But eventually, she returned to music Sullivan spent nearly four years largely off of the grid before returning with 2015s Reality Show, a Grammy-nominated album that helped reestablish Sullivan as a top talent. Speaking to Billboard about her past announcement, Sullivan insisted she meant she was only going to take a break from the industry not quit entirely. But a lot of people didnt see it that way everybody was like, she quit, she quit! That break ended up being a little longer than I ever expected. I never thought it would be four years laterBut thats life. Some things just dont go the way you plan, she said. Sullivan has continued to see success in the years since then, most recently on her critically-acclaimed EP Heaux Tales, which made it all the way up to No. 4 on the Billboard 200. Slate has relationships with various online retailers. If you buy something through our links, Slate may earn an affiliate commission. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. All prices were up to date at the time of publication. The success of Netflixs Bridgerton has sent the book series by Julia Quinn skyrocketing back up the bestseller list. We asked two Slate staffersneither of whom had ever read a romance novel beforeto get out of their comfort zones and give the steamy first installment, The Duke and I, a try. Below, these former romance novel virgins discuss their first foray into the genre. Seth Maxon: What was your previous romance-novel exposure going into The Duke and I? Advertisement Madeline Ducharme: Ive always hated those cheesy covers of thick, cheap, paperback romance novels. Maybe it was my latent queerness, but something about the bulging muscles and sighing women in that corny art style just immediately turned me off. Stuff like this. Maxon: I am little bit older than you, and also a straight man, and these sorts of covers did always make me laugh more than anything. I think a youth spent with Fabio as a ubiquitous romance-novel cover model and cultural joke as a dumb hunk who women nonetheless fantasized about forged my general impression of romance novels as fundamentally silly, if hot to some. Advertisement Advertisement But I did have a few other expectations formed beyond His Blondness. Like, in college I read Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen for a class, and my memory of it is extremely spotty. If I were to describe the plot, it would sound like I were making it up based on Austen stereotypes. Like, theres a smart and tart-tongued young woman she goes into Society rich men court her some are boring stiffs, and some are cads, and theres some guy she falls for, but really, its all about class more than love. But I never read Pride and Prejudice or any other novels that are considered classics and gateways for a lot of people into actual romance novels. I did learn a lot about them by listening to Thirst Aid Kit. Advertisement Ducharme: What did you expect from The Duke and I? Maxon: I knew it was about old-timey Britain, and I knew there was some sexy man at the center of it, since I have become aware of the heartthrob on the Netflix show by hearts throbbing all over Slate Slack about him. So I guess I expected it to be fun and silly, and I expected there to be a lot of sex, much of it comically written. I had few expectations in terms of plot and story. I did expect the writing to be bad, I will confess. What did you expect? Ducharme: I watched the whole Netflix series with my mom over the holidays. (Yes, even those bananas sex scenes, including the one where Daphne gets eaten out on stone stairs! Stone!) I thought it was silly and sort of fun, but I did not get any pleasure out of the will theywont they plot with Daphne and the Duke. Though the Duke was extremely hot. I think I expected the book to make Daphne slightly more interesting as a narrator, and I expected the writing to be extremely bad. (She wasnt, and it was.) Advertisement Sign up for the Slate Culture newsletter The best of movies, TV, books, music, and more, delivered to your inbox three times a week. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. Maxon: That is amazing about the stone stairs scene. I havent seen the show at all, but that does sound uncomfortable. The novel, though, would have us believe that passion has its demands, and all we can do at times is yield, even on stone stairs. I have to agree that a lot of the sentences were very badbut not unreadable. There is a lot of repetition to make sure the reader doesnt miss or forget the most important things. Like, how many times did they remind us that anger most incited the Dukes stutter? I feel a bit like a stiff old prig myself even bringing this all up, but theres one more thing that bugged me, which is how many times the word rake or rakish was used. Some pages literally had, like, five rakes. I did a control-F in my Kindle app when I finished, and I found that there were a total of 31 rakes or rakishes, which is actually fewer than I thought. (Maybe if you included all the Bridgerton books the total would begin to approach all the murmurs in Twilight.) Were there any specific style or writing things that bugged you? Advertisement Advertisement Ducharme: I also noticed rake over and over again. It kept reminding me of that classic Jeopardy! moment, which is the only reason I already knew the definition of a rake. Advertisement I know ejaculation is crucial to the central conflict in this bookheres where I simply must plug Ashley Rays hilarious piece on thisbut the continued use of the word explode/explosion/exploded to describe the Dukes cum was a choice. Maxon: LOL. I think the goal in the sex scenes was to maximize a visceral feeling in both the Duke and Daphne, and therefore the reader, and they definitely went for it. The amount of moaning and mewling Daphne did was also quite a lot. I mean, Im sure Simon is hot and, um, talented, but come on. Advertisement Did you think any of the sex scenes were too aggressive? Like, on either end. Obviously, theres a consent issue when Daphne sexes Simon while hes drunk. But Simon is described as incredibly forcefulthough of course Daphne is moaning through it all. Advertisement Ducharme: Huh! I didnt. But mostly because I expected all romance novel sex to be deeeeeeeply passionate, and the only way to make that passion impossible to misconstrue is if they are really forceful. But for me, that ultimately made the sex scenes boring. Very little about what they did or said surprised me. Well, except for the drunk Simon scene, which is more disturbing than it is surprising, I guess. Another thing that was strange was the slightly flirty dynamic between Daphne and her brothers? Maybe Im just a pervert, but they seemed to be constantly teasing one another about her romantic and sexual prospects. Maxon: That didnt occur to me, but I see what you mean. What did occur to me, though, was intense homoeroticism between Anthony and Simon. Anthony was jealous! Advertisement Ducharme: Oh man, I wish I was reading that book. Maxon: There must be Anthony-Simon slash fic out there. Advertisement Advertisement Ducharme: Back to quirks of this book though, what did you think of the Lady Whistledown papers? Maxon: You know, they were fine. I dorkily must admit that the speed with which it became an instant success and read by everybody at the beginning made me think about how quickly a paper can build an audience. They said it was the hottest thing in town within two weeks! Without the internet! Seems extremely fast, but who knows? Gossip about rich folks love lives is always a good sell, and Lady Whistledown was well-sourced. But mostly I kept expecting there to be a reveal at the end that Lady Whistledown was Violet, Daphnes mom, and then, unless Im an idiot and missed that it was in fact Daphnewhich they sort of hinted at?there was no reveal. Advertisement Ducharme: I had fun reading them in Julie Andrews voice (shes the Kristen Bell of the Bridgerton TV series). But I found the contents to be actually rather dry. They couldve been much meaner! Maybe the problem was that I was expecting Page Six gossip from something more like the New York Times style section. Whistledowns identity remains a mystery even by the end of the book, though the TV series shares her identity right at the end of Season 1. Gossip Girl, this show is not. Advertisement Maxon: What about the main characters? You said Daphne was boring, and I have to agree. I get that sex ed was not really a thing, but how can someone be so ignorant of sex in a house with so many siblings when shes right in the middle? My friends from big families always say that they knew everything very early. Advertisement Ducharme I think Daphne is a lot like Twilights Bella in the sense that shes so flat that any woman reading it can project herself onto her. Daphne is but a vehicle for you to imagine getting railed by the cantankerously sexy Duke. That being said, I do think its interesting how common the I dont know about sex! plot point is. Personally, I think Spring Awakening (both the original German play and the 2000s rock musical) does it way better. I also think my judgment of Simon is clouded by how unbelievably hot Rege-Jean Page is, so Ill have to recuse myself from making any assessments on his character in the book. Maxon: Both Simon and Daphne are these archetypes, right? I think men imagine a person like Simonscarred by shitty father, able to beat up anybody, a rake who will never settle down, able to have complete control over himself, and able to make his woman mewl constantly while in bedwhen they imagine the prototypical alpha male, too. It might be too far to say that men dream of being like Simon, but I think a lot of (straight) men do think thats still the type of ideal man that theyre expected to be, or the type of man that women are most attracted to. (Punching people, by the way, happens surprisingly casually a number of times.) More than anything he reminded me of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, but as written in a novel that Gaston would write about himself. Advertisement Advertisement I will say theres one thing I think the book did pretty darn well that surprised me, which is how scarred Simon is by his dads rejection. I found some of the confrontations between them toward the beginning effectively tense, and I thought the moment of catharsis at the end, when he finally talks it through with Daphne in Hyde Park, was effective. That part of their romancethat Daphne would be the one to help him overcome this resentmentwas believable enough to me. (It could be said that this is yet another drama that could have been avoided by a Man Goes to Therapy, but at least in 1813 England, we know there was no such thing.) Advertisement The romance writers guild defines a romance novel as having central characters who fall in love and struggle to make it work and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending, so by that definition, in my opinion, The Duke and I succeeds. Like, its easy to imagine darker endings to the story, but as a reader I bought this ending, and it does what the book exists to do. It gives readers what they want, right? Was there anything in the book that worked well for you? Advertisement Ducharme: Im glad you asked because I imagine well have some romance fans walking away from this article thinking that weve been real jerks about their genre. I would say that it was significantly better than what I expected from the worst of those romance novel covers. Im also glad you mentioned the Dukes dynamic with his father because the portions of the book that worked for me were also related to family. I enjoyed sitting in the Bridgerton familys little world, especially when all the siblings were at one anothers throats over something silly and meaningless. The Dukes extremely sweet relationship with Daphnes youngest sister, Hyacinth, was particularly charming. That aspect of The Duke and I helped me understand that readers approach these books for the hotties, of course, but also for the tender, more intimate depictions of family. Even with his childhood abuse, Simon is still rather emotionally available to the larger Bridgerton clan. And whats sexier than being so well-adjusted? Advertisement Do you think you would read another Bridgerton book? (Maybe for that sweet, sweet Anthony x Simon flirtation.) Or another romance novel in general? Maxon: If there is Anthony-Simon fan fic out there, I do have to know about it, but I dont think Ill read another Bridgerton book, if only because life is short and there are too many books, and because Ill just watch the show instead. However, Im realizing that the closest thing to a romance novel I read before this was probably Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney, which provided forbidden romance and sex scenes but better sentences and characters. So reading Bridgerton did make me think that I should finally read Normal People, which I know is even more romance-y, if not genre romance. How about you? Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ducharme: You know, life IS too short and there sincerely ARE too many books. I dont think Ill read another Bridgerton book, but I will take any recommendations for LGBTQ romances (preferably not set in the Regency era though). Before I read The Duke and I this weekend, I watched Zendayas new film, Malcolm & Marie. The time I spent doing both of these things ultimately felt more like the beginning of my syllabus for a class on critical heterosexuality studies. If these two cultural products are any indicators of the state of heterosexuality, the straights are doomed. Maxon: I, too, am praying for me, praying for all us straights. I genuinely appreciate your scholarship, and your concern. RTE will need greater commercial flexibility to compensate for falls in traditional advertising revenue, the organisation has told the Future of Media Commission. (stock photo) RTE will need greater commercial flexibility to compensate for falls in traditional advertising revenue, the organisation has told the Future of Media Commission. In a submission seen by the Sunday Independent, the broadcaster said regulators would need to allow RTE the freedom to innovate which could include introducing pay-per-view programming and subscription video on demand (SVOD), it said. It said RTE was already diversifying its commercial activities. "While this will not compensate in full for the adverse impact of these market dynamics in advertising revenues, it will go some way towards mitigating the trend." His Costa award-winning 2008 novel The Secret Scripture told the story of Roseanne McNulty, pregnant, sectioned, abandoned by her family and society. She might have stepped from one of the 3,000 pages of last month's Mother and Baby Homes Commission report, a chilling litany of crimes against Irish women and their babies between 1922 and 1998. "What you feel is some sort of fury," says Laureate for Irish Fiction, Sebastian Barry (65). "But at the same time having to accept that a lot was happening in my lifetime. My children are now in their late 20s and when they criticise Irish society, they often say, 'Oh, well, that happened on your watch, Dad'. "The first thing in your mind is to remove yourself from that sense of responsibility, but you can't. We are all responsible." Barry's family tree took root in his writing, with an aunt, uncle and grandfather inspiring the books Annie Dunne, A Long Long Way and The Temporary Gentleman, respectively. His work aims to "resurrect or recover people who were extinguished or written out, buried in silence". Roseanne was based on one such skeleton in the family closet. Expand Close The names and ages of some of the infants who died at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home hang at the shrine, which stands on a mass burian site in Tuam, Co Galway. Photo: Charles McQuill / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The names and ages of some of the infants who died at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home hang at the shrine, which stands on a mass burian site in Tuam, Co Galway. Photo: Charles McQuill "She was a great-aunt and to this day I don't know the details of what happened to her. But I know that my mother, in a deeply disapproving voice, once referred to her as 'your woman', which is always an ominous thing in Ireland." His mother was actress Joan O'Hara, who played the popular character Eunice in Fair City. She was not "a cold person but there was a societal frigidaire feeling" towards women like this great-aunt, who had been a beauty and in his great-uncle's band before she was sectioned and he remarried. "The whole question of this woman had been placed in ice. I wanted to thaw her out like a magnificent survivor in the French Alps." The Secret Scripture opened conversations about this dark chapter in Ireland's recent past, years before the discovery of mass baby graves on the grounds of a former care home in Tuam. "It was a surprise to me that, having written the book, it was causing echoes in the souls of people from all points of view. It wasn't for no reason that it was that curious thing, a bestseller." From his point of view, "any father who marched their daughter up to a home like that or a mother who turned a cold shoulder are deeply complicit. That doesn't mean that you can lessen their sense of anger and blame on a Church that has been sort of in cahoots with the whole thing". Expand Close A Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry The "other part of the fury" is the age profile of many of the girls. "You are talking about between 12 and 18, so many [in the homes] as a result of fathers and brothers. It's a fury that's informed by the deepest sort of sorrow. Almost a sorrow for the nature of Homo sapiens. And I'm old enough to feel that nothing resolves. It simply goes around in great circles and has to be endured again and again." In the run-up to the marriage equality referendum in 2015, Barry wrote an impassioned letter to The Irish Times advocating for a 'yes' vote. His son Toby had come out, aged 16, the previous year. That the referendum passed surely suggests we have graduated, finally, from shame. "I don't think so," he disagrees. "It's just shifting. It shifts around. For instance, we are in dire need of that hate crime law [legislation is due to be brought to Cabinet by Easter]. If somebody says something to my son in the street, it's not a crime. If somebody makes a homophobic remark, even at that level of words, which is always a precursor to something much more dreadful, you can't ring the Gardai." Toby, a musician in the band Babylamb - recently named as 'one to watch in 2021' by Hot Press magazine - has endured such abuse many times. "That makes me almost want to buy a gun and go and find those people. The sort of summary justice; but it's so enraging. If you allow yourself to say something cruel in the street to a magnificent human being like my son, let me say in my book you have committed a crime. I think there has to be strong law. People have to be afraid. Something has to stop the words in their mouth: fear of the consequences. Because when you feel it as a father or just as a fellow human being, the consuming level of anger is almost as dangerous." The "most obvious example" of another modern-day injustice - about which his future grandchildren might very well chastise his children for witnessing - is Direct Provision. "With my Laureate Book Club, I went down to one of the centres. This is [with] the Arts Council of Ireland and we weren't even allowed in the building [by] the people who ran the place. So the book club had to be held in a little gazebo-type thing out in the grounds. And these amazing people," he sighs, of asylum seekers. "When will I ever do a reading again with all their kids and babies crawling around on the ground, showing me their toys as I read, I think from The Secret Scripture, ironically enough. Ironic, because the mothers couldn't come without bringing their kids." He recalls a woman there who was "so impressive. I think she'd been a lawyer in her home country. And so diminished by this experience and so curtailed that I felt it was an atrocity. We are talking about a national atrocity." He is equally concerned about how Travellers are treated and praises Oein DeBhairduin's book of Minceir stories, Why The Moon Travels. "I think it's a vaccine book. Every schoolchild should be reading it. Because when you're presented with the very soul of a group of people you cannot fail to respond with love." Barry is not convinced that Ireland is necessarily a safer place now than in the past. "Maybe it's even more dangerous for children if it's assumed that everything has changed and everything's good now. But that cannot be. And if you talk to social workers, you don't get that impression whatsoever. They're at the coalface. It's the four walls of a house and the fact that you only find out certain things 20 years later. The virus of these things is always there. You have to keep applying the vaccines of truth and of kindness. But surely one of the most dangerous sites for children must be familial." The bosom of the family home can also be a sanctuary. Barry and his screenwriter wife, Alison Deegan, have welcomed home their four adult children since the pandemic. "With all these hundreds of thousands - millions - of people dead, it still behoves us to try and see the tiny gifts in this thing. And one for me is having the children back. It is a massive sense of privilege just to have these striving souls around the house." Even if they hold you to account for societal wrongs committed in your lifetime? "The fury one feels about the Mother and Baby Homes Report is also fury against oneself," he muses. "It's not just about looking for the perpetrators and let's pile in on top of that. It's the greater sorrow of realising that all the worst tendencies of society somehow arise out of you as well. Out of everybody. That's our sorrow as a creature. And that's the thing we're always trying to fold, keep folding the pudding to let the air in and improve it." Portrait by Joel Saget President Joe Biden made his first ever foreign policy address as President on Thursday, vowing to restore Americas leadership position on the world stage and repair alliances through diplomacy. Speaking at length at the U.S. Department of State Headquarters in Washington, Biden outlined his vision for addressing an assortment of global issues, including the civil war in Yemen, trade relations with China and tensions with Russia. What did president Biden say about US position in the world? President Biden reinforced his message of unity and strength going forward, and departing pointedly from his predecessors America First foreign policy. When we strengthen our alliances we amplify our power as well as our ability to disrupt threats before they reach our shores, Biden said. America cannot afford to be absent any longer on the world stage, he added. A new stance on Russia I made it very clear to President Putin in a manner very different from my predecessor that the days of the United States rolling over in the face of Russian aggressive actions, interfering with our elections, cyber attacks, poisoning its citizens, are over, Biden said. We will be more effective in dealing with Russia when we work in coalition and coordination with other like-minded partners, he added. Biden also renewed calls for the immediate release of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was detained in Moscow last month and sentenced to more than two years in prison, say CNBC. Hes been targeted for exposing corruption and he should be released immediately and without condition, Biden said. Rebuilding broken allegiance with China Biden made clear he would make a clean break after four years of fractured trade relations with China, as Donald Trump placed blame at its door for everything from intellectual property theft to the coronavirus pandemic. Biden said he would work more closely with allies in order to mount pushback against China. We will confront Chinas economic abuses, Biden explained, describing the country as Americas most serious competitor. But were also ready to work with Beijing when its in Americas interest to do so. Well compete from a position of strength by building back better at home and working with our allies and partners, the President added. Civil war in Yemen The Yemen civil war escalated in 2014 when Houthi forces, who are in alliance with former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, took over the nations capital. Saudi Arabia once backed by the Trumps US government - and the United Arab Emirates have carried out attacks in Yemen against the Houthis since 2015. In his speech Thursday Biden described the war as having created a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe. And he pledged to step up our diplomacy to end the war in Yemen, by imposing a ceasefire, opening humanitarian channels, and restoring long-dormant peace talks. And to underscore our commitment, we are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales, the President added. Immigration: refugee admissions to increase The President also doubled down on his immigration policy, announcing that he would be increasing the nations annual refugee admissions cap to 125,000 in the 12-month period starting Oct. 1. The United States moral leadership on refugee issues was a point of bipartisan consensus for so many decades, Biden said. Our example pushed other nations to open wider doors as well. So today, Im approving an executive order to begin the hard work of restoring our refugee admissions program to help meet the unprecedented global need, he added. Its going to take time to rebuild what has been so badly damaged. 'I am swamped with funerals," my friend, the Padre, sighs, "everyone is dropping off left, right and centre. But I still think you should meet 'Happy feet', the river man." "Why is he called that?" I enquire. "He's quick on the dance floor and he loves the Liffey." I arrange to meet the Padre at Happy Feet's office in the Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club, Ringsend. Ascending the metal side steps up to the door, I marvel at the views of the entire river Liffey languidly meandering though the city and the docks. Happy Feet, a beaming, sturdy-looking, bearded man in his fifties, is sitting at his desk, having the craic with the Padre. "Start telling the lies now," quips the Padre, before he disappears back down to his old Mercedes, Mercy. He takes his death calls while we get to talking. The office tells you everything about Happy Feet, alias Jimmy Murray, who is head of the Nautical Trust, and the man who brought the famous No 11 Liffey Ferry back to life after the East-Link Toll Bridge opened. It's extraordinary to think that the Old Liffey Ferry has been in operation since 1665. Before Covid, the ferry was used as part of the Trust's maritime training programme, which gave opportunities for local, young, unemployed and disadvantaged people. Thankfully, it will be back when everything calms down. I look around, a life jacket is draped over a chair, there are fishing nets hanging from the walls, a photo of Jimmy with 'The Floozie in the Jacuzzi', the famous Dublin sculpture. There's a line of files with handwritten titles that define the main areas of his life: 'Dept. of Marine', 'Oil Jetty', 'Liffey Ferry', 'George's Docks' and an odd one called 'The MV Shingle'. "A drug bust," says Jimmy, knowingly. My eyes light on a massive chart of Torbay and Brixham in Devon. "We've a huge connection that goes back 200 years," he says, "many of the fishing vessels and their crews that originate in Brixham settled here. Their names are all over Ringsend: Blackmore, Bouden, Sanders, are all their descendants. These people are indigenous to the port." It's all fascinating to me. "I know the way the Liffey thinks," says Jimmy, as he talks about shipping lanes, sand flats, culverts, breakwaters and quay walls, the sounds of chugging boats and screaming seagulls in the distance. "Because of the tides, the Liffey dictates when I work," he says. "We both reward each other in every aspect of our lives. I have to maintain her because she never sleeps." Happy Feet strikes me as the Liffey's private consultant, the kind you'd find in the Blackrock Clinic. I mean, this man understands her so well, the structure of her walls, her tunnels, the rhythm of her tides. One thing is certain, Jimmy is "in love". But like all close relationships, they have had their rows. Happy Feet was not so happy when he nearly died in her cold embrace. "Yes," he sighs, "she tried to take me one day. I slipped in between the ferry and another boat and my legs got caught inside the mooring rings. Nobody could see me. A big trawler, about eight foot high, blocked my vision. I was trying to get up out of the water but I was just too exhausted. I was about to accept my fate, knowing that I was going to die. It was as if someone had placed two cold hands on the back of my neck. I remember the noise the most. Every time I roared for help, my voice just drowned into the sounds of busy traffic on the East-Link bridge, and the Pigeon House Road. A friend of mine, Jacinta, who happened to live 400 metres away from the bridge, was cleaning her windows and because the wind was northerly, she heard my voice. She must have wolf ears. She ran to a group of men at the Stella Maris club and they saved me." As I peruse the walls, Jimmy stares out the window at the gun-grey clouds above us, and talks about his childhood in the Ringsend flats. One of 12 children, they lived in two rooms. Jimmy remembers the sweet smell of Boland's bakery, the choking dust of the coal, the abject poverty of the "pickaroonies", foraging for food and copper wires in the stenching Ringsend dump. "Slumdog Millionaire was nothing on it," he says. Ringsend back then, says Jimmy, was all about poverty. "I remember Cadbury used to drop off chocolate to the dump that had been caught in their mashing machines. My friends and I found a massive slab of Dairy Milk and the 12 of us were chewing lumps of it. It was such fun. Sure we had nothing, I used to stuff my brothers' hand-me-down shoes with newspaper to stop them falling off." This is 1960s Dublin, by the way, not 1860s. "As kids, we'd help the salmon fishermen on the Liffey, collect coal off the docks in our wooden boxcars, go to the Eblana depot with turf vouchers. You'd queue for the turf and most of your knuckles would be knocked off as they filled the bags. You would have to push your loaded boxcar through the mud and cold to get home. "The best time was when we would see the cranes on John Rogerson's Quay move at night." It was a reassuring sound for Jimmy and the lads as they knew the coal boats would start unloading. "Nowadays it would be classed as robbery but our parents had no money. To them it was simply cleaning up the quayside." Everyone dips into Jimmy's wisdom, including the FBI. When Ireland was preparing for the then US President Barack Obama's visit, they were first sent to the bould Jimmy to check the points of entry on the Liffey. As always, he took undisputed command of the situation. Needless to say, the FBI had missed most of them. I leave Happy Feet a wiser woman. On Friday, the son was staying over with his glamorous granny Dee in Shankill. "Take some time out," says Mum. Guess what? I did. Armed with a load of cherries, cheese and crisps, I queued in SuperValu, delighted with myself. Suddenly, a blight cast its shadow over me. The "geranium thief" - the lady who whipped a plant from my windowbox recently - was in the same queue. She didn't even twitch when she sees me. Now that takes balls. The thought occurred to me that maybe I should nab the new potted plant I saw her so lovingly install on Tuesday. We all have our moments of rebellion. Then I thought, Nah. I did what Irish people did years ago, I "took to the bed". The writer Brian Doyle describes this tradition perfectly. "It's a particularly Irish form of refuge, retreat, restoration, surrender, defiance, passivity, prayer and sadness." Well, apart from the sadness bit, I was in my element. I lay there, stuffed in a tortilla of Francis Brennan's best cotton thread count, like a large turkey. I didn't budge until Saturday evening. Now that's what I call living. Announcement on Resolutions of the 15th Meeting of the Tenth Session of the Board of Directors Qingdao / Shanghai / Frankfurt / Hong Kong, 07 February 2021 - Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (D-Share 690D.DE, A-Share 600690.SH, H-Share 06690.HK) published today an announcement on the Shanghai Stock Exchange with regard to Resolutions of the 15th Meeting of the Tenth Session of the Board of Directors. The 15th meeting of the tenth session of the board of directors of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "Company") was convened at the morning of 7 February 2021 in Meeting Room 118 of Eco Brand Central Building of Haier Information Industrial Park in Qingdao city, with the due count of the directors being 8 and the actual count being 8, including directors Tan Lixia, Wu Changqi, Lin Sui, Dai Deming, Qian Daqun and Wang Keqin attended the meeting by communication. The number of attendees was in compliance with the requirements of laws and regulations and Articles of Association. The notice of the meeting was sent by email on 3 February 2021. Representatives of the board of supervisors and senior management personnel of the Company attended the meeting. The notice and the convening of the meeting comply with the requirements of the Company Law and Articles of Association. The meeting was moderated by Mr. Liang Haishan, the chairman of the board of directors. The following proposals have been considered and approved after prudent review by the attending directors: I. Proposal on Amending the Articles of Association of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (voting results: 8 voted for, 0 voted against, 0 abstained) Since the Company has completed the listing of H-share by way of introduction and the privatization of Haier Electronics Group Co., Ltd. (01169.HK), in order to fully realize the synergy effect, further improve corporate governance, improve the Company's environmental, social and governance level, attract outstanding talents to accelerate the implementation of the IoT strategy, it is proposed to revise the relevant corporate governance provisions concerning the number of directors and the establishment of professional committees in the Articles of Association (currently in force) according to the actual situation of the Company. This proposal will be submitted to the Company's first extraordinary general meeting of 2021 for deliberation and approval. For details, please refer to the Announcement on Amending the Articles of Association of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. disclosed on the same date as this announcement. II. Proposal on the Election of Directors of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (voting results: 8 voted for, 0 voted against, 0 abstained) Given that the Company has completed the listing of H-share by way of introduction and the privatization of Haier Electronics (01169.HK), in order to further improve corporate governance, fully realize the synergy effect and enhance the diversification of the board of directors, the Company plans to elect Mr. Xie Juzhi as an executive director of the Company, and elect Mr. Yu Handu and Ms. Li Jinfen as non-executive directors of the Company. The term of office is from the date when this proposal is passed by the Company's general meeting to the date when the current board of directors expires. After the term of office expires, they can be re-elected. This proposal will be submitted to the Company's first extraordinary general meeting of 2021 for deliberation and approval. For details, please refer to the Announcement on the Election of Directors and Reorganization of Senior Management Personnel of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. disclosed on the same date as this announcement. The independent directors of the Company have issued independent opinions on the above proposal. III. Proposal on the Election of Independent Non-executive Directors of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (voting results: 8 voted for, 0 voted against, 0 abstained) In order to promote the Company's Internet of Things strategy and increase the diversification of the Company's board of directors, the Company intends to elect Mr. Li Shipeng as an independent non-executive director for a term of office consistent with the Company's tenth board of directors. Its qualification as an independent non-executive director has been reported to Shanghai Stock Exchange for record without any objection. This proposal will be submitted to the Company's first extraordinary general meeting of 2021 for deliberation and approval. For details, please refer to the Announcement on the Election of Directors and Reorganization of Senior Management Personnel of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. disclosed on the same date as this announcement. The independent directors of the Company have issued independent opinions on the above proposal. IV. Proposal on Reorganizing the Senior Management Team of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (voting results: 8 voted for, 0 voted against, 0 abstained) In order to fully implement and promote the Company's IoT ecological brand strategy and customize a better life for users, effectively integrate resource advantages after the completion of the listing of H-share by way of introduction and privatization of Haier Electronics (01169.HK), promote in-depth business integration and operational efficiency, the Company plans to reorganize the current senior management team based on the strategic direction and the needs of corporate governance. For details, please refer to the Announcement on the Election of Directors and Reorganization of Senior Management Personnel of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. disclosed on the same date as this announcement. The independent directors of the Company have issued independent opinions on the above proposal. V. Proposal on Replacing H-share Company Secretary of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (voting results: 8 voted for, 0 voted against, 0 abstained) Since the Company's H shares were listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (hereinafter referred to as the "Hong Kong Stock Exchange") on 23 December 2020, the Company has appointed Ms. Sun Peizhen as the company secretary. Currently, Ms. Sun Peizhen intends to resign as company secretary and do not act as the authorized representative of the Company and the authorized representative to receive process of service or notifications on behalf of the Company in Hong Kong ("Agent for Process of Service"). Upon the proposal of the Company's general manager, it is now proposed to appoint Mr. Wu Zhixian as the Company's H-share company secretary, authorized representative and Agent for Process of Service. The appointment of Mr. Wu will take effect from the date of approval by the board of directors. On the same date, Ms. Sun Peizhen will cease to serve as the company secretary of the Company. For the resume of Mr. Wu Zhixian, please see the appendix to this announcement. VI. Proposal on the Appointment of an Audit Firm for International Accounting Standards in 2020 of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (voting results: 8 voted for, 0 voted against, 0 abstained) In view of the fact that the Company's H shares were listed and traded on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 23 December 2020, in accordance with the relevant requirements of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Listing Rules and comprehensive consideration of factors such as the qualifications of the audit firm, and after deliberations and approvals at the 13th meeting of the Audit Committee of the tenth session of the board of directors, the Company's board of directors intends to appoint HLB Hodgson Impey Cheng Limited as the Company's auditor for International Accounting Standards in 2020 to the date of the Company's 2020 general meeting. The audit fee is RMB 3.39 million (including the financial report audit fee of RMB 3.24 million and continuing connected transactions audit fee of RMB 0.15 million). This proposal will be submitted to the Company's first extraordinary general meeting of 2021 for deliberation and approval. For details, please refer to the Announcement on the Appointment of an Audit Firm for International Accounting Standards of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. disclosed on the same date as this announcement. The independent directors of the Company have approved the above proposal and issued independent opinions. VII. Proposal on Convening the First Extraordinary General Meeting of 2021 and the First Class Meeting of A-Shares / D-Shares / H-Shares of 2021 of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (voting results: 8 voted for, 0 voted against, 0 abstained) In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Company Law and the Articles of Association, the board of directors of the Company proposes to convene the first extraordinary general meeting of 2021 at 14:30 on 5 March 2021 to review the aforementioned proposals to be submitted and the Proposal on the General Mandate for the Repurchase of H-Shares upon the Completion of the Listing by way of Introduction reviewed and approved at the 14th meeting of the tenth board of directors; to convene the first A-shares class meeting of 2021, the first D-shares class meeting of 2021 and the first H-shares class meeting of 2021 to review the Proposal on the General Mandate for the Repurchase of H-Shares upon the Completion of the Listing by way of Introduction reviewed and approved at the 14th meeting of the tenth board of directors (the proposal needs to be reviewed and approved by the extraordinary general meeting and the three classes meetings of shareholders at the same time to become effective). Each general meeting will be held sequentially. Details of the upcoming extraordinary general meeting and D-shares class meeting of shareholders are to be disclosed in due course. The announcement is hereby given. The Board of Director Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. Appendix:Biographical details of Mr. Wu Zhixian Mr. Wu Zhixian, male, born in 1965, holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from the Faculty of Business Administration of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is also a fellow member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, and a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He has over 20 years of experience in auditing, finance and company secretarial matters. Mr. Wu has been the company secretary of Haier Electronics Group Co., Ltd. since 18 March 2009. The government of the state of Victoria in Australia is providing more than $1 million in funding to CSIRO, Australias national science agency, that will enable it to partner with Swinburne University of Technology to establish the Victorian Hydrogen Hub (VH2). The $10-million VH2 project is designed to bring researchers, industry partners and businesses together to test, trial and demonstrate new and emerging hydrogen technologies. Under the partnership, CSIRO will receive more than $1 million towards the development of a refueling station to fuel and test hydrogen vehicles. The refueling station, to be located at CSIROs Clayton campus in Victoria, is a key milestone in the development of CSIROs national Hydrogen Industry Mission, which aims to support Australias clean hydrogen industryestimated to create more than 8000 jobs, generate $11 billion a year in GDP and support a low emissions future. Some of the features of the refueling station. As Australia considers energy alternatives, we know hydrogen is clean and will be cost-competitivebut a major barrier to it becoming a fuel source for cars and trucks is how to refuel, and the lack of refueling infrastructure. The refueler is a significant step towards removing that barrier. CSIRO Executive Director, Growth, Nigel Warren Construction will take place as part of the development of VH2a new hydrogen production and storage demonstration facility, where CSIRO, Swinburne and their partners will test real world uses for hydrogen technology. The refueler project will demonstrate a fleet trial for CSIRO hydrogen vehicles with the potential for expansion, providing refueling opportunities to other zero emission Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) in the local area. CSIRO is engaging with vehicle companies such as Toyota Australia to support the future adoption and supply of FCEVs in Australia. Hydrogen Industry Mission. CSIRO announced a program of national missions in August 2020, aimed at solving some of Australias greatest challenges. Missions are currently being developed. The Hydrogen Industry Mission aims to help Australia work out how to scale up domestic hydrogen supply and demand for a low emissions future, and support a hydrogen energy export industry. The mission builds on CSIROs National Hydrogen Roadmap which shared the opportunities for Australias clean hydrogen industry. CSIRO is currently engaging with and inviting advisory, funding, R&D and translation partners to work collaboratively on initiatives. At first it may not catch your eye: just another Chevron gas station, one of many in San Francisco, one of 1,500 in California. But if something doesn't look quite right, something that feels like it's from another era, that's because the station on Van Ness and Pine doesn't say "Chevron" on it at all. It's in fact the last Standard Oil stop in California, and there's a bizarre reason why. Standard Oil was once the largest oil refiner on earth. Founded in 1870 by John D. Rockefeller and Henry Flagler, the petroleum giant quickly took over the entire industry, which then predominantly provided oil for lighting. As the company grew, refineries, ships and pipelines were constructed at lightning speed across the country. In the Bay Area, Standard bought up 500 acres of rolling hills along the shore in 1901. The Richmond refinery (still operating over a sprawling 2,900 acres today) made an ideal marine terminal, and the company acquired several vessels to ship the fuel, including the Asuncion, a 2,196-ton collier that was converted into a 21,000-barrel tank ship. Standard was an American colossus, but it got so big it had to be split up. In 1909, the U.S. Justice Department sued Standard Oil under federal antitrust laws established by the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. In the landmark 1911 U.S. Supreme Court case Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, the company was found guilty of monopolizing the industry through a series of abusive and anti-competitive actions. Standard was accused of duplicitous dealings, price wars and even espionage; the company had been aggressively undercutting their competitors' prices and acquiring them. Wikimedia Commons The court forced Rockefeller to divide his behemoth into several geographically separate firms. The business magnate was by then the wealthiest American of all time and controlled 90% of all oil in the United States at the time. The decision did nothing to lessen Rockefeller's fortune, though, as the sum of the parts that Rockefeller still owned shares in were worth more than the whole, with the 34 smaller companies' combined wealth soaring above even that of Standard's. Rockefeller's fortune would put Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk to shame, with his personal wealth estimated at $900 million in 1913, making up 3% of the U.S. gross domestic product that year. He wasn't just the richest man in America he was the richest man in the world. All of the 34 "baby Standards," including BP, Mobil and Exxon, abandoned their rights to the Standard Oil trademark ... except one. Chevron has maintained one Standard gas station in each of its 16 states of operation, a strategy that enables the company to keep Standard as an active trademark to this day. Outside of San Francisco, others include this station on Tropicana Avenue in Las Vegas: Google Street View This move is somewhat controversial though, because it relies on an interpretation of the 1988 Trademark Law Revision Act which states that these trademarks cannot be used only for "token use," and that usage requires the bona fide use of a mark in the ordinary course of trade. The issue has never been taken to court. Until it is, the gas station on Van Ness and Pine will continue to brandish a name, now almost forgotten, that once monopolized America. Andrew Chamings Have you passed by any weird remnants of the past in the Bay Area you want to know more about? Or any modern day oddities that just don't make sense? Please send any ideas for future Obscure SF stories to andrew.chamings@sfgate.com In Bengal, the prime minister will inaugurate an LPG import terminal built by the state-run BPCL that has been constructed at a cost of around Rs 1,100 crore New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in West Bengal and Assam on Sunday for inaugurating and laying the foundation stone of several development projects and will also address public meetings on these occasions in the two poll-bound states. His office HAD said on Friday that Modi will lay the foundation stone of two hospitals and launch ''Asom Mala'', a programme for state highways and major district roads, at Dhekiajuli in Assam. He will later dedicate to the nation and also lay the foundation stone of key infrastructure projects at Haldia in West Bengal. In Bengal, Modi will inaugurate an LPG import terminal built by the state-run BPCL that has been constructed at an investment of around Rs 1,100 crore and has a capacity of 1 million metric tonnes per annum. "It will cater to the growing requirement of LPG in West Bengal and other states in eastern and north-eastern India and is an important step towards realising the vision of the Prime Minister to provide clean cooking LPG to every household," the Prime Minister's Office said. He will also dedicate to the nation the 348-km Dobhi-Durgapur natural gas pipeline section, which is part of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Project. It marks an important milestone towards achieving ''one nation, one gas grid'' project of the government, the PMO said. Constructed at an investment of about Rs 2,400 crore, the pipeline will help the revival of HURL Sindri (Jharkhand) fertilizer plant and in supplying gas to Matix Fertilizer Plant in Durgapur (West Bengal). It will cater to the gas demand of industrial, commercial and automobile sectors, and the city gas distribution across all major towns in the state. Modi will lay the foundation stone of the second Catalytic-Isodewaxing unit of the Haldia refinery of the Indian Oil Corporation as well. This unit will have a capacity of 270 thousand metric tonnes per annum, and once commissioned, is expected to result in a saving of about $ 185 million in foreign exchange. Another project to be inaugurated by the prime minister is a four-lane ROB-cum-flyover at Ranichak in Haldia on NH 41. It has been built at the cost of Rs 190 crore, the PMO said. The flyover will result in uninterrupted movement of traffic from Kolaghat to Haldia Dock Complex and other surrounding areas, resulting in substantial saving in travel time and operating cost of heavy vehicles plying in and out of the port. "These projects are in line with Prime Minister''s vision of Purvodaya, of driving growth of eastern India," it said. In Assam, Modi will launch ''Asom Mala'', which is aimed at helping improve the state highways and major district roads network in the state. The programme is unique for its emphasis on effective maintenance through continuous field data collection and its linkage with the road asset management system, the PMO noted. ''Asom Mala'' will provide quality inter-linkage roads between the national highways and the rural roads network as well as facilitate seamless multi-modal transportation. It will interconnect economic growth centres with transportation corridors and improve inter-state connectivity, it said. The prime minister will also lay the foundation stone of two medical colleges and hospitals, which are being set up in Biswanath and Charaideo at a total estimated project cost of over Rs 1,100 crore. Each hospital will have a capacity of 500 beds and 100 MBBS seats. "The increase in the number of medical colleges and hospitals will not only mitigate the shortage of doctors in the state but also make Assam a hub for tertiary care and medical education for the entire northeastern region," the PMO said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 18:54:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) has become closer in multiple areas, including trade and investment, the promotion of China-Europe freight trains and project agreements. The following are some highlights of economic and trade cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries. -- China's total trade volume with 17 CEECs reached 103.45 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, crossing the 100-billion-dollar mark for the first time, data from the Ministry of Commerce shows. This marked a year-on-year increase of 8.4 percent, higher than the growth rate of China's foreign trade and its trade with Europe as a whole. Logging an average annual growth rate of 8 percent from 2012, the growth of China's trade with CEECs is three times the growth of its foreign trade and two times the growth of its trade with Europe as a whole. -- China's foreign direct investment in the economic sectors of 17 CEECs, including energy, infrastructure, logistics and automobile parts, totaled 3.14 billion dollars by the end of 2020. The 17 countries invested 1.72 billion dollars in China during the period. -- The number of China-Europe freight trains stood at 12,400 in 2020, with key passages and destinations including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. -- Last year, the total contract value of China's newly signed overseas projects with the 17 countries spiked 34.6 percent to 5.41 billion dollars. Enditem Berger said when he read the findings of the first probe, "it was pretty clear to me we needed to do a follow-on... Most mums-to-be are content to put their feet up, but animal rights activist Tuesday Goti was raiding farms while pregnant. The 33-year-old and her husband Andrew (39), both committed vegans, run a group called Expose NI, an animal rights organisation that stages 'vigils' and demonstrations outside slaughterhouses. They also operate 'liberations', in which people gain access to farms, usually during the night, and take as many animals as they can carry. "I've been trespassing on farms for two years now, documenting the violence against hundreds of thousands of animals who are basically innocent death row victims," Andrew said. "We try to take them out and give them a chance to know human kindness and the freedom they deserve, but liberating harmed animals is a criminal offence in the UK, so we've put ourselves on the chopping block with them." Expand Close DEVOTED: Tuesday, pregnant here with Arabella, says she wants to create a better world for her child / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp DEVOTED: Tuesday, pregnant here with Arabella, says she wants to create a better world for her child At one point during her pregnancy, Tuesday played host to 50 chickens taken from a farm in Co Tyrone, caring for them in her kitchen and back yard, before rehoming them with other activists and supporters. She and her husband have also snatched pigs and chicks, often seeking veterinary treatment from a sympathetic vet. After tying the knot in 2019, Tuesday and Andrew, from Lisburn, welcomed their daughter Arabella, who they are raising as a vegan, into the world in October last year. Overwhelming They know the animals they snatch are stolen property in the eyes of the law, but they're prepared to go to jail because they believe the animals should not be treated as such. "I'll never forget my first time inside a broiler farm. These are supposed to be high-welfare barns where the birds are bred for meat, but some of these huge barns can house around 26,000 birds at any one time," said Tuesday. "I parked up outside a farm and saw the security hut was empty, so I ran into the shed and took photos. It was just a sea of birds and it was stifling hot. The smell was overwhelming. "It was so dreadful I went back out again that night with Andrew. We couldn't just leave the birds there. We had to try and help, even just a few. We reasoned that with so many birds, the farmers wouldn't miss a few, so we took five." Tuesday became a vegetarian aged five and a vegan at 16, at which point she decided to dedicate her life to helping animals. She met Andrew, a vegan for five years, through a Belfast animal rights group. Expand Close Andrew Goti with a hen he rescued / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Andrew Goti with a hen he rescued They initially took part in 'vigils' outside slaughterhouses, photographing lorries and documenting what they witnessed, before moving into trespassing on farms with a small number of other activists in 2019. On the farm in Tyrone, Tuesday said she was "appalled" by what she discovered. "These farms have CCTV. We sometimes have to climb fences or scale walls. We walk across fields and crawl under hedges. We never damage property on our way in, but we do trespass," she explained. The mum-of-one kept working during her pregnancy, attending demonstrations, protests and vigils and running night sorties. Surprisingly, neither she nor Andrew have ever got into serious trouble with the police. Expand Close VIGILANTES: Tuesday on a farm raid / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp VIGILANTES: Tuesday on a farm raid "I think the farmers think pursuing us is more trouble than it's worth. There are so many thousands of animals in these farms and they already lose a percentage to illness and injury. What's a few more here and there?" Tuesday asked. "The police have been to our door once, but Andrew didn't open it and they went away. Last January we were approached by officers at a 'Meat the Victims' event where we occupied a pig farm with 40 activists. It was a sit-in. We were on site to negotiate with the pig farmers and make a protest. "When the police spoke to me, I was very honest about what we do. I explained that we were trespassing and why. The police were actually very good to us. I think they were horrified to see what goes on in these farms. The farmer agreed to let us take one pig." On another occasion, Tuesday and Andrew staged a night protest outside McDonald's at Sprucefield, covering the store in campaign posters. The police took their names and address, but nothing further came of it. "Being a mum is the most important thing to me and I'm doing my activism for Arabella. I want her to know that her mum tried so hard to make a better world for her, protect the planet and her future and stand up for the animals," Tuesday told Sunday Life. "We are campaigning for the legal right to rescue, which means we'd be allowed to take animals out of situations that breach the already sub-standard welfare regulations." Expand Close Some of the animals she rescued / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Some of the animals she rescued Andrew added: "I'm always with Tuesday on our night missions, so I protect her as best I can. We consider this work to be vital." However, the Vegan Society, a partner in the Veganuary campaign, said it could not condone the illegal elements of Tuesday and Andrew's activism. A spokeswoman added: "The Vegan Society is not involved in and nor does it condone any illegal activity. "Our website provides information on all aspects of veganism and we campaign on a number of issues, including vegan advocacy and vegan food provision in public canteens. We also provide tools for activists, such as leaflets and advice on effective and peaceful outreach." Expand Close Some of the animals she rescued / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Some of the animals she rescued A spokeswoman for the PSNI said: "We would encourage anyone with information about illegal activity to call us on 101 and we will investigate. "Information can also be given on the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/. Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org." New Delhi, Feb 7 : Uttarakhand former Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Sunday expressed his condolences over the deaths after the glacier broke in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Sunday. During his visit to Ghazipur border protest site on Sunday evening, Rawat told IANS, "I am extremely sad about the incident in Uttarakhand and I extend my condolences to the families of the victims." The flash flood occurred in Rishi Ganga at around 10.45 a.m. due to a glacier falling into it and exponentially increasing the volume of water due to which, the Rishi Ganga hydro project was completely devastated. Nearly 150 people are missing or "feared dead" after the tragic incident. The rescue operation is on and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia for next of the kin of all those who have lost their lives and Rs 50,000 compensation for those who were seriously injured in the disaster. 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 total of seven candidates have filed their nominations to contest the election of the Member of Council of State position to represent the Upper West Region. The candidates are Kuoro Barecheh Nlowie Baninye II, the Divisional Chief of Niator, Bayon Godfrey Tongu, a former Member of Parliament for Wa East (MP), and Paschal Baylon Dere, a former District Chief Executive (DCE). Others are Mr Charles Lwanga Puozuing, the Upper West Regional Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and Naa Prof. Daniel Anleu-mwine Bagah, a Lecturer at the Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD-UBIDS). The rest are Naa Emmanuel K. Mwinila-Yuori, the Chief of Gbankor and Mr Abubakari Sadik Mohaisen. The election, which is scheduled to take place on February 12, 2021, will see the 22-member Electoral College casting their ballots to elect one person among the seven candidates to represent the region at the Council of State. Mr Emmanuel Kyei, the Deputy Upper West Regional Director of the Electoral Commission said the candidates nomination forms had already been submitted to the head office of the Commission in Accra. He urged candidates to go about their campaign lawfully to ensure a smooth electoral process come February 12, 2021, adding that the security of the election was guaranteed. Meanwhile, some Assembly members including the Assembly member for Kperisi Electoral Area, Mr James Kuunsaana Donkor, have begun raising concerns over the manner in which Assembly members were selected to form the Electoral College. In an objection letter addressed to the Municipal Office of the EC, Mr Donkor stated emphatically that there was no meeting of the Assembly to build consensus or elect persons to represent members at the impending Council of State Elections. The Law requires that there should be a meeting at which a consensus is reached or failing, which an election is conducted among members so that the person(s) who wins will represent the Assembly, he said. The Kperisi Assembly member noted that Mr Abdul-Rahman Topie Karim and Adams Mahamood Mumuni were not selected through due process and therefore did not qualify per the law to represent the Wa Municipal Assembly as delegates in the impending Council of State election. I therefore object to their wrongful selection and representation and further calls for the right process to be applied in keeping with the laid down procedure in accordance with the law, Mr Donkor 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 Bengaluru, Feb 7 : Prominent members of the Christians community in this tech city have collected Rs 1 crore as donation for the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayan said on Sunday. "The members of the Christian community from all walks of life donated Rs 1 crore during the fund-raising drive," said Narayan. Christian entrepreneurs, businessmen, educationists, chief executives, marketing experts and social service activists contributed for the temple construction. "The BJP believes in pro-people actions and 'sab ka saath, sab ka vikas' as stated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As an inclusive party, the BJP incapsulates even minorities and its philosophy of governance is followed at the central and the state levels," said the Deputy CM. The community's representative and businessman Ronald Colaso said Christians always respond to the cause of the nation and social harmony. In this context, the community's leaders also thanked the BJP-ruled state government for granting Rs 200 crore for setting up Christian Development Corporation in the city. "We are also grateful to the state government for legislating a Bill to set up Saint Joseph University in the city," said Colaso in the statement. Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Secretary General Champat Rai announced recently that the donation drive, which began on January 15, would be go on till February 27 across the country. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 23:03:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- A chartered flight carrying the first batch of the China-donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Cambodia on Sunday, welcomed by Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen at the Phnom Penh International Airport. The event was live broadcast on the prime minister's official Facebook page, the state-run National Television of Cambodia (TVK), Fresh News, the kingdom's online news provider, and several other TV channels. A handover ceremony of the vaccines was held at the airport, which was also attended by Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian. Addressing the ceremony, Hun Sen expressed gratitude to China for its donating vaccines to his country. "Vaccines are a key strategic solution that can save people's lives, improve long-term public health, and guarantee the overall recovery of economic and social activities," he said. "A Cambodian proverb says 'a good friend must help each other in difficult times'. In this sense, the donation of the vaccines is a new testament to the iron friendship and close cooperation between the two countries and peoples," he added. Speaking at the handover ceremony, Wang said Cambodia is one of the first countries to receive the vaccine assistance from China and that the donation clearly showed China's commitment to making its COVID-19 vaccines global public goods. "It is hoped that these vaccines can play a positive role in helping Cambodia to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," Wang said. China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine has been recognized as a safe and effective vaccine, ordered and approved for use in many countries, Hun Sen has said. He has said a vaccination drive against COVID-19 will be launched in Cambodia on Feb. 10 with the country's medical workers, armed forces members, teachers, journalists, tuk-tuk and taxi drivers, and garbage collectors being among the first people to take shots. Cambodian authorities have authorized the emergency use of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in the country, noting that "the vaccine is used safely in China and other countries." Cambodia has so far reported 474 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with zero deaths and 454 recoveries. Enditem Americans are being radicalized faster than ever before as politicians and community leaders continue mainstreaming far-right values, like white supremacy and anti-government rhetoric. The ideas incubated by white nationalists are being pulled from the backwoods of Ku Klux Klan rallies and militia meetings and into the mainstream through the internet, so much so that nearly 25% of the American public has been exposed to them on a fairly regular basis, according to Devin Burghart, executive director for the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights. Not all of them have been radicalized. Not all of them decided to invade the Capitol, Burghart said. But its a reminder that we have a deep and growing problem and that you are undoubtedly likely to encounter someone who shares these ideas. Far-right extremist values have always played a role in America. Burgharts first encounter with white supremacy was at age 14 when neo-Nazi Robert Matthews held a rally in downtown Spokane, Washington, to recruit families into his far-right group. Burgharts run-ins with extremism didnt end there. As a teenager involved in the local music scene, Burghart watched white power skinheads try to recruit his friends to bridge the gap between healthy youth rebellion and hardcore white supremacy. Like gun rights or religion, extremists used music to bond with people and gradually radicalize them by re-introducing far-right values such as white nationalism. The radicalization process hasnt changed significantly, but Burghart said leaders who act as facilitators of misinformation online and on-air have unprecedentedly sped it up. What used to take years now takes months in terms of exposure to the ideas and involvement in more extreme, radical far-right organizations, Burghart said. A persons path to radicalization moves from early exposure to ideas based on crass stereotypes and concerns of status into a place in their mind where violence is justified. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security identified domestic violent extremists as the primary threat to Americans in 2020, and predicted those groups will continue to target individuals institutions. An analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies of 893 terrorist attacks in the U.S. dating back to January 1994, found right-wing extremists perpetrated two-thirds of the attacks and plots in 2019 and over 90% between Jan. 1 and May 8, 2020. Both agencies predicted violence would intensify during the general election. Related: Who are Michigans militias? Armed patriot groups resurface during anti-government climate Allendale Township Planning Commissioner Ryan Kelley speaks on stage with his wife and children in Allendale Township on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. The American Patriot Council held a rally at Allendale Community Park to support President Donald Trump and resist socialism while Justice for Black Lives held an opposing rally outside Allendale Township Hall to demand the removal of Kelley from the commission because of his alleged ties to militia members charged in the plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)Cory Morse | MLive.com Today, people are introduced to core far-right values through an online post shared by their family or community members. Some of these values, like white supremacy, dominated American society at one point and are considered sacred, withstanding time and societal changes. Other values, like gun rights and anti-immigration, are being sacralized right now, according to Scott Atran, a former research professor at the University of Michigan who has interviewed domestic extremists and international terrorists. Most people who join extremist movements are normal people who have felt disfranchised, experts say. In America, these are people who fear white dispossession and changing demographics. A movement can have many different kinds of people, but usually for it to sustain itself it has to have a core social dynamic and core values, Atran said. Those identified in the U.S. Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6 came from a variety of backgrounds, including a Chicago real estate agent; a Dallas-area lawyer, a CEO, a West Virginia state representative and a Florida firefighter, according to reports. Americans widely accepted far-right values like white supremacy until World War I and the Civil Rights Movement. As the nation shifted its focus on lifting Black people and women, Atran said federal agencies fairly had far-right extremism under control. Still, racist and fascist core values were strong among some people, who Atran said were forced to hide their views. It was fairly under control because the public space didnt allow for extremists to come out into the open back then. They were in the closet and had to hide, Atran said. But thats not the case now, (the FBI) lost the tread and allowed it to grow to the point where it is now, where it has metastasized. Related: Report finds 25 hate groups in Michigan as extremism becomes mainstream Members of the Proud Boys stand on the front lawn of the Capitol while open carry gun activist rally in Lansing on Thursday Sep. 17, 2020. Nicole Hester/Mlive.com Far-right beliefs began spreading rapidly again after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, only this time they had the internet to project their values on the masses, according to Burghart. This was the initial indicator of Americas lasting challenge of accepting a changing demographic. You didnt need the Aryan nation members at that point to start talking badly about immigrants because you had members of Congress use ideas once confined to the backwoods Klan rallies and militia meetings as justification for legislation, Burghart said. Political involvement in spreading far-right values escalated in 2008, during the recession and when Barack Obama was elected as the first Black president. Extremist-led movements are typically sparked at times of economic and social uncertainty, like during a global pandemic, said Ryan Scrivens, a Michigan State University professor whose research is focused on extremism. These are during times people feel that theyre disenfranchised or that their voices arent being heard, Scrivens said. Its when they feel like something of theirs, whether its land or resources, is being threatened. Thats when you start seeing violence. Related: Politicians who lied about election fraud gave extremists something to fight for, experts say White nationalism and politics overlapped in 2009 when the Tea Party, a new far-right group, emerged. On its surface, the Tea Party lured members in by talking about debt and taxes as a rationalization to undermine democratic processes, like removing Senate terms. Still, Burghart said research found the primary values driving the group were fears of white dispossession and racism. The study found the longer people were involved with the Tea Party, the more racist they became. The movement didnt just reflect their racism; it worsened it, Burghart said. The Tea Party movement is an example of how the internet and facilitators of far-right values can quickly radicalize people in the 21st Century, according to Burghart. At its apex in 2015, Burghart said national polling showed the Tea Party had 16% to 18% of the American adult populations support, which would put the number of sympathizers at tens of millions. Closer to its core, millions of people attended Tea Party meetings and protests, as well as bought party literature. At one point, the Tea Party had more than 250,000 members nationwide who signed up on the websites of six national organizations that formed at the inception of the movement. 25 Michigan Capitol ahead of potential protests Related: Michigan extremism a dress rehearsal for Capitol riot, experts say Once far-right values are normalized by the masses, people on the path to radicalization may find themselves in an echo chamber. Whether its through Facebook groups, Twitter or YouTube, far-right sympathizers find themselves in a situation in which extreme beliefs are being amplified, according to JoEllen Vinyard, an Eastern Michigan University professor who studies extremism. People have selective perceptions, Vinyard said. They watch the channels that they agree with, they read the internet sites that agree with them, and they dont see another side to the issues. These people really believe theyre right about their concerns and that they need to take actions on behalf of the government. People are fully radicalized when their sacred values infuse their identifies with a movement, said Atran. Extremists dont negotiate sacred values, like white supremacy; they risk their lives and others lives to preserve them. Thats when we find a maximum willingness to sacrifice and do virtually anything from killing children to suicide bombings, Atran said. Research shows that once a person is radicalized, it is tough bringing them back. Thats because your life is so narrow at that point, Burghart said. We have had people come out on their own, but it was a tough road for them. They had to reconstruct how they think of the world after being involved in the movement for so long. Thats why experts believe the best intervention to extremism is addressing it as a community and not fully through legislation or law enforcement. Formally, governments have tried deploying counter-narratives to extremism but found little success, according to Atran. Thats partly because far-right values have been treated as ideas floating in free space. Theyre ideas that are embedded in particular social networks in particular ecologies. And the only way to deal with them at all is to go into those ecologies or develop alternate ecologies, Atran said. If you just work in the realm of ideas, you will get absolutely nowhere. Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, right, speaks next to members of the Michigan Liberty Militia during the "American Patriot Rally-Sheriffs speak out" event at Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids on Monday, May 18, 2020. The crowd is protesting against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home order. (Cory Morse | MLive.com) Cory Morse | MLive.com The far-right movement in America is a leaderless resistance. Atran said the KKK, which developed the idea, started a grassroots movement that couldnt be stopped by law enforcement because responsibility would be diffused. No one would assume responsibility, and white supremacy values would keep spreading until someone took extreme action. The internet has allowed that to happen at a much more massive scale, Atran said. Its very, very hard to control hate speech. If a platform like Facebook or Twitter tries to shut them down, they proliferate across different platforms. Law enforcement also has its limits, and Scrivens said arresting people wont stop them from being radicalized. I believe we, as a community, need to be having these conversations and not allow these extreme views to be normalized, Scrivens said. Atran said the constitution had kept the country together in times of American division, but that worked partly because communities worked together. A great threat to this nation is the ties of community that allowed ideas to be deliberated, that allowed them to bubble up and be agreed up, that social space just doesnt exist, Atran said. The internet promised to recreate those ties, but its done the exact opposite because algorithms encourage anger and division to bring in advertising revenue. So, how do we create those community bonds institutionally? That is a challenge that will require the community and leaders to be deeply involved in pushing back far-right values, Burghart said. We have to start rebuilding the strength of a multi-racial, pluralistic democracy that we should be so proud of instead of the deeply troubling anti-democratic resistance that we saw help lead people to rush the Capitol, Burghart said. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... The Adobe Theater is inviting guests on a virtual Tour Di Europe for a lighthearted evening of online travel. The show will stream at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14 at adobetheater.org. Tickets are $8 plus a service fee. Written by Jules Tasca, the performance is comprised of a trio of stories about quirky American tourists. Venice: Souvenirs features Rhonda Ware, Dan Ware and Antonio Trigo III. The couple in question travels to Italy and argue because she spends the entire trip shopping, while he just wants to see the city. Of course, they end up shopping anyway, which is so American, director Nancy Sellin said. Paris: Escape stars Eric John Werner, Yannig Morin, Sarah Kesselring and Hannah Davis. The play focuses on two men in a dead-end business who decide to fly to Paris for a fling. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ In Athens: Passion, an elderly couple played by Georgia Athearn and Tim Reardon decide to commit suicide as an act of grand passion. They end up not doing it, of course, Sellin said. Its pure fun, Sellin continued, which I think we need in these times. Tasca is the author of more than 125 full-length and one-act plays produced everywhere from Los Angeles Mark Taper Forum to Pennsylvanias Bucks County Playhouse, as well as internationally. He has taught playwriting at Oxford University and has performed with a commedia dellarte group in central Italy. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Barbadian pop star Rihanna took to her Twitter handle to comment on the ongoing farmers' protest in the national capital against the three farm laws, most people are curious to know more about the Internatioinal pop star. Born on February 20, 1988, in Barbados, she was discovered by an American record producer who later invited her to the US to record songs. In fact, it may be noted that she did train in music. Read on to know more of Rihannas trivia. Rihannas trivia There are a bunch of Rihannas trivia that even her die-hard fans didnt know about, so here are a few facts about the artist: Rihannas real name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty and she was signed by Jay-Z when she sent her demo tapes to his record agency, Def Jam Records. According to the reports by NME, Jay-Z was so impressed by her that he asked Rihanna not to leave the building until she signed the contract. Rihanna never received any vocal training in her life, but she talked about her working with Ne-Yo and stated how he used to tell him how to breathe in between the song. Rihanna once stated how she wanted to be the Black Madonna as she loves the way she reinvents herself. Barbados celebrates Rihanna Day every year on February 22 where people gather together and listen to her music. It is a lesser-known fact that Rihanna insured her legs for $1 Million after she won the Venus Breeze competition for having the best legs. Rihanna has been in the Guinness Book of World Records six times for being the first female artist to have UK no. 1 five years in a row, being the most liked person on Facebook as well as being the best-selling digital artist in the USA. Also Read Rihanna And Hassan Jameel's Complete Relationship Timeline From 2016 To 2020 Also Read Suniel Shetty Counters Rihanna, Greta, Lilly & Co On Farmers; Touts 'comprehensive View' Rihannas songs Some of the most loved Rihannas songs include Dont Stop The Music, Take a Bow, California King Bed, We Found Love, Needed Me, Love On The Brain, Jump, You da One, Rude Boy, Te Amo, Raining Men, Umbrella, We Ride and several others. Also Read Lata Mangeshkar Avers 'India Fully Equipped To Resolve Issues Amicably' Amid Rihanna Row Also Read 'Let Us All Stay United': Virat Kohli Hopeful Of Resolution Amid Row Over Rihanna's Tweet 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. The search for missing Brit hiker Esther Dingley may not resume around the peak where she was last seen until July, according to police. The mountain rescue experts involved in last year's operation to find her have admitted they have no plans to restart the search until April. But they say the relaunch could be nearly five months away if there is heavy snow and temperatures stay low over the next few weeks. The search for missing British backpacker Esther Dingley may not resume until the summer because of weather conditions, experts warned this week Sergeant Jorge Lopez Ramos, head of the Civil Guard GREIM mountain rescue team in Benasque where hiker Esther based herself before her disappearance on 22 November, said: 'We'd hope to resume the search in April or May, but it could be July before it happens depending on the weather in the coming weeks. 'It won't be before April, but the timeframe we're working with is April to July. 'The peak where we know Esther last made contact with her partner from is nearly 9,000ft above sea level so it will be a while before the snow there thaws and we can see what's underneath it. The area where Esther last made contact with her boyfriend, Dan Colegate, is 9,000ft above sea level and therefore rescuers will need to wait longer until the snow thaws 'And at the moment there's a risk of avalanches which makes it dangerous. 'The snowfall this year so far has been normal, but there's no telling what's going to happen from now on. 'We really are at the mercy of the weather.' Esther pictured with her boyfriend Dan Colegate, who she last spoke to on 22 November 2020 He added: 'We've had no more information pointing to any last-minute changes of route Esther might have made. 'The area around Pico Salvaguardia where we understand she last made contact with her boyfriend on 22 November is therefore going to be the focus of our search when it is resumed. 'It's probably not going to be as intensive as it was in the week after she was reported missing. Grainy CCTV footage (pictured) the last recorded movements of Ms Dingley showed her apparently querying the price of seeds with the store manager 'But hopefully we'll be able to incorporate aerial resources to complement what we do on the ground.' The mountain search for Durham-born travel blogger Esther, who told boyfriend Dan Colegate she was planning to spend the night at a mountain refuge across the border in France, was called off at the start of December because of heavy snowfall. Mr Lopez Ramos admitted at the time to a 'bitter taste in his mouth' because the chances of finding Esther alive were minimal. Police forces in Spain and France leading a separate probe to try to establish if the Oxford Uni graduate was the victim of a crime are thought to have made no headway. Esther's boyfriend insisted in a Facebook post earlier this week he did not think she had suffered an accident in the mountains. He also ruled out a voluntary disappearance, rubbishing claims they were having the relationship difficulties a witness who spent time with Esther before she vanished told police about. 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 Former business development manager Dan, 38, said: 'I believe 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 can't.' remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. The government has, through Budget 2021, sent a clear signal to rural India that it is completely committed to their cause. This was amply evident from the new levy, the agriculture infrastructure and development cess. To compensate for the additional cess, the government has reduced the excise duty component, resulting in no additional cost to the consumers. The increase in the agriculture credit with a target of Rs 16.5 lakh crore and the allocation of infrastructure fund for the development of APMCs reiterates the government's commitment to the welfare of farmers, and is a great move. In driving farm productivity and asset creation, access to credit is crucial for the sector. The enhanced credit outlay of Rs 16.5 lakh crore should ensure there is no shortage of resources. Significantly, this should also benefit the fastest-growing sub-sectors - animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries. Also Read: Budget 2021 Highlights: Chidambaram lashes out at govt; says migrants, farmers deceived A 25% allocation hike from Rs 30,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore towards the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund will promote better price realisation for farmers via lower losses and better value capture. This outlay is for APMCs to augment their infrastructure facilities. This was long overdue, especially for cold chains. Besides, the water conservation commitment stands further enhanced since the Micro Irrigation Fund corpus has been increased from Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore via NABARD. Moreover, by levying Agri Infrastructure Cess on palm oil, the Centre has achieved many objectives as this will ascertain lower imports while boosting domestic oilseeds production and stimulating crop diversification. Meanwhile, extending 'Operation Green Scheme' from tomatoes, potatoes and onions to cover 22 perishable products would be vital in strengthening these crops' production clusters, creating farm gate infrastructure and linking them with consumption centres. This will nudge FPOs to offer better prices to farmers. Also Read: Modi govt allocated 438% more budget towards agriculture sector compared to UPA, says Giriraj Singh Adding 1,000 mandis to e-NAM will help boost transparency in the agri markets, which is the need of the hour. Another welcome and innovative measure is the creation of a Multi-Purpose Seaweed Park. Such measures can help India leverage its vast ocean resources and R&D capabilities. Additionally, it will offer immense employment opportunities in coastal districts while giving an impetus to organic farming. The government spends in the procurement of four key crops no doubt contributed to the vibrant demand from rural regions during the pandemic. The Centre's commitment to an MSP that is 1.5 times the production cost across all commodities stands reconfirmed. Hopefully, the announcements should help in dispelling fears farmers may harbour. (The author is Chairman and Senior Managing Director of DCM Shriram.) On Jan. 25, a driver tore through Southeast Portland, swerving, speeding and plowing into pedestrians and cars. The rampage left one person dead and 10 others injured. The string of hit-and-runs also left victims, witnesses and family members bewildered and trying to piece together what happened. Paul Rivas, a 64-year-old man from rural Oregon City, faces 31 charges, including one of murder, seven of attempted murder and more than a dozen related to assault and attempted assault. He is accused of killing 77-year-old Jean Gerich, who died at the hospital about three hours after she was struck. At his arraignment Thursday, Rivas ducked from the view of people gathered to watch. Those who were hit or who witnessed the carnage are working to digest the shock. Several testified before the grand jury Monday and Tuesday. Donald Scot Hinson was struck as he was making a bike delivery. Hinson is trying to make sense of what happened. Ive been kind of wrestling with that, trying to figure out if everything was accidental, how it would have affected me differently, said Hinson, who went to the hospital after he was hit. The Oregonian/OregonLive compiled a timeline of the rampage based on the accounts of nearly a dozen victims and witnesses, as well as court documents, medical dispatch recordings and information from police. The timeline tracks the unfolding chaos and Rivas arrest. The records show the driver of a silver Honda Element hit at least six people within less than 10 minutes. The rampage spanned nearly one mile through the Buckman neighborhood, passing by homes and a business district. Parts of the day remain unclear, such as what brought the driver to Southeast Portland, what his motive was and what he was doing from the time he was first spotted driving erratically to when he struck the first victim. After the rampage ended, a witness told police a silver Honda Element had been driving erratically at 26th Avenue and Stark Street around noon, about an hour before the vehicle hit anyone. Although police answered some questions about the timeline of events, a spokesperson declined to answer detailed questions, such as the drivers exact path. Police also have not identified every person who was hit. City officials declined to provide 911 audio from the rampage, citing the active investigation. Because so many details remain unknown, the timeline cannot offer a complete picture of what happened. Some collisions happened within seconds of each other and may be listed out of sequence. Yet piecing together what is known so far sheds light on a tragic attack that shook a community. People were struck outside their own homes, neighbors rushed to help people they didnt know and others held the suspect at bay as he tried to run from the crash site. An ordinary day in Portland suddenly turned deadly, leaving lasting physical and emotional damage. Juan Caicedo had been biking home during a lunch break when the Honda Element slammed into him. He suffered scrapes and bruises, and lost consciousness immediately after the crash. Sometimes I feel really fortunate, said Caicedo. Other times, it really impacts me how sudden and how violent it all was. 1:00-1:05 p.m. Emergency dispatchers received the first of many calls about a silver Honda Element driving recklessly, initially near Laurelhurst Park. Faviola Palomera was walking in the park when she saw the Element doing U-turns, according to court filings. Palomera told investigators that the next thing she knew, she woke up in the hospital with a head injury. Palomera did not respond to requests for comment. Daveed Jacobo witnessed the crash unfold. He said the Honda Element turned right from 33rd Avenue onto Pine Street. The driver sped up and hit Palomera as she was crossing the street near Laurelhurst Park. Jacobo said the license plate flew off the car, which allowed him to report it. He and others stayed with her until first responders arrived. Witnesses told police the vehicle was driving erratically at speeds as high as 60 mph. He takes a left onto Stark Street, driving very fast, very crazy, speeding around, running traffic lights, running red lights. Tylor Meyer, witness Cody Warnes was working at Advantis Credit Union at 30th Avenue and Belmont Street when he saw the Honda Element swerve from the correct lane on Belmont into oncoming eastbound traffic. The driver turned left and clipped a cyclists knee. He said the cyclist fell to the ground. The vehicle sped off, then hit a second cyclist as the driver turned left from Belmont onto 30th. Police have not publicly identified these cyclists. Tylor Meyer was driving on Belmont Street when he witnessed the collisions near 30th Avenue. Meyer gave chase as the driver continued west. He takes a left onto Stark Street, driving very fast, very crazy, speeding around, running traffic lights, running red lights, Meyer said. One witness, who asked not to be identified, said he was walking his dog at 28th Avenue and Washington Street when he saw Element drive onto the sidewalk. Thinking the driver was trying to park, the witness tried to get his attention, but the driver floored it toward him. The witness jumped and pulled his dog to safety, then went behind a building to call 911 at 1:03 p.m. Meyer continued to follow the driver for much of the rampage. He described the driver going all over the place, at times doubling back and making U-turns, striking pedestrians as he drove. I saw two down jackets just explode and feathers go everywhere once he was on top of them, Meyer said. 1:05 p.m. Caicedo was riding his bike near 20th Avenue and Belmont Street after picking up lunch. He arrived at his driveway when he felt the wind being knocked out of him. The force slammed him to the ground. He looked up and saw the sky. He briefly lost consciousness, then someone came to ask if he was OK. John Kirk, the owner of the nearby marijuana dispensary Belmont Collective, was upstairs washing dishes when he heard the impact. He looked out his window and saw Caicedo flying through the air. The crash split Caicedos bike helmet in half. I dropped what I was doing and ran down to assist him, Kirk said. Within minutes, other people came out of storefronts to help. Pretty much the whole neighborhood was shut down, Kirk said. He stayed with Caicedo until an ambulance arrived a few minutes later. 1:05-1:10 p.m. Raymond Chihak and Nicholas Strickler were riding their bikes on the sidewalk near 19th Avenue and Stark Street. Chihak told police he heard screaming before he saw a Honda Element driving aggressively on the sidewalk toward him. The vehicle struck him where he was standing. An online fundraising page started by a friend said Strickler was also hit. Their bicycles were destroyed. Neither Chihak nor Strickler could be reached by The Oregonian/OregonLive. Prosecutors have not filed any charges related to Stricklers injuries. Jean Gerich was leaving an appointment when she was struck at the intersection of 19th Avenue and Washington Street, about a block from where Chihak and Strickler were hit. Bystanders said they heard a thump, then heard the 77-year-old woman scream. As people rushed to help, the Honda Element drove off, then turned back toward Gerich, who was sitting on the sidewalk, and hit her again. The impact pulled her under the vehicle, where she was trapped as the driver went up 19th Avenue. The Honda Element turned left onto Stark Street, and Gerich was tossed out from under it. Dr. Jack Schunk, a retired pediatrician, and others rushed to Gerich to try and help her. Some brought blankets and first aid supplies, and others tried to keep her still until paramedics arrived. She was coherent, Schunk said. She told us her name. We asked her if she knew the person and she said no. 1:10-1:15 p.m. Hinson, a bike delivery person for Uber Eats, was riding through the Buckman neighborhood with 10 pounds worth of Thai food, soups and iced tea in his pack. The Honda Element came around the corner at 18th Avenue and Stark Street and accelerated toward him. The vehicle hit him head on and knocked him down, wedging him under a parked car. The collision left him with a fractured left leg, stitches in his knee and a cut on his face. Around the same time and place, 18th and Stark, the Honda Element hit a second man. Travis Andrews told investigators he made eye contact with the driver and tried to move to avoid being hit, moving from the sidewalk into the road. But the driver veered toward him and struck him, injuring his right foot and lower leg, according to court filings. Attempts by The Oregonian/OregonLive to reach Andrews were unsuccessful. Miguel Rochin, 48, had rushed to help Hinson, who was struck at 18th and Stark, when he saw the Honda Element come straight at him. Rochins legs, hand and head were injured in the crash. Within seconds, Rochin saw the Honda Element hit a woman who was at her vintage Chevrolet El Camino. The Element came to a stop. Prudence Hayes was at her car, according to court documents, when the SUV crashed into her car, striking her. Hayes was taken to the hospital and had to get staples in her head from the injuries. Through her business partner, Hayes declined to speak to The Oregonian/OregonLive about what happened. After crashing into the El Camino, the driver of the Honda Element got out and ran. Rochin tried to chase the driver west on Stark Street from 18th to 17th avenues, worried the driver would go to nearby Buckman Elementary School. Others ran to tend to the injured pedestrians. Katie DeFalco was bringing her laundry out of her nearby apartment building when she heard a commotion on Stark Street. She looked out and saw an injured woman near her El Camino. She dropped her laundry and went to help. DeFalco said the woman remained conscious and coherent but was shaken and bleeding. She talked to her until an ambulance arrived. Rochin, Andrews and other bystanders chased the driver and corralled him near 17th Avenue and Stark Street. According to witness accounts, the driver ran and threw items at them, including a flowerpot. Jonathan Rendon had witnessed the carnage unfold, after another driver warned him about an SUV targeting pedestrians. He saw the driver crash into the El Camino and then run away from the scene. Hes coming towards me, running toward my house, Rendon said. I grabbed the nearest brick, and with the neighbors, were trying to keep him from going anywhere. More neighbors and bystanders joined. Rendon said the driver maintained a blank stare, like nobody was in there. 1:15-1:20 p.m. Less than 20 minutes after the Honda Element ran down Palomera, the first victim, Portland police officers arrested the driver. Rochin took several photos that document the arrest. At one point, at least four police officers surrounded the driver. Some were directly on top of him. Brandon Kutzler arrived at the scene just after the arrest. He heard an officer say the driver had spit into his mouth as he was being arrested. He said the driver remained quiet, not showing any obvious signs of intoxication. Nearly 36 hours passed before police publicly identified Paul Rivas as the man who they suspected was at the wheel. The aftermath Gerich died after the crash at OHSU Hospital. The next day, about 45 people gathered near Buckman Elementary to honor her and others who were hit. They handed out roses and candles, then walked to the corner of Stark Street and 19th Avenue to lay them down at a memorial for Gerich. Neighbors talked about the toll the rampage took on them, even if they didnt know any of the victims. Its a pretty small community and just being present and seeing what happened yesterday has really impacted me, said Calley Ekberg, who helped organize the vigil as a space for collective healing. In the days following the rampage, victims and witnesses have leaned on one other to work through the shock. I didnt realize it was going to hit me as hard as it did, said Kirk, the business owner who tended to Caicedo. We dont know the persons mental state or motive, but to have the story unravel later, its pretty gut-wrenching. Schunk, the retired pediatrician who helped Gerich, said he has talked to some of the people who were at the scene. We agree that what we remember is bits and pieces, he said. Like the interval between seeing the car coming down on her and seeing her disappear its gone. Rochin, a day laborer, was one of the last people Rivas struck. He said hes been anxious as he wrestles with how he could have stopped the driver from inflicting further damage. He said his injuries have prevented him from immediately returning to work. Ive not been sleeping good, he said. I feel so sad like I could have prevented it. Caicedo said he hopes to connect with other victims looking for support. Three days after the crash, he walked to the memorial set up for Gerich. The visit was emotional as he processed the shock and sadness. Seeing the people that cared for her that theres a legacy and a lasting quality to our lives even in that randomness and violence that was helpful, Caicedo said. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... RENO, Nev. Freshman Kali Wolf posted a match-high 20 kills and the University of New Mexico volleyball team completed a two-match sweep of Nevada with a 3-1 victory Saturday. The set scores were 25-18, 25-15, 17-25 and 25-23. The visiting Lobos (2-0), who also won Fridays season-opener by a 3-1 margin, rallied from a 22-18 deficit in Saturdays final set to nail down the victory. Wolf had eight kills in the clinching set, including the final point. New Mexico got big performances from freshmen over the weekend, including outside hitters Wolf and Uxue Guereca, who racked up double-doubles in both outings. Wolf had 14 digs to go with her 20 kills Saturday, while Guereca had 11 kills and 18 digs. Freshman setter Kara Erfurth posted 53 assists for a second straight match. Sophomore Kaitlynn Biassou added 16 kills for UNM, which dominated the first two sets before having to fight off a comeback by the Wolf Pack (0-2). Reka Monteleone had 18 kills for Nevada. The Lobos open a series at Wyoming (2-0) on Friday. Box score: Lobos 3, Nevada 1 ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Bengal's Haldia Prepares To Welcome PM Modi; Assam Set For Hospitals' & 'Asom Mela' Launch Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit West Bengal once again on Sunday as preparations are underway in the Haldia area of Purba Medinipur district to welcome him. PM Modi will dedicate the LPG import terminal built by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited to the nation in Haldia. Leaving for Assam and West Bengal. Do watch the programmes LIVE.#AatmanirbharPurviBharat pic.twitter.com/ZRjXQoXK9B Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 7, 2021 Read full story here MNS' Raj Thackeray Enters Sachin Tendulkar Row; Parrots Convenient 'asked To Tweet' Logic MNS chief Raj Thackeray somehow opined that the Government of India shouldn't have 'roped in' Bharat Ratnas Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar to support its stand claiming that it put their reputation at stake. Speaking to ANI, MNS' Raj Thackeray claimed that actors like Akshay Kumar could have been roped in by the Centre to join their campaign against divisive elements instead of asking legends such as Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar to join the campaign. Read full story here 'Mamata Govt Ignoring Public Interest For Politics': Harsh Vardhan Cites Ayushman Bharat As the assembly election battle is only intensifying day by day, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan hit out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and said that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is ignoring public interest for its own political gains. The Union Minister said that the Centre's Ayushman Bharat scheme is a vivid example of how the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government can compromise public health for its gains. Read full story here J&K Police Nabs JeM Terrorist Hidayatullah Malik, Multiple Raids To Follow After Probe In a massive victory for the forces, the Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) has arrested the chief of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Mustafa which is a front organisation of Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Kashmir valley. Hidayatullah Malik, the terrorist was arrested from Kunjwani area in Jammu as the forces traced the car he was travelling in. The Kunjwani area is said to be a busy area. The terrorist was nabbed by forces after he tried to attack the Jammu and Kashmir SHO. Sources close to the situation have stated that Malik will be taken to Joint Interrogation centre. The action was taken on the intelligence inputs from Anantnag Police. Read full story here 'Clearing Blunders Of Past Govt's': Kiren Rijiju Reviews Border Works In Arunachal Pradesh Union Minister Kiren Rijiju visited Arunachal Pradesh on Friday and took stock of the border development works that are underway in the region. During his visit, Rijiju also interacted with the local people at Galemo, Bodak, Maja, Taksing, and Limeking. The Arunachal West MP took to Twitter to share a video from his visit to the state, where roads were being built in the mountainous region to secure the borders of the country. Border people are the sentinels of our country. Past blunders are being cleared by @narendramodi govt. to develop border areas and to secure every inch of our motherland. Had good interaction with the local people at Galemo, Bidak, Maja, Taksing and Limeking in Arunachal Pradesh. pic.twitter.com/OcvUOMJVcf Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 7, 2021 Read full story here Genesis Middle East & Africa HQs has today (February 7) announced the opening of the regions first dedicated Genesis showroom, operated by First Motors, the official distributor of Genesis in Bahrain. Scheduled to open this month in Manama, Bahrain, the first-of-its-kind showroom will display the entire Genesis range, offering valued customers an even more personalized and first-hand experience when it comes to purchasing their preferred Genesis model. Closely following the design of the Genesis Gangnam showroom in South Korea, the new facility is designed to provide a complete experience in all facets of the brand and product. All Genesis products including the flagship G90, G70 and recently launched All-new G80 and The GV80 will be on display, along with all available exterior colours, wood and interior leather material for visualization and comparison. The Manama, Bahrain showroom will also focus on senses and emotion to create an enjoyable space to provide the ultimate customer experience, incorporating the brands scent and sound. The opening of the showroom is part of Genesis expansion plans in the region, with a further five standalone showrooms scheduled to open by the end of 2021. The move represents an important milestone for the brand and its commitment to the region. The dedicated Genesis showroom in Bahrain will host an unparalleled collection of Genesis models which will be able to showcase up to six cars. The 900-sq-m venue, built in partnership with First Motors, will include a number of designated areas including an arrival area to meet and greet customers and an immaculate display area where customers will be able to experience the cars close-up, to take in the finer details of the Genesis range. Plus, a configuration space whereby customers can sample interior materials including colours, fabrics and leathers as well as exterior finishes. A test drive area for customers to experience dynamic driving performance, a customer lounge, private consultation area and finally a delivery zone all of which reflecting the elegance of the Genesis brand and providing a seamless experience for customers. Bang Sun Jeong, Vice President, Head of Genesis Middle East and Africa Operation, said: We are delighted to be opening the regions first stand-alone Genesis showroom, which will provide our discerning clientele with the opportunity to shop the Genesis range first-hand, within a dedicated venue and with experienced Genesis staff to provide an unparalleled purchasing experience. The new showroom is a statement of our continued commitment to this market and an indication of the Middle East and Africa strategic importance to the company as we look to continue to exceed expectations in the region. This impressive new facility has set a benchmark for the opening of our showrooms across the region - marking the first of five more Genesis showrooms planned to open in the GCC by the end of 2021. TradeArabia News Service Court seeks report from Taloja jail after 23 yr old undertrial in drug case misses exam COVID-19: Eight months after imposing restrictions, MP govt allows prison visits from November 1 It is movie time on Sunday for jail inmates in Odisha More than 50 jail inmates, 11 staffers under treatment for coronavirus in Delhi Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui released from jail India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 07: Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui walked out of Indore central jail late on Saturday night, a day after the Supreme Court granted him bail in a case for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. Faruqui was released from the jail after the prison authorities received the order of the Supreme Court, an official of the jail said. Arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, Faruqui was in Indore jail since January 1. Despite SC's interim bail, comedian Munawar Faruqui still in jail On Friday, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail after the Madhya Pradesh High Court had rejected his bail plea on January 28. The Apex court also stayed the production warrant issued against Faruqui by a court in Prayagraj in connection with an FIR lodged there. Eyewitnesses said that the comedian walked out of the jail silently and quietly possibly to avoid a backlash in the wake of accusations made against him. Mediapersons also flocked outside the jail after getting the news of his release. Sometime before his release, an official of the Indore central jail, had said that a court in Prayagraj had ordered Faruqui''s production in a similar case on February 18. Citing the jail manual, he said that an order from the Prayagraj court or a competent government officer, was needed to release him. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, February 7, 2021, 8:49 [IST] Met Eireann's official storm weather forecasting partner has declared a Status Red warning for Storm Darcy which is caused by a bitterly cold front pushing east from Russia towards Ireland. Met Eireann, the UK Met Office and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) work together to name and forecast winter storms likely to hit the three countries There have been just three storms this winter and the Dutch service has named the fourth on Friday. It issued a Status Red alert on Saturday. "On Sunday, code red (weather alert) is in effect for snow in combination with a lot of wind and light to moderate frost," said its forecast. Storm Darcy will also bring gale-force winds which will cause snowdrifts. The conditions that have caused Storm Darcy are explained by Met Eireann's other partner, the Met Office in the UK. They have warned of snow in the southeast of England. The Met Office explained what is causing the storm which will raise the risk of snow in the week ahead in Ireland. "Cold air emanating from Russia and Eastern Europe will move across the UK over the coming days," said its statement on Storm Darcy. It has also tweeted to show the weather being pushed across Europe. More below tweet. Easterly winds will draw cold air across all of the UK by the end of the weekend. Strong winds and heavy #snow will affect parts of the southeast, with snow showers across other eastern areas. Latest warnings https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs Stay #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/eAzl8O2U8r Met Office (@metoffice) February 6, 2021 Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Paul Gundersen, said: The UK is in for a notably cold and snowy period over the next week, with very cold air in place over the whole of the UK by Sunday". MORE BELOW TWEET. Storm #Darcy has been named by the Dutch Met Service, KNMI, and is set to bring strong winds and heavy snow to southeast England late on Saturday and on Sunday, this easing through Monday Met Office warnings are already in force Stay #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/X1m4FVlH0q February 5, 2021 Met Eireann says this weather from the East will have an impact in Ireland. "Our weather is expected to turn progressively colder from early on Sunday 7th February, with the cold spell now looking likely to last well into next week," said a tweet. Met Eireann has also warned that snow is on the cards this week with a commentary saying there is a risk of 'significant and lasting snow' due to the weather from Russia. Read also: SIGNIFICANT RISK OF LASTING SNOW Last February Ireland was battered by Storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge, which swept in from the Atlantic. This year Ireland has escaped the worst of a repeat of the Beast from the East conditions which caused Storm Emma in 2018. Met Eireann has forecast that temperatures will tumble in Ireland from Sunday. Its summary outlook for the days ahead predicts wintry showers, mainly in eastern counties, largely dry elsewhere. It says with will feeling very cold during the day with low temperatures and a moderate to fresh wind introducing additional wind-chill while frosty and icy nights are expected. MORE BELOW TWEET. With conditions on the footpaths set to turn icy this week, take extra care when out and about. To avoid slips and falls walk like a penguin when the temperatures fall below freezing. pic.twitter.com/Lluoz1Frwt Met Eireann (@MetEireann) February 6, 2021 NATIONAL FORECAST issued at 7.46pm on February 6. SUNDAY: Another cloudy day tomorrow with limited bright spells. Isolated showers will mainly affect eastern areas and southern coasts. Some showers will turn wintry in the northeast and east later. Highest afternoon temperatures of just 1 to 5 degrees, coldest over Ulster, but there will be an added wind chill factor in moderate to fresh easterly winds. Isolated wintry showers will affect eastern and northern areas with a dusting of snow possible on Sunday night. Lowest temperatures of minus 2 to plus 1 degrees, coldest over Ulster, with widespread frost and ice, in moderating easterly breezes. Monday: Scattered wintry showers will continue to move in from the Irish Sea onto eastern and northern coasts. Bright or sunny spells developing generally and staying mainly dry elsewhere. Daytime temperatures of 1 to 3 degrees in moderate to fresh easterly winds. Wintry showers will become more frequent and push further inland later in the night. Very cold with clear spells and lowest temperatures of minus 3 to zero degrees with a widespread sharp frost under clearing skies. Mainly moderate easterly winds, fresh to strong in the southwest. Tuesday: Staying very cold with temperatures through the day of plus 1 to 3 degrees in fresh easterly winds, strong on southern coasts. Wintry showers will continue to feed in from the east, affecting mainly the northeast and east with some accumulations possible. More isolated showers will reach further inland. Very cold overnight again with lowest temperatures of minus 4 to zero degrees with severe frost and ice causing hazardous conditions. Winds will ease overnight with fog developing. Wednesday: Further wintry showers will occur through Wednesday. Daytime temperatures only reaching 2 or 3 degrees for much of the country. Light to moderate easterly winds will freshen on Atlantic coasts towards the evening as a band of rain arrives from the southwest, gradually extending into much of Munster overnight, preceded by falls of sleet and snow. Another very cold night with lowest temperatures of minus 4 to zero degrees. Further outlook: Very windy on Thursday with further falls of sleet and snow over much of the country, with more persistent rain developing in the southwest. Temperatures will increase towards the weekend. More below tweet. Our 10 day Atlantic Chart shows the precipitation and pressure forecast in 6 hour intervalshttps://t.co/9Giuj4CR5m A nationwide forecast and outlook covering the next week can be found here. https://t.co/9gKN6SVok4 pic.twitter.com/TECkvdP659 Met Eireann (@MetEireann) February 6, 2021 The next storm is Evert. Met Eireann, the KNMI, joined the Met Office in the west Europe storm naming group in 2020. The war cry Bill wapsi ya gaddi wapsi (repeal the farm laws or removal from power) by Jat farmer leader Rakesh Tikait in Jind district, the heart of Haryana, has fired up the protests against the new farm laws, promulgated by Parliament. The mahapanchayat in Kandela village of Jat-dominated Jind is a signal that the agitation could severely affect the BJP and its ally, the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP). Now, as farmers are again at the forefront of Haryana politics, every party wants to have a finger in the pie by taking up their cause, but only few are willing to pay the ... Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington on July 21, 2020. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images) Wyoming Republican Party Censures Cheney Over Vote to Impeach Trump The Wyoming Republican Party voted overwhelmingly on Feb. 6 to censure Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) for voting to impeach then-President Donald Trump. While there was no formal vote count, only eight of the 74 members of the partys central committee stood up to show their opposition to the censure. The censure document stated that Cheney voted to impeach, even though the House of Representatives didnt offer Trump a formal hearing or due process. We need to honor President Trump. All President Trump did was call for a peaceful assembly and protest for a fair and audited election, said Darin Smith, a Cheyenne attorney who lost to Cheney in the Republican U.S. House primary in 2016. The Republican Party needs to put her on notice. Joey Correnti, GOP chairman in Carbon County, where the censure vote was held, said: Does the voice of the people matter, and if it does, does it only matter at the ballot box? Cheney was among 10 Republicans who voted with the Democrats to impeach Trump. The article of impeachment accuses the president of inciting the mob that breached the Capitol on Jan. 6; Trump has denied the accusation. In a speech on Jan. 6, Trump urged supporters to make their voices heard peacefully. The president mentioned Cheney by name in the speech and told the crowd to vote against lawmakers like her in the next election. And we got to remember, in a year from now, youre going to start working on Congress and we got to get rid of the weak Congresspeople, the ones that arent any good, the Liz Cheneys of the world. We got to get rid of them, Trump said. The outer perimeter of the Capitol was breached while Trump was delivering his address at a location thats roughly a 45-minute walk to the site. Cheney has said she voted her conscience. In a statement announcing her intention to vote for the impeachment, she alleged that Trump summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. In response to the censure vote, Cheney said she remained honored to represent Wyoming and will always fight for issues that matter most to the state. Foremost among these is the defense of our Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees. My vote to impeach was compelled by the oath I swore to the Constitution, Cheney said. Republican officials said they invited Cheney but she didnt attend. An empty chair labeled Representative Cheney sat at the front of the meeting room. The censure vote is the most recent backlash against her impeachment vote. A political action committee started by former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is working to defeat Cheney in the Republican primary in 2022. Two Republicans are already running against her in the race, including Republican state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, a gun-rights activist from Cheyenne, who was at the meeting but not among those who spoke. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) led a rally against Cheney on Jan. 28 in front of the Wyoming Capitol. About 1,000 people took part, many of them carrying signs calling for Cheneys impeachment, though several were supportive. House Republicans voted on Feb. 3 to keep Cheney as their conference chair. Trumps impeachment trial starts on Feb. 9. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 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. Unions representing San Francisco Unified School District employees announced a tentative agreement with the district Sunday to safely reopen the citys public schools a major step in a contentious, monthslong debate that has pitted city officials against district leaders. A key component of the agreement allows a return to classrooms once the city reaches the red tier, the second most restrictive level of Californias reopening blueprint, if vaccinations against the coronavirus are made available to on-site school staff. If the city progresses to the orange tier, a less restrictive category with moderate virus spread, teachers and other staff would return without demanding vaccinations. The tentative agreement addresses the health and safety standards necessary for the return of students at all grade levels, preschool through 12, and the parties have agreed to meet and confer on any additional negotiable impacts of the districts plans for the return of middle and high school students, district officials said in a news release Sunday. The agreement will go before the Board of Education on Tuesday, Feb 16. Its the first significant movement toward return to in-person instruction for the districts 52,000 students, and offers frustrated families hope that at least some schools and classrooms will be open before summer break. But the district will need to reach an agreement with the teachers union on daily schedules and other educational aspects of in-person learning, which means there is still no target reopening date and the district is likely still several weeks, if not months, from bringing the first students back. Since San Francisco currently remains in the purple tier, the states most restrictive, reopenings presumably would still be down the road under the deal announced Sunday. When the time comes, county health officials also would have to sign off on the reopening details. This is a major step forward toward a goal that we share with so many parents: safe reopening of school buildings for students and staff, the unions said in a statement. In addition to reaching agreement around baseline safety standards, the unions also negotiated groundbreaking language that provides school district support for vaccine prioritization, availability, and education for their members. The announcement came after a week of massive pressure on unions and district officials to reopen the pandemic-shuttered schools, which included dueling news conferences and a weekend protest where frustrated parents demanded that kids be allowed back in classrooms. On Wednesday, City Attorney Dennis Herrera sued the district and school board, saying they failed to create a specific and concise state-required plan to reopen. District officials said they did have a plan. This is progress, but its not enough, John Cote, spokesman for the City Attorneys Office, said Sunday. We have not seen the details of any agreement, and so far this raises more questions than answers. There does not appear to be any agreement on classroom instruction and schedules, for example. The school district would need to share the whole plan and show us that it is concrete and meets the requirements of state law. A day later, a tearful Mayor London Breed stood before children holding signs that read I miss my friends at a news conference with families and urged both sides to end finger-pointing to get schools open. It just really breaks my heart to be here, to see these kids and these families, to know what theyve been going through, Breed said. Kids are struggling in our city, and we all know it. At their Friday news conference, the unions outlined their conditions, including the availability of vaccinations in red-tier school reopenings, and said theyd be willing to resume in-person teaching without shots once the city is in the orange tier. Hundreds of parents and students marched Saturday, wearing face masks, from City Hall to school district offices, demanding a prompt resumption of in-person learning. They decried what they felt was a lack of strategy for reopening and the inadequacy of instruction over only the Zoom online platform. We are so glad to learn that after months without significant progress, labor leaders and SFUSD administrators appear to have made a breakthrough, said Meredith Dodson from Decreasing the Distance, a group of San Francisco parents pushing for schools to open. The group organized Saturdays march. We remain firm that we want to see a deal that incorporates public health expert guidance, to get students back this spring. It depends on the details of their proposed agreement, but its still possible this agreement doesnt get kids back until the fall. We have many questions that we hope to have answered as details are shared with us. The agreement immediately drew criticism: It falls so far short of getting children back in classrooms because it doesnt follow recommendations from health experts who say schools can operate safely if masking and social distancing guidelines are followed, said Dr. Jeanne Noble, director of the UCSF emergency departments COVID-19 response and associate professor of emergency medicine. Frankly, I dont think SFUSD is taking seriously the recommendations from the CDC, from our health department, from mounting evidence across the world, about schools being able to reopen safely, Noble said. Their decisions are hurting our children. Its like the death of expertise, essentially. Noble also blasted the apparent failure to include middle and high schoolers in the plan. Middle and high school students is where were seeing the worst outcomes from social isolation and the worst metrics in mental health harms, she said. Susan Solomon, president of the United Educators of San Francisco, countered Nobles critiques Sunday, saying, So long as Mayor Breed moves quickly to vaccinate teachers and school workers, we can move quickly and equitably to reopen San Francisco schools. San Francisco public schools have been closed since mid-March, even though 15,000 private school students in the city are back in classrooms. Given the constant shift during this pandemic, its important to do all we can for the health and safety of our students, families, staff and community, school board President Gabriela Lopez said in a statement Sunday. I am excited we have found common ground on these baseline standards with our unions, paving the way for our gradual reopening of schools. Schools in purple-tier counties are allowed to open for K-6 grades if their average adjusted case rate is below 25 cases per 100,000 population and they file a safety plan. County health officials allow schools to reopen with a waiver under the purple tier, but it appears the deal announced Sunday would not allow San Francisco district schools to do so. This agreement sets the stage to safely reopen schools in San Francisco. Now we need City and State officials to step up and make vaccines available to school staff now, while UESF continues to focus on finalizing agreements around classroom instruction, schedules, and continuing to improve remote learning for the students and families who choose not to return even with these standards in place, Solomon said in a statement. Editors note: This story has been updated to correct the date that the Board of Education will take up the tentative agreement. The correct date is Feb. 16. Tatiana Sanchez and Jill Tucker are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: tatiana.sanchez@sfchronicle.com, jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TatianaYSanchez, @jilltucker Nangarhar: The violence has been increasing despite the efforts for peace are being reported. Another Bomb blast us reported in Khogyani district of Nangarhar province on Sunday morning.No terror group has so far taken responsibility for the attack. According to the Tolo news, One policeman was killed and two others suffered injuries in a bomb attack on a security outpost in Khogyani district of Nangarhar province on Sunday morning. According to officials, it was a suicide attack on the checkpoint. Meanwhile, Two separate explosions rocked the Afghan capital of Kabul on Saturday, killing at least three people including members of the minority Sikh community and wounding four others. The first explosion hit a store in the heart of the capital, causing it to collapse and kill at least two Sikhs, according to two Afghan police officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media. Afghanistan has witnessed a sharp rise in violence. Attacks on security personnel have also escalated. Afghan forces have launched raids on Taliban hideouts and killed several terrorists in recent weeks. Moreover, the US-Taliban deal, signed in Doha last year in February that calls for the full withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan by the end of May, has resulted in an increase in violence. Also Read: Earthquake tremors felt once again in Japan India reports fresh 12,059 coroa cases, India's tally reaches 1,08,26,363 Germany allocates USD 25 million to support Belarusian Opposition amid political crisis Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. India's sovereign rating should not come under pressure due to surge in which was mainly on account of higher expenditure to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, said Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj. Given the credibility of the numbers projected in the Budget, he hoped that the global rating agencies would retain India's sovereign rating at the existing levels. As per the latest Budget numbers, India's is estimated to be 9.5 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal and is expected to come down to 6.8 per cent in 2021-22 beginning April 1. As a result of the impact of the pandemic on the economy, there was moderation in tax collection and an increase in government expenditure resulting in higher borrowing of Rs 12.8 lakh crore from the market. "I don't think that rating will be under pressure because every country across the world was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This crisis was not only limited to India. Our recovery is faster than in the Western world. The Budget projects a nominal GDP growth rate of 14.5 per cent," Bajaj told PTI in an interview. "They should look at our Budget and the reforms the government has undertaken. The government will engage with them and explain the numbers. We hope that they retain the ratings," Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) Secretary said. Last month, the Economic Survey 2020-21 observed that India's sovereign credit ratings do not reflect the economy's fundamentals pitched for sovereign credit rating methodology to be made more transparent and less subjective. Never in the history of sovereign credit ratings has the fifth largest economy in the world been rated as the lowest rung of the investment-grade (BBB-/Baa3). While sovereign credit ratings do not reflect the Indian economy's fundamentals, noisy, opaque and biased credit ratings damage FPI flows, the survey said. Past episodes of rating changes have no or weak correlation with macroeconomic indicators India's fiscal policy, therefore, must not remain beholden to a noisy/biased measure of India's fundamentals and should instead reflect Gurudev Rabindranath Thakur's sentiment of a mind without fear, it said. Global rating agencies have the lowest investment-grade rating on India, which is just above the junk status. In June, Fitch Ratings revised India's outlook to ''negative'' from ''stable'' and affirmed the rating at ''BBB-'', stating that the coronavirus pandemic has significantly weakened the country''s growth prospects for the year and exposed the challenges associated with a high public-debt burden. Moody's Investors Service had downgraded India's sovereign rating to ''Baa3'' from ''Baa2'', saying there will be challenges in the implementation of policies to mitigate risks of a sustained period of low growth and deteriorating fiscal position. S&P Global Ratings retained the ''BBB-'' rating for India for the 13th year in a row in June last year. A nine-month-old feud between two of the biggest egos in national journalism reignited spectacularly last week when Stan Grant executed a revenge attack on Peter FitzSimons. Journalists Stan Grant and Peter FitzSimons. Credit:John Shakespeare Previously warm relations between the pair have been up and down since their opinion page fisticuffs last year over FitzSimons book on Captain James Cook. Grant took to this papers opinion pages to label some parts of the book as ludicrous. Fast forward to last week when Grant contributed a chapter to The Australians progressive murder mystery novel (progressive in its publication schedule, obviously not in its politics), an attempt by the boring broadsheet to liven up the silly season. Grant set his chapter at Fitzy and Lisas Australia Day barbecue at their grand house overlooking Sydney Harbour - the home of The Sydney Morning Herald columnist and his wife, The Project presenter, Lisa Wilkinson. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Sunny. High 68F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Mostly clear skies early will become overcast later during the night. Low 48F. Winds light and variable. An archaeologist recruited by consultants for WaterNSW to advise on the Aboriginal significance of an area set to be flooded by the controversial Warragamba Dam wall raising said he was hired as a public relations move to win over the traditional owners. Michael Jackson, of Jackson Ward Archaeology, said he was managed out of the project as his opinions were unwanted, that WaterNSW and its consultants refused his input, and his own findings regarding the myriad Aboriginal sites in the Burragorang Valley were misrepresented. The NSW government is proposing to raise the walls of the Warragamba Dam. Credit:Brook Mitchell The traditional owners of the land last month launched an application with Environment Minister Sussan Ley on behalf of the Gundungurra Aboriginal Heritage Association for the protection of the area against the wall raising. As the project unfolded, I began to feel that their primary purpose for employing me in the project was an attempt to pacify some Aboriginal representatives with whom [consultancy] NICHE, WaterNSW and [consultancy] SMEC had a tumultuous relationship, Mr Jackson told a NSW parliamentary inquiry into the proposed flood mitigation project. AMD Radeon RX 6700 and RX 6600 series allegedly having 12 GB or 6 GB VRAM. However, ASRock's filing shows that the faster chipset will have lesser. But, why? Radeon exclusive AIB partner registered for trademarking multiple ASRock graphic card models. A Twitter account revealed the possible upcoming memory features of both chipsets. According to Neowin's latest report, ASRock's filing was published on Feb. 15, revealing that the products included are Radeon RX 6700 and RX 6600 ASRock models, which are expected to have retail versions. [EEC] ASRock RX 6700/XT Series/RX 6600 XT Series. https://t.co/BWrIx4KOSv RX 6700 XT = 12GB. RX 6700 = 6GB? RX 6600 XT = 12GB? pic.twitter.com/crhdttO6Ld @Komachi (@KOMACHI_ENSAKA) February 5, 2021 However, the leaked info didn't specify the chipsets' core specifications. These include core clocks, Compute Units Count, and more! AMD Radeon RX 6700 to have lesser VRAM? ASRock filing at ECC revealed that the AMD Radeon RX 6700 would have 6 GB of VRAM compared to AMD Radeon RX 6600, which is expected to have 12 GB of VRAM. Although this might sound disappointing, AMD already did this previously with its previous chipsets. Also Read: Galax Gives a Sneak Peak of GeForce RTX 3090 HOF (Hall of Fame) Graphics Card Recently, the tech giant chip manufacturer had the RX 5600XT, which has 2 GB less VRAM compared to the slower version 5500 XT, which has 8 GB of VRAM. On the other hand, the leaked info about possible 12 GB or 6 GB VRAM also suggests that Radeon RX 6700 and Radeon RX 6600 will likely feature a 192-bit wide memory interface and possibly 96MB of on-die Infinity cache. However, their memory clock speeds are still not clear yet. Aside from the two chipsets, ASRock's filing also has a few RDNA1 RX 5700 XTs, and Polaris RX 570 and 580 models which are based on fourth-gen GCN. Should consumers trust the leak? Toms Hardware claimed that ECC filings are usually unreliable since they are "very" misleading. The report confirmed that there was already false information about the RTX 30 series ECC database show-up. However, all it is still just rumors since ECC filings are not actually confirmed by the chip manufacturers. If you want don't want to be disappointed, then you should wait for the official announcements of AMD and other chip producers. For more news updates about AMD and its upcoming chipsets, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: NVIDIA RTX 3080: Retail Stores in the US, UK and Australia to Keep an Eye for Stocks This article is owned by TechTimes. Written by: Giuliano de Leon. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Medical workers were "shocked and scared" to learn on January 28 that more than 70 people had contracted Covid-19 in the northern province of Hai Duong. Thuy, head of the department of laboratory, diagnostic imaging at the Hai Duong Center for Disease Control (CDC), says: "I won't forget the moment I saw so many test samples coming back positive. I had never seen such a thing." At 5 p.m. on January 27, the 43-year-old was about to head home when she received a call from a colleague who said Japanese health authorities had diagnosed a person from Hai Duong Province with Covid-19. The Hai Duong CDC immediately began contact tracing and Thuy soon had a list of 14 F1 cases, or those who had been in close contact with people testing positive, all in the province's Chi Linh Town. Nguyen Doan Tuan, a health worker in Thuys department quickly went to the 14 peoples houses to collect samples. Those were the first F1 cases reported in Hai Duong when the new Covid-19 wave began. Thuy remembers thinking at that time: "The chances of transmission are very high if just one of those 14 is infected. Everyone had to stay on high alert." In a few hours the samples arrived. That night she and her colleagues did not sleep and were waiting for the results. The first positive case, a 34-year-old female worker at Vietnam Poyun Electronics Co. Ltd in Chi Linh, was confirmed at 5 a.m. on the morning of January 28, and the Ministry of Health designated her patient 1552. Before she had time to wrap her head around this, Thuy was ordered to go to the Taiwan-owned factory at 6 a.m. to take samples from all the workers here. In two hours, she and three others took 190 samples and brought them to the CDC, which later found more than 70 were positive. "Everyone, including me, was really shocked and scared at that time," Thuy says, explaining that they had never before seen such a big cluster of local transmissions. Multiple cases spotted in Hai Duong also connected to the factory which later became the new coronavirus epicenter. "Some 5,000-7,000 samples were being taken daily," Thuy says. Medical personnel from the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Hanoi University of Public Health and Hanoi's Bach Mai Hospital came to assist on the first day. The CDC then mobilized more personnel from the Hai Duong Medical Technical University. The students and doctors were divided into two groups for taking samples in Chi Linh and Kinh Mon towns. The samples began to pile up rapidly as each group brought between 3,000 and 5,000 a day. Thuys task as department of laboratory head was to coordinate the work flow, organize collected samples and calculate the quantity and testing capacity. Medics classifying and numbering Covid-19 test samples. Photo courtesy of Ministry of Health. The department's 15 personnel were divided into two groups, with the eight technical staff testing in the lab and the rest working in the sample coding room, classifying them from F1 to F4. Thuy says initially the number of samples was small, and the department only tested around 500 a day. But soon, following a surge in numbers, the eight people in the lab were not enough even when they worked around the clock, and the department had to mobilize another 30 workers. Thuy says the hardest time is at 8-10 p.m., when samples arrive from various localities. "We work through the night until dawn. Every day each worker only sleeps a total of three to four hours. Everyone has dark circles under their eyes." After sorting, the test samples are transferred to the sample extraction room where a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test determines if a sample contains the virus. She says Hai Duong CDC has tested around 30,000 samples since the new outbreak began late last month. Despite working in a small crowed space, everyone coordinates well with each other to maintain a smooth work flow. Molecular biologist Nguyen Nhan Duy, who is in charge of coordinating the entire testing unit, says upon receiving news of the outbreak, he and his colleagues flew out from Ho Chi Minh City, determined to help Hai Duong soon control the epidemic, adding that members of his group had earlier helped previous Covid-19 hotspot Da Nang. Thuy says: "The previous outbreaks were very stressful, but this new wave has brought greater psychological pressure. This is a race against time, when he have to get sample results as fast as possible. The pressure and stress rose even higher after test results showed many had contracted the virus." Like everyone else, Thuy only sleeps three hours a day and her department has been working nonstop. All night long, lights can be seen inside the laboratory building. Thuy says: "We will keep trying our best. We have to work fast and tirelessly to be able to quickly stamp out this wave." Vietnam has registered 402 domestic cases since January 28 and infections have so far spread to 12 cities and provinces, including 293 in Hai Duong and 47 in its neighbor Quang Ninh. Labour jitters over Sir Keir Starmer deepened last night as Left-wingers urged key Corbyn ally John McDonnell to stand if the party leader is forced out. Senior MPs on Labours Left confirmed they want the former Shadow Chancellor as their candidate in a future leadership contest. The calls come amid mounting fears that Sir Keir, who replaced Jeremy Corbyn just ten months ago, is failing to lay a glove on Boris Johnson. Some Labour MPs are privately speculating that the local elections this May could be so bad for Labour that Sir Keir has to quit. Labour jitters over Sir Keir Starmer deepened last night as Left-wingers urged key Corbyn ally John McDonnell (pictured) to stand if the party leader is forced out The panic has been dismissed as ridiculous by Starmer allies. But last week, Norwich MP Clive Lewis went public with his concerns, criticising the party for little vision and even less analysis of why Britain was suffering so badly from the Covid pandemic. And last night, one ex-Shadow Minister told The Mail on Sunday: Sir Keir has missed his chance to take lumps out of Boris and his serial incompetence. 'Now the vaccination programmes going so well, Im afraid that Starmers just missed his chance. He added that figures on the Left were now turning to Mr McDonnell to rescue the party. He insisted: This is not a coup against Keir. We suspect the Right wing will move first against him not us. 'But if he is forced out, we want John as our candidate as by far the most experienced and representative of the partys members. Sir Keir (pictured) won plaudits recently for catching Mr Johnson out at Prime Ministers Questions with his forensic approach 'As for Starmer, he promised us Corbynism without Corbyn but hes giving us Blairism without Blair. Sir Keir won plaudits recently for catching Mr Johnson out at Prime Ministers Questions with his forensic approach. However, he was left humiliated last week after accusing Mr Johnson of lying only to have to apologise a few hours later. He dismissed as complete nonsense Mr Johnsons claims that he had called for the UK to stay in the European Medicines Agency. But Labour had to back down later after it emerged Sir Keir had done so. A source close to Mr McDonnell dismissed the leadership speculation as pure mischief. He insisted the ex-Shadow Chancellor was focusing on setting out a Socialist policy response to Covid. Foreign Office officials were not told that Anne Sacoolas was a spy in notes sent by the US Embassy in the wake of Harry Dunn's death, court documents have today revealed. Officials instead labelled the US intelligence worker as a spouse of an embassy employee when they sent the Foreign Office a note asserting her diplomatic immunity, the court was told. Sacoolas was made a suspect in the death of Mr Dunn, 19, who was killed in a road crash outside US military base RAF Croughton, in Northamptonshire, in August 2019. The 43-year-old later flew back to America while claiming diplomatic immunity. After she had returned to America, Northamptonshire Police charged Sacoolas with causing death by dangerous driving. However the US has rejected the UK's extradition request. Now an American court, which is assessing a civil claim by Mr Dunn's family against Sacoolas, has heard how the UK's Foreign Office were not told about her intelligence role in official notes from the US Embassy. The court in Virginia heard that one note, penned by the US Embassy three days after the crash, only labelled Sacoolas as 'the spouse of a member of administrative and technical staff of the Embassy'. Foreign Office chiefs were not told that Anne Sacoolas was a spy in officials notes sent by the US Embassy in the wake of Harry Dunn's (pictured) death, court documents have revealed Police made Sacoolas (pictured) a suspect in the death of Mr Dunn, 19, who was killed in a road crash outside US military base RAF Croughton, in Northamptonshire, in August 2019 The court heard that the intelligence worker was told she was a suspect in the teenager's death following a crash outside RAF Croughton (pictured) in Northamptonshire in August 2019 It comes after the court was earlier told that both Sacoolas and her husband Jonathan worked for the US State Department at the time of the crash and 'fled' the UK due to 'issues of security'. The Foreign Office (FCDO) and Number 10 have both previously said the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister were unaware of the case until after Sacoolas had left the UK. The court heard that the intelligence worker was told she was a suspect in Mr Dunn's death by Northamptonshire Police on August 28 - the day after the fatal crash. The US Embassy's first note was then sent to the Foreign Office on August 30. The letter shows how diplomatic immunity was asserted on behalf of Sacoolas - eventually leading to her departure 16 days later on September 15. Sacoolas was eventually charged with causing Mr Dunn's death by dangerous driving. But an extradition request, submitted by the Home Office, was rejected by the US State Department in January last year. The High Court previously ruled Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity at the time of the crash due to a loophole which meant dependants of US Embassy employees were entitled to immunity but the employees themselves were not. The 'anomaly' was closed by the FCDO in July last year. The US Embassy referenced the loophole in its first note to the FCDO - telling UK officials 'waivers of immunity must always be express' in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. FCDO officials were requested in the Embassy's note 'to remind appropriate authorities' not to arrest or detain Sacoolas. The US formally declined the UK Government's request for a waiver of immunity on September 13, two days before the suspect's departure. The FCDO responded to the waiver refusal by expressing its 'grave disappointment' at the US's decision on September 24 - nine days after Sacoolas had returned home. The latest revelations have led the family to raise questions about Sacoolas's immunity - including: 'When did the British Government become aware of her real employment status?' Their spokesman Radd Seiger said: 'We are all still catching our breath after this astonishing revelation, having believed all this time that Mrs Sacoolas was just a dependant. Mr Dunn's mother, Charlotte Charles, said she and Tim Dunn, Harry's father, (pictured together) wanted to sit down with Sacoolas once the prosecution was over to 'rebuild our shattered lives' 'The starting point of course is that this is not what diplomatic immunity was intended to be used for. 'But this note reveals that rather than asking itself what the right thing to do was following the tragedy, the US State Department set about looking for a way to do the wrong thing.' Mr Seiger continued: 'This note now raises some serious questions. 'Why were the US authorities less than candid with the FCO about Mrs Sacoolas' real role whilst in the UK? 'When did the British Government become aware of her real employment status? 'Did Dominic Raab know on 28 January 2020 when Harry's father Tim asked him point blank whether Mrs Sacoolas was working as an intelligence officer at the time of the crash, to which the response was 'She used to work for the State Department'.' In a hearing in which the alleged killer attempted to dismiss the Dunn family's civil claim, her 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.' US State Department spokesman Ned Price reiterated their position again on Sunday, saying: 'At the time the accident occurred, and for the duration of her stay in the UK, the US citizen driver in this case had immunity from criminal jurisdiction. 'As we have said previously, the driver had diplomatic immunity because she was the spouse of an accredited staff member of the US Embassy office.' A US official said they do not comment on diplomatic correspondence. An FCDO spokeswoman said: 'Anne Sacoolas was notified to the UK as a spouse with no official role, and the High Court determined she had diplomatic immunity while in the UK under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.' Vietnam has witnessed a growth in the arrival of global high-tech brands like Pegatron, Universal Scientific Industrial, Foxconn. By 2030, DEEP C Group aims to supply 50 per cent of energy demand within its industrial park. Photo courtesy of the group This shows investors are increasingly becoming vocal about their interest in partnering with companies that take sustainability seriously. It is these industry leaders who are driving a movement as they look for a partner that matches their same sustainable outlook and goals. As a result, local businesses in Viet Nam, and industrial park developers in particular, are transforming their business model as well as adapting to international standards to attract these eagles. Although it can be tricky for industrial parks to balance profitability, concern for environment, and social commitments, there are still multiple ways they can do to stay sustainable. In 2020, the Eco-industrial Park Intervention in Viet Nam Perspective from the Global Eco-Industrial Parks Programme project was launched in HCM City by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). At the workshop, five industrial parks across the country were chosen to implement eco-industrial park initiatives. The project will be carried out in a period of three years with an aim to establish a more sustainable industrial park model and pave the way to the replication of this model across Viet Nam in the future. One of the five pilot industrial parks is DEEP C Hai Phong I (also known as Dinh Vu Industrial Zone), the first footprint of DEEP C group in Viet Nam. The industrial park cluster has gained a reputation as the only European-managed industrial park in Viet Nam, with compatible European quality in all business aspects, from general infrastructures, utilities supply to park operations. Located in Hai Phong City and Quang Ninh Province, DEEP C Industrial Zones is the northern representative of the project. Long before the recent selection, DEEP C implemented their environmental sustainability strategy on four pillars: power, water, waste, and green zone. The main goal is taking the complexity out of investing in Viet Nam while achieving common sustainability goals with investors. Overall, the strategy is to drive economic growth in a sustainable manner for DEEP C, investors and local community. Depending on the nature of each industrial park, the developers can adopt different practices to stay sustainable. For DEEP C, they are the first industrial park to make a road from recycled plastics and a smart electricity grid possible in Viet Nam. The recycled plastics road currently lies in DEEP C Hai Phong II Industrial Park in Hai Phong. More asphalt roads using recycled plastic will be stretched out all over DEEP C Industrial Zones as an innovative solution to address plastics waste and advance circular economy in Viet Nam. The group is now working on the generation of renewable energy from rooftop solar panel and wind turbine. By 2030, it aims to supply 50 per cent of energy demand within its industrial park. Sustainability is also present in reusing of treated wastewater for various industrial purposes such as cooling tower of tenants, preserving mangrove forest along our port area as a natural buffering. Construction work comply with strict standards on safety and environment before, during and after construction such as innovation (road made from plastics), sustainable sourcing of materials (containers), sustainable sites, energy efficiency (optimising solar and wind energy), indoor environment quality and water efficiency. In the years to come, DEEP Cs ready-built factories will be designed in the most nature-friendly way possible with LEED standards. We believe that eco-industrial park is the future of the industry and are happy to raise the standards for developing infrastructures inside industrial park and spread the benefits of eco manufacturing," said Koen Soenens, General Sales and Marketing Director at DEEP C Industrial Zones. "Sure its good for the environment, but its also good for the image, the quality of working and living, and its cost-saving for the maintenance and operations. DEEP C Industrial Zones launched its base in Hai Phong City, Viet Nam in 1997 with the development project of Dinh Vu Industrial Zone (nowadays known as DEEP C Hai Phong I), a collaboration between Belgian group Rent-A-Port and Hai Phong Peoples Committee. Over the past 23 years, DEEP C has evolved to be one of the largest industrial park developers in Viet Nam with five sub-zones covering 3,400 ha of industrial land, forming an industrial cluster in Ha Phong City and Quang Ninh Province the most dynamic growing region in North Viet Nam. To date, DEEP C Industrial Zones are home to 120+ projects with a total investment of US$4 billion, backed by multinational companies like Bridgestone, Idemitsu, Knauf, Chevron, tesa. VNS Production shift from China to Vietnam set to increase demand for industrial parks With the current minimum wage of US$132-190 per month, Vietnam has been listed in the top three ASEAN countries having the lowest labor cost. Postcard from Americas finest city Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment San Diego isnt the first place that comes to mind when you think of California. That is understandable given the prominence of Los Angeles and San Francisco in all things culture and media. Yet, San Diego is a destination in its own right. So much so that Americas finest city, as San Diego bills itself, is the perfect citycation. What to do and see As one might imagine, given its location along Californias coast, the Pacific has had a huge influence on San Diegos development. This location became militarily strategic after the Panama Canal opened in 1914, leading to San Diego becoming the home port of the U.S. Navys Pacific Fleet. Many visitors gravitate toward the harbor, known locally as the Embarcadero. Located a short walk from the heart of downtown, a paved path runs along the Embarcadero. Popular with locals, it makes for nice walks at sunrise or sunset. Moored at the Maritime Museum are several historic vessels, including the massive former USS Midway aircraft carrier once the worlds largest ship and the Star of India, the worlds oldest active sailing ship. If youre into trains, stop by the Santa Fe Depot, San Diegos 101-year-old train station. Alternatively, try people-watching in the Little Italy neighborhood during the weekly Saturday farmers market. Afterward, do lunch at Anthonys Fish Grotto, a local institution since 1946. In the evening, the place to be is the Gaslight Quarter. This 16-square-block neighborhood, known for buildings dating to the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras, is full of restaurants that range from good to touristy and not so great. For dinner, I recommend the Hawaiian fusion restaurant Roys (temporarily closed because of coronavirus). Weekends are also best spent at Balboa Park, one of the countrys greatest city parks. Spend time admiring the ornate architecture of buildings temporarily erected for the Panama-California Exposition of 1915, which was held in competition with a worlds fair up the coast in San Francisco. Visitors can easily spend all day exploring the 17 museums and cultural institutions, including the Museum of Art and Museum of Us, the latter of which was called the Museum of Man until wokeness forced a renaming. Another option is a day trip to La Jolla, where spectacular coastal views and world-class beaches await visitors. This is also home to the Louis Kahn-designed campus of the Salk Institute a major draw for architectural enthusiasts. Where to stay I enjoyed my stay at The Westgate Hotel, which was known pre-pandemic for its elegant Sunday brunch. The 1960s downtown high-rise has an interior decor reminiscent of a grand old European hotel. On the hotels walls and in its public spaces are both original and high-quality reproduced art. (Keep an eye out for the Gainsborough.) "Spires and Crosses" is a weekly travel column. Follow @dennislennox on Twitter and Instagram. Freaks and Geeks gave several comedy actors their start, including Jason Segel and Seth Rogen. The duo formed a tight bond on the set of the NBC teen dramedy one that fostered their creativity as comedians. Find out what comedy film Rogen was working on during his downtime on the set of Freaks and Geeks. Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Linda Cardellini, and James Franco | Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Seth Rogen got his start thanks to NBCs short-lived teen comedy Freaks and Geeks introduced Rogen to the world. Unfortunately, the shows run was short-lived. The comedy premiered on September 25, 1999 and was canceled after 12 episodes. In 2000, fan outcry forced the network to air the final six episodes of Freaks and Geeks. Fortunately for fans, many of Freaks and Geeks stars went on to do more in comedy TV and film. Rogen went on to land parts in cult movies like Donnie Darko and Freaks and Geeks competition series, Dawsons Creek. RELATED: The Reason Why Freaks and Geeks Never Stays on Streaming Services For More Than a Year The Canadian actor later reached the mainstream comedy scene with parts in movies like Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, and a hilarious movie that he was working on while filming Freaks and Geeks. A lot of the Freaks and Geeks cast dropped out of school to do the show Ironically, while filming a show about high school students and their scholastic pursuits, many of the actors werent enrolled in school. That included Segel and Rogen, who dropped out to put everything they had into their respective roles. Often behind the scenes, Segel and Rogen were often crafting jokes together. We would get the script on a Friday, and Seth and James [Franco] and I would get together at my house every Sunday, without fail, and do the scenes over and over and improve them and really think about them, Segel told Vanity Fair. We loved the show. And we took the opportunity really, really seriously. Scenes from Freaks and Geeks werent the only thing Rogen was working on during his downtime. Seth Rogen wrote Superbad on the Freaks and Geeks set Rogen was also penning the 2007 comedy Superbad behind the scenes of Freaks and Geeks. Rogen starred alongside Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, and Bill Hader in the hilariously awkward coming-of-age tale. Much like Freaks and Geeks, which was writer Paul Feigs memorialization of his teen traumas, Superbad details Rogens years in high school. Me and Evan Goldberg, my friend and partner to this day, started writing Superbad when we were in high school, we were in eighth grade, basically, Rogen explained to GQ. And it incorporated a lot of our real-life high school stories. And originally the characters names are Seth and Evan, after me and Evan. Rogen took what he and his high school pal started and expanded on it behind the scenes of Freaks and Geeks. I dropped out of high school when I started doing the show, Rogen explained to Vanity Fair. I told them I was doing correspondence school from Canada. But that was a lie. Instead, Rogen said he actually just wrote Superbad all day. It was Rogens initial intention to play himself in the movie and hire another actor to play Evans role. But it basically took us so long to get the movie made that I aged out of the role essentially, Rogen explained to GQ. We were like 24 by the time we were making the movie, and I could not play an 18-year-old convincingly anymore. Rogen still got to bring his personality to the film by playing the role of hometown cop Officer Michaels. A police officer has been suspended after a Troubles survivor was arrested at an event commemorating the 29th anniversary of a loyalist paramilitary attack. The chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland apologised for the incident which resulted in angry scenes at at a memorial to the five victims of the shooting at Sean Graham bookmakers in Belfast. Simon Byrne said the events "do not reflect the values" of the force and offered to meet with the families of those involved in the 1992 atrocity. He confirmed that one officer had been suspended and a second had been repositioned following a review of the body-worn camera footage. He said: "Clearly I recognise this has been a really difficult issue for the local community and indeed the wider community in Northern Ireland over the last 24 hours. "Firstly I would like to apologise to those people that were affected in the Ormeau Road yesterday by our actions, in terms of what they saw and what they heard. "And secondly to people that have been concerned and upset by what has been shown on social media. I apologise for what has happened." The Police Ombudsman's Office has also launched an investigation into the incident after receiving a complaint from deputy first minister Michelle O'Neill. Ms O'Neill described it as a "shameful display of policing" that had caused "unprecedented anger and distress across the community." Police said that officers had approached a man about a possible breach of the coronavirus regulations at the end of the wreath laying ceremony at around 2.30pm on Friday. Following angry exchanges, Mark Sykes, who was injured in the 1992 attack, was arrested on suspicion of disorderly behaviour and resisting arrest. Mr Sykes was later released and later issued a statement through campaign group Relatives for Justice stating that "the only thing I had in my hands was flowers, that my three-year-old granddaughter had lain at her uncle's memorial". He also contrasted his arrest to the lack of action by police when a gang of masked men gathered in east Belfast in an apparent loyalist paramilitary show of strength earlier this week. The chief constable responded to the allegation of "two tier policing" by saying that he recognised public concerns, but added: "The coronavirus regulations do present particular challenges for policing. We are struggling sometimes to get that balance right because of the fast paced nature of events." Mr Byrne said the two officers involved were relatively inexperienced, having joined the PSNI in July last year. However he said that the review of the footage had established that officers did not attempt to stop the commemoration event. Mr Byrne also vowed not to quit after facing criticism over the police response to the outcry. He said: "I'm not a quitter, I took this job with my eyes open, determined to invest my time, my capital, working with a top team to deliver on my promise, which was visible, accessible and responsive community policing. "I don't pretend this isn't a difficult week. But actually, if I quit now, it would just leave the same set of problems for whoever stood in my shoes. This is about leadership, it's about calm heads and direction while I work with a top team to move people out of the place we find ourselves in and deliver on the promises that I've made." Additional reporting by Press Association 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 There was widespread sadness in South Leitrim and beyond at the death of Vincent Kenny, Corduff, Aughavas. He had reached the age of 88 but in the last 6 months his health began to fail and he died in Sligo University Hospital on Friday, January 22. He leaves behind his beloved wife Gerty, daughter Roisin, sons Martin, Tony, Vinnie and Peadar and grandchildren. During his life he had worked at farming, cutting turf, baling, and doing garage work. He was an affable man, always cheerful and positive. Many a comment was heard over the weekend that Vincie Kenny was a decent man. Vincie was a stalwart for Sinn Fein. He came from a Republican background and previous generations of Kennys had been active in the 20s in the Tan War and Civil War, Tom Kenny and John Kenny. One was a Sinn Fein Rural District Councillor and the other was interned in the Civil War. Vincie was in his time closely identified with John Joe McGirl, worked for him in many elections and was John Joes election agent on a number of occasions. I first met Vincie during the Joe McDonnell H Block election campaign in June 1981, and after I settled in Leitrim in 1990 I often canvassed with Vincie in Aughavas and Carrigallen for Liam McGirl and later on for Vincies son Martin. Vincie was of course proud of all his children but I think he was exceptionally proud when Martin became a Councillor and subsequently when he was elected T.D. for Sligo/Leitrim, nearly 60 years after John Joe McGirl won the seat in 1957. During the 30 years of struggle when our people in the North had their backs to the wall Vincie Kenny and his family were solid in their support and today there are many Republicans throughout Ireland who mourn his passing because they know and appreciate the help he gave them and the risks that were taken. But Vincie also knew when it was time for peace and he enthusiastically supported the building of the Peace Process and understood well that the way forward now was through Electoral strategy. And this has borne fruit in our time with Sinn Fein emerging as the largest party on the island. Vincie Kenny in his lifetime believed in the values of freedom, justice, equality and tolerance. He believed in the dream of a United Ireland not just in a united piece of land but all Irelands people united together in a citizenship of equality and fairness where people regardless of religion or colour or background could live in peace, in freedom and aim for prosperity and that it didnt matter what background you came from but rather it mattered more the values you held and the principles of fairness one lived by. Vincie believed in the Republican dream and though he has passed on and we say slan to him as he goes ar Sli na Firinne we know the dream lives on. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam uasal. For artist Judy Watson, the trauma of the Myall Creek massacre recalled her familys own story of survival: her great-great-grandmother Rosie escaped a massacre at Lawn Hill Gorge in north-west Queensland in the 1880s. Because Rosie escaped that massacre, our family survived, said Watson, one of the artists featured in the Myall Creek and Beyond exhibition at the University of Sunshine Coast Art Gallery. Judy Watson, one of the artists featured in the exhibition Myall Creek and Beyond, wrapped muslin around trunks to represent witness trees. So [its] that whole idea that Aboriginal people who are here today are survivors, whether its from stolen generations, missions systems, poor conditions, being taken away from resources. The exhibition commemorates the massacre of 28 Aboriginal Australians at the hands of convicts at Myall Creek in 1838. It also aims to evoke this spirit of survival and challenge the way visitors understand their local history. Health Minister Zahid Maleque rolled out the campaign at a virtual event at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in Dhaka on Sunday morning. Maleque also urged all not to spread propaganda against the vaccine as it is safe and has no side effects, reported Dhaka Tribune. "The vaccine campaign will continue throughout the year. There is another process to get the jab other than online registration. People can be able to take the shots immediately after registering themselves at the vaccine centres," he added. Later on, he took coronavirus vaccine jab at Sheikh Russel National Gastroliver Institute and Hospital around 11:25 am (local time). Other ministers along with justices and distinguished persons followed the suit and took the jab on Sunday at different hospitals in Dhaka. The health authorities have also decided to administer second doses of the vaccine four weeks after the first jab, instead of eight weeks. DGHS Director General Khurshid Alam on Saturday said a total of 2,400 vaccination teams would be deployed across the country - 204 teams at 50 vaccine centres in Dhaka and 2,196 teams at 995 centres outside the capital, reported Dhaka Tribune. According to the instructions of the DGHS, 10 vaccination teams (eight on duty and two in reserve) will be deployed at Sadar hospitals of each district, while three teams (two on duty and one in reserve) will be deployed at other centres. Each team should be able to vaccinate 100-150 people per day. Meanwhile, the government has cancelled leave of health workers until February 10 due to the nationwide vaccination drive. The vaccine registration website www.surokkha.gov.bd has been open to the public since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the vaccination campaign on January 27. The Surokkha app is yet to become available on the Google Play Store. Bangladesh received seven million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, two million as a gift from India and five million as part of a contract with the Serum Institute of India, reported Dhaka Tribune. 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. WASHINGTON Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming waded deeper into Republicans identity crisis on Sunday, warning her party on the eve of a Senate impeachment trial not to look past former President Donald J. Trumps role in stoking a violent attack on the Capitol and a culture of conspiracy roosting among their ranks. In her first television interview since fending off an attempt by Mr. Trumps allies to oust her from House leadership over her vote to impeach him, Ms. Cheney said Republican voters had been lied to by a president eager to steal an election with baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. She cautioned that the party risked being locked out of power if it did not show a majority of Americans that it could be trusted to lead truthfully. The notion that the election had been stolen or that the election was rigged was a lie, and people need to understand that, Ms. Cheney said on Fox News Sunday. We need to make sure that we as Republicans are the party of truth, and that we are being honest about what really did happen in 2020 so we actually have a chance to win in 2022 and win the White House back in 2024. She added that Mr. Trump does not have a role as a leader of our party going forward. The remarks made plain that Ms. Cheney, a leading Republican voice trying to push the party back toward its traditional policy roots, had no intention of backing off her criticism of the former president after two attempts last week to punish her for her impeachment vote. In Washington, her critics forced a vote to try to oust her as the chairwoman of the House Republican conference, but it failed overwhelmingly on a secret ballot. And on Saturday, the Wyoming Republican Party censured her and called for her resignation. Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call/Getty When Oath Keeper Rob Minuta provided security for Roger Stone on the day of the Capitol riot, it wasnt his first time providing muscle for a top Trump aide. Imagery obtained by The Daily Beast shows Minuta marched alongside former Trump National Security Adviser Mike Flynn when he attended a similar march in Washington, D.C. in December which sought to overturn the 2020 election. His appearance in similar roles for Flynn and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones at pro-Trump rallies after the election highlights the troubling network of connections between members of the far-right militia and some of Trumps closest advisers and supporters. ABC News first reported that Minuta was one of the Oath Keepers seen providing security for Roger Stone on the day of the riot. Minutas wife told the news outlet her husband didnt enter the Capitol and he hasnt been charged with a crime or accused of wrongdoing. Much like the Jan. 6 rally that turned into a riot, the Dec. 12 rally drew a host of Trump supportersincluding members of the extremist Oath Keepers militia and the white nationalist Proud Boysafter the pro-Trump group Women for America First organized a rally to support Trumps attempts to overthrow the 2020 election. Flynn was among the many top tier Trump supporters who attended and spoke at the Dec. 12 events, where he gave speeches on the Mall and in front of the Supreme Court. That evening, the rally descended into a bloody brawl as members of the Proud Boys clashed with counter-protesters. Washington, D.C. police reported four stabbings as a result of the clashes and charged Proud Boys founder Enrique Tarrio with destruction of property and felony firearms possession after he was seen allegedly vandalizing a historic Black church by tearing down and burning its Black Lives Matter banner. Minuta, clad in black and wearing an Oath Keepers New Jersey hat, is visible escorting Flynn earlier in the day in an apparent security cordon seen in imagery taken as the former national security adviser walked towards the Supreme Court. In one video, Minuta is visible alongside other apparent members of the cordon pushing bystanders out of Flynns way as he heads up the steps of the court. Story continues Ready to Die: Two Months of MAGA Mob Warning Signs Citizen Lab researcher John Scott Railton and a Discord group of volunteers known as the Capitol Terrorists Exposers first identified Minuta in imagery escorting Flynn. This case is yet another illustration of the troubling tendrils connecting organized groups, such as the Oath Keepers, to this event and a reminder of the role of volunteers in identifying what may be key people in this story, Scott-Railton told The Daily Beast. Flynn did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast. Minuta appears to have performed a similar escort role for InfoWars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones at a Nov. 14 Million MAGA March Trump rally in Washington. In photos taken by UPI and Getty, Minuta is visible as part of an escort for Jones alongside reported members of the Proud Boys as he heads towards the Supreme Court. A week before the Nov. 14 rally, an account in Minutas name posted in the RocketChat Forum, a website reportedly used by Oath Keepers which leaked to the left-wing UnicornRiot media collective. Fellow patriots, take this period of uncertainty to make sure provisions and gear is set up properly!, the account wrote. We must be ready to be in the streets in a controlled manor (Virginia 2A rally style). We must OVERTAKE the streets in massive numbers. Minuta identified himself as a Jones fan in a January 2020 interview, where he told the Virginia Mercury that he had attended a Virginia gun rights demonstration during the states Lobby Day after he heard about it on Jones show. Minuta did not respond to email and text messages from The Daily Beast. Minuta is visible in another photograph taken that evening standing next to an infamous Proud Boy, Dominic Spazzo Pezzola, the alleged rioter charged with smashing a Capitol window on Jan. 6 and allegedly telling a confidential witness that he would have killed [Vice President] Mike Pence if given the chance. In a post on the now-defunct right-wing social media site Parler, one account in the name of Minutas fathers company posted a link to a photograph of Minuta standing behind Spazzo. THAT IS MY SON ROB STANDING FOR WHAT IS RIGHT, the account posted next to a picture taken by Washingtonian photographer Evy Mages. SPAZZOLINI IS THE MARINE IN FRONT AN ICONIC MARINE. Minutas father did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast. The Oath Keepers have drawn increased scrutiny from federal law enforcement after members of the group were charged with participating in the riot. Prosecutors have charged three Oath KeepersThomas Caldwell, Jessica Marie Watkins, and Donovan Crowlwith conspiracy to obstruct Congress. So far, prosecutors have only used conspiracy charges against alleged rioters who were members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, and the government is reportedly considering whether to use a Nixon-era anti-mafia law to charge some rioters. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was present at the rally in Washington on Jan. 6 but was not seen inside the Capitol and has not been charged with any wrongdoing. Minutas relationship with the extremist Oath Keepers militia dates back at least to May 2020, when Rhodes supported an anti-lockdown protest at Minutas tattoo shop, Casa Di Dolore. Minuta opened his tattoo shop in May in defiance of New York state public health regulations in what he called a display of defiance against a tyrannical dictator, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to an interview with the Mid Hudson News. In an interview in 2019, Minuta identified himself as an anti-vaxxer and told a local news outlet that he and his wife began looking at houses in New Jersey after New York passed a mandatory vaccination law for children. Rhodes traveled from Texas to Newburgh, New York along with other members of the Oath Keepers to participate in the protest. I asked to be his first customer, and Im going to get We the people tattooed on my arm, Rhodes told the Times Herald-Record. In a video posted to the Oath Keepers YouTube channel at the time, Minuta, again dressed in Oath Keepers garb, tattoos We the people on Rhodes arm using the iconic scrawl seen in the original Constitution. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Palghar: A 26-year-old Navy sailor who had been abducted in Chennai on January 30 was set on fire by the kidnappers in jungles of Maharashtra's Palghar district. The Navy officer succumed to his burn injuries while he was rushed to a hospital, the police said on Saturday. Suraj Kumar Dubey, the victim, died while he was being shifted to hospital in Mumbai on Friday, district police said. Dubey, who hailed from Ranchi, was posted at INS Agrani near Coimbatore, said Palghar district police spokesperson Sachin Navadkar. As per the preliminary information, when he was returning from vacation on January 30, three men abducted him at gun point outside Chennai Airport around 9 pm and demanded ransom of Rs 10 lakh. He was kept captive in Chennai for three days and later shifted to area near Vevji in Talasari area of Palghar district of Maharashtra, close to Mumbai and 1,400 km away from the Tamil Nadu capital. On Friday morning, the abductors tied his hands and legs and set him on fire in jungles near Gholvad, and fled leaving him for dead, police said. Dubey managed to run away and with the help of some locals, reached Dahanu Primary Health Centre. As he had more than 90 per cent burn injuries, he was rushed to the naval hospital in Mumbai but he died on the way, police said. Before dying, he narrated the ordeal to police, Navadkar said. A Navy spokesperson said that Dubey was on leave when he was abducted and found in Palghar with 90 per cent burns on Friday morning. He was brought to INHS Asvini -- the Navy hospital -- but was declared dead on arrival. A case of murder under section 302 of IPC and other relevant sections has been registered against the unidentified trio and probe is on, the district police spokesperson said. Mithilesh Dubey, father of Suraj Kr Dubey demanded justice for his son. News agency ANI quoted him saying, "I want justice for my son. That's the message I want to get across via media. He gave statement before dying that he was kidnapped & imprisoned for 3 days, being made an object of ransom. He was then brought to Palghar and burnt to death." Live TV Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 7) "Do not be afraid to preach the word. Speak the word." This is Bishop Broderick Pabillo's message to the Catholic faithful as the Philippines celebrates 500 years of Christianity. Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan brought Christianity to the country in 1521, after he landed and planted a cross in Cebu. Pabillo, Manila's Apostolic Administrator, said Christianity started to spread in Asia while it was disintegrating in Europe during the 1500s. Since then, over 80 million or roughly four out of five Filipinos have remained Roman Catholics, according to government data. "This is a source of pride for us, but also a big challenge," Pabillo told mass attendees during a eucharistic mass Saturday. Bishop Pabillo urged every Filipino Roman Catholic to spread the gospel even in the society's poorest and far-flung areas. He added that many areas in the country haven't been reached yet by Christianity despite its half millennium of existence. It's also important, he said, to make the poor understand how the Catholic Church can be relevant to them. "Let us be bold in striking out new grounds. Naturally, there will be new expenses, we will have to make mistakes. There will be criticisms. But move on," Pabillo added. The bishop also said the clergy and Catholics who have more in life shouldn't use the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse not offer help to others. He urged Catholic followers to help the less privileged who live in their area. "It is not only we who are in the pandemic. Also, the poor are in the pandemic," Pabillo said. He also responded to criticisms against church officials they speak up about social issues. "Pag sinabi nilang namumulitika ka na kasi binabanggit natin ang social implication of the good news, and they always say that when they don't want to hear our message, let the birds chirp but move on with the mission," Pabillo added. [Translation: When they say you are politicking because we mention the social implication of the good news, and they always say that when they don't want to hear our message, let the birds chirp but move on with the mission.] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 7 : As many people feared trapped after flood in Uttarakhand's Joshimath followed by avalanche, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and reviewed the situation in the state. The leader also suggested for all possible help from Centre. While in Assam, the Prime Minister reviewed the situation in Uttarakhand during a telephonic conversation with Rawat and other top officials. He took stock of the rescue and relief work underway. "Authorities are working to provide all possible support to the affected," Prime Minister's Office tweeted. From his personal Twitter handle, the Prime Minister further tweeted that he is constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation in Uttarakhand. "India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyone's safety there. Have been continuously speaking to senior authorities and getting updates on NDRF deployment, rescue work and relief operations." Meanwhile, The Home Minister also spoke with Rawat and Into-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General S.S. Deswal. Shah further said that four National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are being airlifted to Dehradun to reach Joshimath where a massive flood in was witnessed due to the water level in Dhauliganga river suddenly crossed its regular flow on Sunday morning followed by an avalanche near a power project at the Reni village of Chamoli district. The Home Minister assured Uttarakhand Chief Minister to provide all possible help to the state from the Centre. The incident took place near the Reni village, which is 26 km far from Joshimath. The Dhauliganga river got flooded and destroyed many houses situated at the river banksides. The ITBP earlier said that there was some cloudburst or breaching of the reservoir at around 10 a.m. which resulted in the flooding in Dhauliganga -- one of the six source streams of the Ganges river. The 85 km river meets the Alaknanda River at Vishnuprayag at the base of Joshimath mountain in Uttarakhand. Several labourers working at the Rishi Ganga hydroelectric power project were feared missing after a glacier broke. A dam of the Tapovan power project was breached and feared to have been washed away. ITBP and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel have been rushed to the affected areas to evacuate stranded people. "Casualties feared. Hundreds of ITBP men rushed for rescue," the ITBP said. Rawat has convened an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation and to supervise rescue and relief operations. Though the impact of the disaster may not be felt in Rishikesh and Haridwar, the towns have been put on alert. A government spokesman said that there was not much human habitation at the site where the glacier broke but a number of power projects have been hit. The government has also appealed to the people not to venture near the Ganga river. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Zimbabwes government is asking for help from the countrys corporate sector, citizens and other well-wishers to fund the import of COVID-19 vaccines. The southern African nation is falling behind in the battle with the coronavirus, despite imposing a 12-hour curfew last month as part of a lockdown to deal with the pandemic, which has infected about 35,000 people in Zimbabwe and caused 1,300 deaths, most of them this year alone. Itai Rusike, executive director of the nonprofit Community Working Group on Health in Zimbabwe said in an interview he was shocked by the extension of the usual begging bowl when President Emmerson Mnangagwas government has been lately bragging of a surplus budget. He said citizens and companies in Zimbabwe are feeling the impact of the slowed economy, so they cannot donate for COVID-19 vaccine imports. "So, let us use the budget surplus money to purchase the vaccines. We also have the 2% tax on mobile money transactions," said Rusike. "We also have the health levy. These funds should be earmarked for the vaccine purchases for now. Even the International Monetary Fund said spend the budget surplus money as long as the financing is transparent and closely monitored. Zimbabwean Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube refused to comment Saturday on his call for assistance. Rusike added that the call for an unspecified amount of funds to import vaccines was confusing after Mnangagwa this week said his government had sourced free vaccines some 200,000 donated by China. In the same speech, broadcast on national television, Mnangagwa said. A national vaccine deployment framework has also been finalized," he added. "The initial objective is to inoculate at least 60% of the population. Government has set aside the requisite financial resources for the purchase of vaccines. Rusike said Zimbabwe should not expect much assistance from its usual donors such as the U.S., Britain and the European Union. "It will be very difficult for the international donors, to come in and support Zimbabwe at this stage," said Rusike. "Mainly because the very same donors are having the biggest burden of COVID-19. If you look at the U.S, the U.K, these are the hotspots for COVID-19. A lot of more people [than Zimbabwe] have been infected from COVID-19 and a lot of people continue to die from COVID-19 in those respective countries. For years now, the countrys health sector has largely depended on assistance of aid organizations such as USAID. The countrys health workers have on several occasions been on strike including during this coronavirus outbreak - asking for PPE and better salaries. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday said the central budget for 2021-22 fiscal has focused on spending to build infrastructure and boost the economic growth of the country. Stating that the budget was historic as it was presented in the backdrop of the COVID-19 challenges, he said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised on the health sector and increased its allocation by 137 per cent. Prasad said the budget should be seen in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the announcement of Rs 27 lakh crore Atma Nirbhar Bharat scheme. The Centre has increased the budgetary outlay for health and wellbeing to over Rs 2.23 lakh crore from an estimated allocation of around Rs 94,000 crore in the current fiscal. He also said the allocation of Rs 64,180 crore for Atma Nirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana will help open new critical care hospitals and medical facilities across the country. The Union IT and Communication minister mentioned that the budget focused on providing safe drinking water, cleanliness and addressing the issue of malnutrition. The government has also allocated Rs 35,000 crore for COVID vaccination programme, he said, adding the finance minister made it clear that the Centre will provide more fund if required. Keeping in mind the importance of safe drinking water to make people healthy, he said the government has allocated Rs 2.87 lakh crore to the Jal Jeevan Mission. This will help universal water supply in all 4,378 urban local bodies with 2.86 crore household tap water connections. Asserting that the Narendra Modi government is committed to the development of farmers and also to double their income, Prasad said the budget has arranged for disbursement of Rs 16.05 lakh crore as farm loan. The government has provided Rs 5.54 lakh crore for capital expenditure as against the allocation of Rs 4.21 lakh crore in the current fiscal. Prasad was accompanied by legislator Arun Kumar Sinha, BJP''s state headquarters in-charge Suresh Rungta and other leaders at the press meet. Oxford Vaccine Less Effective Against South African Variant, Study Finds The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine does not appear to offer protection against mild and moderate cases of the South African variant of the CCP virus, a new study has found. In both the human trials and tests on the blood of those vaccinated, the vaccine did not show protection against mild-moderate COVID-19 caused by the 501Y.V2 variant, the dominant CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus strain in South Africa, said the study, which was first reported by the Financial Times. The jabs efficacy against severe disease caused by the variant, hospitalisations, and deaths has not yet been determined, according to the study, which was led by South Africas University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University. The randomised, double-blind study enrolled 2,026 HIV-negative individuals, with a median age of 31. Half the group was given at least one dose of placebo, with the other half receiving at least one dose of the Oxford vaccine. Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at Oxford University and co-developer of the AstraZeneca vaccine, said that she had seen evidence from other vaccine developers of a reduction in efficacy against some of the variant viruses. What that is looking like is that we may not be reducing the total number of cases, but theres still protection in that case against deaths, hospitalisations, and severe disease, she told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show. She said thats really important for healthcare systems, as pressure on hospitals can be reduced if the vaccines prevent people from going to hospitals. Gilbert said her team already has a version with the South African spike sequence in the works, though it is not yet ready. Its easy to adapt the technology, develop a new vaccine which will have to go through a small amount of clinical testing, not nearly the same amount as we had to go through last year, she said. Also commenting on the new study, Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said, Vaccines that are effective against the more severe forms of disease may not affect milder forms, so there is optimism that severe disease will still be prevented by vaccines based on the original spike protein despite mutations. In addition, many of the vaccines now proven to be effective can be relatively easily redesigned to express emerging forms of the viral protein. Nadhim Zahawi, Britains vaccine deployment minister, said a booster in the autumn and then annual vaccinations are very probable. We see very much probably a booster in the autumn and then an annual [vaccination], in the way we do with flu vaccinations where you look at what variant of virus is spreading around the world, you rapidly produce a variant of vaccine and then begin to vaccinate and protect the nation, he told the Andrew Marr Show. Reuters contributed to this report. It is unclear how Senate leaders will honor Mr. Schoens request. If they moved to fast-track the trial to ensure it was concluded by sundown Friday, it would make for by far the speediest presidential impeachment trial in history. If they suspended it as Mr. Schoen has asked, the proceeding could bleed into a federal holiday on Monday and what was supposed to be a holiday week for the Senate, when its members were supposed to get a break to go home to their states. If leaders opted instead to delay it further, that would punt planned action on confirming Mr. Bidens nominees and advancing his pandemic aid bill. Mr. Schoen said in a telephone interview on Friday that he had not heard from the leaders about a range of issues related to the trial, including its schedule and how much time each side would receive to present their arguments. Mr. Schumer, who has been negotiating with Mr. McConnell over those matters, is expected to announce the details shortly before the trial begins. Mr. Schoen is part of a second group of lawyers who has stepped in to represent Mr. Trump in his second impeachment trial. The first team quit after its lawyers refused to commit to making the former presidents preferred trial strategy that they defend him by repeating his baseless claims that the election was stolen from him. Now, Mr. Schoen joins a list of prominent Jews who have run into issues in Washington over their observance of the Sabbath. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the former presidents daughter and son-in-law who are Orthodox Jews, said they had received special permission from a rabbi to attend Mr. Trumps inaugural festivities in 2017. They said they had obtained a similar exemption at least once later in Mr. Trumps presidency to travel on the Sabbath. During the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton in 1999, a Connecticut senator at the time, Joseph I. Lieberman, who is an observant Jew, walked four miles from his Georgetown apartment to Capitol Hill to sit as a juror. Because Jewish law teaches that one may break the Sabbath if the matter involves concern for human life, Mr. Lieberman, in consultation with his rabbis, devised his own rule whereby he refrained from campaigning or performing any strictly political activity on the Sabbath, but would attend Senate sessions and vote, if necessary. He did not, however, ride in a car or elevator, in line with a restriction that comes from a prohibition against creating sparks and fires. Mr. Schoens request will now have to be factored in with decades-old impeachment trial rules and the schedule, work habits and politics of the Senate. The rules say the Senate should meet Monday through Saturday for impeachment trials and break only on Sunday, the schedule that was followed during both Mr. Trumps last trial and Mr. Clintons. Harvard Universitys affiliate Law Review has elected Egyptian-American Hassaan Shahawy as its 135th President, Harvard Law Today said in a statement on Friday. Born in Los Angeles to an Egyptian Muslim family, Shahawy, 26, is believed to be Harvard Law Reviews first Muslim president in its 134-year history. The Harvard Law Review, one of the most prestigious US law journals, is an entirely student-run publication with the largest circulation of any law journal in the world. It is published monthly from November through June and was founded in 1887 by future Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis. Shahawy told Reuters that he hoped his election represented legal academias growing recognition of the importance of diversity, and perhaps its growing respect for other legal traditions. According to Harvard Law Today, Shahawy graduated from Harvard College in 2016 with an A.B. in History and Near Eastern Studies. He then attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar to pursue a doctorate in Oriental Studies, and alongside that studied Islamic law traditionally both in the UK and in the Muslim world. He has also been involved in direct services work with refugee populations and incarcerated people. Coming from a community routinely demonised in American public discourse, I hope this represents some progress, even if small and symbolic, Reuters quoted Shahawy as saying. Shahawys predecessor Michaeljit Sandhu hailed him in statements to the Harvard Law Today in which he described the Egyptian-American as astoundingly smart and unceasingly modest. His collaborative approach to leadership, deep commitment to engagement across difference, and excellent judgment will serve the Review extremely well during this extraordinary time. I am so excited to see what he and all the editors in Volume 135 do next, said Sandhu. Short link: India is set to fulfil 70% of the world's coronavirus vaccine needs, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday, adding that two vaccines are currently being exported to 14 countries. Speaking at the inauguration of a private medical college, Shah said: "India is set to fulfil 70% of the world's coronavirus vaccine needs. Two vaccines are being exported to 14 countries." He stated that 55 lakh people in the country have been given Covid-19 vaccine in the last 21 days and the Centre is working to expedite vaccination process. According to him, four more anti-Covid vaccines are in the pipeline. "India's line of treatment during the pandemic is being followed by 170-odd countries in the world," he said. "The big difference in the fight against Covid-19 was that in India, the central government, the state governments, doctors, health workers and 130 crore people together handled the situation, unlike other countries," Shah added. "Our (Covid-19) death rate is low and our recovery rate is the best," he said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepared the country to handle the situation. He said that the Modi government has worked to upgrade the health infrastructure in the country in the last six-and-a-half years. "Through Janata Curfew, he prepared people for the lockdown," Shah said. During the pandemic, the health infrastructure was improved at a rocket-speed, the minister said. "World's largest vaccination programme was launched in India. Two vaccines have been rolled out and four more are in the pipeline," he said. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. SACRAMENTO Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton hosted a wedding party at her home over the summer that included dozens of people, a possible violation of coronavirus restrictions as the Bay Area fought back a surge in cases. Becton, who is considered a contender to be appointed Californias attorney general, said she hosted the party in the backyard of her El Sobrante home on Aug. 1 to celebrate her marriage to her new husband. A note left on neighbors doors warned that probably 20 to 30 additional cars would be parked on the street that day. Becton told The Chronicle that the event was a small, outdoor wedding and adhered to state and county restrictions, which allowed for outdoor religious and cultural events including weddings, but not receptions or after-parties. Parties that bring together people from numerous households were banned then and still are, according to the state Department of Public Health. Bectons wedding was followed by music, yes, but I did not have a big party, she said. She said she served a meal and wine to her guests. Guests wore masks and maintained social distancing, Becton said, an account that one neighbor confirmed. Medical experts caution, however, that people are prone to let their guard down at such gatherings and remove their masks while celebrating or eating and drinking. I had a wedding in my yard that was really based upon the love that we shared, Becton said. I hope that I did not do anything that was in violation of any rules. If I did, it certainly was not my intent. Before holding the event, Becton said, she called Contra Costa County Health Services coronavirus hotline to to consult them on having an outdoor ceremony. She said she and the person she spoke with came to the conclusion that there didnt seem to be anything that would prohibit the event. I think the most important thing for people to know is that I did everything that I knew possible to obtain the best information, Becton added. Becton said the event included about 25 to 30 family members and close friends in attendance from 3 to 7 p.m. However, two neighbors said they heard a celebration that included music into the night. Guests had their temperatures taken upon entrance, wore masks and were socially distanced by the families they came with, Becton said. Becton resisted calling the event a reception. After the ceremony, she said, guests ate a meal that was served to them. She said she and her husband danced, but that no guests did. In my tradition we dont just have a wedding, Becton said. We have a wedding and then theres usually something that accompanies that. She also said she did not find anything on the states website explicitly banning receptions at the time, saying it was an evolving situation in terms of the rules. Becton has been Contra Costa Countys top prosecutor since 2017. She has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Attorney General Xavier Becerra, President Bidens nominee for health and human services secretary. Gov. Gavin Newsom would appoint a new attorney general if Becerra is confirmed. Becton, who previously worked as a county judge for 22 years, has been endorsed for attorney general by elected officials and groups including the state Legislative Black Caucus. Four neighbors on Bectons street interviewed by The Chronicle recalled receiving the note about the wedding party. Among them was Karyl Toms, a retiree who said she was aghast that somebody would do that amid tight pandemic restrictions. I just thought, 20 to 30 cars is a lot of people, Toms said. She said she doesnt know Becton and didnt realize her neighbor was the district attorney until she Googled her name that night. Thats when I got really upset, Toms said. No surprise here, the poor suckers are locked down and people who have power get to do what they want. What, rules pertain to me? She said the episode reminds her of other California politicians who have ventured out during the pandemic. Newsom and San Francisco Mayor London Breed were criticized after they attended separate dinner parties at the French Laundry restaurant in Napa County in November. Grace Lee, who lives a few doors from Becton, said she could see the party over her backyard fence. Lee said the loud music and revelry continued until about 9 or 10 p.m. I do remember that wedding, and it was quite elaborate, Lee said. We did notice that there was a lot more traffic, a lot more cars. But Lee, who doesnt know Becton, said she wasnt angry. She said she and her family enjoyed hearing the festivities after months of stay-at-home orders, and felt like they were joining in from afar as they roasted marshmallows in their backyard. It was kind of nice to have that refreshing music, Lee said. You know, you cant stop love in a sense. Becton said shes confident that her event ended earlier in the evening. She said guests and the musicians started to pack up around 6:30 p.m., but that its possible she played more music on her patio speakers as she cleaned up. Dr. Charles Chiu, a virologist and professor of laboratory medicine at UCSF, said an outdoor wedding ceremony lends itself more easily to social distancing than other events because attendees can be seated the recommended 6 feet apart and typically dont speak much. However, Chiu said, the risk increases exponentially for receptions, where people are more inclined to have conversations, yell or sing, move around, drink alcohol or otherwise let down their guard. Basically, that would be a higher-risk situation, he said. You really only need like one person in the gathering who is infected. (They) potentially could transmit it to many other people. UC Berkeley infectious disease expert John Swartzberg agreed that an hours-long party could be risky because people are likely to remove their masks to eat and drink. The bottom line is its bad judgment, he said. Its bad judgment, in the face of a pandemic, particularly during the time of the surge, to have a party. Becton hosted the celebration as Contra Costa County was on the states monitoring list for widespread coronavirus transmission following a surge in cases over the summer. A few weeks later, the state shifted to a color-coded system for counties, and Contra Costa was placed in the purple or most-restrictive tier. Contra Costa has been among the counties hit hardest by the pandemic in the Bay Area. On Aug. 1, the day of Bectons wedding, the county of 1.15 million people was averaging about 203 new infections daily. I dont know what the surge was at that time. Nobody in our event got COVID-19, Becton said. I really thought I was in that arena of a cultural ceremony, so those were the guidelines that I was following. Editors note: An earlier version of this story said Becton wrote a note to neighbors alerting them to the party. A spokesperson says Becton had a friend tell the neighbors but that she did not write a note herself. Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner BLOOMINGDALE, Ill.A shooting early Saturday during a large gathering at a suburban Chicago hotel, which has been a hot spot for crime, left one man, a rapper, dead and several other people wounded, police said. The shooting occurred during some type of large get-together among guests at the Indian Lakes Hotel in Bloomingdale, according to Bloomingdale Public Safety Director Frank Giammarese. Its senseless to me that the two groups of people are coming for a party or a rap video or whatever and people end up shooting each other and people are dying, he said. Investigators were still piecing together what happened, but it appears that there were a couple of different groups attending different events at the hotel when something transpired and thats when the shooting took place, mostly in the hallways at the hotel, Giammarese added. People were fleeing the hotel when officers arrived about 2:35 a.m. in response to a report of shots fired on the fifth floor. Officers found multiple apparent gunshot victims inside, police said in a news release. South Side rapper James McGill Jr., 27, of Chicago, was pronounced dead at a hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiners office, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. McGills cousin, FBG Duck, also a rapper, died during a shooting a few months ago, according to social media posts. As many as six other people were hit by gunfire, but the exact number was unknown because several people fledincluding one or more possible suspects, Giammarese said. No police officers were shot, he said. He said there have been ongoing concerns about large gatherings at the hotel in the recent past, adding that there has been a drastic spike in crime involving drugs and fights that he attributed to the hotels current management company First Hospitality Group. We almost predicted that something could happen there, he said of concerns regarding a lack of consistent security presence at the venue. Bloomingdale Mayor Franco Coladipietro said in an online post, The unfortunate incident that occurred this morning may have been avoided if security was present as First Hospitality Group had promised in our meetings, referring to the hotels current management company. He added that the Village of Bloomingdale will be looking into revoking the hotels business license. Located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of downtown Chicago, the five-story Indian Lakes Hotel features 300 recently renovated rooms and more than 7,000 square feet (650 square meters) of event space, according to the resorts website. A spokesperson for First Hospitality Group told the Chicago Sun-Times in an email, our thoughts are with the individuals directly impacted by this tragedy. We are grateful to our associates who immediately responded to the disturbance and to the Village of Bloomingdale Police Department for their swift intervention. We have worked closely with the Village of Bloomingdale over many years to ensure the safety and security of all guests and associates of the hotel, and will continue to cooperate with this ongoing investigation, the spokesperson said. The Epoch Times contributed to this report. Mayor Sylvester Turner and other elected officials called for a more fair and equitable system for distributing COVID-19 vaccines. At a news conference Saturday at the Settegast Community Health clinic, Turner criticized the vaccine distribution system, calling it skewed against minorities and blaming it for vaccine hesitancy. On HoustonChronicle.com: Lina Hidalgo, Harris County launch campaign targeting COVID vaccine skeptics The discrepancy is even more concerning, Turner said, given that minority communities have been hit hardest by the virus. The impact of this virus has been disproportionate on people of color, he said. Yet when the vaccine is on the scene, it seems as though it is converse of that. Federally qualified health centers like Harris Health System primarily serve minority communities. According to Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, Harris Health chief executive officer and president, more than 80 percent of the vaccines distributed at Harris Health locations have gone to minorities. The people who are most significantly and negatively impacted by COVID-19 are our racial minorities, our indigent, the uninsured and underinsured, and those are exactly the people that Harris Health System serves, said Porsa. But while the Harris Health System, the largest safety net hospital in Texas, has the capacity to vaccinate up to 15,000 people per week, Porsa said, it is only slated to receive 4,000 doses. You have to follow the problem, added Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis. If you have a disproportionate impact, we ought to put a disproportionate share of the resources there. Compounding the problem, noted state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, is the fact that many minorities are essential workers who risk higher exposure to the virus. They don't have the option of staying home, and they're also the community that's being hit the hardest by the pandemic, Wu said. The mass-distribution sites are helpful for distributing greater doses of the vaccine, but they hinder minority access to the vaccines, Turner contended. Mass distribution sites are good for numbers, but when it comes down to the people who are disproportionately impacted, they're not good for equity, he said. Dr. Jennifer Small of Settegast Community Health said that community clinics like Harris Health are vital to underserved communities. Settegast clinic is located directly in the community, so its easily accessible to patients. Its also directly off a bus line for patients without cars, she noted. The Minute Maid Park mega-distribution site, by comparison, is very difficult to access without a vehicle. Turner called upon larger hospitals to share their vaccine doses with minority communities and public health centers. If you look at the Harris Health System their hospitals LBJ and Ben Taub when you look at the distribution in terms of the hospitals that are getting the vaccines, the Harris Health hospitals are getting a smaller percentage than the other hospitals. The disparity leads directly to vaccine hesitancy, Turner said. When people see their neighbors and family members are getting the vaccine, let me tell you, they're not going to want to be left out, he said. But as long as the disparity is so great, then people are starting to wonder, Well, maybe Hispanics are not getting it because they don't want to get it. On HoustonChronicle.com: The key to boosting COVID vaccine trust? Vaccinating health care workers. The longer minorities have to wait to get vaccinated, said Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia, the more distrust of the vaccine will spread through minority communities. People will wonder about the effects of the vaccine, the validity of the vaccine, the efficacy of the vaccine, and it will allow time for chaotic messaging to continue to confuse people that this is not something that they need to do, Garcia said. Turner appealed to the state to distribute the vaccines directly to the city and county so they can be given to federally qualified health centers, thereby closing some of the gaps in healthcare access. NAACP Houston president Bishop James Dixon issued harsh words to state officials over vaccine distribution. It is extremely important that our governor and those at the state level understand every time a person dies in our community, because they didn't have access to vaccinations, that blood is on your hands. By allowing the city and county to allocate the vaccine distribution, local officials can make informed decisions about where the vaccines are needed most, Turner said. Let's cut the state out of the equation, Garcia agreed. Let's get it to the local communities where we all here know how to reach our constituents. Also Saturday, Houston Rally for Health, Liberty and Choice event took place at the Galleria that called into question the safety and efficacy of vaccines. The event drew four attendees. claire.goodman@chron.com Oregon pastor seeks to build worlds largest cedar log church Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Pastor Joe Wardlow is preparing to build the worlds biggest wooden church because God gave him a mission. About 15 years ago, my wife went to a Bible study, he told The Christian Post. I was at home reading my Bible, and after I got done, I went into prayer. Thats when the Lord spoke to me to do this church. Wardlows website says that God told him to build a log church big enough to fit 800 people somewhere on Beavercreek Road in Oregon City, Oregon. The money would come through online funding and from donations by corporations. The church will be called Trails End Log Church. Construction on the church has not yet started. However, Wardlow has designed extensive plans for the churchs layout and worked to raise funds. He estimates that the projects full cost will be $19.7 million. Wardlow is now fundraising the $2.6 million required to purchase the property where he plans to eventually build the church. Well, its been about 14 years that the Lord gave me that vision, but He didnt open the doors until the last few months, so weve just started it, he explained. When completed, the church will be the biggest log church in the world, he said. It will be made of Canadian cedar. [There are many] verses in the Bible that mention cedar. David built a prayer chapel all out of cedar. Thats where the Ark of the Covenant was in, Wardlow said. [Cedar is] Gods favorite tree. Wardlow is working with a diverse board of leaders to build the church. They include an Ethiopian missionary, a major in the U.S. military and a retired Lutheran pastor. The boards work together has been very successful, he said. The properties, contacts with log construction companies and property availability have all come in their time. Everything seems to just click, click, click, click, click, he said of the process. Im just doing what the Lord wants to do, and He keeps opening up doors. The church will have multiple floors and buildings, according to Wardlows website. It will seat 800 and include a basement, high school and junior high classrooms, a prayer chapel and an administration building, he said. Its a big deal, the lay pastor declared. The property on which Wardlow plans to build the church once belonged to Columbia Christian College, which planned to build a church there, he said. It wasnt me. It was the Lord doing this, said Wardlow. BEIJING, Feb. 7 -- In order to implement President Xi Jinping's important declaration on China's COVID-19 vaccine as a global public good, at the request of the Cambodian military, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) delivered a batch of COVID-19 vaccine to the Cambodian military on February 7, according to a written statement by China's Ministry of National Defense on Sunday. The statement said that the Cambodian military is one of the first foreign militaries to receive the COVID-19 vaccine assistance from the Chinese military. An Offaly farmer has been honoured at National Awards which this year had to be done a little differently. John Moore of Lemrac Herd in Offaly placed joint third in the Under 80 section of the Irish Holstein Friesian Association National Herds Competition 2020. John is pictured receiving his award from his neighbour and IHFA President, PJ Kelly. Like everything else this year, the National Herds Competition had to be done a little differently. Due to travel restrictions and Covid protocols, herds in this years competition herds were judged on production and classification. Herds were entered by their clubs on the basis of successful performance at club level the previous year. John is a member of the Laois Offaly Club and his club mate Kevin Flynn from Laois picked up second place in the Over 80 Category. Police at the scene in Rinmore Drive in Derrys Creggan Estate where two men where shot on Saturday evening. Photo: Martin McKeown A man is in critical condition in hospital after he and another man were shot in the legs in Londonderry on Saturday night. Police say they believe the double shooting was carried out by dissident republicans. The shooting happened in the Creggan area at around 6.30pm and the two men were found with gunshot wounds to their legs in an alleyway at Rinmore Drive. A 48-year-old man was shot twice in the leg, in his thigh and shin. A 31-year-old man was hit in the thigh. Local people reported hearing a number of shots being fired. Police and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) attended the scene from where both men were taken to Altnagelvin Area Hospital. The scene remained sealed off on Sunday morning. One of the men has been discharged from hospital, however the other was in intensive care on Sunday night after being transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. Detective Inspector Michelle Boyd said: "Our officers are continuing with their enquiries into these savage attacks, which we believe were carried out by dissident republicans. "The fact the victims were shot in a residential area at a time when people would have been out and about shows just how reckless those responsible are, and how they have no regard whatsoever for life. "Last night's double shooting brings the number of shootings in our city to four since the start of the year. They are simply unacceptable and there can never be any justification for them. "Carrying out attacks like this during a global health pandemic is particularly repugnant. We know the majority of people are working hard to keep their community safe and to protect the NHS, yet these violent criminals are endangering lives and increasing pressures on our emergency services and frontline workers. "I am appealing to the public to help us remove these violent criminals from our community by bringing any information they have to us." SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has said the incident was "utterly depressing." The Foyle MP tweeted: "Our hospital has enough to deal with at this time. We don't want the law of the jungle in our city. Get off our backs." Utterly depressing that we've had a double shooting in Derry tonight. Our hospital has enough to deal with at this time. We don't want the law of the jungle in our city. Get off our backs. Colum Eastwood (@columeastwood) February 6, 2021 Sinn Fein MLA Karen Mullan also condemned in the incident. "There is no place for guns or this type of activity on our streets," she said. "This is the fourth shooting since Christmas. We are in the middle of a pandemic, our health service is already stretched to the limit. This is the last thing people of this city want to see. "Anyone with information on what happened should bring it forward to the PSNI." Four people shot in Creggan since Christmas, this needs to stop now! The people of Creggan neither want or support these actions! Our Hospitals and front line staff are under enough pressure, this has to end! https://t.co/XJktCEg7dz Karen Mullan (@k_mullan) February 6, 2021 DUP MLA Gary Middleton described the shootings as "disturbing", adding "there is no place for guns on our streets". "Such attacks are disgusting at anytime, not least when our hospitals are working over capacity. I will continue to be updated by PSNI team," he said. People Before Profit Cllr Shaun Harkin added: "Two more people have been sent to Altnagelvin following another barbaric shooting in Creggan. People Before Profit repeat what we have said many times before - these are futile acts that only serve to further traumatise those directly impacted and a community facing many hardships - and brings burden to an already overwhelmed health service." Anyone who was in the area at around 6:30pm and saw what happened is asked to call detectives at Strand Road on 101, quoting reference number 1559 of 06/02/21. Information can also be given on the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org Essay writing services should be outlawed in the UK to protect students from being exploited and threatened with blackmail by criminals, a former universities minister has urged. Taking action to ban the so-called 'essay mills' would also help defend the reputation of UK universities, senior Conservative MP Chris Skidmore added. Commercial entities that make money by encouraging students to cheat in assessments are known as essay mills. So-called 'essay mills' are encouraging students to cheat and are opening the way for students to be blackmailed, senior Conservative MP Chris Skidmore has argued Their services include providing students with ready-made essays to pass off as their own. Mr Skidmore wants to ban the operation and advertising of these organisations in the UK. He will seek to introduce his Essay Mills (Prohibition) Bill to the House of Commons on Wednesday, with the hope ministers will include such measures in future legislation to be announced in the Queen's Speech later this year. Mr Skidmore told the PA news agency: 'It seems the problem now has moved beyond simply being 'here, buy our essay'. 'The issue is students are also selling essays for 10 and they're being sold on for 300 - there's exploitation going on. 'And also there seems to be a dark criminal underworld where blackmail is occurring. 'So students are using the services, then the services are then reporting students back to the universities - or threatening to - and blackmailing them.' Chris Skidmore will introduce a bill to the House of Commons to outlaw essay mills in the UK Mr Skidmore said essay mills are also targeting students via social media, which risks normalising such cheating. He added the move to online education during the Covid-19 pandemic means tutors have found it harder to judge what is the work of a student or an essay mill. Such services are already banned in a small number of countries, including Australia. Mr Skidmore predicted the UK taking similar steps would influence other nations to act and therefore build momentum behind efforts to deal with an 'international problem'. He said: 'Academic integrity is absolutely critical to maintaining a successful reputation both at home and abroad when it comes to higher education. I think the UK can really lead on this. The move to online education during the Covid-19 pandemic has meant tutors have found it harder to judge what is the work of a student or an essay mill 'We've had a couple of countries take forward legislation. 'If the UK can demonstrate it's willing to bring in legislation also to end essay mills, we could make this part of a wider international campaign to close this loophole. 'Most people would assume this kind of service should be illegal in that it actively damages a student's ability to learn independently and successfully. 'It also creates addictive and corrosive patterns that can lead students into potentially a criminal underworld that exists here.' Mr Skidmore said any legislation must not criminalise students but target those behind the essay mills. Check out news you should not miss today: Society -- The northern province of Hai Duong on Saturday morning reported three more community-transmitted cases of COVID-19 while the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai recorded one the same day, increasing the countrys tally to 1,985, according to the Ministry of Health. -- Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Health on Saturday night demanded a mass COVID-19 test for 1,000 employees working at Tan Son Nhat Airport as a staff member at the airport was confirmed as a COVID-19 case in the afternoon. The city has also found 47 people who had direct contact with the patient. -- Ho Chi Minh City has decided to cancel its plans for pyrotechnic display to celebrate the Lunar New Year as part of the effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. -- Three COVID-19 patients in the northern province of Hai Duong on Saturday were announced recovered, becoming the first recoveries since Vietnam reported first domestic infections in late January after nearly two months without any community transmission. Business -- Tax revenues from online advertising business models of foreign organizations that do not have legal entities in Vietnam like Google, YouTube or Facebook hit VND1.14 trillion (US$49.5 million) last year, reported the General Department of Taxation, the Vietnam News Agency cited on Saturday. -- According to tuna export enterprises in the central province of Khanh Hoa, January saw an increase of three to five times in tuna import orders and even times compared to December 2020, especially for the U.S. market, the Vietnam News Agency reported on Saturday. Lifestyle -- Ornamental plants from around 500 nurseries from Mekong Delta provinces are gathering at a spring flower festival at Binh Dong Wharf in Ho Chi Minh Citys District 8, which will run through February 11. -- Local artists on Saturday mourned as dancer Mai Trung Hieu passed away at 29 due to lung illness. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Liz Cheney said Sunday that Donald Trump's tweet in the midst of the Capitol storming last month could have been the former president's attempt to intentionally 'provoke violence'. 'There's a massive criminal investigation underway. There will be a massive criminal investigation of everything that happened on January 6th and in the days before,' Representative Cheney told Chris Wallace on 'Fox News Sunday.' 'People will want to know exactly what the president was doing.' 'They want to know, for example, whether the tweet he sent out calling Vice President Pence a coward while the attack was underway, whether that tweet, for example, was a premeditated effort to provoke violence,' she continued. Cheney was the highest ranking House Republican to vote for Trump's impeachment last month after Democrats levied an article against him for 'incitement of insurrection,' claiming his charged rhetoric was to blame for the attack. On January 6, as pro-Trump rioters were breaching the Capitol, the former president tweeted: 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify.' He added: 'USA demands the truth!' Since then, Trump's Twitter account was permanently suspended and that tweet was deleted. The post, however, could come back to haunt the former president as it could be used in the impeachment trial kicking off in the Senate this week. Liz Cheney suggested Sunday that Donald Trump's tweet in the midst of the Capitol storming last month could have been the former president's attempt to intentionally 'provoke violence' As pro-Trump rioters were storming the Capitol on January 6, the then-president tweeted that Vice President Mike Pence didn't have the 'courage' to overturn the results and said 'USA demands the truth!' Cheney told 'Fox News Sunday' that investigators and Americans 'want to know... whether that tweet, for example, was a premeditated effort to provoke violence' Following her vote to impeach Trump, Cheney has faced a litany of fallout, including calls for her to be ousted from her post as GOP Conference chairwoman and a formal censuring from the Wyoming GOP. The congresswoman, however, is not stepping down, suggesting if she were a senator she would go forward with voting to convict Trump. 'If I were in the Senate, I would listen to the testimony. I would listen to the evidence. If you're a senator you have a responsibility to be a juror and I think that's very important,' Cheney told Wallace. 'But I obviously believe and did then that what we already know is enough for his impeachment,' she continued. 'What we already know does constitute the gravest violation of his oath of office by any president in the history of the country, and this is not something that we can simply look past or pretend didn't happen or try to move on. We've got to make sure this never happens again.' It is very unlikely Trump will be convicted in the second impeachment trial against him as at least 17 Republicans would have to vote along with Democrats to reach the two-thirds needed. The Wyoming Republican also told Fox on Sunday morning that she will not step down as her state's at-large representative after the state's GOP voted to formally censure her following her impeachment 'yea' vote. Cheney snubbed Trump in an interview with Fox News, claiming the party should not embrace the former president or anything spouted by Trump ultra-loyalist Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. 'We have to make sure that we are able to convey to the American voters, we are the party of responsibility, we are the party of truth, that we actually can be trusted to handle the challenges this nation faces like COVID and that's going to require us to focus on substance and policy and issues going forward,' Cheney said. 'We should not be embracing the former president,' she added in her interview on 'Fox News Sunday' with Chris Wallace. While stepping up her attacks on Trump whom she voted to impeach last month Cheney also launched attacks against fellow GOP Representative Greene. 'With respect to Congressman Greene, we've all been very clear,' Cheney said after the House voted to remove the Georgia representative from both her committee assignments on Thursday for previously pushing QAnon conspiracies. 'The things that she has said don't have any place in our public discourse and we as a Republican conference should deal with that issue,' Cheney said in defending Republicans' call for Democrats to allow them to settle the issue within their conference. 'We should have dealt with it. That's not something the Democrats should be addressing on the floor of the House, we should have dealt with that.' 'We are the party of Lincoln,' Cheney continued. 'We are not the party of QAnon or anti-Semitism or Holocaust-deniers, or white supremacy or conspiracy theories. That's not who we are.' The Wyoming Republican Party voted overwhelmingly Saturday to censure Cheney for voting to impeach Trump for 'incitement of insurrection' in the January 6 riot at the Capitol. Only eight of the 74-member state GOP's central committee stood to oppose censure in a vote that didn't proceed to a formal count. The censure document accused Cheney of voting to impeach even though the U.S. House didn't offer Trump 'formal hearing or due process.' 'We need to honor President Trump. All President Trump did was call for a peaceful assembly and protest for a fair and audited election,' said Darin Smith, a Cheyenne attorney who lost to Cheney in the Republican U.S. House primary in 2016. 'The Republican Party needs to put her on notice.' The Wyoming Republican Party voted overwhelmingly Saturday to censure their at-large Representative Cheney for voting to impeach Trump, but the GOP Conference chairwoman said she will not step down In addition to the vote, the party also announced that it was going to 'withhold any future political funding' from Cheney, CNN reports. Added Joey Correnti, GOP chairman in Carbon County where the censure vote was held: 'Does the voice of the people matter and if it does, does it only matter at the ballot box?' In addition to the vote, the party also announced that it was going to 'withhold any future political funding' from Cheney, CNN reports. The motion also called for Cheney to repay donations from the state GOP and any county Republican parties that donated to her most recent campaign. Cheney in a statement after the vote said she remained honored to represent Wyoming and will always fight for issues that matter most to the state. 'Foremost among these is the defense of our Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees. My vote to impeach was compelled by the oath I swore to the Constitution,' Cheney said. Republican officials said they invited Cheney but she didn't attend. An empty chair labeled 'Representative Cheney' sat at the front of the meeting room Republican officials said they invited Cheney but she didn't attend. An empty chair labeled 'Representative Cheney' sat at the front of the meeting room. The censure vote was the latest blowback for Cheney for joining nine Republican representatives and all Democrats in the U.S. House in the January 13 impeachment vote. Just three months after winning a third term with almost 70%, Cheney already faces at least two Republican primary opponents in 2022. They include Republican state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, a gun-rights activist from Cheyenne, who was at the meeting but not among those who speak. Smith also has said he is deliberating whether to run for Congress again. Cheney, seen going through security at the House, said in a statement after the vote that she remained honored to represent Wyoming and will always fight for issues that matter to her state On January 28, Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, of Florida, led a rally against Cheney in front of the Wyoming Capitol. About 1,000 people took part On January 28, Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, of Florida, led a rally against Cheney in front of the Wyoming Capitol. About 1,000 people took part, many of them carrying signs calling for Cheney's impeachment though several were supportive. Cheney will remain as the third-ranking member of the House GOP leadership, however, after a 145-61 vote by House Republicans on Wednesday to keep her as conference committee chair. Trump faces trial in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday over allegedly inciting insurrection when a mob of supporters stormed into and rampaged through the Capitol after a nearby rally led by Trump and close allies. Liz Cheney is up for re-election in 2022, and is already facing the prospect of a challenge in a primary as she's endured intra-party criticism for her support of impeachment Censure opponents mainly came from Casper, Wyomings second-largest city, and the Jackson Hole area near Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. 'Lets resist this infusion of left-wing cancel culture to try to censure and get rid of anybody we disagree with,' said Alexander Muromcew with the Teton County GOP. Momentum for censure had been growing for weeks as local Republicans in around a dozen of Wyoming's 23 counties passed their own resolutions criticizing her impeachment vote. 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. An elderly gentleman of Jemulpo said to be 107 years old in the early 20th century. Robert Neff Collection By Robert Neff Mary Lange Johnson's passport picture in 1920 when she was 67 years old For many of us, birthdays are not a cause for celebration in fact, they are something we try to forget. However, living in Korea, we are constantly reminded of our age as it plays such a vital role in social interactions. Depending on age, we speak to people in different manners and address them with different titles. It can also lead to some serious misunderstandings and hurt feelings. One of my favorite anecdotes of age is when John M. B. Sill, the American minister to Korea in the mid-1890s had his first audience with King Gojong. Prior to his royal audience, he gathered with all the "principal men of the realm" and through his interpreters was asked a series of "questions of all kinds in truly Korean fashion:" "How did I like Korea? Had I ever been here before? How did the climate suit me? How was the President and how were all the people of the U.S.? Of course I told them that President was in great shape and that the people of the U.S. were every one of them in the best of health etc. Then, how old was I? And when I said 63 they began to think I was a boastful fraud. It is in Korea a great thing to be old and they looked me over and pointed to my hair and grinned sarcastically. They evidently thought I was doing some tall bragging. The President of the War Office, a venerable white haired man, looked particularly injured and incredulous. He said, 'Why I am only 65 and I am a great deal older than you.' I bet that this suffered exaggerated accounts of my age had brought me into some discredit. So I at once resolved to be quite modest even at the expense of veracity." Age also played a part in punishment. Unmarried men (regardless of age were considered to be mere boys and could be spoken to in a rude manner) and received lighter sentences than their married peers. The Independent an English language newspaper published in Seoul frequently noted amnesty granted by the king to prisoners who were very young or over the age of 70. Sometimes Westerners also used this veneration for the elderly to their advantage. A man and boy awaiting judgment. Circa late 19th century. Robert Neff Collection Four persons had filed to contest the Council of State election in the Eastern Region when nominations closed on Thursday, February 5. They are; Mr Paa Kofi Ansong, a businessman, Mr Ernest Amemakuse Mawufemor an entrepreneur, Mr James Amanor Ossom, a Mechanical Engineer and Mr Francis Tetteh Citizen, a Librarian. Mr Asirifi Young, Deputy Eastern Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, said the venue for the regional election would be communicated later. The contest to select a representative for the Council of each of the 16 regions would be held on February 12. It would be held in accordance with regulations made by the Electoral Commission under article 51 of the 1992 Constitution, by an electoral college comprising two representatives from each of the districts in the region nominated by the District Assemblies in the region. The 1992 Constitution provides for a Council of State to counsel the President in the performance of his functions. Consequently, the President, in consultation with Parliament, is to appoint among, others, three persons with each having previously held the office of Chief Justice; Chief of Defence Staff of the Armed Forces of Ghana; and the office of Inspector-General of Police, respectively. Additionally, the President is to appoint 11 persons to the Council. The President of the National House of Chiefs is also a member. 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 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 .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Theres a photograph early in Wally Funks book showing a 2-year-old Funk looking close-up at a tire of a DC-3 airplane parked at the Taos airport. The book says the little miss was curious about how the wheel was attached to the strut. Born in Las Vegas, N.M., Funk grew up in Taos in the 1940s and early 50s. As a kid, Wally loved gluing together model airplanes, not playing with dolls. There was something about flying that seemed magical to me, Funk writes in the first chapter of her memoir Higher Faster Longer: My Life in Aviation and My Quest for Spaceflight. She and Albuquerque writer Loretta Hall co-authored the book, which highlights Funks pioneering spirit, can-do attitude and sense of adventure all inspirations for young women. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ At Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, Funk changed her major from music to aviation, got her private pilots license and was a member of the schools student flight team. After getting an associates degree, she transferred to Oklahoma States aviation program. She was a student pilot on cross-country flights and learned to fly gliders. By graduation, Funk had earned a series of pilot and instructor ratings and licenses. Her first job, in 1960, was at Fort Sill, Oklahoma teaching commissioned and noncommissioned officers to fly. A magazine article about a woman Funk knew caught her eye: The woman was apparently being tested to be an astronaut in NASAs nascent space program. Funk wanted to be part of the program. Dr. W. Randolph Lovelace of Albuquerque, who administered extensive physical exams for NASAs male-only Mercury astronaut candidates, was now testing female candidates. Lovelace gave Funk the green light for an initial round of tests. Awaiting the OK for further exams, she got word they were cancelled; Dr. Lovelace was testing women without NASAs involvement. Funk was disappointed, though she didnt sulk. She always bounced back from adversity. I believed I would eventually go into space. So I threw it a fish, she writes. Funk explained that Taos Pueblo friends used the phrase Throw it a fish, meaning if something goes wrong, you cant do anything about it. Funk cheerfully moved on. She took a job as a flight instructor/chief pilot for a flying service in southern California. The job required her to ensure its pilots were well-trained and its aircraft properly maintained. For fun, Funk bought a 1940s-era biplane to perform aerial acrobatics. At her next job, she became the first female inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration; on her own she made her first parachute jump and learned to fly a blimp. Then she achieved another first. She was hired as the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board. After retiring from the NTSB, Funk returned to Taos for a while, opening a school to teach mountain flying and joining the local squadron of the Civil Air Patrol; at CAP she qualified as a mission pilot, instructor pilot and flight release officer. Funk has not given up her quest of space flight. In 2010, she wrote a check for $200,000 for a passenger seat on a planned Virgin Galactic suborbital flight from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico. For now, her quest remains on hold. Now, well be lucky if I get my ride in 2021, Funk writes. Her website is wallyfly.com. Another book with a strong aviation pioneer element and a New Mexico tie-in is Destiny Strikes Twice: James L. Breese, Aviator and Inventor by Larry Kilham. Breese was the flight engineer of the crew of the Curtiss NC-4 seaplane that made the first trans-Atlantic flight in May 1919. It flew from New York to Newfoundland, to the Azores, then Portugal and finally hopped to England. Leaving behind society life on the East Coast, Breese moved to Santa Fe in 1929. Over the next 30 years, he became an innovator and inventor, developing more than 130 patents for home and military space heaters and building a successful oil burner business, Kilham writes. Breese was the maternal grandfather of Kilham, the author, who lives in Santa Fe. The election was based on the weighted votes of the 18-member Republican State Central Committee, which met in Bolingbrook. The vote was close, 52% for Tracy and 48% for Shaw, according to two sources, who asked not to be identified because the results were pledged by members to remain secret. The party then agreed to make the choice unanimous. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reviewed the situation in Uttarakhand following floods caused by a glacier burst at Joshimath in Chamoli district, and took stock of the rescue and relief work underway. "Am constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation in Uttarakhand. India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyone's safety there. Have been continuously speaking to senior authorities and getting updates on NDRF deployment, rescue work and relief operations," Modi tweeted. The PMO said in another tweet that Modi, who is in Assam to launch several development projects, reviewed the situation in Uttarakhand and spoke to the state chief minister. "Authorities are working to provide all possible support to the affected," the PMO said. Modi is on a tour to Assam and West Bengal on Sunday. A glacier broke off in Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, causing a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and endangering the lives of people living along its banks. Massive destruction is feared. More than 150 labourers working at the Rishi Ganga power project may have been directly affected, said State Disaster Response Force DIG Ridhim Aggarwal. Shaheer Sheikh has become quite popular among all kinds of audiences thanks to his long run in the world of television. The actor has also gained a lot of popularity on social media and keeps posting about what goes on in his professional and personal life. He frequently posts about his trips to various places and his fans know well about his love for travelling. One of the most memorable trips that he has taken happens to be is his Amsterdam visit, which is also one of his many highlight stories on his Instagram account have a look. Shaheer Sheikhs "highlights" of Amsterdam trip Shaheer Sheikhs Instagram is filled with photos from his numerous trips, with his visit to Amsterdam being one of the top ones. The Amsterdam story has a number of photos of the actor enjoying his visit to the popular tourist destination. Among those photos is a selfie that he clicked, which features the extremely cold weather of the place. The next picture shows a click of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which is one of the famous tourist spots in the country. It is followed by a click of the quaint streets of Amsterdam and a boomerang video of the crowds in the Netherlands capital. ALSO READ: Shaheer Sheikh And Wife Ruchikaa Share Glimpses Of Their Chic Apartment, Watch The Video The actor also took a bicycle ride in the city and posted a picture of the cycle. He made sure to capture every pleasant sight of the city on camera, which also includes one of the Floating Flower Market. The pictures that follow are of Amsterdam Central and a view of some of the fancy cars that Shaheer spotted at the place. His Amsterdam story ended with a picture that he took besides a statue of Charlie Chaplin, trying to mimic the pose and expression of the legendary comic. ALSO READ: Erica Fernandes Posts A New Reel On Instagram, Fans Call Her A Real-life 'Barbie Doll' Some of the other highlight stories that can be seen on Shaheer Sheikhs Instagram is his trip to Paris, Bhuj, Bali, Bhutan and many other famous places. On the professional front, the actor had famously played the role of Arjun in Mahabharat, along with working in other popular shows. These include shows like Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar Ke, Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi and more. ALSO READ: Shaheer Sheikh Reminisces About Working With Erica Fernandes, Says It Was 'amazing' ALSO READ: Did You Know Shaheer Sheikh Enjoys A Massive Fan Following In Indonesia? 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. The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Sunday lifted the February 6 'confinement' restrictions imposed by the State Election Commission on Minister P Ramachandra Reddy for his alleged remarks against it. Justice DVSS Somayajulu, while hearing a 'House Motion' filed by Reddy against the SECs order, however, directed him not to address the media. Panchayat polls in the state are scheduled to begin from February 9 and will go on till February 21 in four phases. SEC Ramesh Kumar, in his order on Saturday said the Commission had carefully looked at various alternatives and avenues of remedial action and was invoking its plenary powers under Article 243K of the Constitution and directing the DGP to "confine" the Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development to his residential premises till completion of elections. The SEC also ordered that the minister should not talk to the media. Reddy's counsel contended that his client was not served with any notice by the Commission before issuing the Confinement Orders. According to the SEC Order, the minister, in a press conference last week, warned Collectors and Returning Officers not to obey the instructions of the "madcap Election Commissioner" and if they do so (preventing forced unanimous elections), action would be taken against those officials and they would be blacklisted after the polls are over. Reddy also allegedly attributed political motives to the SEC, saying Ramesh Kumar was favouring the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with a view to get its MP or MLC seat in future. The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. Courteney Cox showed off her impressive piano skills as she jammed out to Olivia Rodrigo's hit single Drivers License in a new video on her Instagram. As the 56-year-old Friends star expertly played the keys, her pal Australian-born musician Joel Taylor strummed a guitar in her expansive living room. 'Even my dogs love this song,' the seven-time SAG award winner captioned the footage, which began with her two Cocker Spaniels watching from the couch. Wow! Courteney Cox shows off her impressive piano skills as she performs Olivia Rodrigo's hit single Drivers License on her Instagram Cox looked completely in her element as she tapped her foot and nailed the chorus, while a track of Rodrigo singing played in the background. For the performance, the actress wore a grey plaid flannel, black skinny jeans and her dark brown hair in loose waves. After she asked Rodrigo how she did on her Instagram Story, the 17-year-old performer responded in the comment section with a sweet message. Triple threat: As the 56-year-old Friends star expertly played the keys, her pal Australian-born musician Joel Taylor strummed a guitar in her expansive living room Making music: Cox looked completely in her element as she tapped her foot and nailed the chorus, while a track of Rodrigo singing played in the background 'YEEESSSS SLAYYY,' Rodrigo wrote as stars like Iris Apatow, Suzanne Somers and Jennifer Meyer also praised Cox's rendition in the comments. The triplet threat is not shy about her musical talent and has previously joined her partner Johnny McDaid on stage and frequently posts herself tickling the ivories on social media. Additionally, Cox has shared beautiful musical moments with her 16-year-old daughter Coco Arquette, who has a great singing voice. 'Even my dogs love this song,' the seven-time SAG award winner captioned the footage, which began with her two Cocker Spaniels watching from the couch Keeping it casual: For the performance, the actress wore a grey plaid flannel, black skinny jeans and her dark brown hair in loose waves Cox shares Coco with her ex-husband David Arquette, whom she met on the set of Scream back in the mid-90s. Courteney and David are starring in the fifth go-round of the enormously successful horror franchise, which is slated for a January 2022 release. Filming for Scream 5 wrapped in November in Wilmington, North Carolina, according to Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original film. Talent: Previously, Cox joined her partner Johnny McDaid on stage at the Royal Albert Hall ahead of Snow Patrol's gig China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) on Friday granted conditional market approval to CoronaVac, an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech, the company said on Saturday. The Sinovac vaccine, produced by the Beijing-based Sinovac Life Sciences Co. Ltd., affiliated with Sinovac Biotech, was approved for emergency use in China last June. The vaccine started being used for emergency inoculation among some special groups in the country from July last year. From this January, countries including Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and Laos successively approved the emergency use of the Sinovac vaccine locally. These countries recognize the clinical research results of the vaccine, believing it has obvious effects on reducing the medical treatment, hospitalization, critical cases and deaths caused by COVID-19, and is of great importance to pandemic prevention and control, Sinovac Biotech said in a press release on its website. Sinovac Life Sciences Co. Ltd. on Feb. 3 filed an application for conditional market approval of CoronaVac, which was granted on the basis of the vaccine's overseas phase-3 clinical trials for two months, it said. The NMPA requested the company to continue to carry out relevant clinical trials, fulfill the conditional requirements, and submit the follow-up research results in time. "We expect to provide more safe and effective vaccines as soon as possible and help control COVID-19 ultimately by increasing inoculation rates, enabling social and economic development to return to the normal track," said Yin Weidong, chairman and CEO of Sinovac. According to the company, the vaccination procedure includes two shots with an interval of 14 to 28 days, and each dose is 0.5 ml. In China, the vaccine has completed its phase-1 and phase-2 clinical trials for adults aged over 18 and the elderly, and the enrollment of volunteers aged 3 to 17 has been completed. The volunteers in China has reached more than 2,200 people and the results showed that the vaccine has good safety and immunogenicity in all age groups. Since July 2020, Sinovac has conducted phase-3 clinical trials in four countries including Brazil, Chile, Indonesia and Turkey, involving more than 25,000 volunteers altogether. As of December 16, 2020, 12,396 medical workers aged over 18 were enrolled in Brazil and 253 infection cases were collected during the observation period. Clinical studies in Brazil suggested that the vaccine was 100 percent effective in preventing hospitalized, severe, and fatal cases, 83.7 percent effective in preventing cases requiring medical treatment, and has a general efficacy rate of 50.65 percent. Clinical trials in Turkey involved both health care workers aged 18-59 who are at high risk and the general population at normal risk. Results in Turkey showed that the vaccine has an efficacy rate of 91.25 percent. The vaccine production quality management system has passed GMP inspections in many countries including China, Brazil, Indonesia and Chile. Hundreds of batches of large-scale production have proved that the vaccine production process is controllable and the quality is reliable. Sinovac's first production line which went into operation in August 2020 has an annual production capacity of 500 million doses. The company has constructed a second production line, which will start operation in February, increasing its annual production capacity to 1 billion doses. Sinovac will also export semi-finished jabs to some countries with filling and packaging capabilities such as Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey. The supply of vaccines in the form of both finished and semi-finished products will help fill the gap of the company's filling and packaging capacity, save the international transportation cost, and improve the accessibility and affordability of vaccines, the company said. It is China's second self-developed COVID-19 vaccine that has got conditional market approval in the country. The vaccine developed by China National Biotec Group affiliated with Sinopharm was approved in December last year. Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries to entertain. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 07:48:22|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close An event to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb. 12, is held in Chicago, the United States on Feb. 6, 2021. (Photo by Joel Lerner/Xinhua) CHICAGO, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Braving the cold weather with a temperature around -16 degrees Celsius, nearly 100 people gathered in Chinatown south of downtown Chicago Saturday afternoon to kick off the celebration of Chinese Lunar New Year, the Year of the Ox, which falls on Feb. 12. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot sent a congratulatory letter to the event. Traditional Chinese lion dance and dragon dance were performed; red envelopes and Ox year mascots were distributed at the event. The whole Chinatown is brimmed with festive atmosphere. Trees along the road are decorated with red lanterns and the red plates of "Happiness." All stores are crowded with people doing holiday shopping. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all Chinese New Year celebrations will be live streaming online. Starting from Sunday, New Year parties will start one after another, organized by different Chinese communities in Chicago. Formed around 1912, Chicago's Chinatown is one of the largest concentrations of Chinese people in the United States, with over a third of Chicago's Chinese population residing there. Enditem President Joe Biden offered words of support to a California woman who lost her job in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic while detailing his economic relief plans in his inaugural weekly conversation with Americans. The White House posted a video to its social media platforms on Sunday that told the story of a woman named Michele Voelkert in California, who said she was laid off after her company reorganised due to the pandemic. Ms Voelkert says in the video she wrote to Mr Biden about her financial hardships and later received a call from him, as he spoke to her from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. Ive been saying a long time, the idea that we think we can keep businesses open and moving and thriving without dealing with this pandemic is just a nonstarter, he says on the call, as Ms Voelkert can be seen listening from her home. He adds: Were putting together a plan that provides for emergency relief to people who are desperate now. With A Weekly Conversation Mr Biden is reinstating a presidential tradition dating back to 1933, when former president Franklin D Roosevelt began hosting his evening fireside chats, which ended under the previous administration. With Mr Bidens inaugural regular address to the public, it was clear the administration intended to use the weekly conversations to further its agenda and highlight support for the presidents legislative priorities. Mr Biden describes how his sweeping $1.9 trillion economic relief plan provides everything from mortgage payments, to unemployment insurance, to rental subsidies, to food security for children while speaking to Ms Voelkert. The new weekly conversation comes just after Senate Democrats voted to advance the relief proposal through budget reconciliation, a move that could allow the majority to pass the plan without any Republican votes. Mr Biden has met with both Republicans and Democrats at the White House in recent weeks as his advisers have suggested the Republicans counter $600bn proposal does not adequately address the crisis. Former president Barack Obama delivered near-weekly addresses that were aired on YouTube, and his predecessors held theirs on various other platforms. White House press secretary Jen Psaki previously announced the president was planning on relaunching the weekly addresses. "This is a time-honoured tradition in the country of hearing from the president in this way," she said. President Biden will continue that tradition, and we expect it to take on a variety of forms." There is little that's more frustrating than a bad night's rest. For many of us, so-called 'coronasomnia' has firmly taken hold, leading to restless, sleepless nights (and cranky, exhausted days). Non-stop news cycles, disrupted routines, increased anxiety, more time indoors: all of these things make fertile ground for sleep issues. And while there is a lot we can't control, we can - with a few modifications - create bedrooms and bedtime routines that encourage a good night's rest. One of the biggest mistakes people make is asking too much of their bedroom. "I like to approach a bedroom purely focused on rest and relaxation," says Elaine Verdon, founder of interior design studio Leo and Cici (@leoandcici on Instagram). Expand Close Bloomingville brass wall light, 160, Amara, see amara.com/ie / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Bloomingville brass wall light, 160, Amara, see amara.com/ie "In an ideal world - where we had all the space we needed - I would keep a bedroom to just a bed, bedside tables, good lighting and maybe a chair." When designing bedrooms, Elaine often encourages clients to turn smaller adjoining rooms into walk-in wardrobes where possible, to further cut down on clutter. A good bed frame and mattress should be the biggest priorities, she says. "People often end up scrimping on them, but they should be what you invest in the most within the room - after all, we spend a third of our time in bed, so why wouldn't you spend 90pc of your room's budget on it?" When it comes to picking a palette, Elaine recommends choosing colours that make you feel grounded and calm. However, this doesn't necessarily mean going for neutrals: "It's all about keeping things simple, picking the right tone and making sure that it's not too stimulating," she advises. Farrow & Ball's soft, peachy-pink Setting Plaster is a favourite for creating a comforting, cocooning feel, while blues and greens can be restorative. Accents of colour can be brought in through artwork that evokes nature - think botanics or seascapes - to again reinforce calm vibes. You should also be able to easily layer and tweak both natural and artificial lighting in bedrooms. Expand Close Ground Coladh Sleep Bath Salts, 45, available at Brown Thomas, see brownthomas.com / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ground Coladh Sleep Bath Salts, 45, available at Brown Thomas, see brownthomas.com "Because we're at home so much more now, you need to think about lighting both during the day and night," says Elaine. "Sheer curtains or blinds can let in soft natural light and give you privacy during the day, but you'll also need blackout curtains or blinds at night." She recommends avoiding big, bright overhead lighting and, if you like to read in bed, investing in a quality reading lamp, as well as the soft glow of a bedside light. As the room darkens, the night quietens and we try to fall asleep, our other senses often become heightened - which is why you might suddenly start getting annoyed by a scratchy PJ label or a lumpy pillow. To counter this, opt for quality bed linen in breathable, natural fabrics. Hannah Murphy, founder of new luxury and eco-friendly Irish bed-linen brand Amurelle (amurelle.com), was unsure about launching her company in the middle of a pandemic, but found there was huge demand for natural bedding. "People have become so much more in tune with their spaces," she says. Amurelle sells 100pc cotton and linen bed linen, crafted in Portugal. Hannah says people are often surprised to learn how effective linen bedding can be in Irish homes. "Linen is so often associated with warmer climates because it's so breathable, but what a lot of people don't know is that it has insulating properties too," she explains. Stronger than cotton, linen is durable and washes well, so a good-quality set will last years and years. "The other great thing about linen is that you can go with the natural wrinkle of it, so you don't have to fuss over ironing." Hannah recommends washing bed linen separately to anything else (to avoid snagging) and to use liquid detergent, which is milder on fibres, instead of a powder one. "I know it's an annoying chore, but try to change your sheets every week - there's nothing better than sleeping in fresh sheets." She also recommends changing pillowcases every two to three nights, which helps prolong that fresh feeling. While your bedroom will never compete with a spa getaway or a hotel experience, creating a simple bedtime routine - especially one that incorporates some calming, soothing scents - can be incredibly helpful. "Over time, the same smell each evening will send signals to your brain's limbic system and your body will move into rest mode automatically," says spa consultant Peigin Crowley, founder of new Irish well-being brand Ground (groundwellbeing.com). Peigin spent years helping to create spa experiences at some of the country's most high-end hotels, and has worked with the likes of Adare Manor, The Cliff House and The Merrion. When the pandemic hit and with spas and treatment centres closed, she launched a collection of aromatherapy products to help people create relaxing rituals of their own. "I wanted to create a brand that focuses on rebuilding our 'at home' relationship, that helps bring us back to ourselves, and reminds us of what really matters, especially during these unsettling times," she explains. The aromatherapy brand is available exclusively in Brown Thomas at the moment, and products include Codladh Sleep Body Oil, a calm-inducing oil infused with essential oils such as lavender, eucalyptus, cedarwood and chamomile. "You cannot overthink sleep - if you do, it will become elusive. In a subtle way, you must honour it. Invite it in. Make friends with it," Peigin says. "The word I love to use is 'surrender'. We're in control of so much in a day - people, work, what you expect to accomplish. A good bedtime ritual can be a tool for surrender, allowing you the space and time to honour your body and your mind. If done consistently and done well, rituals become powerful signals to our body that it's time to rest." Bhubaneswar, Feb 7 : The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Sunday requested the National Monuments Authority (NMA) to withdraw the draft notification on heritage bye-laws for the famed Jagannath temple in Odisha's Puri. In a letter to the NMA Member Secretary, SJTA Chief Administrator Krishan Kumar requested to immediately withdraw the draft notification to protect the interest of the deity, servitors and the devotees at large. The move came after the NMA under the Union Ministry of Culture has come up with heritage bye-laws for the Jagannath temple proposing the 100-metre area around the shrine be declared as 'prohibited area' where no construction can be undertaken. "If National Monuments Authority (NMA) is still of the considered view that any further regulatory framework of any nature is required to protect and further the cause of 'Mula Peetha' of Shree Jagannatha at Puri, then you are invited for a detailed consultation and discussion with members of Shree Jagannath Temple Management Committee (SJTMC) before any such fresh attempt is made," the SJTA chief said. He further said that the temple and all the properties belong to Shree Jagannath in the land records stand recorded in the name of Shree Jagannath Mahaprabhu. To manage the temple, affairs of servitors and properties of the deity, SJTMC has been constituted as a statutory body under Shree Jagannath Temple Act, 1955 (Assented to by the President on October 15, 1955), said Kumar. SJTMC entered into agreement with Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on August 22, 1979 for the conservation of the ancient structures. "This agreement restricts and codifies duties and responsibilities of ASI vis-a-vis Sri Mandir. The bare reading of the agreement indicates that importance of Shree Jagannath temple as one of the 'Dhams' for Hindus all over the world was given due consideration when management committee agreed to involve ASI in certain conservation works of ancient structures," the SJTA chief said. A large number of inhabitants (Sahis) which are more than a millennium-old also live around the temple. These habitations are of mainly 'sevayat' families, who have been rendering service to the deity since time immemorial. "As the sevayats are likely to be severely and adversely affected by any intervention of the authorities like this draft notification, they must be consulted before any process to restrict their rights is undertaken by NMA. This is also very important as any adverse impact on sevayats has a direct bearing on continuity of Niti-Kanti (rituals) of Lord Shree Jagannath," read the letter. Besides, the state government has acquired land and properties for strengthening safety and security of the centuries-old shrine for the project of Shree Jagannath Heritage Corridor (SJHC). The projects will also provide pilgrims with facilities such as drinking water, toilets, cloak rooms and queue management system. These properties have been acquired by the state government through negotiations and most of the people have come forward to contribute their lands and properties for the project. "Any regulation which has the potential to restrict development of facilities and amenities on lands voluntarily contributed by devotees of the Lord will hurt their sentiments," said the letter. Charleston County's attorney, Joe Dawson, was among the highest-paid local government employees in South Carolina, earning $432,000 a year. His pay dropped nearly in half when he become a federal judge in December. A previously undisclosed agreement with Charleston County will make up the difference this year. Days before his Senate confirmation hearing for a U.S. District Court seat, Dawson signed a document with the county in which he agreed to provide insight and institutional knowledge for the next 12 months in exchange for $216,000. Efforts to reach Dawson by phone, email, a message with his court clerk and through Charleston County were unsuccessful. Several professors of law specializing in ethics said Dawson's deal with Charleston County raises significant questions. Under the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, federal judges are not allowed to practice law or provide legal services. The lump-sum payment was made on Dec. 21, and nearly matches Dawson's $218,600 annual pay as a federal judge. The payment was made days after the U.S. Senate confirmed him for a lifetime appointment to the District Court, and he now works at the federal courthouse in Greenville. The deal also calls for Dawson to be paid 1.5 percent of any amount the county recovers as a plaintiff in national litigation over opioid pharmaceuticals. He was one of seven lead attorneys on the case for the county. The agreement marked the second time in less than a year that Charleston County paid more than $200,000 to an employee leaving the county with no clear explanation or with conflicting explanations. The agreement with Dawson, and an earlier one with former county Administrator Jennifer Miller, were obtained by The Post and Courier through the Freedom of Information Act. Dawson did not disclose the Charleston County arrangement on his federal judicial questionnaire, which was submitted to the Senate prior to the agreement being signed. The questionnaire, posted on the Senate Judiciary Committee's website, had not been amended as of Feb. 5. John Freeman, professor emeritus at University of South Carolina School of Law, authored the "Ethics Watch" column for South Carolina Lawyer for 19 years. He noted that the county agreement calls for Dawson to provide knowledge and insight "or" non-legal advice. Im sure the county knows what its doing with its money when they agree to pay him more than $200,000, but Im not sure what he can provide to them other than legal advice," Freeman said. 'Insight' is what you have to offer as a lawyer. Depending which County Council member was asked, the deal was a consulting contract, or a thank-you gift for decades of service. Despite the conflicting answers, the agreement clearly states that Dawson will provide services to the county for 12 months as an independent contractor. Maybe some people took it the wrong way and might be confused," Council Chairman Teddie Pryor said. My recollection is that it was a severance agreement. Its not a contract," he said. "He cant do any work for us, because hes a federal judge." Severance agreements customarily involve people whose employment has been terminated, not those who leave voluntarily, unless they had contracts that called for such a payment. Dawson had no such contract, county officials said. There was no vote of County Council to approve the payment and no council member interviewed by The Post and Courier could recall who negotiated the deal or the size of the payment. But none objected. The idea we had was to have him kind of on retainer, I guess," said Councilman Dickie Schweers. Hes a federal judge, so it (the agreement) was carefully crafted, but we needed the ability to reach out to him over the next year," Schweers said. "He has insight we believe we need on a number of key cases." Dawson was the county's lead attorney for 20 years. I know there was some talk about doing something for him because he was so wonderful and loyal to the county," said Elliott Summey, who was chairman of County Council at the time the agreement was signed by Dawson on Dec 7. "Where that ended up, I dont know." The agreement states that, in exchange for the $216,000, Dawson "agrees to provide the county his institutional and historical knowledge and insight on proceedings related to services performed or required to be performed, or non-legal advice on matters where he possesses pertinent knowledge for twelve months from the date of his separation." Ethics questions raised Several law school professors who specialize in ethics found the agreement troublesome. One problem, said University of Pittsburgh law Professor Arthur D. Hellman, a national expert on ethics in the legal profession, is that "it looks like he is providing something very similar to legal services and being compensated for that work." "You cant have dual loyalties," he said. Upon taking the oath, a judge is to serve the law and the law alone." University of South Carolina School of Law Professor Emeritus Gregory Adams writes a column, "The Ethical Lawyer," for the Bulletin of the South Carolina Association for Justice. After reading Charleston County's agreement with Dawson, he said it "unquestionably calls on him to practice law." "I don't know how you separate historical and institutional knowledge from legal knowledge," he said. Among four legal experts interviewed, only Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University and author of "Regulation of Lawyers: Problems of Law and Ethics," saw no issues with the county agreement, though he said the word "insight" should have been omitted. "He seems to have institutional memory the county may need," said Gillers. "That's not surprising, nor is it surprising that he is being compensated in advance for his time." The county's agreement does not specify how much time Dawson will spend providing various knowledge and insight in exchange for the $216,000. Councilman Herb Sass said the payment was both a severance and an arrangement that "gave us the ability to call and ask him questions; not to practice law, because he can't practice law." Sass added, When weve asked him legal questions in the past, I think hes given us good answers, but, of course, we cant ask him legal questions going forward." Hellman is described as "one of the leading academic commentators on issues of federal judicial ethics" in his University of Pittsburgh biography. He said the county's agreement with Dawson tries to draw a fine line between legal advice and insight. In a legal drafting class youd get an 'F' for something like this, unless your intent was to obscure what work Mr. Dawson is expected to provide the county for a year, during which he is a federal judge," he said. Hellman said the agreement also contradicts two of Dawson's responses on his federal judicial questionnaire, but noted that the questionnaire was prepared prior to the date the county agreement was signed. In it, Dawson wrote that he had no expected income or benefits outside the court and no plans, commitments or agreements for outside work. As a U.S. District Court judge, Dawson could rule on criminal and civil cases, and would have to recuse himself from those involving Charleston County, or cases he was involved in through his private practice. Dawson was recommended for the federal seat by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who was a Charleston County councilman during the time Dawson was the county attorney. Scott and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time of Dawson's confirmation, supported Dawson's nomination. A spokesman for Graham said the senator was unaware of Dawson's agreement with Charleston County prior to receiving a copy from The Post and Courier and had no comment. Large payouts, unexplained In early 2020 Charleston County's former administrator, Jennifer Miller, was paid $221,649 after parting ways with the county. As with Dawson's agreement, County Council members gave differing explanations about why Miller received the payment. They also disagreed about whether she retired or was paid to leave. In the agreement, she promised to not sue the county. Also in 2020, Charleston County officials refused to explain why North Charleston Councilman Jerome Heyward had been paid $81,000 over a year's time. Heyward's contract with the county said he provided consulting services, but neither Heyward nor the county would explain what work he performed. The $7,000-per-month agreement with Heyward ended in May 2020. The large payment to Dawson raises questions about the county's use of taxpayer money, and what the county expects in return. Hellman said there would be no legal ethics questions about Dawson's $216,000 if the county had just called it a parting gift. He suggested Dawson should seek a confidential advisory opinion on the deal from The Committee on Codes of Conduct of the Judicial Conference of the United States. "I think it would be prudent for him to do so," Hellman said. The county has not announced Dawson's replacement, but has been negotiating with one candidate, whom they have not identified. The four finalists, according to the county, were Frances Daniel Austin, a lawyer for North Charleston; Natalie Ham, general counsel for the Charleston County School District; Thomas Pritchard, an attorney and chairman of the Charleston Water System; and John Williams, Berkeley County's attorney. County Council members have praised Dawson's work for the county even those, like Schweers, who disagreed with his unusually high compensation. Summey said "there were lots of tears" when Dawson announced he was leaving. Through 2021, the county can continue to tap into his knowledge, as long as it doesn't involve what he primarily did for the county, which was to provide legal advice. Flash The 34th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) kicked off virtually on Saturday amid COVID-19 concerns and a joint commitment in the fight against the pandemic. The AU summit is being under the theme of "Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want." The assembly, among other things, is expected to deliberate and consider the report on the institutional reform of the AU, report on the progress of the AU response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa, as well as elections and appointments of the leadership of the AU Commission. Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa who is also the outgoing Chairperson of the AU, told the virtual opening session that the decision to hold the 34th Ordinary Session as a virtual meeting instead of a physical gathering "was based on an assessment by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) of the risks of holding a physical gathering of this nature at this time." "As a continent, and as a global community, we are engaged in an unprecedented struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic," Ramaphosa said, adding this disease has caused great suffering and hardship across the continent. "It is not only a severe health emergency; it is also a grave economic and social crisis," the South African President said, as he emphasized that the pandemic deepened global inequality and threatens to set back progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the AU Commission, also stressed that the 34th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU is being held in a very special context. "First, there is COVID-19, which has had an unprecedented impact on the normal functioning of all the Organs of the Union, which forces us to this virtual meeting, far from the warmth of the physical meeting to which we are used," he told the virtual gathering. He also emphasized the importance of the ongoing session, which coincides with the end of the four-year term of the current AU Commission administration. African heads of states and governments are also expected to elect new AU Commission officials, including the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the Commission as well as commissioners who will be serving a four-year term. African leaders had during the 28th AU Summit that was held in January 2017 in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia elected Chadian diplomat Moussa Faki Mahamat, and Ghanaian diplomat Thomas Kwesi Quartey, as Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission. During the two-day 34th AU Summit, the Democratic Republic of the Congo will officially take over the rotating chair of the continental bloc from South Africa, according to the AU. The mother of a young man stabbed to death in a barbaric public attack has pleaded with the Prime Minister for help. Sven Badzak, 22, was killed and his friend is fighting for his life after they were chased and attacked by a group in Kilburn, north west London, at around 5.30pm yesterday, Scotland Yard said. He is one of two men stabbed to death in a spate of stabbings in just 24 hours across the capital with at least 11 others wounded. Mr Badzak, reportedly a train driver and an aspiring lawyer who had been privately educated, had been on his way to Waitrose to pick up orange juice when he was set upon by a group in Willesden Lane, his mother Jasna Badzak, 49, told the My London local news site. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. He was rushed to hospital where he later died. His friend, aged 16, is in hospital fighting for his life after fleeing into a nearby shop when he was knifed, the Metropolitan Police said. Mr Badzaks mother appealed on Twitter with pictures of her only son as a child with Boris Johnson, former chancellor George Osborne, and former prime minister David Cameron along with pleas for help. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here to do so. The ex-Conservative activist tweeted: Boris, this is my only son Sven with you and you knew him as he helped your campaign. Please get someone to help me after everything I did for you! She said her son had been pointlessly stabbed for daring to go to Waitrose and bagel shop and also accused the Metropolitan Police of being racist and horrible and said she had not yet seen her dead son. The distraught mother had earlier told the My London site: He was the most polite boy you could possibly imagine. The perfect manners, he spoke the perfect Queens English. He was beloved by everybody. He always asked people how their day was, how their family is, if he could do something for them. He wasnt around gangs or anything. Hes a billion miles away from that. Mr Badzak, from Maida Vale, had been privately educated at Wetherby and Portland Place schools before attending Roehampton University and had been seeking advice on becoming a lawyer before he was killed, she told the site. Lead detective Chief Inspector Darren Jones, of Scotland Yard, said: At this early stage we believe Sven and his friend became involved in an altercation with a group of males. As this group chased the pair, Sven and his friend became separated. Sven fell to the ground and was attacked by a number of the group. His friend was also attacked but managed to seek sanctuary in a shop however, he remains critically ill in hospital. Our thoughts are with both families of these victims who must be enduring unimaginable pain at this time. I want to assure them that we will support them throughout this investigation and that my team of highly experienced officers will be working tirelessly to locate and apprehend those responsible for this horrific attack. Chief Inspector Guy Ellwood added more officers would be patrolling the area in the coming days, adding: This was a barbaric attack in a public place and the community will be rightly shocked. Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting CAD 5580/06feb. To remain anonymous, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Police continue to investigate a flurry of knife attacks in the capital since Friday evening, with five incidents reported in south London between 6.56pm and 9.12pm alone. A 22-year-old man, named locally as Lavz, fatally knifed at a property in Wisbeach Road, Croydon, died at the scene. Police say the spate of stabbings are currently being treated as isolated incidents. He's been busy filming scenes for Marvel's Thor: Love and Thunder in Sydney. But on Saturday, Chris Hemsworth took time out to enjoy quality time with his family in his hometown of Byron Bay. Clad in a khaki muscle tank that showed off his bulging biceps, the 37-year-old soaked up the sun on a grassy knoll with his children and brothers Liam and Luke. Thor-blimey! Chris Hemsworth (pictured), 37, showed off his bulging biceps in a muscle tank on Saturday, as he took a break from filming Love and Thunder to enjoy family time with his brothers in Byron Bay Chris added black shorts, a tan cap and trendy sunglasses to the look, and went barefoot. He picked up takeaway food and a fresh juice from a nearby eatery, and kept a close eye on his brood. The Hollywood heavyweight appeared relaxed and at ease as he played games with his children, and engaged in conversation with his brothers. Brothers: The Hollywood star added black shorts, a tan cap and trendy sunglasses to the look. He is pictured with brother Liam Hemsworth (far right) Attire: Liam, 31, also showed off his gym-honed frame in a white muscle tank, which he paired with black shorts, a khaki cap and stylish sunglasses Where's Gabriella? Noticeably absent on the outing was Liam's model girlfriend Gabriella Brooks Liam, 31, also showed off his gym-honed frame in a white muscle tank and black shorts, accessorising with a khaki cap and stylish sunglasses. The eldest of the Hemsworth brothers, Luke, 40, also made an appearance, carrying several items from a nearby cafe. Luke donned a white graphic T-shirt, camouflage shorts and a green and white cap, and like his brothers, opted to go barefoot. Leisurely: The brothers soaked up the sun on a grassy knoll in the coastal town they call home Thirsty work: Liam stayed hydrated and was seen drinking from a bottle of artisanal water No sibling rivalry here: Chris and Liam were joined by their loved ones, including the eldest Hemsworth brother, Luke (far right), 40 Family man: The Thor star was seen playing games with the youngsters Noticeably absent were their partners, Chris' wife Elsa Pataky, Luke's wife Samantha Hemsworth, and Liam's model girlfriend Gabriella Brooks. Filming for the latest instalment in the Thor franchise, Love and Thunder, commenced in January in Sydney, after being a recipient of the Federal Government's $24.1 million Location Incentive grant. The film, directed by New Zealand's Taika Waititi, is expected to invest over $178million in the local economy, will create around 2,500 jobs and enlist services from around 1,650 businesses. Ink: Chris also drew attention to several tattoos on his muscly arms Absent: Also absent on the outing was Chris' wife Elsa Pataky, and Luke's wife Samantha Hemsworth Captivated: Chris and the youngsters focused in on something on one of their iPhones Break from filming: Chris has been busy filming the latest instalment in the Thor franchise, Love and Thunder, no doubt enjoying a quick reprieve with his loved ones Marvel has also set up a trainee program for Australian actors and crew as part of the deal. According to Screen NSW, it's part of a deal which will see several of the Marvel films made in Australia over the coming years. Chris and US actor Chris Pratt, 41, have been pictured in full costume as they film the Hollywood blockbuster. Hemsworth portrays Thor in the franchise, while Pratt will reprise his role as Peter Quill or Star-Lord, previously seen in the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers films. Famous faces: The Hollywood blockbuster also stars US actors Chris Pratt and Natalie Portman Roles: Hemsworth portrays Thor in the franchise, while Pratt will reprise his role as Peter Quill or Star-Lord, previously seen in the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers films Pictured on set: Chris and Pratt, 41, have been pictured in full costume as they film the Hollywood blockbuster Laidback: Meanwhile, back on the outing, Luke cut a casual figure in a white graphic T-shirt, camouflage shorts, and a green and white cap Hemsworth was seen back in his character's long blonde wig and carrying Thor's stormbreaker axe around set, with his muscular arms on show in a sleeveless red leather vest. In the forthcoming Thor instalment, Natalie Portman is back as Jane Foster, and will also pick up the hammer and become the Goddess of Thunder. Natalie was absent for 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, but was a key player in the first two Thor films in 2011 and 2013. The new film is due for cinematic release in May 2022. Treats: The eldest of the Hemsworth brothers picked up several items from a nearby cafe The future's bright: Luke hooked a pair of reflective sunglasses onto the neckline of his shirt A West Manchester Township couple has been arrested after police said they had sex with a 12 year-old girl over the course of several months. Joshua Edward Pope and Jamie Lynn Pope, both 30, of the 900 block of Stoverstown Road, are both accused of sexually assaulting the girl from August through December, according to charging documents. Joshua Pope is charged with felonies rape of a child; involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child; statutory sexual assault by a defendant 11 years older; aggravated indecent assault of a child; aggravated indecent assault of child less than 13 years old; indecent assault of a person less than 13 years old; corruption of a minor by a defendant age 18 or above; disseminating explicit sexual material to minor; and a misdemeanor indecent assault of a person less than 13 years old. Jamie Pope is charged with a felony corruption of a minor by a defendant age 18 or above, and indecent assault of a person less than 13 years, and open lewdness, both misdemeanors. Police charged the married couple last month. Both were arraigned Jan. 23 before District Judge Jennifer J.P. Clancy and are free on bail. Joshua Popes bail was set at $100,000, and Jamie Popes bail is $25,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled March 23 before District Judge Keith L. Albright. The girls father contacted West Manchester Township Police after he found some sexual messages on her phone, according to charging documents. The girl told police she has had sexual contact with the couple and that Pope sent her photos and a video of his penis. The girl said she and Jamie Pope would watch each other have sex with Joshua Pope. One message phone on the girls phone said will we ever do it with all of us again and another said we might. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 42-year-old man was taken into custody Saturday evening after barricading himself in a Concord home, according to police. Emergency units responded to a home near the intersection of Concord Place and Starbuck Avenue around 4:15 p.m. after receiving a call from an unknown female who stated that an individual was acting erratic, a police spokesman said. One man was taken into custody; he was transported to Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, for evaluation, the spokesman said. At the scene, NYPD officers were spotted along Richmond Road, and police tape was used to prevent pedestrians and vehicles from turning onto Concord Place. Pleas in Supreme Court seek Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia to kin of those who died of COVID-19 Persons in illegal occupation of panchayat land cannot claim regularisation: SC India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 07: Persons in illegal occupation of government or panchayat land cannot claim regularisation as a matter of right, the Supreme Court has said. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said regularisation of the illegal occupation of government or panchayat land can only be as per the policy of the state government and the conditions stipulated in the rules. The top court was hearing a plea filed by residents of Sarsad village in Tehsil Gohana in Haryana's Sonepat district who encroached upon panchayat land and constructed houses. The Haryana government in 2000 framed a policy regarding sale of panchayat land in unauthorised possession outside 'Abadi Deh' (the residential area of a revenue estate). Haryana also amended the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Rules, 1964 and issued a notification in 2008. Thereafter, in 2008, Rule 12(4) was incorporated in the 1964 Rules in terms of the notification dated January 3, 2008, which authorises Gram Panchayat to sell its non- cultivable land in Shamlat Deh (vacant land) to the inhabitants of the village who have constructed their houses on or before March 31, 2000. SC heard the most number of cases through video conferencing during COVID: PM Modi The petitioners in this case, who were in illegal possession of the land belonging to Gram Panchayat, made an application under Rule 12(4) of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Rules, 1964. The Deputy Commissioner, Sonepat on perusal of the record and the site report, rejected their application holding that as the applicants are in illegal occupation of the area more than the required area up to a maximum of 200 square yards, they are not entitled to the benefit of Rule 12(4). The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed a writ petition challenging the order passed by the authority. The apex court held the competent authority as well as the high court both are justified in taking the view that as the respective petitioners are in illegal occupation of the area more than the required area up to a maximum of 200 square yards, they are not entitled to the benefit of Rule 12(4). "It is required to be noted that the persons in illegal occupation of the Government Land/Panchayat Land cannot, as a matter of right, claim regularization. Regularisation of the illegal occupation of the Government Land/Panchayat Land can only be as per the policy of the State Government and the conditions stipulated in the Rules, the bench said. The top court said that if it is found that the conditions stipulated for regularisation have not been fulfilled, such persons in illegal occupation of the government or panchayat land are not entitled to regularisation. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, February 7, 2021, 9:42 [IST] (JTA) Police in California are investigating after a Jewish fraternity at the California Polytechnic State University reported finding swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti painted outside its house. The symbols were scrawled in front of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house in Californias San Luis Obispo County on Friday night, campus authorities said. We awoke to multiple swastikas and antisemitic statements spray-painted on and in front of our house, the fraternity wrote in an Instagram post on Saturday. The post did not show images of the graffiti described in the post. ADVERTISEMENT University President Jeffrey Armstrong and other officials Saturday evening said in a statement that the incident was reported to the San Luis Obispo Police Department and an investigation is underway, according to The Tribune of San Luis Obispo County, which is located about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Let us be perfectly clear: behavior that promotes any form of hate and seeks to make members of our community feel unsafe and unwelcome especially in their own home has absolutely no place in our community, the university presidents message said. In 2018, Cal Poly made the news because of a push to increase funding to all student groups except those with a Zionist ideology. When Simeon Nyachae was provincial commissioner in the then Rift Valley province, my father worked as a foreman in a Nakuru-based firm called W.H. Sayer Construction & Engineering Co. The company had been contracted to construct a tea factory at Sotik in the then Kericho district. On completion of the factory, Vice President Daniel arap Moi went to open it accompanied by PC Nyachae. The VIP's party would be taken round by the contractor, Mr Sayer, and my father. As they inspected the factory downstairs, a machine operator upstairs unintentionally set the water jet in the wrong direction sprinkling the VIPs downstairs. The contractor profusely apologised for the incident. The chief guest Mr Moi took it easy, even made a joke of it that in his Kalenjin community early morning showers are a sign of blessings. But Mr Nyachae didn't take it kindly. Back in Nakuru, he summoned the contractor for a thorough tongue-lashing and instructed the provincial engineer to blacklist him from getting government contracts. As if that wasn't enough, Mr Nyache wrote to the principal immigration officer to consider deporting the contractor back to the UK. However, Attorney General Charles Njonjo intervened and the British man was spared. Soon after, Mr Nyachae was transferred to Central province. Dressed down In the next incident, I was the victim of Nyachae's wrath. This time I was a grown up and a journalist with Nation Media Group. It was early in the year 2000 and Nyachae had just fallen out with President Moi and resigned from the Cabinet. From the president's buddy, he turned to a fierce critic within the ruling party Kanu. I was assigned to look for him and write a story on his changed roles. Unable to secure an appointment through his private offices in Nairobi's Industrial Area, I decided to waylay him in the corridors of Parliament. One afternoon, I strategically positioned myself in the Parliament cafeteria and waited. When he came out I walked towards him and made to block him and introduce myself. He didn't take it kindly. I was hardly through with introduction when he barked: "Young man, my office isn't in the corridors. If you want to talk to me call my secretary and book an appointed." I was prepared for a hostile reaction anyway, so I pursued: "Sir, I have done so several times without success", I told him as he walked away on me. "Then be there at ten tomorrow," he said without looking at me. I was there half an hour earlier lest I risk another msomo (tonguelashing). I expected a hostile interview but, surprisingly, it did not turn out that way. "Young man, now tell me what is it you wanted to hear from me," he said as he led me to the lounge adjacent to his office. Nyachae's fight back I was straight to the point. "Generally tell me about your relationship with President Moi. What is the source of your disagreement? And what is your next political move?" He gestured to indicate he liked the topic. A few days earlier, President Moi had made an oblique attack at people who had amassed great wealth courtesy of the Kanu government and were using the same wealth to fight the party from within. "If they are men enough they should quit Kanu and fight it from outside", the President said. Everybody understood the attack to have been directed at Nyachae. Now he saw an opportunity to fight back. "How dare Moi doubt my manhood when he has been to my kraal and met my wives and over two dozen children?" he opened the conversation. Then he took me through long personal journey the two had travelled. They met when he was posted to Rift Valley and Moi was minister for Home Affairs and later Vice President. "When I met Moi he had no more than three suits", he alleged. "It is Kenneth Matiba and I who taught and helped him establish businesses. We helped him establish a successful beer distribution company and taught him large scale farming", he said. Political flak for Moi Then he took me through long litany of how he had taken political flak for Moi and encouraged him to hang on even when the later found the going too tough and contemplated resigning as Vice President. In the early years of independence, the mainstream Kalenjin leadership had no time for Moi who they regarded a "sell-out" for keeping quiet as "outsiders" acquired land in Rift Valley. Led by a fiery MP and later deputy Speaker of National Assembly, one Jean-Marie Seroney, the Kalenjin leadership met and made what was called Nandi Declaration where they sounded drums of war and vowed to stop encroachment of "their" land by "foreigners". They also resolved to frustrate and sabotage Moi's political career. 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. "As PC, Rift Valley, I am one who stood firm that Kenyans were free to legally own land and property anywhere in the republic," Nyachae told me adding he at the same time used government muscle to ensure Moi was protected and given his respect as the No.2 in government hierarchy. He also recalled an incident when Moi, after repeated humiliation by agents of those who didn't want him succeed President Kenyatta, drove from Nakuru to Nyeri when Nyachae was Central PC, and confided in the later that he had "enough" and would resign as VP . Nyachae told me that he hosted Moi at his home that night and asked him to sleep over the matter to discuss it with him in the morning. "Come morning, I told him he was like a man in the middle of a bridge crossing a crocodile infested river. In that situation walking forwards is as dangerous as walking backwards. So better march on!" Nyachae recalled telling the VP who concurred. *** At the end of the interview, he instructed his driver to drop me back to office at Nation Centre. We parted ways as good friends. RIP, Mzee Nyachae. nkngotho@gmail.com Britain plans to tax retailers and tech companies whose profits have soared during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sunday Times reported, citing leaked emails. The government has summoned companies to discuss how an online sales tax would work, while plans are also being drawn up for a one-off excessive profits tax, the newspaper reported. Finance minister Rishi Sunak is unlikely to announce these taxes at the budget announcement scheduled for March 3, which will focus on an extension of the COVID-19 furlough programme and support for businesses, the report said. They ... Japan issued a diplomatic note at the time the US began a new government and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had just completed a visit to nine ASEAN countries. Ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and US and Indian naval ships. Photo: Reuters As a member of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Japan spoke out against China's Note CML/63/2020 dated September 18, 2020 in response to notes from three European countries the UK, France and Germany - sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the dispute in the East Sea on September 16, 2020. Different from the notes of three European countries that fully list the notes of China (No. CML/14/2019 dated 12/12/2019, No. CML/11/2020 on 23/3/2020, No. CML/42/2020 dated 17/4/2020, No. CML/46/2020 dated 2/6/2020, No. CML/48/2020 dated 18/6/2020, No. CML/54/2020 dated 29/7/2020, and No. CML/56/2020 dated 7/8/2020, as well as the Appendix to the Official Letter of 9/6/2020), the note of Japan only named the note CML/63/2020. Does not accept China's argument The note of Japan shows the disapproval of the Chinese arguments shown in the previous notes and is generally repeated in the note CML/63/2020. The note also affirmed Japans support for the point of view of European countries above. That is: Considering UNCLOS to be universal and unified, establishing the legal framework for all activities carried out on sea and ocean. The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)'s ruling in 2016 is final and compulsory for the parties, the Philippines and China. Freedom of the high seas must be respected. The archipelagic baseline cannot be illegally applied to the offshore islands of the coastal state. The note said: does not accept extensive activities to change the legal status of island features; and does not recognize historic rights in the East Sea that are inconsistent with the UNCLOS provisions. In Note SC/21/002 dated January 19, 2021, Japan emphasized three issues: the use of archipelagic baselines, legal regulations of semi-submerged shoals and the maritime, and aviation freedom rights. In its Note CML/63/2020, China argued that there is a long-established practice in international law regarding the offshore islands of mainland states and that such practice should be respected. This is the reason to justify China's application of the archipelagic baseline that is only applied to the archipelagic states for Vietnam's Hoang Sa Archipelago (Paracel Islands) on June 15, 1996 and the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands which is in dispute with Japan on September 10, 2012. The Japanese note stated: "There is no room for a member state to justify the application of baselines that do not satisfy the provisions of UNCLOS." The objections of the US, three European countries, Australia and Japan show that there is no national practice that allows the application of archipelagic baselines to the offshore island groups of mainland countries like China argued. The semi-submersible shoals in Truong Sa have no island status, or rocks, no territorial sea and national airspace. Therefore, it is unacceptable for China to object to the passage of Japanese aircraft over the airspace over the Vanh Khan (Mischief Reef) and the attempt to limit the freedom of overflight in the East Sea. This is the first time Japan has introduced concrete practice on restricting its freedom of overflight in the East Sea and this action can be construed as a response to any intention to establish an Air Defense Identification Area (ADIZ) in this waters. The first Asian country outside of Southeast Asia raises its voice Japan, the first Asian country outside of Southeast Asia, has spoken out for its own interests and coordinated with other countries to prevent excessive activities that threaten peace, stability and development in the region as well as the freedoms of high sea in the East Sea. Japan's Note contributes to accelerating the internationalization of the East Sea, which China does not want. Japan issued the note at the time the US had a new government and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had just completed a visit to nine ASEAN countries. This partly shows the fierce competition of major countries for influence in this area. It also represents Japan's efforts to strengthen relations with countries in the region in order to response to Chinese aggression in both the East Sea and East China Sea. It represents the policy pursued by Prime Minister Suga's administration against any action that escalates tensions in the East Sea. Settlement of disputes in the East Sea or East China Sea cannot be based solely on the threat of using force, but on international law and peaceful measures. Nguyen Hong Thao Germany sends warships to East Sea - a strategic turning point The German government has announced plans to send its warships to ports of Japan, South Korea and Australia, passing through the East Sea this summer. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 03:00:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping learns about the education and training of soldiers and officers on Feb. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang) GUIYANG, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday inspected an aviation division of the Air Force stationed in southwestern Guizhou Province ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), extended New Year greetings to all soldiers and officers of the People's Liberation Army, armed police force, civilian personnel in the military, militia and reserve forces, on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC. During the inspection, Xi visited an army hospital to learn about the troops' COVID-19 response as well as their support to local epidemic control. Chinese President Xi Jinping visits an army hospital to learn about the troops' COVID-19 response as well as their support to local epidemic control on Feb. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang) Hailing the armed forces' contribution to the fight against COVID-19, Xi warned of the increased risk of virus spread during the Spring Festival holiday which is expected to see more trips and gatherings. He asked the military to be ready to support local authorities in fighting the epidemic to consolidate and develop China's sound momentum in COVID-19 response. When inspecting a special aircraft designed for information warfare, Xi stressed the need to speed up the development of advanced equipment and cultivation of professionals, strengthen targeted and force-on-force training, and accelerate the upgrade of new combat capabilities. Learning about the education and training of soldiers and officers, Xi demanded strengthened military trainings under combat conditions to continuously improve the level of training and the capability to win wars. Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects cultural and recreational preparations for the Spring Festival during his inspection to an aviation division of the Air Force stationed in Guizhou on Feb. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Gang) Xi also inspected cultural and recreational preparations for the Spring Festival. He called on the military to resolutely implement the decisions and instructions of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC, follow the regular epidemic prevention and control measures, and comprehensively advance military training and war preparedness, so as to mark the CPC centenary with outstanding achievements. [February 07, 2021] How Perth Brokers Allows Australians To Tap Into The Trillion-Dollar Cryptocurrency Market Perth, Australia, Feb. 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On the 8th of January 2021, Bitcoin touched a peak of $40,000 USD. To give you some perspective into how lucrative an investment it would have been, a year ago, on Jan 8th 2020, it was priced at $9500. The question is, how many Perth stockbrokers or Perth Finance Brokers actually capitalized on this 400% spike? Chances are that its very few. Believe it or not, Australia is lagging behind when it comes to investing in the booming cryptocurrency market. Thats quite surprising considering that brokers Perth are usually quite savvy about financial investments. Why then do they twiddle their thumbs while investing in crypto? Is it because its too cumbersome? Is it because there are no legitimate trading platforms Australia for cryptocurrency? Well, now there is. Perth Brokers is Australias first cryptocurrency trading platform that lets you tap into this massive trillion-dollar economy thats teeming with opportunity. Perth Brokers: A platform designed for Aussies Perth Brokers prides itself as Australias first cryptocurrency trading platform that lets you trade in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin, in simple steps. Its designed to help anybody nvest in crypto and make steady, consistent profit with it. Thats anybody. Even if you are a layman whos just read about Bitcoin, a school teacher who wants to invest in cryptocurrencies on the sides, a woodworker, a doctor, anybody can invest with Perth Brokers. It has a really easy user interface and does most of the heavy lifting, while you sit back and watch your money grow. The only caveat is that there are limited spots. So, if you want to cash in on the expected boom in crypto, you have to be one of the first ones to register with them. How the Perth Brokers platform works The Perth Brokers Platform is the easiest way for any Australian to invest in cryptos. It features auto trading bots that use complex algorithms and predictive data to plot charts and make investment bets. All that you have to do, is select which cryptos you would like to invest in, and thats it. You can buy your favorite cryptocurrencies in Australian Dollars or USD, or even in cryptocurrencies, if need be. You will then be given access to a secure wallet where your coins will be stored. You have the flexibility and the freedom to withdraw, both coins and FIAT at any given point of time. At the same time, perth finance brokers will have the option to take over the reins of the trade, if they are confident about it. There is an option to manually control everything from the amount of investments, the type of trade (short selling, intraday trade) and the volume of trade. The best part about the platform, is that there is no minimum investment amount. You can get started even with $100. Is it worth a try At a time when there are no other Australian brokerage platforms offering a similar investment option, we feel that Perth Brokers has the potential to be a game changer for you and help you grow your investment in no time. Talking about growing your money, Bitcoin prices have dropped 30% since 9th Jan and is now priced at $30000. If experts are to be believed, the next rally will see it touching $50,000, and it is to be expected by the end of this year, or even sooner. Perth Stockbrokers can click here now to register with the platform. They are only accepting limited registrations. Media Details Company: Perth Brokers Email: Office@perthstockbrokers.com Website: https://perthstockbrokers.com/ Attachment Perth Brokers [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] France reported a fall in new COVID-19 infections on Sunday for the fourth successive day. Health ministry data showed there had been 19,175 new confirmed COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours compared with 20,586 the previous day. But the data also showed the number of patients being treated in hospital for the disease had risen to 27,694 from 27,369 the previous day, following a four-day decline. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care also rose, increasing to 3,272 from 3,225 the day before. The government has resisted calls for a third nationwide lockdown from health experts who fear that more contagious coronavirus variants could soon overwhelm hospitals. The government is aiming to rein in high contamination rates through an evening curfew and tougher rules on foreign travel. Its junior transport minister said on Sunday that a ban on non-essential travel to and from destinations outside the European Union had halved air passenger numbers in a week. But doctors are particularly concerned about rising cases of a coronavirus variant first detected in Britain. The variant could represent a majority of new cases from the beginning of March, Arnaud Fontanet, an epidemiologist and member of the government's advisory body on COVID-19, told newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. France's cumulative death toll in hospitals and nursing homes has reached 78,965, compared with 78,794 a day earlier, the health ministry data showed. Short link: .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Frankie Elkin is a nomad. Owning only what she can carry, she wanders from town to town hunting for missing people whom the police have been unable to find. She is neither a police officer nor a private detective. She has no training for this work and asks nothing in return for it. But in the ten years or so since it became her obsession, she has become good at it. So far, she has found 10 missing people. Sadly, none of them were found alive. As Lisa Gardners Before She Disappeared opens, Frankie is hoping to break that string of bad luck in the largely Haitian neighborhood of Mattapan in Boston. There, 16-year-old Angelique Lovelie Badeau has been missing for 11 months, never making it home after school one day. Frankie, who cant afford to eat unless she works, talks her way into a bartending job in the neighborhood and introduces herself to the missing girls family and the Boston detective working the case. None of them are pleased to see her, but Frankies unflinching honesty and her ability to ask questions that open new avenues of investigation gradually win them over. Sometimes working alone and sometimes with the detective, she gradually uncovers a tangle of fake I.D. forgers, street-level drug dealers, counterfeit cash passers and human traffickers who may or may not have something to do with the girls disappearance. Still worse, mid-way into the investigation the missing girls best friend also goes missing. This book, the best-selling authors first stand-alone novel in 20-years, is a sharply-written, tension-filled yarn full of twists readers are unlikely to see coming. The most compelling element, however, is the character of Frankie, a recovering alcoholic whose obsession with the missing is a penance of sorts for the burden of guilt and grief she carries over a past trauma that took the life of a man she loves. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ (Newser) Pope Francis has taken two steps to empower women in the Catholic Church's hierarchy, answering calls for change from laypeople, some bishops, and the pope himself. In both cases, women have been appointed to positions that until now have been held only by men, NBC reports. Nathalie Becquart, a French nun, was named Saturday as co-undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops. The body advises the pope and prepares meetings of world bishops held every few years to address major doctrinal issues. Becquart, 52, will be the first woman to have the right to vote in the all-male assemblies. Women have been involved in the synods before, but only men have voted whether to approve documents sent to the pope. In the other appointment, Francis selected Italian magistrate Catia Summaria as promoter of justice in the Vaticans Court of Appeals, the first woman in that job. story continues below "A door has been opened," said Cardinal Mario Grech, the synods secretary-general. "We will see what other steps could be taken in the future." The next synod is planned for fall 2022, per Euronews. A petition urging the vote for women received more than 10,000 signatures at a synod in 2018. A theologian welcomed Becquart's appointment, calling it meaningful. "Synodality is at the heart of Pope Francis' ministry and will be crucial to this legacy," Luigi Gioia said, per the National Catholic Reporter. But it doesn't solve the problem, he said, adding that the number of women and laypeople involved in the synods "remains insignificant." After a seven-week absence, Pope Francis returned to public view Sunday, greeting a Vatican crowd from a window overlooking St. Peter's Square. "In the square again!" he said, per the AP. (Read more Pope Francis stories.) Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Four people have successfully filed their nomination forms to contest for the Council of State member position in the Western North Region at the close of nominations on Thursday. They are; Mr Prince Evans Escoper Donkor student, Katakyie Kwasi Bumankamah II, Paramount Chief Sefwi-Wiawso Traditional Council, Mr Micheal Aidoo, Western North Regional chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Mr Christopher Addea, former Member of Parliament for Bibiani Anwhiaso Bekwai constituency. Confirming the development to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Godwin Tawiah Ocley, Western North Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC) said the commission was ready for the task ahead. He disclosed that two persons each from the nine District Assemblies appointed by the District Assembly would be voting. Mr Ocley indicated that he was yet to receive the full complement of persons from the various Districts. 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 That last bit was revealed, to his credit, by Health Minister Greg Hunt . None of this is sinister. But its useful context in which to read Fridays push by several Labor premiers for the federal government to take more responsibility for quarantine. The Prime Ministers blitz of television and radio did nothing to stop the government announcing, a few weeks later, a supply and production agreement for pretty much the same thing. There was an announcement last week about securing an extra 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine. But that wasnt really new, either: it was part of the original contract with Pfizer announced last November. You have probably lost track of vaccine announcements by now. There was the big one, back in August, when the government announced it had a letter of intent with AstraZeneca that was, with some encouragement from the government, widely reported as a guarantee and a deal that had been inked something of an exaggeration. Many years ago, I was told by a veteran spin doctor that any new project a new building, say should be announced 10 times. First, announce you are considering it. Then that you are calling for proposals. Then that the proposals have been received. You should publish the proposals, then announce the winner This goes on until after the building is up, and you celebrate its first anniversary. The point is to wring every ounce of positive publicity out of even the smallest announcement. Up until now, when things have gone wrong, the premiers have suffered. Quarantine has been their issue, as has the debate that always comes next, over lockdowns. Once everyone is vaccinated, lockdowns will be a thing of the past and the premiers will be free. But what about the intervening months, when vaccination has begun but not ended, and a quarantine breach sets the virus loose? What if the vaccination rollout is slow, or slower than it could have been? Who gets the blame if the virus spreads across a state? The premiers, by now, are hyper-aware of the Morrison governments ability to take credit for everything good, while dodging everything bad. By trying to force the Prime Minister to share more of the responsibility for quarantine or at least by putting the issue up in lights they are sending a message: if the vaccine rollout is slow, and something happens, we are going to make sure youre in the frame too. Illustration: Simon Bosch Credit: Vaccines werent the only example last week of the Prime Ministers talent for making 10 announcements when one might do. Scott Morrison has been Prime Minister for almost three years now. In that time, very, very little has been done on climate change. The result, one might think, would be scepticism towards the Prime Ministers commitment. Instead, it seems to have led to a situation in which he is repeatedly given credit, by much of the media, for the tiniest shifts towards a more reasonable position. And so he was widely praised for quietly shifting his party away from coal, towards a gas-led recovery, even though gas is also a huge contributor to global warming. He received attention for his announcement that he might not use a loophole (one that some experts call cheating) to deliver the emissions cuts to which Australia committed itself in Paris. But this was such a hollow boast: he was simply saying that he thought it was going to happen anyway, and in that case, he wouldnt use the loophole. Maybe. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 13:31:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KAMPALA -- The Ugandan military on Saturday marked its 40th founding anniversary with President Yoweri Museveni presiding over the celebrations held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense and Veteran Affairs here in the capital. "I want to congratulate the UPDF (Uganda People's Defense Forces) on this 40th anniversary. You have done your part by defending the country even though you don't have everything you need," said Museveni. (Uganda-UPDF) - - - - BRUSSELS -- To celebrate the Chinese New Year festival, Chinese students in Belgium launched an online party on Saturday on multiple social network platforms. Chinese Ambassador to Belgium Cao Zhongming tuned in and delivered a speech while Mohamed Ridouani, mayor of the Belgian city of Leuven, sent his best wishes in a video. (Belgium-Chinese New Year) - - - - LIMA -- Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti will be the first to receive a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese laboratory Sinopharm in his country, Minister of Health Pilar Mazzetti said on Saturday. This is an important act as it will transmit a symbolic message to all citizens, the minister spoke on the Radio Programs of Peru. (Peru-COVID-19-President-Vaccine) - - - - RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil registered 978 new COVID-19 deaths, bringing the death toll to 231,012, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday. Additionally, another 50,630 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, taking the nationwide tally to 9,497,795. (Brazil-Coronavirus) Enditem Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Saturday expressed confidence in the African Union (AU) to contribute to the advancing of efforts aimed at reaching a binding legal deal on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) before the second filling of the dam. The AU has been mediating the talks between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the dispute caused by GERD since last year. Last year, Ethiopia unilaterally completed the first filling of the GERD and plans to execute the second filling of the dam next July. Addressing the African Union's 34th summit - held virtually - El-Sisi congratulated Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi for assuming the chairmanship of the AU this year. El-Sisi thanked the outgoing chair of the AU, President Ramaphosa, for his appreciated efforts in reaching a comprehensive, fair and balanced agreement. El-Sisi referred to Ramaphosas keenness of participating in person in the negotiations to reach a legal agreement on GERD as a reflection of his highnesss keenness to advance the common interests of the African nations and to seek solutions for the issues and crises facing our continent. Egypt has engaged, with good faith and seriousness, in the African path, in a bid to reach the desired agreement that takes into account the interests and rights of the concerned parties, a goal that cannot be achieved except with the availability of the political will of all parties El-Sisi added. Vaccine Strategy El-Sisi welcomed an invitation for Egypt to join the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT). The AUs AVATT started the operation last month. It was established by South Africas President Cyril Ramaphosa to serve as a component of the Africa vaccine strategy. President El-Sisi affirmed Egypts keenness to carry out its responsibilities with the aim of securing the coronavirus vaccine for the African countries. El-Sisi urged cooperation among governments and people of the African states to control the pandemic. There is no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic represents a great challenge to our African continent, said El-Sisi. He added that this requires more solidarity and cooperation between our people and our governments, in order to curb the spread of the virus and limit its dangerous repercussions on the lives and the future of our people and our children. Integration, development The president affirmed Egypts full support to the desired goals of advancing the AUs institutions, supporting the AU agenda 2063 and its first 10-year plan, as well as implementing the entitlements of the blocs theme of the Year 2021 Arts, Culture and Heritage. In this regard, I want to emphasise the importance of protecting our African heritage and constructively promoting African culture, especially as we are in the process of opening many cultural, archaeological and museum projects. The president mentioned the new Giza-based Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) as an example of these projects. Concerning development efforts in the continent, El-Sisi referred to Egypts pioneering experience in developing infrastructure projects as an example that we would be happy to share with our African brothers, as a tool to enhance stability and developments in Africa. The president mentioned a number of ambitious projects to develop the continents infrastructure and achieve integration among its states, including the Cairo-Cape Town road set to pass through nine African states. He also mentioned the navigation line project to link the Mediterranean Sea with Lake Victoria as an example of the continental program to develop infrastructure. This program represents the most prominent cornerstone in achieving the desired integration and a fundamental pillar for activating the [African] Continental Free Trade Area. I conclude my speech before you, with hopes of an actual meeting soon after we have turned the page of the coronavirus pandemic forever, said El-Sisi. He expressed hope that the AU is allowed to resume holding our summits and brotherly activities face to face, continue the serious and hard work with the aim of achieving progress that is aspired by the African continent and that achieves our aspiration and desired goals. Short link: For the first time, a small group of air travellers flying from Germany and Estonia to the UAE has tested the health data platform and app SimplyGo in a live environment. As part of the trial project, SimplyGo is partnering with technology provider SITA. SITAs advanced technology platforms and experience in border management, airport, and airline operations were crucial in distributing the SimplyGo platform across continents. Ahead of the trial, some travellers obtained negative Covid-19 results via their SimplyGo app prior to boarding. Another group had a positive result or did not have a test done at all. They were ultimately denied check-in and boarding. The data was then securely stored on the SimplyGo platform to be accessed by airlines and border officials authorizing boarding of the plane and eventually arrival at the destination country, the UAE. Integration to the UAE government systems was made possible through the Advance Passenger Processing (APP) platform delivered by SITA. Integrating SimplyGo with APP forms part of SITAs Health Protect ecosystem, simplifying and automating the inclusion of health data into existing airline, airport, and government processes. Enable travelling again with secure data infrastructure Both direct and connecting flights were successfully tested. Travellers were able to fly from Munich to the UAE return as well as Tallinn to the UAE via Frankfurt. In both examples, their approved Covid-19 test results were stored on the SimplyGo platform and, at the point of check-in, the traveller was approved or denied to travel by the relevant border officials using SITA APP. Peter Bauer, founder of SimplyGo, said: The trial demonstrated that SimplyGo technology supports travellers and airlines in adhering to health requirements and secure systems. The app is extremely simple for travellers to use. Just a few clicks and users securely store their Covid-19 test or vaccination information, making it accessible for airlines and border officials. Theres no paperwork or bar code at the check-in needed, all data is managed securely and highly protected from fraud. This trial is the first step in rolling out SimplyGo, to help restore confidence in air travel and to ensure a safer and more efficient air travel for all. Jeremy Springall, Vice-President SITA AT BORDERS, said: As the technology provider for the air transport industry we are working closely with governments, industry bodies, and border organisations globally to mitigate health risks of travel during the pandemic. SITAs Health Protect ecosystem enables interoperability and acts as a bridge between health passport schemes, airlines, airports, and governments. It comprises a suite of solutions, including SITA Health ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization), SITA APP, and SITA Flex for in-airport passenger flow monitoring. Selecting the right combination of products and integrating with a health pass system like SimplyGo, ensures governments are aware of who is intending to travel and their health status. Governments can then make informed decisions on who to allow to travel. Were excited for the potential of SITAs Health Protect ecosystem to support the industry recovery in 2021 and enable safer, simpler travel experiences for passengers. SimplyGo integrating with global platforms One of the founders of SimplyGo, Nortal, is member of the Estonian consortium of IT companies involved in the joint initiative of the Estonian government and the WHO, working to provide a trust framework for vaccination data globally. SimplyGo and the consortium are working on the global interoperability standards to enable travellers control over secure access and sharing of Covid-19 and other medical related data for travel purposes. Following the trial, the deployment will be further optimised and made available for wider distribution to customers. Creating the new norm of travelling With SimplyGo, travellers and the transportation industry alike benefit from a highly secure and GDPR-compliant data platform with standardized gateways and state-of-the-art technology. Only officially accredited medical providers can transmit personal data. This brings the possibility of fraud to a minimum. Personal data is under full control of the user and can always be hosted in their country of residence under respective rules and regulations. A user has to actively give access to their data and can withdraw it anytime. - TradeArabia News Service 7 day print subscribers enjoy unlimited access to yakimaherald.com Enter the LAST NAME and the 7 DIGIT phone number on your print subscription account to connect your print subscription to your yakimaherald.com account. Thousands of protesters backed by Tunisias powerful labour union gathered in central Tunis on Saturday in the countrys biggest demonstration for years, defying a police lockdown that blocked roads in a large area of the capital. The rally was held to mark the anniversary of the 2013 killing of a prominent activist and to protest against police abuses that demonstrators say have imperilled freedoms won in the 2011 revolution that triggered the Arab Spring. Riot police deployed cordons around the city centre, stopping both cars and many people from entering the streets around Avenue Habib Bourguiba as thousands of people gathered, a Reuters witness said. I lived 10 years in freedom ... I am not ready to lose it, said Haytem Ouslati, a 24-year old demonstrator. Protesters raised placards condemning police violence and chanted No fear. The street belongs to the people. Unlike previous marches in a wave of protests that have spread across Tunisia in recent weeks, Saturdays rally was backed by the UGTT union, the countrys most powerful political organisation with a million members. Samir Cheffi, a senior UGTT official, said the protest was needed to protect liberties. Today is a cry of alarm to defend the revolution, to protect freedoms under threat, he said. Protests which began last month over inequality have increasingly focused on the large number of arrests and reports - denied by the Interior Ministry - of abuse of detainees. Mohammed Ammar, a member of parliament for the Attayar party, said he had phoned the prime minister to protest against the closure of central Tunis. Protesters chanted against the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, a member of successive government coalitions, and reprised the Arab Spring slogan: The people want the fall of the regime. A decade after Tunisias revolution, its political system is mired in endless squabbling between the president, prime minister and parliament while the economy stagnates. While some Tunisians, disillusioned by the fruits of the uprising, are nostalgic for the days of autocracy, others have decried a perceived erosion of the freedoms that democracy secured. For some, the febrile climate has recalled the political polarisation after a suspected hardline Islamist assassinated secular activist and lawyer Chokri Belaid in February 2013. His death triggered a wave of protests in Tunisia that led to a grand bargain between the main Islamist and secular political parties to stop the country sinking into violence. We wont accept Tunisia becoming a barracks. We ask the president to intervene and protect freedoms, said Naima Selmi, a woman in the protest. Source: reuters.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 Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Sunny. High 68F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Mostly clear skies early will become overcast later during the night. Low 48F. Winds light and variable. Panaji, Feb 7 : If Saudi Arabia is known for petro dollars, Goa has the strength to become a strong water-based economy, Union Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairy and Fisheries Giriraj Singh said on Sunday. Addressing a press conference here, Singh said the Central government, in partnership with the state agencies, was keen on investing Rs 400 crore to develop a fishing hub in Goa. "If Saudi Arabia is known for its petro dollars, then I believe, and I have spoken to the state minster, there is strength in the water here to transform water into a strong economic force," Singh said. The Union Minister also said that the fishing industry can supplement tourism, as a leading economy driver for Goa. "Goa has the strength to become a leading fisheries hub of India. The Central government is discussing investment of nearly Rs 400 crore for holistic development of a fishing hub with state, port and shipping authorities," he also said. Singh said that Goa has the ideal environment for creation of a fishing hub. The Union Minister also said that his Ministry was in the process of taking several reformative steps for developing the fishing industry in the country. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 19:14:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- A special plane carrying the first batch of China-donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Cambodia on Sunday, which was welcomed by Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen at the capital's airport. The event was live broadcast on the prime minister's official Facebook page, the state-run National Television of Cambodia (TVK), Fresh News, the kingdom's online news provider, and several other TV channels. The vaccine arrival marks another historic milestone in the China-Cambodia relations in a joint fight against COVID-19, and it rekindles hope for a return to normal life and a swift economic recovery in Cambodia. Enditem Family and home. Those are the images Indian Arrival Day evoke in the ticking mind of mas designer Valmiki Maharaj. The Lost Tribe creative director says he will spend today ruminating on stories relayed by his beloved mother Basdaye and other family members who no longer walk this earth, knowing that with his every breath he carries on their legacy. Even birds need a plane ride now and then, In the case of Arvy, the brown pelican rescued from the icy Connecticut River, a 12-hour plan ride meants he landed safely at his new home in sunny Florida, where he is recovering from pneumonia. The waterbird is on the mend at the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary where he undergoing nebulizing treatments and fluid therapy. Arvy looks good! said Busch Wildlife Hospital Director Stephanie Franczak. His frostbite is minimal, but he has some wicked pneumonia from the cold. We will be providing fluid therapy, nebulizing treatments, and supportive care while he is with us, Franczak said. We are optimistic about his recovery. Arvy had spent nearly a week in Connecticuts winter, before being greeted by sunshine and balmy temps in the 70s. The bird, rescued by the Connecticut Audubon Society and the state Department of Environmental Protection, was believed to have been blown north from Virginia Beach during a storm at sea. For nearly a week, the southern bird was recuperating at A Place Called Hope in Killingworth, a bird sanctuary/rehab center, before special arrangements were made to fly him south Feb. 4. He is a Southern bird, he is not supposed to be north of the Carolinas and Virginia, said Carolina Young, spokesperson for the Florida sanctuary. Im sure he was in shock when he was in that river. In one of the earliest photos of his arrival in Florida, Arvy is seen hanging out in the bathtub in the hospital directors home that evening, due to the late hour. The hand-off from the plane took place shortly after it touched down around 6 p.m. when the director and volunteers met the pilots. Our hospital director Stephanie has been on the go with this, Young said. The wildlife sanctuary and hospital there will care for Arvy until he is strong enough to release him back in the wild. The ultimate endgame is to send them out into the wild, Young said. Pelicans normally make their home near beaches and lagoons. It's been a long, strange trip for the bird, who was named Arvy by the pilots because they were flying an RV12 plane. In Connecticut, Christine Cummings, co-founder of A Place Called Hope got up before dawn 4 a.m. Thursday last week to put the shorebird on the small, private plane that flew out of Meriden Markham Municipal Airport at 6 a.m. Members of Spirit of Meriden Flight Club, mother-daughter team pilots, Laurie and Ariana Strand, flew the plane. While the bird did not fly first class, it was housed in a soft crate, with plate warmers underneath and surrounded in fleece, Cummings said. The pilots, who volunteered for this trio, wore T-shirts that read, Arvy Flying South CT-FL. Cummings cared for the lone pelican nearly around the clock for about a week feeding him warm fluids and food every three hours. The shorebird had consumed some 4 pounds of fish daily with its 11-inch bill. The bird was suffering from hypothermia and the early stages of frostbite when it was found. Arvys saga began when DEEP officers rescued the stranded bird Jan. 27 after Andy Griswold of Connecticut Audubon Society Eco-Travel tracked it down, going from cove to cove in Essex, and finally found it listing against a dock in the wintry river. Griswold first learned about the unusual pelican sighting from a Facebook post. Once the bird was found, Audubon Society Executive Director Patrick Comins coordinated the rescue with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and contacted A Place Called Hope. For more information about Busch Wildlife Sanctuary visit www.buschwildlife.org. Launched in early 2019 by Dr. Gang Lu, also the Founder and CEO of China's leading bilingual tech media TechNode, TechNode Global is more than a media company. It is building a technology community platform, offering insightful news, providing fundraising and deal flow support, organizing regional events, and facilitating corporate-startup partnerships. The tech media startup has experienced significant growth since its launch and counts corporations iFLYTEK, Huawei, Alibaba Cloud, and NTUC Income among its clients. The deepening cross-border commercial ties between China and the rest of Asia, especially with Southeast Asia, present a huge market opportunity as Chinese tech behemoths step up their expansion and investments in the region.By spinning off from TechNode, TechNode Global can focus its industry and regional expertise into better serving the significant Asia Pacific Market. Dr. Gang Lu, Founder & CEO, said, "Despite 2020 being a challenging year, TechNode Global is proud to have experienced a year of remarkable growth and many firsts. Having the privilege to work with regional corporate clients is a testament to our mission to be the source of insights and network for tech and innovation. Asia is the next promising technology innovation center and market. With the enormous experience and resources TechNode has in China, I believe we are at the right place, at the right time to carry out our purpose." "Being a regional VC investing across China and Southeast Asia, we envisage tremendous integration and collaboration opportunities in the technology and business space within the region. TechNode Global being connected with the Asia Pacific technology ecosystem coupled with the recently signed RCEP, we are positive that they will be a key player as a regional innovation enabler in years to come," said Joseph Lee, Managing Partner at Kairous Capital, a regional venture capital specialising in cross-border investments between China and South East Asia. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Despite the serious impact from COVID, we do see a big innovation opportunity trending into a number of new technology frontiers. We believe it's perfect timing for TechNode to expand into new markets under the strong leadership of Dr. Lu, to reshape the new rhythm in the fast-growing Southeast Asia tech playground," said Gilbert Lam, Executive Director at Nutty Capital. TechNode Global has been privileged to partner with regional government agencies, notable community builders, and corporations such as National Research Foundation Singapore (NRF), Enterprise Singapore, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Sunway Group, True Digital Park, etc., in hosting its flagship event ORIGIN Conference and other community initiatives. With the recognition and support from key tech communities across the regions, TechNode Global will be working closely with them to localize its services and be engaged with local tech ecosystems. The company currently has an office in Singapore, with plans to set up an office in Malaysia soon. About TechNode Global: TechNode Global is a Pan-Asia tech platform offering premium tech news, industry insights, events, and tailor-made marketing solutions for startups, VCs, corporates and other industry pioneers. With a vast network in global innovation and entrepreneurship, TechNode Global facilitates cross-border partnerships and businesses. Visit TechNode Global's website at https://technode.global About Kairous Capital: Kairous Capital, a regional venture capital specialising in cross-border investments between Greater China and Southeast Asia with a focus on investing in disruptive technologies across both regions. Kairous Capital specializes in bridging the technology gap between Greater China and Southeast Asia, providing a complete cross-border solution to its investments. Visit Kairous Capital's website at https://www.kairous.com/ About SPH Ventures: SPH Ventures is the corporate venture capital fund of Singapore Press Holdings Ltd ("SPH"), Asia's leading media organisation listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. The fund size totals S$100 Million. It has a global mandate to invest in early-stage innovative companies in the areas of Digital Media (including advertising technology and content aggregation/ distribution/ consumption) and Consumer Internet (including e-commerce, marketplaces, social media, education technology, financial technology, etc). Visit SPH Ventures' website at https://www.sphventures.com.sg About Nutty Capital: Nutty Capital, where daring nuts meet to revolutionize and put a dent in the universe. Nutty Capital shares early stage venture resources with entrepreneurs across Greater China and Southeast Asia region in a selected range of areas, including internet, technology, health care, and consumer. Connect with us: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube SOURCE TechNode Lawyers representing traditional land owners and farmers opposed to the controversial thermal coal mine near Gunnedah in regional NSW claim they have been sidelined by major banks. Environmental planning law firm Beatty Legal sent letters to each of the big four banks Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac and the National Australia Bank in December last year but only ANZ and CBA responded. Gomeroi man Steve Talbott overlooks the land China Shenhua plans to turn into a mine. Credit:Dolly Talbott The letters dated December 8, obtained by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, asked if the lenders had any financial relationship with China Shenhua Energy, the parent company behind the proposed mine, and requested a response by the end of the following week. The mine has been opposed by the Gomeroi people and local farmers for the impact it will have on cultural heritage and local water resources. It has yet to receive the necessary government approvals to mine 10 million tonnes of coal each year. QUITO: Ecuadoreans choose a new president on Sunday, with many voters weary of painful economic austerity measures and eager for a return to socialism, encouraging left-wing candidate Andres Arauz who hopes to win without needing a runoff vote. The 36-year-old economist, a protege of former president Rafael Correa, leads in polls on promises to make $1 billion in direct cash payments to families and to disavow the conditions of a $6.5 billion IMF financing package. His main rival, Guillermo Lasso, has been hurt by his image as a conservative banker, and pollsters say the possibility of low voter turnout due to the pandemic could dent his support. Lawyer and indigenous activist Yaku Perez is third in the polls. An Arauz victory would extend Latin Americas return to leftist policies, already evident in Argentina and Bolivia, a challenge for Washington as it duels with China for influence in the hemisphere. The response of citizens has been overwhelming all over the country, and we know that this will be reflected in the vote," Arauz said in Quito, where he accompanied his 106-year-old grandmother Flor Galarza as she voted. Arauz is not casting his ballot in Sundays election because he is registered to vote in Mexico, where he was studying to get doctorate in economics but abruptly quit the program to run for president. A brutal coronavirus outbreak last year left bodies uncollected on the streets of Ecuadors largest city, Guayaquil. Lockdowns around the world slashed fuel demand and prices for oil, Ecuadors main export, battering an economy also reeling from sharp cuts to government spending. President Lenin Moreno, a former Correa ally, drove a pro-market agenda on hopes of reviving a sluggish and heavily indebted economy. His efforts sparked an angry backlash, with 10 days of violent street protests in 2019 against a planned fuel price hike. The elections council said it expected relatively high participation, and acknowledged that lines were long in some centers due to social distancing. Jomaira Alvarado, 28, a Guayaquil merchant who supports Lasso, complained about inadequate measures to guard against transmission of the virus. I came worried about getting infected with the pandemic, but here I am," said Alvarado at a voting center. I have a lot of hope that we can finally eliminate the shadow of these bad governments." Pollsters in recent days have started to see a slightly greater likelihood of Arauz winning a single round. Arauz allies are expected to make a strong showing in voting for a new legislature. Financial markets are watching, and Arauzs rhetoric has already sparked a bond selloff. He has said he will continue paying the countrys debts, but has said social investment will take priority and also has called for an investigation of last years $17.4 billion bond restructuring. Last month, Ecuadorean bonds were the worst performers among the JPMorgan EMBI Global Diversified index, with a -15% total return. To win in a single round, Arauz needs more than 50% of valid votes, or 40% total with 10 percentage points more than the runner-up. Otherwise, a runoff vote will be held on April 11. Perez, third in opinion polls, is running on an anti-mining platform, vowing to protect watersheds from pollution. Also, the city of Cuenca will vote in a referendum on whether to ban mining around any of the rivers that go through the city. This could spook mining companies already contending with opposition from indigenous activists. 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 Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 00:30:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani security agencies on Saturday arrested a terrorist of the Islamic State (IS) group in the country's southern port city of Karachi and foiled terrorist activities, officials said. Zakirullah alias Shafiullah was captured in a joint operation by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and the paramilitary force Rangers on a tip-off in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, a spokesman for the CTD said. Security personnel recovered a hand grenade and pistol from the possession of the terrorist, who was previously associated with the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and later joined the IS, the spokesman said in a statement. Zakirullah, who belonged to Bajaur tribal district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, had received terrorist training in Afghanistan, he said, adding that the terrorist had arrived in Karachi for carrying out terrorist attacks along with other terrorists against the law enforcement agencies. The CTD said the terrorist has confessed his links with the TTP and the IS and his involvement in a series of terrorist acts in different parts of the country. Enditem By Kim Hyun-bin There are numerous factors to consider when looking for a workplace at which to devote one's time and energy, whether it be monetary, corporate culture, job security or the future growth potential of the company. However, amid the COVID-19 pandemic another factor to consider is how much the employer cares for company employees, as uncertainties continue to rise. To find out which companies have the most satisfied employees in Korea, the German market research firm Statista has worked with The Korea Times and its sister paper the Hankook Ilbo to release the "Korea's Best Employers 2021" report. The large-scale and comprehensive study assessed the attractiveness of employers based on an independent employee survey. It is the first time that Statista has conducted such a survey of Korean companies. The countdown is on for Bachelorette lovebirds Georgia Love and Lee Elliott to tie the knot. With their wedding just weeks away, Georgia has penned a Stellar column about her love for Lee and her excitement to finally become his wife. 'After this one, there wont be any new Valentines for me. Thats the plan, anyway, because Im getting married next month!' Georgia eagerly announced. Scroll down for video 'I'm getting married next month!' Bachelorette Georgia Love reveals wedding date is set with Lee Elliott as she marks her last Valentine's Day before saying 'I do' Georgia and her plumber fiance Lee are preparing to tie the knot this year, after meeting on The Bachelorette back in 2016. 'So now, I close the book on the traditional Valentines part of my life. But dont get me wrong, I will still celebrate this mushy, commercial, silly holiday every year and 100 per cent expect flowers from my husband forever,' she cheekily added. 'Love is literally in my name. He knew what he was getting into.' '100 per cent expect flowers from my husband forever': Georgia joked that Lee should still spoil her on the romantic holiday after they become husband and wife Planning their wedding has been a difficult journey for the lovebirds, who met on The Bachelorette in 2016. They originally wanted to get married in Italy, but then chose Tasmania as their alternative wedding destination when international borders closed. But disaster struck for the Melbourne-based couple, when Victoria slammed its borders shut in response to a second wave of coronavirus, meaning their back-up plans were also thwarted. Setbacks: Planning their wedding has been a difficult journey for the lovebirds amid the coronavirus pandemic, who met on The Bachelorette in 2016 Getting close! Both Georgia and Lee have since held respective Hen's and Buck's parties Speaking to The Herald Sun in September, she said: 'We have set a (wedding) date next year and are forging ahead hoping it is going to happen as we want it to.' Appearing to get closer to their big day, Georgia claimed their mini vacation to Queensland's Noosa in January marked their last one before their honeymoon. Both Georgia and Lee have since held respective Hen's and Buck's parties. Representative image: AP Bharat Biotech is likely to begin Covaxin trial on children by February-end or early March 2021. The first phase of the trial will be conducted at a children's hospital in Nagpur, Maharashtra. A city hospital has been picked where the trial will be undertaken on children aged between 2 and 12 and teenagers, the Times of India cited sources as saying. The trial will begin soon after the vaccine-maker receives the go-ahead from the medical regulator. Track this LIVE blog for all the latest updates on coronavirus pandemic "It will be the first such trial in the world in which paediatric population right from toddlers to teens will be tested for the COVID-19 vaccine," said Dr Ashish Tajne, the coordinator for such trials. Tajne further said that vaccine trials will be conducted in age slabs like 2 to 5 years, 6 to 2 years and 12 to 18 years. "Special protocol will be maintained. It will be the crucial trial in the fight against COVID-19," he added. 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 Read: India developing seven more COVID vaccines: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Covaxin is India's first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. According to the Union Health Ministry, more than 56 lakh people have been inoculated against coronavirus till now and there has been no case of "serious or severe" adverse event attributable to the vaccination. The government has also said the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine will be given to the beneficiaries who took the jab on the first day of the inoculation drive from February 13. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said that the country was developing seven more COVID-19 vaccines and working on further vaccine development to inoculate every citizen of India. The Centre didn't have an immediate plan to make the vaccines available in the open market and a decision would be taken as the situation demands, he said. Met Eireann's official storm weather forecasting partner has declared a Status Red warning for Storm Darcy which is caused by a bitterly cold front pushing east from Russia towards Ireland. Met Eireann, the UK Met Office and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) work together to name and forecast winter storms likely to hit the three countries There have been just three storms this winter and the Dutch service has named the fourth on Friday. It issued a Status Red alert on Saturday. "On Sunday, code red (weather alert) is in effect for snow in combination with a lot of wind and light to moderate frost," said its forecast. Storm Darcy will also bring gale-force winds which will cause snowdrifts. The conditions that have caused Storm Darcy are explained by Met Eireann's other partner, the Met Office in the UK. They have warned of snow in the southeast of England. The Met Office explained what is causing the storm which will raise the risk of snow in the week ahead in Ireland. "Cold air emanating from Russia and Eastern Europe will move across the UK over the coming days," said its statement on Storm Darcy. It has also tweeted to show the weather being pushed across Europe. More below tweet. Easterly winds will draw cold air across all of the UK by the end of the weekend. Strong winds and heavy #snow will affect parts of the southeast, with snow showers across other eastern areas. Latest warnings https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs Stay #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/eAzl8O2U8r Met Office (@metoffice) February 6, 2021 Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Paul Gundersen, said: The UK is in for a notably cold and snowy period over the next week, with very cold air in place over the whole of the UK by Sunday". MORE BELOW TWEET. Storm #Darcy has been named by the Dutch Met Service, KNMI, and is set to bring strong winds and heavy snow to southeast England late on Saturday and on Sunday, this easing through Monday Met Office warnings are already in force Stay #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/X1m4FVlH0q February 5, 2021 Met Eireann says this weather from the East will have an impact in Ireland. "Our weather is expected to turn progressively colder from early on Sunday 7th February, with the cold spell now looking likely to last well into next week," said a tweet. Met Eireann has also warned that snow is on the cards this week with a commentary saying there is a risk of 'significant and lasting snow' due to the weather from Russia. Last February Ireland was battered by Storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge, which swept in from the Atlantic. This year Ireland has escaped the worst of a repeat of the Beast from the East conditions which caused Storm Emma in 2018. Met Eireann has forecast that temperatures will tumble in Ireland from Sunday. Its summary outlook for the days ahead predicts wintry showers, mainly in eastern counties, largely dry elsewhere. It says with will feeling very cold during the day with low temperatures and a moderate to fresh wind introducing additional wind-chill while frosty and icy nights are expected. MORE BELOW TWEET. With conditions on the footpaths set to turn icy this week, take extra care when out and about. To avoid slips and falls walk like a penguin when the temperatures fall below freezing. pic.twitter.com/Lluoz1Frwt Met Eireann (@MetEireann) February 6, 2021 NATIONAL FORECAST issued at 4pm on Sunday, February 7 Tomorrow, Monday, February 8 will be very cold with bright or sunny spells. Most areas will be dry, but a few wintry showers are possible in the east of the province. Highest afternoon temperatures of just 2 or 3 degrees in moderate to fresh easterly winds. NATIONAL OUTLOOK SUMMARY: Very cold with wintry showers, mainly in eastern counties. Temperatures in low single figures by day. Sharp frost and ice at nights. Risk of more widespread sleet and snow on Thursday. On Monday night, showers of sleet and snow in the east will become more frequent and push further inland overnight. Very cold with clear spells and lowest temperatures of -3 to 0 degrees with a widespread sharp frost and icy patches under clearing skies. Mainly moderate easterly winds, fresh to strong in the southwest. Tuesday will continue very cold with further wintry showers of rain, sleet and snow feeding in from the east. They'll mainly affect the eastern half of the country, especially eastern coastal counties with moderate snow accumulations in places. It will be mainly dry further west with just isolated showers. Daytime temperatures of just 1 to 3 degrees with fresh easterly winds, strong on southern coasts. Tuesday night will be very cold with lowest temperatures of minus 4 to zero degrees with severe frost and ice causing hazardous conditions. Some further showers of sleet and snow in the east. Winds will ease overnight with fog patches developing. Wednesday will continue very cold with daytime temperatures only reaching 2 or 3 degrees. There'll be a good deal of dry weather, though some further wintry showers are likely, especially in north Leinster and east Ulster. Wednesday night will be cold and frosty in many areas. Rain, sleet and snow will develop in the southwest overnight. Some uncertainty on exact details for Thursday and Friday. Current indications suggest that on Thursday, rain, sleet and snow will move northeastwards over Ireland. It will fall initially as sleet and snow with significant accumulations possible before it turns to rain as milder air moves up from the south. Daytime temperatures of just 1 to 4 degrees. On Thursday night, sleet and snow will continue in Ulster and Leinster, while showers of rain will develop in the west and south. On Friday it looks like there may be further falls of sleet and snow in parts of north Leinster and Ulster, with showers of rain further south. Eventually the milder air will reach northern areas and the weekend will be less cold with a few showers. Our 10 day Atlantic Chart shows the precipitation and pressure forecast in 6 hour intervalshttps://t.co/9Giuj4CR5m A nationwide forecast and outlook covering the next week can be found here. https://t.co/9gKN6SVok4 pic.twitter.com/TECkvdP659 Met Eireann (@MetEireann) February 6, 2021 The next storm is Evert. Met Eireann, the KNMI, joined the Met Office in the west Europe storm naming group in 2020. Pakistani authorities have issued a notification 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 jail to a newly-built facility within the boundaries of the Central Prison in Karachi. The notification on Saturday came days after a three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial ordered to shift 46-year-old Sheikh from the death row cell to a rest house run by the government. All suspects "are to be shifted to the newly constricted Rooms for meeting of spouses with Prisoners situated outside of main prison and within boundary of Central Prison Karachi, the Express Tribune newspaper reported, citing the notification issued by the Sindh Home Department on February 6. However, "NO internet, telephone and for that matter any device/ means of communicating with outside world is to be provided," the notification read. It allowed only suspects families access to them from 8am to 5pm everyday but restricted them from bringing anything from outside of the prison, the paper said. To maintain maximum security, however, a list of family members is to be provided by the counsel of detainees to the advocate general Sindh, secretary home or IG prison, Sindh and only the ones mentioned in the list will be allowed access to the detainees during permitted hours. The families of the suspects will also be offered space in Qasr-e-Naz a federal government owned building in the city along with transport to and from the place of detention, the notification said. The apex court had rejected the government's appeal to suspend the Sindh High Courts 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. In April 2020, a two-judge Sindh High Court bench commuted the death sentence of Sheikh to seven years imprisonment. The court also acquitted his three aides who were serving life terms in the case -- almost two decades after they were found guilty and jailed. The Sindh government and the family of Pearl filed petitions in the apex court, challenging the high court verdict. Last month, the Supreme Court dismissed their appeals against the acquittal of Sheikh and ordered his release, a judgement denounced by the American journalist's family as "a complete travesty of justice." The US government has asked Pakistan government to ensure that those involved in murdering Pearl should be punished. The Sindh government filed a review petition in the apex court against the acquittal of Sheikh and his three accomplices. Voicing outrage over the acquittal of Sheikh and his aides, the White House asked Pakistan to expeditiously review its legal options, including allowing the US to prosecute them to secure justice for Pearls family. Amid mounting pressure from the US and the UN, a spokesman of the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) said that the federal government will file an appropriate application before the apex court to be allowed to join as a party in the proceedings and further seek review and recall of the court's January 28 judgement. The apex court on February 1 rejected the government's request to suspend the order to release Sheikh and his three aides - Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib - in the case but extended their interim detention order by one day to hear the government's position on the case. On Tuesday, the court ordered immediate removal of Sheikh from the death row cell. The Pakistan government is scrambling to keep Sheikh in custody after the top court had ordered to release him if he was not wanted in any other case. The pressure mounted on Pakistan as the US Secretary of State Blinken called Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to demand justice for Pearl. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Advisor to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Barrister Shahzad Akbar on Saturday said a British judge in the preliminary hearing of defamation lawsuit against Daily Mail had observed that Shehbaz Sharif and his family were involved in money laundering of billions of rupees ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Feb, 2021 ) :Advisor to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Barrister Shahzad Akbar on Saturday said a British judge in the preliminary hearing of defamation lawsuit against Daily Mail had observed that Shehbaz Sharif and his family were involved in money laundering of billions of rupees. The London court would set the seal that the Sharifs were corrupt as they would fail to produce any evidence in their favour, he said while addressing here a press conference. Shahzad Akbar also dared the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president to file a libel case against him in London court so that he (Shahzad) could bring fore the evidence of their money laundering. Brushing aside the impression created by a section of the media that Shehbaz Sharif has won the defamation case against the Daily Mail, the advisor said the PML-N leaders were in the habit of distributing sweets without going through courts judgments. He said both Maryams (PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Secretary Information Maryam Aurangzeb) were 'habitual liars'. Though the regular hearing of the libel case had not yet started, but they had claimed of winning the lawsuit, he added. The advisor said it was misreported in the media that Shehbaz has won the case. It was in fact the interpretation of the meaning of words "complained of" in the petition filed by Shehbaz by Justice Matthew Nicklin, who presided over the Queen's Bench Division. The question of winning the case did not arise at the preliminary stage of hearing, he added. Journalist David Rose, who accused Shehbaz Sharif and his family of embezzling the funds given by the United Kindom's Department for International Development (DFID) and then laundering the same to the UK, said in a tweet it was only the first stage of hearing of the defamation suit. The Daily Mail would present the available evidence in the next stage of hearing and then court would take the decision, he added. Shahzad Akbar said there was dearth of evidence against Shehbaz's money laundering when he filed the defamation lawsuit last year. However, today dozens of proofs were available as a reference against him had been filed in the accountability court on their basis. The PML-N leader had even been indicted in the Rs 7 billion money laundering case and his bail plea was also rejected by the court, he added. According to the reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau, Shehbaz had purchased properties worth billions of rupees from the laundered money. His son-in-law Ali Imran had misappropriated Rs 131 million and Rs 499 million respectively in the same case. In same reference, the plea bargain of three co-accused have already been approved, he added. Shahzad said the uncle of Maryam Safdar (Shehbaz) had laundered money worth billions of rupees. The Supreme Court had already declared her papa (Nawaz Sharif) as 'dishonest' in the Panama papers case, he added. Responding to a question, he said the government had retrieved 8,085 acres of illegally occupied state land worth Rs 210 billion in reclamation operations against the Qabza mafia in Punjab. About 2,400 kanal state land valuing Rs 2.5 billion, he said, was recovered in Sargodha from PML-N leader Daniyal Aziz, who had also pay penalty of Rs 48 million for it. Soon a campus of the Sargodha University would be built on that land as the university registrar had submitted an application for its allotment, he added. A public park, he added, was being constructed on the land retrieved from PML-N leader Khurram Dastagir in Gujranwala. Similarly a shelter home was set up on another land recovered from a grabber, he added. He said the retrieved land would be auctioned and money received through it would be spent to improve health facilities in Punjab. The adviser said those, who had plundered the national wealth, would be held accountable. The government was committed to the welfare of people and would utilize all resources for the purpose, he added. Head of Monitoring Unit at the Forestry Commission, Charles Owusu is surprised at the content of Rojo Mettle Nunoo's witness statement. Rojo Mettle Nunoo who was one of the representatives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Electoral Commissions (EC) strong room during election 2020, filed a 9 page, 32 paragraph witness statement on Thursday (February 4, 2021) in support of the petition filed by Former President John Dramani Mahama challenging the declaration of President Akufo-Addo as winner of the presidential election. Rojo Mettle Nunoo, the third witness of the Petitioner, John Mahama in the ongoing Election petition, had catalogued a number of incidents prior to and after the declaration of the Presidential Election results by the Returning Officer and 1st Respondent, Jean Mensa, which he insists cannot be "swept under the carpet" since it "undermines the credibility of the polls and cast grave doubts on the integrity of those assigned responsibilities for a free, fair and transparent conduct of elections." Reacting to this on Peace FM morning show 'Kokrokoo', Charles Owusu disclosed his "surprised at what he (Rojo Mettle Nunoo) wrote...in this life, we need to be truthful; the truth cannot be hidden...lies always get exposed. I don't understand: that somebody will tell you to go out? He recalled how "in 2012, Rojo Mettle Nunoo was sitting in a chair and taking pictures in the strongroom; he and Bernard Mornah, it was like a fanfare...so if it was a different person making these comments (in 2021) that he was misled or asked to go and see the candidate, I would have believed it...he is just deceiving Ghanaians" Listen to him in the video below 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 Sent from pillar to post after losing a loved one to COVID-19 By Namini Wijedasa A family's plight highlights some of the difficulties families and overworked authorities face when people die of the disease View(s): View(s): On January 12, Premadasa from Kadawatha died at the Ragama Teaching Hospital. The 75-year-old had succumbed to complications arising from COVID-19, his death certificate said. But he never figured on the Governments public lists of those who had perished from the virus. This case highlights just some of the difficulties families and overworked authorities face when people die of COVID-19. Premadasa complained of vertigo on December 31 last year. A nearby doctor took his pressure and prescribed medicine while his blood reports were found to be clear. Wasantha, his son, wanted to be identified by one name and requested the same for his father. On January 4, Premadasa and his wife contracted fever. Wasantha consulted another doctor in Kadawatha who sent them home with medication. Whilst his wifes fever subsided in a day, Premadasa had a temperature and lacked appetite. He was advised to take a full blood count and urine report. Wasantha escorted him to the Kiribathgoda Base Hospital. After questions on his symptoms, two doctors sent them home with instructions to administer Paracetamol every six hours and fluids. To be safe, they took a full blood count and urine test on the way. A doctor examined the reports the next morning and said there could be a bacterial infection and also a kidney problem that can be addressed later. An antibiotic was prescribed. Two days later, Premadasa lost appetite again. Wasantha returned with him to the Kiribathgoda hospital where his temperature was checked (he no longer had fever) and a doctor examined his case. He was admitted, given saline and three blood samples taken. Wasantha returned home. It was still morning and he wanted to be back at noon with pillows, sheets and food. But he received a call saying Premadasa was transferred to Ragama. His father seemed fine during evening visiting hours. He had even eaten a hospital meal. The ward said he didnt need a personal attendant. Wasantha was happy. As he was leaving, Premadasa told him to tell his mother she can take off her mask (she had kept on since the day her husband fell ill) and that hes coming home soon. The following afternoon, however, Wasantha found his father on the hospital bed, covered head-to-toe in a sheet. I thought he was sleeping, he narrated. I tapped him and told him that I had brought his lunch. It was another patient that revealed Premadasa had died around 7.30 that morning. Nobody had called me, Wasantha said. And even at 1pm, the body was on the bed. Everything then became more complicated. The ward first handed him a form to certify his father had no valuables on him. Next, he was directed to the hospital police who instructed him to go with his 80-year-old motherwho didnt yet know of her husbands passingand his fathers identity card to the Kadawatha police before returning to the registrars office at the hospital for a death certificate. Wasantha insisted that his mother was too old and would be distraught to make that trip. As he had no siblings, the police finally agreed that he could take just his fathers ID. The Kadawatha police immediately scolded him for not having come in earlier. They got the message at 7.30am, they berated. But what was Wasantha to do when nobody had told him? It was now close to 3pm on January 12. The policeman assigned to the case said he was off at 4pm and that nothing was likely to happen today. He shared his telephone number with Wasantha and sent him back to the registrars office in hospital where he was appraised that Premadasas file was returned to the ward to rectify a mistake. Wasantha had no clue where his fathers body was. But he did know it had been subjected to a PCR test. And the hospital told him that, should the results be positive, the police would come to his house at whatever time in the night. So he should go home. If the police dont come what should I do? he asked (as this would mean the PCR test was negative). If your mother cant manage it, bring your wife and return to the registrars office because we need two people from the family to be present, was the reply. None of the details were clear. Wasantha didnt even have time to process his fathers death. In confusion, he telephoned the policeman at Kadawatha who was handling his case. He told Wasantha to return to the hospital the next morning as he would be there with another set of cases. Wasantha and his wife stood near the registrars office but the police didnt arrive. They still didnt know what his fathers PCR test outcome was. So, he hesitantly walked to the nearby inquiries desk and asked. The file was summoned and checked. The result was positive. We were pointed back to the registrars office and asked to stand much further than before, Wasantha narrated. But however long we waited, nothing happened. It was around three hours and our legs were hurting. We were also quite anxious now because my fathers result was positive and we didnt know what would become of us, including my two young children and aged mother. The policeman handling Wasanthas case finally arrived at the registrars office. He claimed that, since this was a COVID-19 positive death, the procedures would be completed at the ward and not at the registrars office. So, Wasantha and his wife went back to the ward and conveyed messages through passers-by asking someone to meet them. Nobody came, he said. We waited there for one hour, sending message after message. Finally, a doctor told us that the ward wont give us a death certificate. We were back at the registrars office where they took my telephone number and released us. With no feedback for several hours, it was Wasantha that called back. My father lived in our house, he pleaded. We are scared. We are being sent all around just to settle my fathers death certificate and deal with the body. Tell us what to do. They told him to buy a coffin from a named undertaker and that the cremation will take place at the Batuwatta cemetery. The cheapest coffin was Rs 25,000 and the crematorium would cost Rs 7,000, Wasantha said. On top of the grief, the time-wasting and multiple procedures, the fear and anxiety, we now had to find money. There are families in far worse situations than us. The undertaker claimed the coffin was expensive because there was risk involved and others dont want to do this business. Since Wasantha wasnt sure whether he was infected, he had asked a cousin to come with him to the funeral parlour. We stood outside while he made inquiries, he said. Obviously, they asked for the death certificate. The hospital still hadnt given us one. The body couldnt be released from the mortuary. And we couldnt apply for a cremation. Exhausted, Wasantha and his wife came home in a three-wheeler. He notified the hospital that they could do nothing without a death certificate. By then, Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) had pasted a notice saying their house was under quarantine. But Wasantha received yet another call summoning him to the hospital with his father reports and the medication he had taken leading up to his death. I told them we were under quarantine, he said. Meanwhile, the area PHI instructed Wasantha to bring his family to Delgoda for PCR tests. I told him we were under quarantine, and there were five of us but just one motorbike, he said. They sent a small jeep for us. There were more than 200 people waiting to be tested at the Delgoda public playground and 80 ahead of us in the queue. Just one person using the same pair of gloves and personal protection equipment took swabs. The police had dropped in while they were away, a neighbour said. When I telephoned, they told me my fathers cremation had taken place, he recalled. I was taken aback. I asked them how that could have happened without anybody notifying me. The policeman checked again. He said the cremation hadnt taken place. Wasantha was drowning in confusion. From the day his father passed away, he and his cousin had taken call after call, just to get a death certificate and complete final rites. But even the policeman now said he wasnt sure what the problem was. Wasantha eventually understood that ward doctor wasnt releasing the cause of death so the registrar could not issue the certificate. The judicial medical officer called me and said they were applying for a court order for an inquest, he related. I had thought till then that COVID-19 positive bodies were disposed of within 24 hours. Anyway, I was never shown the court order. Two close relatives are required to be present at an inquest. This did not happen either. Even five days after Premadasas demise, there was no funeral. Wasanthas cousin went from pillar to post, taking leave from his job. At one point, he was so frustrated, he snapped at the authorities that they could do whatever they wanted with the body, he said. Wasanthas cousin did eventually get the death certificate. The cause of death was given as heart attack precipitated by COVID-19. While they claim COVID-19 positive bodies are cremated immediately, I believe there are many instances when they are not, Wasantha said. And the trouble we went through after losing our father was terrible. Authorities said the case was complicated as Premadasas PCR report returned positive after he died in hospital within 24 hours of admission. The ward doctor decided to call for an inquest and the coroner said it couldnt be done, requiring the Judicial Medical Officer to obtain a court order. There needs to be a regular mechanism because such delays worsen the suffering for relatives, one doctor said. And medical authorities are also under so much pressure. We are handling multiple issues and the calls, the complaints, the grief, all come to us. Based on the mixed messages Wasantha received, it was clear hospital authorities had also struggled with protocolnot granting the death certificate, requesting possible COVID-19 positive relatives to be physically present, sending them from pillar to post for a week before the body was released. The family still doesnt know whether an inquest and a full or partial post-mortem were done. Wasanthas cousin was present at the cremation but did not see the body. It couldve been anyone he says. The workers at the crematorium also demanded Rs 5,000 for completing the task and refused to issue a receipt. On the day of the funeralJanuary 18, seven days after the deaththe PCR reports of Wasanthas wife and two children came back positive. While he and his mother had spent the most time with Premadasa, their tests were negative. Till now, Premadasa has not been included in the daily list of COVID-related deaths released by the Government. JAAF, CCC jointly propose vaccines for employees By Sunimalee Dias View(s): View(s): The Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) together with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) will be jointly proposing to the health authorities to purchase COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate around 500,000 of their employees and a section of the community on a priority basis. During meetings held with the Health Department officials, JAAF and CCC had indicated that they were willing to purchase vaccines for approximately 500,000 employees and a further section of the population, JAAF General Secretary Tuli Cooray told the Business Times. He noted that they have committed to bring down one million doses of vaccine, through the government, for use on their employees and those of the CCC. Mr. Cooray pointed out that they held meetings on Wednesday as well with the Health Ministry Secretary and had informed the authorities of their commitment to finance the purchase of the one million vaccines on a priority basis for their employees. The industry is working on the database of their employees that was required by the health officials in a bid to carry out the inoculation once the vaccines are purchased. He noted that they were in the process of establishing where the employees are located and provide the necessary information to the health authorities in a bid to ensure they could purchase and distribute the vaccines when they arrive. CCC Secretary General Manjula de Silva told the Business Times that they are in discussion with JAAF to work jointly and have carried out a survey of their membership and a number of their companies are interested in it. Both doses of the vaccine will be administered as per the requirement in this respect by the authorities who will order the vaccines on their behalf, Mr. De Silva explained. He noted that they will be financing both doses of the vaccine and are also looking at meeting the expenses of the needs of a section of the people in the country, as well. This proposal is being finalised and both organisations are to write to the health authorities on Monday of their intentions to provide financial support in purchasing the vaccines, it was pointed out. Sri Lanka had already commenced vaccination of its priority sectors upon receiving the first batch of its vaccines from India as part of a donation to the country amounting to 500,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVISHELD. Meanwhile, until January 26 there have been 87,556 PCR tests carried out on employees of all 13 BOI zones with companies spending around Rs.562 million with the largest amount of testing carried out in Katunayake, Biyagama and Seethawaka, Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Association Secretary Dhammika Fernando said. Since October 8, with the second outbreak of the COVID 19 in Sri Lanka there had been about 2800 detections made of COVID-19 positive cases. Further, he noted that 57,401 tests have been carried out on factories outside the zones incurring a cost of Rs.373 million that have reported 1, 800 positive cases. Australia has spent twice as much money supporting its citizens through the coronavirus pandemic than countries like the UK. The stimulus spent by the Morrison Government is 86 times larger than that of the British government, despite the UK experiencing around 46 times more coronavirus cases per capita, reported News.com.au. Despite the UK experiencing multiple lockdowns, a mutated strain of the virus and a death toll of more than 100,000, fiscal stimulus is at a low nine per cent, compared to Australia's 16.8 per cent. Australia has spent twice as much money supporting its citizens through the coronavirus pandemic than countries like the UK Canada, France, Italy and Brazil have all spent less on their stimulus packages than Australia. Jacinda Ardern has also spent less on New Zealand's fiscal support package, spending 35 per cent less than Australia. Government stimulus has meant extra cash can be used to bolster the economy, with many saying Australians have spent their way out of an economic downturn. The New Zealand government has spent 35 per cent less on fiscal support packages than Australia When comparing the latest retail sales data with that of 12 months prior (November 2019), spending is up more than 13 per cent. The used car market is also booming, with Aussie's using their superannuation to purchase a vehicle as an alternative to public transport. Australia's preference to save rather than spend between March and October last year has resulted in a $109billion cash-pool in household savings, which provided some temporary relief to the economy. The UK experiences 46 more times coronavirus cases per capita than Australia but has spent significantly less on stimulus packages Economic managers predict the withdrawal of government stimulus, including the JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments will result in an inevitable economic downturn. Prime Minister Scott Morrison told the National Press Club on Monday that Australia cannot be run on taxpayer money forever. Mr Morrison said that emergency response measures are only temporary and will be accompanied by a clear fiscal exit strategy. 'On the economy and jobs, the comeback in Australias economy is already underway and betters the experience of most advanced economy nations in the world today', Mr Morrison said. Mr Morrison said the government will achieve economic recovery by sticking to the Economic Recovery Plan, and exercising fiscal discipline to ensure future generations are not overburdened by taxpayer spending. AJ and Curtis Pritchard are set to be joining Hollyoaks in the spring for their first TV acting role. The brothers, who have already appeared in hit shows such as I'm A Celebrity and Love Island, are said to be playing twins who help open a dance school on the soap. AJ, 26, and Curtis, 24, will arrive in the village, as dance teacher Trish, played by Denise Welch, hosts the grand opening of her brand-new dance school. Ready for a new challenge? AJ, 26,and Curtis Pritchard, 24, are set to join Hollyoaks as TWIN brothers who help open a dance school for their first TV acting role Welcome! Hollyoaks are yet to reveal more about the characters AJ and Curtis will play Hollyoaks are yet to reveal more about the characters AJ and Curtis will play, but AJ has been spotted on set filming his first scenes and giving fans an exclusive look behind-the-scenes; including a first-look at his costume and a picture with co-star Denise Welch, 62. Talking about their upcoming appearances AJ said 'I cant believe we will be featuring on Hollyoaks, we have grown up with the show on TV and its always been one of our favourite serial dramas. 'Our characters are fantastic, and we cant wait for everyone to see how we bring them to life.' Curtis added 'I am so excited to be working with my brother AJ on a show we grew up watching! I am also excited to continue our journey together with Channel 4 & E4.' Making moves: The brothers, who have already appeared in hit shows such as I'm A Celebrity and Love Island, are said to be playing twins who help open a dance school on the soap It is thought that AJhas already shot some scenes for his character, while Curtis is set to get in front of the camera very soon. The talented brothers have already had lots of practice on TV, however this will be the first time they're acting. AJ shot to fame as a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing, which he left last year, and appeared on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! before Christmas. On TV: AJ shot to fame as a professional dancer on Strictly Come Dancing, which he left last year, and appeared on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! before Christmas (pictured with Giovanna Fletcher and Jordan North in the Welsh castle) While his younger brother Curtis become a household name after a stint on Love Island, where he was coupled up with Maura Higgins. He then bagged the role of receptionist on TV competition The Greatest Dancer and is also on the current series of Celebs Go Dating on E4. On a recent episode of the dating show, Curtis chatted about his 'unhealthy' relationship with his ex-girlfriend Maura. The Love Island star also hinted at his feelings toward her new romance with her best friend Chris Taylor, who was their co-star on the 2019 series of the show. Claim to fame: Younger Pritchard brother Curtis become a household name after a stint on Love Island, where he was coupled up with Maura Higgins (pictured together in July 2019) Curtis spoke candidly on the subject of his ex to love gurus Anna Williamson and Paul Carrick Brunson, after sharing a kiss with Kesia earlier this week. Explaining that he has a 'block' in his head, Curtis said: 'I've never ever thought I wanted to say bad things about anybody but my former relationship wasn't the healthiest shall we say.' He said: 'She wasn't my usual type, dead hot, fiery character and behind closed doors I'm a fiery character - in dance you have to be - and in the bedroom and stuff I am like that a little bit you know.' Curtis and Maura dated for nine months after meeting on the show but went their separate ways in March last year. Open: Curtis opened up on his 'unhealthy' relationship with his ex-girlfriend Maura during a recent episode of Celebs Go Dating Maura announced her romance with Chris last November, and reflecting on the relationship, Curtis said: 'Then with Maura it started to go downhill a little bit. 'She is now in a relationship with her 'best friend' who came into Love Island and stated that he fancied Maura.' Curtis put his hands up in quote marks when he said best friend, hinting at his feelings towards his ex's new romance. Dating expert Anna Williamson told Curtis: 'This baggage you're carrying, we can see how hurt you have been.' When Maura and Chris revealed their romance, Curtis revealed he felt 'hurt' and 'betrayed' after she shared news that she had moved on with their co-star Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald said Brexiteers had to accept that new trading borders between Great Britain and the island of Ireland were a permanent consequence of the UK's exit from the EU. Ms McDonald said the focus now needed to be on resolving initial problems with new Irish Sea trading arrangements, not ditching the Northern Ireland Protocol that now governs the movement of goods. "Brexit is for keeps, I mean this is a big game changer for all of us and it has to be managed in a way that is sensible, in a way that is fair," she told Sky News. "None of us wanted trading barriers between our island and the island to Britain, or across the continent, but Brexit has happened and in some respects those that advocated it so strongly now need to very much accept the fact that these are the consequences of their decisions. "For us on the island of Ireland, there is the immediate need to have the protocol work to protect Irish jobs and livelihoods, to secure the infrastructure of our peace process." Foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney has said the Irish Government is open to "modest extensions" of grace periods associated with the Northern Ireland Protocol. However, Mr Coveney insisted there could be no renegotiation of the terms of the protocol, which governs trade between GB and NI post-Brexit. "We need to try to find accommodation for each other here that can reduce tensions in Northern Ireland, can respond to legitimate concerns, regardless of who's raising them, so that we can show that the protocol can be flexible when needed," he told RTE Radio One. "But at the same time that is not a renegotiation of the protocol, it's about using the protocol as it is now and flexibilities within it. And certainly I would be open to advocating for modest extensions of grace periods when appropriate to try to, first of all, reassure people that we're listening to them in Northern Ireland, because we are, and then, secondly, so that we can ensure that businesses can operate as best they can under the protocol. "But that's not the same thing as scrapping the protocol and it's important to make a strong distinction between the two." Simon Coveney insisted the protocol was generally working, highlighting that the volume of goods arriving into Northern Ireland ports was similar to this time last year. Responding to a claim from Arlene Foster that he was "tone deaf" to unionist concerns about the protocol, Mr Coveney insisted he was just trying to be honest. "Calls to scrap the protocol because there are some issues in terms of implementation just isn't realistic and I've tried to be as honest about that as I can this week," he said. "That does not mean trying to pick a fight with the DUP, it's just me being honest with people. "You cannot simply scrap an element of an international treaty five weeks into its implementation, because you don't like elements of it." SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has warned that powersharing in Northern Ireland could be under threat if political unionism continues to agitate for the "unrealistic" scrapping of new Irish Sea trading arrangements. Mr Eastwood urged the DUP to end talk of political boycotts and dial down the rhetoric, and instead join with other Stormont parties to find workable solutions to issues linked to the Northern Ireland Protocol. Asked by RTE if there could be a threat to powersharing if unionists took an increasingly hardline approach to the protocol, Mr Eastwood said: "Yes, I think there could be and unionism needs to learn the lesson that they should have learned a number of times over the past 100 years - the British Government will let you down and if you keep going to the right you're going to end up in a worse position when you come back to the table. "So come and work with us, let's get together, the spirit of powersharing is what's important right now, working in partnership to deal with the problems. "But continuing to run to the microphone, have petitions and talk about protests and all that - none of that works, it's not based in reality. "We know the DUP campaigned for Brexit, it was a strategic error at the time. "We can now work together to resolve some of the difficulty, but let's all calm down, work together, put the rhetoric at the door because it's not going to help and it will have a political impact. "We're seeing stability being rocked this week in a number of different ways and I think as political leaders we all have a responsibility, first and foremost, to be honest with our people and tell them what the scenario is, what the context is, why we have trading barriers and also come together to work through it, because the alternative is just not worth contemplating." An unwanted pregnancy was not something Aoife had anticipated having to deal with during lockdown. But somehow, at the end of November, she found herself sitting alone in her Dublin apartment, looking incredulously at the pregnancy test results. She initially didn't believe it. So she took another test, and then a third. Finally she was forced to accept the reality. "I was pregnant in the middle of a pandemic. And I did not want to be," she recalls. "For me, this was the worst news. It also came at the most emotionally challenging time of my life. "It's been a nightmare for us all in different ways, I was struggling with isolation and anxiety when I found out I was pregnant," adds Aoife (not her real name), who spoke to the Sunday Independent on condition of anonymity. Of one thing she was immediately certain: she did not want to continue with the pregnancy. The young professional in her early-30s had rekindled a relationship with an ex-boyfriend during the pandemic. He had been visiting her at her home, for dinner or drinks, which often led to sex. "It was out of loneliness really we began to see each other again. Boredom during the pandemic led to me getting pregnant, I suppose. "It's not like either of us could go out and meet other people but we knew we weren't going to get back together. It was just companionship, really, during lockdown. I don't know why, but our contraceptive method didn't work." As she sat alone in her apartment that day in late November, Aoife could think of several reasons not to have a child. She could think of none to continue with the pregnancy. She says she never felt more alone as she weighed up her options that day. Her close friend and flatmate had moved temporarily to her parents' home and Aoife couldn't visit her best friend, who lived 20km away and was self-isolating. "I rang my two closest friends later in the day and it was such a relief to talk about it. But for a long time, I just sat there and considered everything on my own. I wasn't in a relationship with the father and had no intention of being. "Financially, I still live in rented accommodation and the next couple of years in my career are important. I'm not sure if I ever want children, but I certainly do not want one right now, during this seemingly never-ending pandemic. "I'm not saying it was an easy decision or that I was flippant about it. It was just the right choice for me. "I also felt it needed to be a secret because my ex had been visiting me during lockdown when he shouldn't have been." Aoife then did what every woman does if they find themselves in an unplanned pregnancy situation. She googled her options. A list of freephone numbers popped up and, by the end of the day, she'd spoken to a counsellor about her situation and options. Before she had picked up the phone, Aoife had decided she wanted an abortion, which has been legal in Ireland for just over two years. Abortion in Ireland for the vast majority of women involves taking medication to end the pregnancy, rather than a medical procedure. Within a few days, she had her first of two consultations with a GP. Because of the pandemic, her first consultation was conducted virtually. This is permitted under HSE emergency provisions - in place for the duration of the Covid-19 emergency - that dispense with the requirement for women to make two GP visits to access abortion services. The next day, Aoife visited a GP at a Dublin clinic. She was examined by and spoke with a doctor, before being given medication to begin the process of the termination of her early pregnancy. She took the first dose at the clinic. She went home with a second dose of medication, which she then took the next day. "I was advised to have someone with me at home for when I took the second dose. I think for emotional support as much as anything else. "My friend wanted to come over and stay with me. But I decided I wanted to be on my own. I was comfortable with my decision. "Maybe I'd just gotten used to dealing with it alone. But it all went OK. I know it was the right choice." For Aoife, the termination of her pregnancy was relatively straightforward, despite the pandemic. But many women are not so fortunate. Aoife did not need to be sent for scans when she was examined by a GP because no medical issues arose around her pregnancy. She also wasn't Covid-positive or in self-isolation, meaning she could be seen by a GP for her second appointment, instead of having to arrange someone else to collect the medication on her behalf, also allowed for under the HSE emergency provisions. But crucially, Aoife was in the early stages of pregnancy. Medical abortion on request is legal in Ireland up to 12 weeks by taking medication. Thereafter an abortion must be performed in a hospital - but only in exceptional circumstances where continuing the pregnancy would put the woman's life or health at serious risk or where the baby is likely to die within 28 days of birth due to a foetal abnormality. Despite the pandemic, women over 12 weeks' pregnant continue to travel overseas for abortions in their droves. They are doing so for a variety of reasons, including foetal abnormalities, according to the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA). But going overseas for the procedure is fraught with difficulties because of Covid-19. "'I can't afford an abortion' should not be the reason someone has a child," says Mara Clarke, founder of Abortion Support Network. The charity helps people travel from Ireland, the Isle of Man, Malta, Gibraltar and Poland to the UK and Holland for terminations. Last year, 158 women in Ireland contacted the charity looking for financial and logistical help about travelling for an abortion. And just last month, 14 women contacted the organisation. "They are just the women who are contacting us," says Ms Clarke. "We are there for the women who fall through the cracks, who cannot afford to arrange to travel and pay for an abortion privately. So we are only helping a small proportion. "Look around your social circle - these are the people we help. Married, single, divorced women. Working and unemployed Irish women, members of the Travelling community, migrants. "Our clients are every type of woman. The majority travelling for terminations have another child. The only thing they have in common is that they are pregnant and they don't want to be. They never in a million years thought they would be asking strangers in the UK for help." Last spring, it took three attempts by the charity to arrange for a 21-year-old to travel for an abortion. Cancelled flights, closed hotels, quarantine rules and the obligation to provide a negative PCR Covid result at clinics are just some of the issues women travelling for terminations must now navigate. "Planes, trains and automobiles are the issue right now because of Covid," adds Ms Clarke. "Because so many are cancelled or reduced. To travel for an abortion is a difficult enough experience in normal times. But right now, it's just unbelievably hard. "Add into the mix that many of these women have other kids. But who will mind them during a pandemic while they travel?" The medication Aoife took to terminate her early pregnancy fulfilled its intended purpose. But Roisin Venables, head of counselling for IFPA, says: "There are cases of women here who had an abortion, but the medication hasn't worked. Some of these women then choose to travel because they have no other legal option. "The reality also is that some women have had to travel because the abortion care they need has been delayed because of Covid. "One day can make a difference between a women being able to access abortion services here or being forced to travel because of the 12-week rule. That's highly distressing." And some women are buying abortion pills online to end their pregnancies, says Ms Venables. "We are counselling all types of women in all situations. Some are seeking abortions for pregnancies they desperately wanted and went through IVF, but they know of serious foetal abnormalities and it is taking too long for their medical abortions to be carried out here so they feel they have no option but to travel." There is also a misconception that because of rolling lockdowns for nearly a year, casual sex is off the table and therefore there are fewer unplanned pregnancies. "That is not the case at all," continues Ms Venables. "If you want to have sex, you will have sex." Dr Caitriona Henchion, IFPA medical director, agrees. Its two clinics in Dublin which provide abortion services are as busy as they were pre- pandemic. "We are seeing much the same level of women as we did in the first year. There have been abortion services available in Ireland for just over two years, since January 2019. Almost half of that time has been during Covid, so we have had to adapt. "If we didn't have legal abortion here when the pandemic began, this would be a major crisis." For more information, see https://www2.hse.ie/unplanned- pregnancy/ Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-08 01:32:39|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close STOCKHOLM, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Swedish experts recommend patients infected with mutated COVID-19 variants receive the same medical treatment as those infected with the original strain, news agency TT reported on Sunday. In the latest update of the national COVID-19 treatment program, the Swedish Society of Infectious Diseases endorses the use of the same medication that is used to treat standard COVID-19. While mutated strains are believed to be more contagious, they do not seem to lead to worse infections. "As far as we know, the new variants do not lead to a more serious course of the disease," Lars-Magnus Andersson, chairman of the Swedish Society of Infectious Diseases, told TT. The news agency reported that while the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a recommendation against the use of remdesivir in hospitalized patients, the updated Swedish treatment program said it may be used during the early phase of the disease on hospitalized patients in need of oxygen treatment. Whilst no cure-all yet exists for those who develop serious symptoms, three vaccines against COVID-19 have so far been approved by the European Medicines Agency -- Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca. It is however unclear whether they are effective against new strains of the virus. Recent trials of AstraZeneca's vaccine showed significantly reduced efficacy against the mutation first discovered in South Africa, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. Meanwhile, 238 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 WHO on Feb. 2. Enditem By Caitlin Johnstone February 07, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - In response to rumors that Bernie Sanders foreign policy advisor Matt Duss may be playing some role in the Joe Biden State Department, bloodthirsty psychopath Nikki Haley told the Washington Free Beacon that this is another indication that the only unity in Bidens foreign policy is between the far left and the extreme left. Which is of course ridiculous. Taken as a whole Bidens imperialist foreign policy has not differed much from Trumps, and Duss is a fairly reliable imperialist himself. This administration is not an extreme deviation from the norm, and much less a manifestation of anything that could be called extreme left. NEW: Biden Reportedly Set to Hire Top Anti-Israel Activist Matt Duss for State Dept Post -- @NikkiHaley tells me controversial pick "is another indication that the only unity in Bidens foreign policy is between the far left and the extreme left" https://t.co/iNai3o784u Adam Kredo (@Kredo0) February 4, 2021 This nonsense comes out at the same time we learn that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has put a bunch of US military operations on hold, not because those military operations are depraved acts of mass murder driven by the megalomaniacal agenda to dominate the entire world, but to hold needed discussions about the possibility that there may now be extremists among their ranks. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has ordered a staggered pause of operations across the entire US military so commanders can have needed discussions with service members about the issue of extremism over the next 60 days, CNN reports. The issue of extremism in the military has been at the forefront since the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. At least 22 people either formerly or currently associated with the military were charged in connection with the riot. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Newsletter Thats right, the US military has for decades been merrily incinerating entire families, ripping apart children with cluster munitions, and destroying whole nations for disobeying US imperial dicates, but now they need to pause some of that normal, wholesome activity because a few bad apples might perhaps have succumbed to extremism. Devastating Iraq, turning Libya into a failed state, facilitating genocide in Yemen, waging an endlessly expanding war on terror and brandishing armageddon weapons at your enemies? Thats fine and normal. Members of the military joining hate groups and believing in QAnon? Thats extremism. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has ordered a staggered pause of operations across the entire US military so commanders can have "needed discussions" with service members about the issue of extremism over the next 60 days, a Pentagon spokesperson says https://t.co/E6Du5us0N0 CNN (@CNN) February 4, 2021 This all just goes to show how completely meaningless the mainstream concepts of normal and extreme have become when talking about politics and power in our insane world. When you oppose the horror that is western imperialism people try to paint you as a radical extremist who cant just be reasonable and pragmatic about things, but really nothing could be further from the truth. Theres nothing radical or extreme about opposing the domination of the entire planet with relentless acts of mass slaughter to the detriment of the worlds most vulnerable populations, all because some sociopaths in DC decided that it is good and reasonable to inflict any amount of terror upon our world to preserve unipolar US hegemony. Opposing this is just basic human sanity. People will act like youre unreasonable and impossible if theres not a single US politician you support. Not even Bernie? theyll ask. Not even AOC?? Whats wrong with you?! If you are an anti-imperialist, being asked to choose a US politician you support is like being asked to pick a favorite Nazi. The US empire is the single most evil and destructive power on our planet right now and everyone on Capitol Hill is an imperialist facilitator of mass murder, yet youll be treated like an extremist moonbat if you dont like any of them. The problem isnt that an anti-imperialist has strange, impossible standards, its that they oppose an insane and murderous status quo which only elevates leaders who will advance that status quo. So far Biden is keeping the space force (militarizing space), recognizing Juan Guaido, not re-entering JCPOA (Iran nuclear agreement), keeping troops in Germany, deep sixing the Afghanistan peace agreement, and sending bombers to Norway. Did I miss anything? Margaret Kimberley (@freedomrideblog) February 5, 2021 The same goes for socialism. Theres nothing extreme or radical about believing the poor shouldnt be left to suffer and die and that workers should own the full value of their labor. Its not some crazy wingnut ideal to believe we should abandon the political and economic model of profit-chasing as the driving motivator for human behavior at mass scale which has driven our species to the brink of extinction. Youre not an extremist if you oppose a system which crushes human beings to death at home and abroad for the power and profit of the very few, youre just normal. Youre not a radical, youre just sane. This is why I think its important for sane people to reject such labels; theres a coolness factor which comes with presenting yourself as a radical, but it comes at the price of normalizing the status quo which is itself the epitome of violent extremism. Dont let that bat shit crazy model define you by setting the status quo up as normal and yourself as a radical deviation therefrom. They are the radical ones. You are just normal and sane. Abnormalize the status quo and normalize sanity. Put your energy into helping the world see how bat shit insane their normal really is. The status quo isnt the baseline of normality, sanity is. A sane, healthy world would look wildly different from this one, and we need to help people get clear on the distinction so we can all start creating that world together. Caitlin's articles are entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking her on Facebook, following her antics on Twitter, checking out her podcast, throwing some money into her hat on Patreon or Paypal, or buying her book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. https://caitlinjohnstone.com After the Super Bowl is over Sunday, get ready for another game: Spot the New Jersey locations in Queen Latifahs new TV series. Latifah, a Newark native who grew up in East Orange, stars in The Equalizer on CBS. Scenes filmed in Jersey City and Paterson can be seen in the pilot, and the production is based inside the former Izod Center in East Rutherford. The series, premiering in the highly coveted post-game spot, features the multi-hyphenate entertainer as Robyn McCall, a former CIA agent who becomes a guardian angel to the vulnerable. The Equalizer is a reimagining of the 1980s CBS series of the same name. Edward Woodward originated the role of Robert McCall in 1985. The character was later adapted for two Equalizer films starring Denzel Washington. Like Robert, Robyn is a former intelligence agent. Unlike Robert, shes a single mother. Black women have been equalizing for years Latifah, whose career honors have included an Emmy (Bessie), Grammy (U.N.I.T.Y), Golden Globe and Oscar nomination (Chicago), is the first Black woman and first woman to step into The Equalizers shoes. I think Black women have been equalizing for years and years and years, Latifah said Thursday at a virtual press conference inside the former Izod Center, which has become a film hub in its long dormancy as a performance space. And thats from Hatshepsut to Stacey Abrams to Kamala Harris to my mother to my grandmother, she continued. So, for me, seeing a Black woman equalize is not a new thing. I think seeing it on network TV once every week may be a little newer. Latifah, born Dana Owens, is also an executive producer of the series. She points out that three generations of Black women appear on the show: Laya DeLeon Hayes (Doc McStuffins) plays McCalls teen daughter, Delilah, and Lorraine Toussaint (Orange is the New Black) plays McCalls aunt, Viola Vi Marsette. I think the world needs to see what life is like for us and I think its going to be a lot of fun, she said. In the series premiere, Latifahs McCall comes to the aid of Jewel, a teen diner employee (Lorna Courtney) who witnesses a fatal shooting and dodges a bullet, then has nowhere to turn when doctored security footage pinpoints her as the shooter. Who do you go to if you cant go to the cops? Jewel asks. The Equalizer! McCall tells Delilah that when she was young, she stole a car. A judge gave her a choice: jail or the Army. She thinks about what would have happened if Jewel, the girl she saves in the episode, went to jail after she was falsely incriminated. She also wonders what could be possible if someone like herself was there to support and protect other Black girls. She vows to singlehandedly (with the assistance of a few CIA-connected friends) step up and become a guardian to anyone who needs her help. It is a reboot and a retelling of the original series, Latifah says, but one with heart. I think The Equalizer has an idea that is a constant, she said. Seeing someone who jumps in and stands up for someone who cant fight for themselves is something I think we all have in our hearts somewhere. Latifah also filmed this scene in Paterson. She says she's glad to bring jobs to New Jersey during a trying time.Barbara Nitke | CBS Equalizer squad McCall, who recently left the CIA, finds a measure of redemption in her new mission. She stays up at night, haunted by all the people she couldnt save in her last job abroad. Chris Noth Mr. Big from Sex and the City co-stars as William Bishop, McCalls friend and former handler at the company. Together, theyre constantly saying things like Remember Tangiers? He tells McCall her biggest regrets are also her strength she cares. Queen Latifah as Robyn McCall and Laya DeLeon Hayes as McCall's daughter, Delilah, in a scene filmed in Jersey City.Michael Greenberg | CBS Adam Goldberg (Dazed and Confused) co-stars as Harry Keshegian, a hacker friend who joins McCalls cause along with Melody Mel Bayani (Liza Lapira from Unbelievable), a bar owner with a particular set of skills. Tory Kittles (Colony) plays Marcus Dante, an NYPD detective who wants to find McCalls true identity after she impersonates a public defender. Whatever role she plays to fulfill her personal mission as a trained vigilante, shes always smooth, always one step ahead. Its particularly satisfying to watch McCall tell off a tech bro who tries to pay his way out of a crime. You think that you can buy and sell the whole world, she tells him. You think your life is more valuable than everybody elses. Latifah with Chris Noth as William Bishop, McCall's friend and former CIA handler. Barbara Nitke | CBS Jersey production The Equalizer, co-created by producers Andrew Marlowe and Terri Edda Miller, began filming in Paterson and Jersey City this past fall. The New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission says the series is scheduled to continue filming in New Jersey, including in Latifahs native Newark, through April. Latifah hopes a local feel translates to the series. I think the Jersey influence is the bones of the show, she said. Its underneath everything we do. Everybody is from New Jersey who works here, pretty much. Jerseyans have this thing about us. If you can grow up here, you can go anywhere in the world. Im hoping that that does come across in how we shoot and how we feel and how Im able to play this role and what Im able to bring across on camera. I am so excited for you to see @TheEqualizerCBS this Sunday after the Super Bowl! I know you can't wait to meet Robyn so I'm sharing this exclusive, sneak peek from the premiere of one of the fight scenes #TheEqualizer on @CBS and CBS All Access! pic.twitter.com/qiMfsxMY1N Queen Latifah (@IAMQUEENLATIFAH) February 5, 2021 Latifah, who has a $15 million mixed-use construction project in the works in Newark, said it is gratifying to know that the show could provide a boost to the local economy, even if it has been a challenge to film because of COVID-19 precautions. It means a lot to me for us to be able to, more importantly, employ New Jerseyans, she said. We have been hit pretty hard this year because of the pandemic, Latifah said. Weve been through a lot this year and its nice to bring some business here to New Jersey, right back where it all started, to make sure that there are some people who have an opportunity to put food on the table every week. When I get too tired, Im always inspired by the fact that Ive got to get up. If I dont get to work, 200, 300 people wont go to work. Latifah with and Lorraine Toussaint as Robyn McCall's aunt, Viola Vi Marsette.Barbara Nitke | CBS Latifah first rose to fame as a rapper, releasing debut album All Hail the Queen in 1989. Starting in 1993, she headed up the cast of Living Single, the hit Fox sitcom that famously inspired NBCs Friends. Latifah continued her successful decades-long run in film and TV, in recent years starring in popular movies like Girls Trip and dazzling TV audiences as Ursula in The Little Mermaid Live! A scene from "The Equalizer" premiere with Latifah, Liza Lapira as Melody Mel Bayani and Adam Goldberg as Harry Keshegian.Barbara Nitke | CBS A bittersweet premiere Richard Lindheim, the longtime TV executive who co-created the original Equalizer series on CBS with Michael Sloan, was also producing the new show before he died on Jan. 18. The series premiere is dedicated to his memory. He was involved every step of the way, Latifah said of Lindheim, who was 81 when he died. He has been in every meeting, he was at every pitch, and he was just so excited with the idea of this show being rebooted, and being rebooted with me as the lead. He and I just hit it off from day one. We just talked sci-fi all the time. We just loved to have conversations about the cosmos, about the universe and about science. The series has a home base in East Rutherford.Barbara Nitke | CBS Before his death, Lindheim got to watch the series premiere. He thought it was great, Latifah said. I felt like he blessed this project and I appreciate the opportunity to take something that he created and hopefully we will all take it to another level. The Equalizer premieres after the Super Bowl on CBS (about 10 p.m. ET) Sunday, Feb. 7. Starting Feb. 14, the show moves to Sundays at 8 p.m. ET. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter. Bobi Wine in a police van after his arrest in Luuka District on November 18, 2020. The actions and statements of Opposition leaders Kizza Besigye and Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, indicate a marked difference in how they view the role of foreign powers in the conduct of the struggle against President Museveni's government in which the two are involved. The sharp differences between the approaches of the National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Kyagulanyi and former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party president Besigye, was evident on Thursday when Mr Kyagulanyi hosted the European Union (EU) Delegation to Uganda. Commenting on the visit, Dr Besigye said: "Today I saw that the EU ambassadors are going to visit Mr Kyagulanyi. This is not time for visiting. Visiting and then what? There must be clear action ... It is not a time for public relations." Dr Besigye was speaking at a press conference at his offices on Katonga Road in Kampala. He noted that the EU had previously exhibited interest in the democratisation process by observing elections and making recommendations after the 2006, 2011 and 2016 elections, which it observed. Some of the recommendations included establishment of an inclusive and transparent mechanism for appointment and removal of the Electoral Commission (EC), strengthening the EC's integrity by engaging civil society in their selection process; regulating campaign spending and introducing spending caps for candidates. The EU, however, did not send observers for the 2021 General Election. Late in November last year, the EU head of delegation to Uganda, Mr Attilio Pacifici, said the decision was precipitated by the outbreak of Covid-19, and failure by government to carry out any reforms in line with the recommendations that had been made over a 15-year period. An EU source told Sunday Monitor that there was frustration with the government's inaction as far as implementing the recommendations was concerned. "The EU has following every general election since 2006 been making recommendations, but nothing ever happens. What then would be the point in sending another observer mission when no progress has been made on recommendations from previous EU electoral missions?" an EU source asked. Dr Besigye now thinks the EU should be doing much more. "It is really time for action for everybody. We cannot just keep on talking," Dr Besigye said. The Press Advisor to the EU delegation, Mr Emmanuel Gyezaho, declined to make a comment about Dr Besigye's comments. On Thursday, Mr Pacifici tweeted: "Together with EU colleagues I met with NUPUg leaders today to exchange views and hear their concerns following the elections. We value and encourage dialogue with and between all political actors. I look forward to meetings also with other political parties in the near future." Mr Pacifici issued the statement after the meeting with Mr Kyagulanyi and NUP party officials at the former presidential candidate's home in Magere, Wakiso District. Mr Kyagulanyi's candidature was thought to enjoy wider support within the international community and appeared to attract more international attention than Dr Besigye's previous candidature, and Mr Kyagulanyi has consistently talked about the need to keep the international community informed and engaged as the pursuit for change in Uganda goes on. Invited to comment on the role that Western diplomats can play is the quest for change in Uganda, Dr Besigye told NTV's On the Spot show on Thursday night that diplomats are accredited to the government and are here primarily to further the interests of their countries, which they can only do by ensuring good relations with the government in power. For that reason, he said, the diplomats are not to be relied on in the push for the changes that Ugandans might desire but are against the will of the government in power. Dr Besigye has during his long struggle against President Museveni's government had his experiences with the Western powers and has perhaps learnt through experience. In the run-up to the 2011 elections, for instance, the change-seeking forces, then led by Dr Besigye and Uganda Peoples Congress' Olara Otunnu, had relied on pressure from the US government to force the government to concede to suggested electoral reforms. The pressure from the US, however, was lifted after the July 2010 Kampala bombings, which left 74 people dead, with the US government shifting to collaborating with Mr Musevni's government to fight al-Shabaab militants in Somalia and almost making no more mention of reforms in Uganda. In the prosecution of their war against Mr Museveni's government, however, both men have at different times appealed to institutions in the West. During the recently concluded campaigns, for instance, Mr Kyagulanyi said he had invited the International Criminal Court to look into what he called crimes against humanity committed in Uganda, while Dr Besigye and his colleagues under the auspices of their 'people's government' had appealed to the same court years earlier over the killings in Kasese District following the attack on King Charles Wesley Mumbere's palace. Human rights violations Whereas Uganda is a signatory to several human rights charters, including the treaty for East African Community (EAC) on Human and Peoples' Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Dr Besigye said the EAC member states and the international community are doing nothing to address the human rights violations being committed in Uganda. He said several young men are being rounded up from their homes, tortured and at times killed. Whereas Dr Besigye did not make mention of the US government, it provides significant development and security assistance to Kampala. The US has previously come under criticism for propping up Mr Museveni's regime even amid accusation of gross human rights abuses. The spokesperson of the US Embassy in Kampala, Mr Anthony Kujawa, however, told Sunday Monitor that political violence, repression and intimidation have no place in democracy, adding that the US government will come down hard on any government officials implicated in any rights abuses. In the recent past, the US government has indicted some individuals who served in top positions in Uganda, including former police chief Gen Kale Kayihura and judges. The indicted are supposed to have their assets in the US and its allies frozen and are not to be permitted to travel to the country. Lenders put on notice During the same address, Dr Besigye lashed out at financial institutions for providing government with funds which he said are being utilised by the government to carry out gross human rights violations, including kidnaps, torture and murder of youth in diverse parts of the country. "All the money that they are using to hunt down our people is borrowed. It is not Ugandans' money. From March up to now, they have borrowed about $1.7 billion (Shs6.2 trillion). Euros 600 million (Shs2.6 trillion) from Stanbic Bank, $500 million (Shs1.8 trillion) from the [International Monetary Fund] IMF, $300 million (Shs1 trillion) from the World Bank and others from small entities. It is that money that is torturing us and yet we are the ones going to pay it," Dr Besigye said. Lenders, he said, should be taking more responsibility lest Ugandans decline to pay them back in future. "Now it is time that we also send a clear message to the lenders of the junta that giving loans like they are doing is the perfect description of odious debt and in history, there is a clear precedence that citizens have a clear right not to pay where the lender lends knowing that what the borrower is doing is not in the interest of their people," he said. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Uganda Governance 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. Mr Kujawa said future support to government will be pegged on conduct of Ugandan government officials. "We have significant concerns about Uganda's recent elections, however, and the conduct of the Ugandan authorities during those elections is one factor that will be considered as we make determinations on future US assistance," Mr Kujawa warned. Background The 2021 elections Talking about the recently concluded general election, Dr Besigye said it has been the worst that Uganda has seen, saying all the tools of controlling power, including money, force, gerrymandering of constituencies and control of the media and the EC were brought out. "The 2021 elections excelled in demonstrating their tools of maintaining power. Every gun was out. How can you have an election where you have tanks and armoured vehicles all over the place?" Dr Besigye wondered. He said whereas he quit filing election petitions, it was not wrong for Mr Kyagulanyi to petition court over the recent election results. Citing the petition that was filed by Mr Amama Mbabazi following the 2016 General Elections, Dr Besigye said such petitions always yield some good. In March 2016, while giving their ruling in the Mbabazi petition, the Supreme Court ordered the implementation of a raft of reforms, including, among others, extension of the period of filing and determination of presidential election petitions to 60 days to enable the concerned parties and court to adequately prepare and present their cases, and punishing of media houses that refuse to grant equal airtime to presidential candidates. JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR. You can visit a collection of all White House posts by clicking here. Contact: White House White House Press Office This memorandum reaffirms and supplements the principles established in the Presidential Memorandum of December 6, 2011 (International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons). That memorandum, for the first time, directed executive departments and agencies (agencies) engaged abroad to ensure that United States diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons everywhere. This memorandum builds upon that historic legacy and updates the 2011 memorandum.All human beings should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear no matter who they are or whom they love. Around the globe, including here at home, brave lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) activists are fighting for equal protection under the law, freedom from violence, and recognition of their fundamental human rights. The United States belongs at the forefront of this struggle speaking out and standing strong for our most dearly held values. It shall be the policy of the United States to pursue an end to violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics, and to lead by the power of our example in the cause of advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons around the world.Through this memorandum, I am directing all agencies engaged abroad to ensure that United States diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons. Specifically, I direct the following actions, consistent with applicable law:Agencies engaged abroad are directed to strengthen existing efforts to combat the criminalization by foreign governments of LGBTQI+ status or conduct and expand efforts to combat discrimination, homophobia, transphobia, and intolerance on the basis of LGBTQI+ status or conduct. The Department of State shall, on an annual basis and as part of the annual report submitted to the Congress pursuant to sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d) and 2304(b)), report on human rights abuses experienced by LGBTQI+ persons globally. This reporting shall include anti-LGBTQI+ laws as well as violence and discrimination committed by both state and nonstate actors against LGBTQI+ persons.LGBTQI+ persons who seek refuge from violence and persecution face daunting challenges. In order to improve protection for LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers at all stages of displacement, the Departments of State and Homeland Security shall enhance their ongoing efforts to ensure that LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers have equal access to protection and assistance, particularly in countries of first asylum. In addition, the Departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security shall ensure appropriate training is in place so that relevant Federal Government personnel and key partners can effectively identify and respond to the particular needs of LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers, including by providing to them adequate assistance and ensuring that the Federal Government takes all appropriate steps, such as potential increased use of Embassy Priority-1 referrals, to identify and expedite resettlement of highly vulnerable persons with urgent protection needs.Agencies involved with foreign aid, assistance, and development programs shall expand their ongoing efforts to ensure regular Federal Government engagement with governments, citizens, civil society, and the private sector to promote respect for the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons and combat discrimination. Agencies involved with foreign aid, assistance, and development programs should consider the impact of programs funded by the Federal Government on human rights, including the rights of LGBTQI+ persons, when making funding decisions, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.The Department of State shall lead a standing group, with appropriate interagency representation, to help ensure the Federal Government's swift and meaningful response to serious incidents that threaten the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons abroad. When foreign governments move to restrict the rights of LGBTQI+ persons or fail to enforce legal protections in place, thereby contributing to a climate of intolerance, agencies engaged abroad shall consider appropriate responses, including using the full range of diplomatic and assistance tools and, as appropriate, financial sanctions, visa restrictions, and other actions.Bilateral relationships with allies and partners, as well as multilateral fora and international organizations, are key vehicles to promote respect for and protection of the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons and to bring global attention to these goals. Agencies engaged abroad should strengthen the work they have done and initiate additional efforts with other nations, bilaterally and within multilateral fora and international organizations, to: counter discrimination on the basis of LGBTQI+ status or conduct; broaden the number of countries willing to support and defend the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons; strengthen the role, including in multilateral fora, of civil society advocates on behalf of the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons; and strengthen the policies and programming of multilateral institutions, including with respect to protecting vulnerable LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers.Within 100 days of the date of this memorandum or as soon as possible thereafter, all agencies engaged abroad shall review and, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, take steps to rescind any directives, orders, regulations, policies, or guidance inconsistent with this memorandum, including those issued from January 20, 2017, to January 20, 2021, to the extent that they are inconsistent with this memorandum. The heads of such agencies shall also, within 100 days of the date of this memorandum, report to the President on their progress in implementing this memorandum and recommend additional opportunities and actions to advance the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons around the world. Agencies engaged abroad shall each prepare a report within 180 days of the date of this memorandum, and annually thereafter, on their progress toward advancing these initiatives. All such agencies shall submit these reports to the Department of State, which will compile a report on the Federal Government's progress in advancing these initiatives for transmittal to the President. The Department of State shall make a version of the compiled annual report available to the Congress and the public.(a) For the purposes of this memorandum, agencies engaged abroad include the Departments of State, the Treasury, Defense, Justice, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, and such other agencies as the President may designate.(b) For the purposes of this memorandum, agencies involved with foreign aid, assistance, and development programs include the Departments of State, the Treasury, Defense, Justice, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, USAID, DFC, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, and such other agencies as the President may designate.(a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.(d) The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register. 7 day print subscribers enjoy unlimited access to yakimaherald.com Enter the LAST NAME and the 7 DIGIT phone number on your print subscription account to connect your print subscription to your yakimaherald.com account. FORT WORTH, Texas As part of an ongoing effort to help protect customer health and safety, inspire confidence in air travel and advance the industrys recovery from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, American Airlines is collaborating with several foreign governments to begin offering preflight COVID-19 testing for customers traveling to international destinations, starting with Jamaica and the Bahamas. The carrier plans to expand the program to additional markets in the weeks and months ahead. Testing can further aid customer health and safety while helping to reopen markets to tourism Initial testing program for Jamaica to begin at Miami (MIA) next month. American is engaged with the Bahamas and CARICOM (The Caribbean Community) to expand program across the Caribbean. Preflight testing will also soon be available for travel from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Hawaii. FORT WORTH, Texas As part of an ongoing effort to help protect customer health and safety, inspire confidence in air travel and advance the industrys recovery from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, American Airlines is collaborating with several foreign governments to begin offering preflight COVID-19 testing for customers traveling to international destinations, starting with Jamaica and the Bahamas. The carrier plans to expand the program to additional markets in the weeks and months ahead. The pandemic has changed our business in ways we never could have expected, but all the while, the entire American Airlines team has eagerly tackled the challenge of reimagining the way we deliver a safe, healthy and enjoyable travel experience for our customers, said Robert Isom, President of American Airlines. Our plan for this initial phase of preflight testing reflects the ingenuity and care our team is putting into rebuilding confidence in air travel, and we view this as an important step in our work to accelerate an eventual recovery of demand. Jamaica American has reached agreement with Jamaica to launch an initial testing program at its Miami International Airport (MIA) hub next month. The initial phase of testing will be for Jamaican residents traveling to their home country. If a passenger tests negative for COVID-19 ahead of flying with American, the 14-day quarantine currently in place for returning Jamaican residents would be waived. Following a successful pilot program, the objective is to open this testing protocol for all passengers traveling to Jamaica, including U.S. citizens. The timing of such a potential announcement is to be determined. I thank American Airlines for initiating these efforts to ensure safety and confidence for travelers from the United States, and for leading with Jamaica as a pilot for its COVID-19 testing program, said Audrey Marks, Ambassador of Jamaica to the United States. This is timely, given the governments ongoing review in cooperation with the Global Initiative for Health and Safety group of the current protocols governing travel to the island, and it could be a game-changer, not just for tourism, but also for other key sectors of the economy that have been negatively impacted by the ongoing pandemic. The Bahamas and CARICOM American also has started working with the Bahamas and CARICOM to launch similar testing programs that would allow travel to the region. Americans next international program will be with the Bahamas and is expected to launch next month. Details on the protocols for that country will follow. We are so pleased that American Airlines has included The Bahamas in their preflight testing program and for their continued commitment to mitigating the spread of coronavirus, said Dionisio DAguilar, Minister of Tourism and Aviation for the Bahamas. Miami is a major gateway to our islands, and we believe predeparture testing will create important efficiencies, while ensuring the health and safety of both our visitors and residents. As its initial preflight testing programs begin to launch, American is also actively engaged with CARICOM, an integrated grouping of 20 Caribbean countries, about expanding the program to additional Caribbean markets. We are pleased that American Airlines has taken the lead to initiate this exciting COVID-19 predeparture testing program, said Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Chairman of CARICOM. The Caribbean Community welcomes this important progress to re-open markets with the health and safety of our citizens being of paramount importance, and well be monitoring this program very closely as it ramps up in our region. Preflight testing for travel to Hawaii In addition to its efforts in opening international markets to travel, American has been working with the government of Hawaii to develop a series of options that fit the Hawaiian requirements for travel to the state. Starting Oct. 15, the airline will begin a preflight COVID-19 testing program at its Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) hub for customers traveling to Hawaii, in partnership with LetsGetChecked, CareNow and the DFW Airport. Beginning next month, American will offer three options for preflight testing to customers with flights from DFW to Honolulu (HNL) and Maui (OGG): At-home test from LetsGetChecked, observed by a medical professional via virtual visit, with results expected in 48 hours on average. In-person testing at a CareNow urgent care location. Onsite rapid testing, administered by CareNow, at DFW. Testing must be completed within 72 hours of the final leg of departure. Travelers who test negative will be exempt from the states 14-day quarantine. Americans Clean Commitment Americans preflight testing program will serve as a key element of the airlines Clean Commitment, a multifaceted approach to giving customers peace of mind when they travel. American has also launched a travel tool, powered by Sherpa, to make travel planning easier for customers who are eager to reconnect with the people and places that matter most. About LetsGetChecked LetsGetChecked is a direct-to-consumer at-home health testing and insights company. Offering an end-to-end model, LetsGetCheckeds Sure-track Test offers consumers an FDA EUA-authorized Coronavirus at-home testing solution. The at-home Coronavirus (COVID-19) test incorporates a nasal swab and PCR lab analysis, offering convenient and secure results on average 48 hours upon receipt in the lab. About CareNow Since 1993, CareNow has been committed to providing high-quality family care, urgent care and occupational medicine services in the North Texas area. Open seven days a week and weeknights until 9 p.m., CareNow has over 40 North Texas locations providing convenient, quality and cost-effective urgent care and is accredited by AAAHC and UCA. CareNow is affiliated with Medical City Healthcare. Medical City Healthcare has 46 urgent care centers in North Texas: CareNow (42) and Medical City Childrens Urgent Care (4). About CARICOM The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is a grouping of twenty countries: fifteen Member States and five Associate Members. It is home to approximately sixteen million citizens, 60% of whom are under the age of 30, and from the main ethnic groups of Indigenous Peoples, Africans, Indians, Europeans, Chinese, Portuguese and Javanese. The Community is multi-lingual; with English as the major language complemented by French and Dutch and variations of these, as well as African and Asian expressions. About American Airlines Group Americans purpose is to care for people on lifes journey. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL and the companys stock is included in the S&P 500. Learn more about whats happening at American by visiting news.aa.com and connect with American on Twitter @AmericanAir and at Facebook.com/AmericanAirlines. Jubilant FoodWorks is awaiting relaxations in dine-in restrictions imposed by the government for the restaurant industry similar to that for multiplexes to ramp up growth. Jubilant FoodWorks, which operates Domino's Pizza and Dunkin Donuts chains in India, reported a 21.71 per cent increase in consolidated profit at Rs 123.91 crore in the third quarter ended December 2020. At present, the dine-in capacity at restaurants is constrained at 50 per cent to prevent the spread of COVID-19. "....With all COVID SOPs being followed diligently, we will see dine-in demand coming back very strongly. 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. That (restrictions) is what has held back the recovery significantly," Pratik Pota, Chief Executive Officer and Wholetime Director, Jubilant Foodworks Ltd said in an analysts call. Earlier this month, the government allowed cinema halls across the country to operate at full capacity from February 1 with adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols. Pota said the company opened 50 new Domino''s stores in the third quarter this year, the highest-ever in a quarter. "We turned the corner decidedly in Q3 with Domino''s returning to growth, driven by strong momentum in delivery and takeaway channels," he said. As on December 31, 2020, the company operated 1,314 Domino''s Pizza restaurants, 27 Dunkin'' Donuts restaurants. Jubilant FoodWorks also owns and operates Chinese cuisine restaurant brand, ''Hong''s Kitchen'', which serves 2 cities with 7 restaurants in India and 3 Ekdum! Biryani outlets. Also read: Rebooting Economy 65: IBC has failed; will a bad bank succeed? Also read: Goldman Sachs, 10 others in fray for managing govt's 26.12% stake sale in Tata Communications Paris [France]: France began distributing the AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday as epidemiologist Arnaud Fontanet warned the coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 -- first identified in the UK - could be dominant in the country by March. "Between January 7-8, [the B.1.1.7 Variant] accounted for 3.3 per cent of new contaminations; on January 27, it was 14 per cent according to preliminary results from the second flash study," Fontanet, who is also a member of the Scientific Council advising the French government on the pandemic, said in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche quoted by CNN. "This progression confirms it is 50 to 60 per cent more transmissible than the 2020 virus. If we continue on this trajectory, with an R number of 1.5 for the English variant, we will reach 30-35 per cent by mid-February and the number of hospital admissions will be around 2,000 a day. This variant will become dominant around March 1," he added. CNN reported that the warning comes after an announcement by the French Ministry of Health on Saturday that the first shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine had been delivered to healthcare professionals. Citing a statement, the Ministry said the first doses will be given to healthcare staff under the age of 65. The first shipment concerns 273,600 doses, the statement read. The second shipment of 304,800 doses will take place "next week." France has administered two million vaccines so far. According to the latest update from the country's health agency Sante Publique France, 1,843,763 people had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by Friday. 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. 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. 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. Fighters believed to belong to the ADF militia have killed at least 12 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo's east, local sources said Sunday. The gruesome attack took place overnight Friday-Saturday after a month of relative calm in the area. "Fighters from the Allied Democratic Forces massacred farmers from the village of Mabule in their fields," Donat Kibuana, the administrator of the Beni region in North Kivu province, told AFP. At least eight men and four women "had their throats savagely slit in their fields by these ADF terrorists," said Roger Masimango, from a local network of civil society groups. "We're still searching, because we aren't hearing from some of the farmers," he added. An expert in the area, who asked to remain anonymous, said 14 bodies had been found and more people were missing after the assault. An army offensive launched in the Rwenzori mountain region had caused a "relative decline" in the number of deadly attacks since early January, administrator Kibuana said. He added that "many villages are empty" of people who have fled the fighting. But the ADF -- one of the most violent among dozens of armed groups in the eastern DRC -- is believed to have killed 21 civilians on February 5 in Rwenzori. The UN's human rights office in the DRC said Wednesday that defence and security forces had made "significant efforts to dismantle" the militia. Nevertheless, it said 468 deaths in the east were attributed to the group in the second half of 2020, including 108 women and 15 children. Originally Ugandan Muslim rebels, the ADF settled in the DRC in 1995. In recent years they have given up on attacks in neighbouring Uganda, but have carried out repeated massacres in the Beni region of the DRC, killing more than 1,000 people since October 2014. Short link: Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Saira Khan has announced she's no longer a practising Muslim after years of feeling 'guilty, caged and unhappy'. In a new interview, the former Loose Women panellist, 50, revealed she was led to share her life update after receiving a 'disgusting message from a troll' as she declared: 'This was the last taboo to overcome before I could live my best life.' The Apprentice star, who is of Pakistani heritage, explained how she 'pretended to be someone I'm not' in order to make her family happy and admitted she held off from publicly renouncing Islam due to death threat fears. 'I'm doing this for my well-being': Saira Khan has announced she's no longer a practising Muslim after years of feeling 'guilty, caged and unhappy' (pictured in 2020) The media personality said: 'Saying I'm Muslim and then having a boyfriend, wearing clothes that go against the Muslim dress code, having a drink and living a non-Muslim life only brings guilt, self-loathing, loneliness and a feeling of being caged.' The journalist confessed she doesn't want to 'inadvertently confuse, represent or unintentionally hurt others' of the Muslim faith after being met with assumptions about fasting for Ramadan, not drinking and abstaining from sex before marriage. Saira also clarified that while some Muslims 'are the most humble people I know' and most of her values are based on the 'spiritual aspect of the faith', she's influenced by other teachings and has only been 'hurting' herself by 'living a lie' for her loved ones. The reality star added to The Mirror: 'It has taken me till the age of 50 to find the courage to say it. I'm doing it now for my own wellbeing. I want to be honest and feel free to live my life by my own rules. I have found a huge relief in being honest. 'This was the last taboo': In an interview, the ex-Loose Women panellist, 50, revealed she was led to share her update after receiving a 'disgusting message from a troll' (pictured in 2020) Candid: The Apprentice star, who is of Pakistani heritage, explained how she 'pretended to be someone I'm not' in order to make her family happy 'I know that one of the reasons I have been so angry and unhappy in my life is because of the many contradictions I've had to live with. I've not dared to share these feelings before because the very few Muslim women who have are called sinful and some have even been targeted with death threats.' Fundamentalist Muslims regard apostasy, or leaving Islam, as a sin deserving of death. Daily Mail Australia in 2017 filmed Uthman Badar, the Australian spokesman for Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, declaring ex-Muslims deserved to be killed. Pakistan also has the death penalty for criticising the faith, as well as any recognised religion. 'I've not dared to share these feelings before': The media personality also admitted she was scared to renounce Islam due to death threat fears (pictured with husband Steve Hyde) Happy family: The presenter shares son Zac, 12, and daughter Amara, nine, with businessman husband of over 15 years, Steve In December 2019, TV star Saira revealed she was branded a 'racist' and 'white sell out' in the past for speaking against radicalisation. The presenter, who has been trolled for sharing topless selfies to Instagram in the past, said that although it's 'difficult' for her to discuss her community, she feels some are ignoring British cultural norms. The mother-of-two said on Loose Women: 'It's very difficult for me sometimes to sit here and talk about a culture that I belong to. But I have to do it because this is my country. I was born here and I am British. 'I love living in a multi-cultural society, but I think we all have to wake up and see we are living by cultures, side my side, where they are flouting British values and we're allowing people to get away with it. 'We're allowing people to get away with it us because we're not an integrated society. 'I've been speaking about radicalisation of young people in this country since the 1980s and when I talk about it, I'm a 'racist' or I get told by the community I'm a white sell-out. 'That's what happens, so I can't physically do something myself. I am giving you an insight into parts of the community where things are not right.' Saira, who shares son Zac, 12, and daughter Amara, nine, with businessman husband Steve Hyde, was nominated for the Services to Media award at the British Muslim Awards in 2013 and 2015. The host left long-running lunchtime staple Loose Women in December 2020, shortly after Andrea McClean announced her resignation. 'Name and shame time!' Saira has been trolled for sharing topless selfies to Instagram in the past (pictured above in 2018) The broadcaster, who has blocked some members of the panel on Instagram, previously said she felt there were bits towards the end of her stint on the show which she 'didn't feel were part of the sisterhood'. She told HELLO!: 'There were elements both on screen and behind the scenes of being a Loose Woman that towards the end I didn't enjoy and I didn't feel like it was part of the sisterhood. 'It wasn't make me happy so I had to bow out, look after my mental health and give someone else my platform. 'I had a great five years and I did what I wanted to with my platform, which was share my stories and experiences being from a minority background, there's nothing more I can say that's new.' ROME To escape persecution in his homeland, a 27-year-old Pakistani man walked over mountains and through woods on an arduous 18-month journey across Bosnia, Croatia and Slovenia until he finally reached the Italian border. A few hours later, Italian guards in the city of Trieste took him to a hill, counted to five, and told him to run back across the border into Slovenia, he recalled. The following day, he said, the Slovenian authorities handed him over to Croatian police at the border, who beat him with batons wrapped with barbed wire as he lay handcuffed before deporting him to neighboring Bosnia. I thought I would be safe once I reached Europe, said Mr. Mahmood, who asked to be identified by his last name only out of concern for his safety. But I was wrong. Mr. Mahmood spoke in a phone interview from Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he has been sleeping since August in an abandoned building with temperatures as low as 14 degrees at night. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (Purdue Sports) After owning a 2-1 lead, the No. 13 Purdue volleyball team (2-4) fell to No. 6 Minnesota (6-0) in the fifth set inside Holloway Gymnasium (18-25, 25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 9-15). The Boilermakers took the second and third set, allowing just 17 Minnesota points in each, and were within reach of clinching the match in the fourth set for the second straight night. Purdue led 18-15 in the fourth, but faltered as the Gophers went on an 8-3 run to push the set to five. Caitlyn Newton led the team with a career-high 29 kills after setting a career-best in attempts a night ago. The senior out of Terre Haute, Indiana recorded a double-double, chipping in 16 digs, 74 attempts with nine errors for a .270 attack %. Bush set a career-high 22 digs in the match and added 51 assists and one kill. Leading the block party was freshman Taylor Trammell, who recorded six block assists, seven kills and no errors on 13 swings (.538). Grace Cleveland and Jael Johnson also held a strong presence at the net, each adding five block assists. Set 1 A slow start for the Boilermakers led to a Minnesota advantage for the entirety of the set, with a pair of kills by Newton and another from Trammell bringing the score within two (6-8), but from there, Minnesota pulled away to take the set 18-25. Newton led the attack with six kills on 21 attempts. Set 2 The set saw five tied scores and just one lead change, as a trailing Purdue team knotted the score 7-7 and went on to take the 12-7 lead and never looked back, thanks to six unanswered points. Newton led the charge with three kills in the run. Newton hit a .643 (10-1-14) in the set, and Bush tallied 14 assists. Cleveland recorded four kills. Set 3 Purdue led the entire set, starting with a 3-1 lead to open, which included a stuff by Johnson and Newton. Minnesota crept back into the match and by mid-way through, the Gophers cut the Purdue lead to 15-13, however Purdue pulled away again, with a pair of kills by Johnson down the stretch and a key block by Trammell and Ellis at the 21-16 mark. As a team, Purdue limited Minnesota to a .171 hitting %, while recording a .324 with five Boilermakers tallying multiple kills. Additionally, Purdue out-blocked Minnesota 4-2. Set 4 A battle ensued as Purdue looked to take the victory with the set win, seeing five ties and two lead changes as the teams fought for control. Despite an early 7-3 Gopher lead, Purdue chipped away with a pair of runs. One included a 7-1 run for the Boilermakers to take the lead, set in motion after a kill from Trammell. The Gophers knotted the match up 18-18, but Purdue took the next three points with two of the kills coming from Emma Ellis. Minnesota closed out the set with seven unanswered points to regain the lead and take the set. Minnesota and Purdue each recorded 15 kills. Set 5 The teams traded points with five ties coming in the first 14 combined points. Johnson served up an ace to tie the match 7-7, but Minnesota overpowered Purdue and closed out the set with a 8-2 run. Up Next No. 13 Purdue is slated to head to Ann Arbor to take on No. 23 Michigan (0-0) on Saturday, February 13 at 6 p.m. ET and Sunday, February 14 at 5:30 p.m. ET. Sunday's match will air on Big Ten Network. If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). Click here for updates on this story Portland, Oregon (KPTV) -- Friday, nurses with the Oregon Nursing Association held a rally at Providence in Portland to demand safer working conditions. Those nurses want Providence to implement what they call the COVID Bill of Rights. That bill of rights consists of several measures nurses want guaranteed in the workplace. Those are safe staffing levels, appropriate PPE, pandemic leave, regular access to testing, and prompt exposure notifications. Nurses at the rally said these should be minimum steps the hospital should be taking to ensure employee and patient safety. Were both long-time Providence employees and we would like Providence to return to its values that it states it holds, which is to protect its people and to protect its patients, said Jim Steinman, a nurse with Providence who was at the rally with his wife Emily Steinman, who is also a Providence nurse. A big part of it is we want to feel like we have safe staffing and adequate personal protective equipment, Jim said. Nurses who were at the event also received the support of Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran. Meieran is also an ER doctor. I cannot say it strongly enough. We need to stand up for the people who walk in when others are running in the other direction, she said at the event. Providence has responded, saying its committed to workplace safety. The hospital group says it does offer testing to exposed nurses and that employees do have adequate access to PPE. Providence also said they are trying to alleviate staffing shortages by hiring and training new nurses. Nurses at the event also spoke out against Providence for providing vaccines to board members and donors. Its not terribly surprising, but its unfortunate, because I feel like there could have been a lot of different ways to allocate those doses to more at-risk people in the community, said Emily Steinman. Providence says it was a small number of board members who received the vaccine because it was going to go to waste. The hospital says it has made changes to prevent that from happening again. Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform. There will be plenty of ruff-ing the passer leading up to Super Bowl LV Sunday, Feb. 7, when Puppy Bowl XVII will whet your appetite prior to kick off of the big game. Puppy Bowl XVII will be available to live stream on fuboTV and Philo. President Joe Bidens dogs will make an appearance, too. The two German Shepherds, Champ and Major, will appear alongside first lady Jill Biden in a public service announcement focused on mask-wearing set to air during Puppy Bowl XVII. The event, which features a group of rowdy puppies playing in a model stadium and airs as an alternative to the Super Bowl every year, is focused on raising awareness about adopting shelter pets something the Bidens have experienced themselves. They adopted Major from the Delaware Humane Association, and he is the first shelter dog to move into the White House. Puppy Bowl XVII starts at 1 p.m. (2 p.m. ET) and will be available to live stream on fuboTV (7-day free trial) and Philo (free trial). Animal Planet will televise the event. In the 30-second spot, Jill Biden sits with the familys dogs before a fire at the White House and speaks about how, for many Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, our pets have been such a source of joy and comfort. The ad closes with a bark, and directions to visit the Centers for Disease Controls website for more information about preventing the spread of COVID-19. The Associated Press contributed to this report. More than 30 Rohingya people, believed to have fled a refugee camp in Indonesia, were caught arriving in Malaysia by boat last month, the Malaysian police said on Sunday. The Rohingyas, mostly women, boarded a boat from Tanjung Balai in Indonesia and landed in Selangor, on the west coast of Malaysia on Jan. 6, police said. Seeking refuge, Muslim Rohingya have for years boarded boats fleeing persecution in Myanmar and refugee camps in Bangladesh, some taking the dangerous option of travelling with people-smugglers to Southeast Asia. Malaysia does not recognise refugee status, but the Muslim-majority country is a favoured destination for Rohingyas seeking a better life. Read | Dozens of Rohingya refugees caught arriving in Malaysia Seventeen Rohingya women, seven men and seven children, as well as five Indonesian women, were on board, police said of the arrivals, which were reported by AFP on Friday. The Royal Malaysia Police internal security director, Abdul Rahim Jaafar, said 21 of the migrants have been charged with entering the country without valid documents, and two others charged under anti-trafficking laws. More than a dozen of them have been handed over to the Malaysian Immigration Department, Abdul Rahim said. Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Friday during Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's visit that both countries discussed Rohingya issues. By Derick D. Dailey The current discussion about reforming the criminal legal system is centered on electing progressive prosecutors and sympathetic legislatures working to enact progressive policies. But what should the public expect from prosecutors working right now in offices that are not progressive and in jurisdictions in which laws have not yet been reformed? These individuals must not sit back and wait for the election of a reformist prosecutor or a legislative body to alter the legal landscape, because lives especially Black lives depend on prosecutors acting now. Prosecutors can start by simply doing their job that is, expending just as much time, energy and resources in supporting people convicted of crimes after sentencing, as they do to investigate, indict and convict them. I became a federal prosecutor to make a positive difference in the community, especially for individuals systematically relegated to the margins of society Black people, poor people, and the formerly incarcerated. Serving as a prosecutor gave me an opportunity to leverage the power of the criminal legal system for good. To that end, during my time as a prosecutor, I spent considerable time on the re-entry process of formerly incarcerated citizens. The re-entry program was made up of only Black or Latino males with the exception of one Black female. Every other week the team responsible for the program met for two hours to hear updates on each participant, and to hear, in the participants own words, their successes and most pressing struggles. Indeed, participants always needed help finding jobs, securing housing and help to complete paperwork. Our team was tasked with providing each participant support for these needs and others. Though I enjoyed serving on the re-entry team, as a Black man, our bi-weekly meeting was often emotional for me. I saw first-hand the challenges that plague Black people my people caught in the criminal legal system. Over the course of my service, I learned that too many prosecutors, though well-intentioned and committed to the rule of law, are only doing half their job. Though a prosecutor is necessarily tasked with holding people accountable for committing crimes, a prosecutor, as the American Bar Association puts it, is also tasked to seek justice . . . not merely to convict. In my experience, far too many prosecutors are myopically focused on holding people accountable for committing crimes. But, in my view, to seek justice, prosecutors must ensure that victims of crimes, defendants and communities are made better as a consequence of their prosecutions. This is where too many prosecutors fail. Indeed, prosecutions often leave defendants and communities worse, especially Black and poor communities and defendants. Resultantly, Black communities are justifiably suspect of the entire system, Black prosecutors included. To maximize our impact on re-entry participants, the re-entry team developed a Resource Hub (HUB), modeled after the One Stop Job and Resource Hub that Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner developed. The goal of the HUB was to connect participants, their families and the community with jobs, social services, and educational opportunities. The HUB, and our re-entry team, did just that. In my office, except for my participation on the re-entry team and with the HUB, federal prosecutors were largely absent in the re-entry process. Sadly, most of the work in support of formerly incarcerated individuals is led by local non-profits and state-federal partnerships. But no amount of charity or partnerships is a substitute for the direct involvement of prosecutors in the re-entry process. To that end, prosecutors must take a more active role in supporting defendants as they transition back into their communities and families. Undoubtedly, a number of reforms are needed to address the challenges posed by the criminal legal system in the United States. Enacting progressive federal and state sentencing and drug reform, electing progressive local prosecutors and prioritizing decarceration would be a great start. But prosecutors should not wait for elections or legislatures to act. The cost of waiting is too high. For Black and poor people, the cost can be deadly. Prosecutors must do their part in righting the wrongs endemic in the criminal legal system. So what, specifically, can prosecutors do? To start, they should convene quarterly meetings with probation officers to follow-up with defendants during and after the defendants term of supervised release to assist defendants with any needs affecting their ability to secure employment, education, and healthcare. Additionally, prosecutors should use their power and resources to engage in the work of the New Jersey Reentry Corporation and develop and implement HUB-like events on a regular basis. Moreover, all prosecutors should participate in their districts re-entry program and all offices should commit additional resources towards the expansion of the program. To the extent returning citizens, their families and the community do not welcome any direct presence of prosecutors in their lives due to years-long racism and oppression brought about by the criminal legal system, prosecutors should assist from an arms-length. Before and after a prosecution, prosecutors must take affirmative steps to ensure that victims, defendants and their families are made better as a consequence of their work. Without it, prosecutors are failing to do their job. Derick D. Dailey, a resident of Highland Park, is a former federal prosecutor and a current attorney at a New York City law firm. 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 Committee of Five, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston, worked together to write the U.S. Declaration of Independence. They are among the leaders known as Americas Founding Fathers. The Declaration of Independence states a list of wrongs done against the people of the newly formed states by Britains king. They include the dismissal of Representative Houses repeatedly because they resisted the loss of the rights of the people. The Declaration also notes that any form of government gets its powers from the consent of the governed. Democracy was a dirty world Some experts note, however, that the men who would go on to write and sign the U.S. Constitution were some of the richest people in America. They also say these same men were not fully open to democratic ideas. Andrew Wehrman is an associate professor of history at Central Michigan University. He says the leading Americans who wrote the Constitution did not think of the new country as a direct democracy. It was never meant to be a sort of direct democracy, where all Americans would get to cast a ballot on all issues, he said. Instead, Wehrman believes that they thought the vote was for the wealthy and educated. Wehrman also says the founders expected common people, the poor and uneducated, to take part indirectly. This would be through their local government, at town halls and meetings, and through protest actions like boycotts. They were very concerned about rule by a mob. Wehrman said some of the founders thought that democracy was a dirty word. Even John Adams, he notes, did not want poor people or women to vote. Bruce Kuklick is a retired professor of American history at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He says the framers of the Constitution had a very different idea of democracy than Americans do today. The founders didn't want this sort of democracy at all. The Constitution is written so that citizenship rights are very, very limited, he said. Because once you let everybody participate You're likely to have people come to power who appeal to the frenzy of the masses. Wehrman notes that the framers of the Constitution saw to it that only one part, or one branch, of the federal government, the House of Representatives, was elected by the people in a direct vote. The Electoral College chooses the president. The presidents select the Supreme Court justices and, until the early 1900s, senators were selected by state legislatures. It was only after the ratification of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution in 1913 that U.S. senators were afterwards elected by direct popular vote. Wehrman says leaders like James Madison and Alexander Hamilton believed that state legislatures had gone too far and that too many people were voting in elections. For example, New Jersey gave the right to vote to people who lived in the state and met a property requirement. That included women and African Americans, who were able to vote from 1776 until 1807, when the state restricted voting rights to white men. They (the founders) thought that there were too many voices in the state legislaturesthat they were beholden to the interests of the common man, Wehrman said. What would the founders think about modern America? So what would people like Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and the other framers of the Constitution think about America today? I think they would all be sort of delighted that the general framework that they created is still in action, Wehrman said. They might even be open to change. After all, they included a process for amending the Constitution. They made changes in the early days of the Republic with the ratification in 1804 of the 12th Amendment. It established separate Electoral College votes for president and vice president. That change kept political adversaries of opposing parties from serving in the same administration as president and vice president. But even with these facts, Kuklick believes, the Founding Fathers would be considered reactionaries today. [They] didn't want what came to be. He added that in the 1800s, America changed from having a limited group taking part in government to one that people now completely accept as being the democratic way. Democracy in action today might not be exactly what the founders expected. However, some experts say that money and power continue to play an important part in U.S. politics. Im Jill Robbins. And I'm Mario Ritter. Dora Mekouar reported this story for VOANEWS. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English with additions from the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Hai Do was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story consent n. permission for something to happen or to be done sort (of) n. a certain kind of something framers n.(pl.) often used to describe the writers of U.S. Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution; literally people who build the structure, frame, of a house frenzy n. wild or uncontrolled activity ratification n. the process of making a major legal document official by signing or voting on it so it becomes law beholden adj. owing to a favor, gift or loyalty to someone or something delighted adj. pleased, happy with something adversaries n. (pl.) an enemy or opponent reactionaries n. a person who strongly opposes new political or social ideas We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. What will India do? For now, it is all a matter of speculation. Will it retaliate by reducing the transhipment of Indian goods via Colombo? by Rajan Philips The first consequential announcement that the ECT deal is kaput came from Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Early last week he was reported to have assured the port workers that the East Container Terminal (marked East on the map) will neither be sold to any country nor handed over to any country for administration. The PMs announcement came as a surprise to everyone, most of all to the Indian High Commission in Colombo. It was not clear if, when and how India and Japan were formally advised of the governments decision. It was clear, however, that the Prime Minister was trying to diffuse a gathering political storm at home and was not worrying about diplomatic niceties. Both local politics and diplomatic caution were clearly lost on the Indian High Commission spokesperson who blurted out the same day that he wanted to reiterate the expectation of the Government of India for expeditious implementation of the trilateral Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) signed in May 2019 among the Governments of India, Japan and Sri Lanka for the development of ECT with participation from these three countries. It was hardly the way to express Indias position given the context in which the Sri Lankan Prime Minister had announced his governments decision. Indian diplomacy can still learn a lot from the Chinese about being suave in dealing with smaller countries with worrisome politics. That difference first showed up way back when in Bandung, between Jawaharlal Nehrus impatience and Zhou Enlais charm. Never mind. By Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi (Nehrus current antithesis) was calling the Sri Lankan PM to felicitate Sri Lankas 73rd Independence anniversary. He was the first foreign leader to do so, beating Xi Jinping to the wire. The Chinese President later sent a message of felicitations to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Mr. Modi may have taken the high road in his call with the Sri Lankan PM, without harping on the ECT deal cancellation, and leaving it to his High Commissioner in Colombo to formally register a protest with the Sri Lankan government. High Commissioner Gopal Baglay has reportedly done just that, and has called on the President and the Prime Minister separately in a double registration of Indias protest. What will India do? What will India do? For now, it is all a matter of speculation. Will it retaliate by reducing the transhipment of Indian goods via Colombo? Indian goods account for the largest volume (70%) of cargo in Colombo, and according to Indian commentators Colombo tranships more Indian goods than all of Indias own ports. Sri Lankan commentators have noted that without the Indian volume, Colombo will not be able to maintain its current port-status in the world 25th largest container port and 19th best-connected. The new port in Vizhinjam, Kerala, has been touted as a response to this regional imbalance, and as a new deep water (20-24 metres) port Vizhinjam is anticipated to be Indias first Mega Transshipment Container Terminal. Coincidentally or not, the private developer of the port is none other than Adani Ports apparently Indias leading private sector port developer and operator. The USD 930 M port is being developed as a Public-Private BOT undertaking with the Kerala State government as owner and the Central government providing USD 110 M gap funding support. Prime Minister Modi is also reported to have mused about a new transhipment port in the Great Nicobar Island, which too could be a threat to Colombos current status. How will the Vizhinjam port affect Colombo? According to former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who joined the ECT fray with his own little statement, the now defunct 2019 ECT Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) that his team had negotiated included a condition that committed India to treat the Kerala and Colombo ports equally without giving preference to the new Kerala port. Will India continue to do that? Or will it divert and reduce Indian transhipment through Colombo? Could it be that India cannot do anything about its cargo that now passes through Colombo because it suits Indias own distribution requirements. For example, increasing the countrys cargo handling in Kerala, at the expense of Colombo, might require significant expansion in the ground transportation infrastructure within India. So, Sri Lanka might be left with the better of both worlds. Keep the ECT as a sovereign enterprise and still receive the same volume of Indian transhipment cargo. More speculatively, how will India and Japan respond to what the Indian media is calling Sri Lankas compensatory offer of the West Container Terminal (WCT) to be developed as a Public Private Partnership undertaking. As can be seen in the map above, the contentious East Terminal is partially developed, whereas the West Terminal (that will be to the left of CICT in the map) will be an entirely new undertaking involving a full construction component. Colombo government sources have apparently touted it as a bigger and better deal for India and Japan. According to the same media reports, sources in Colombo have indicated that the Indian response to the WCT offer has been ambiguous and almost rejecting. Indian officials, on the other hand, are said to have countered that there had been no formal communication about WCT from the Sri Lankan side. I have not seen any formal government announcement about the compensatory WCT offer by Sri Lanka. As well, to Indian media queries about the likelihood of a future political opposition to WCT down the road, the Sri Lanka government sources have reportedly ruled out chances of any further trouble on the cabinet-proposed West Terminal offer. Can anyone be so sure that the ECT history will not be repeated for a future WCT deal? If an apparently smaller ECT is so crucial to be kept under 100% Sri Lankan control, how could the bigger WCT be given to foreigners in the future, and that too to the Adani group that is allegedly in cahoots with the Modi government? Port Development The first major development in the Colombo harbour was the late 19th century (1872-85) construction of the Southwest Breakwater. It was directly undertaken by the colonial government without hiring contractors to keep costs within estimates and loans repayable. Both were accomplished successfully. The loan repayment was made entirely out of the port revenue. The cost of construction was kept lower than normal because the labour used was convict labour supplied cheap by the Prisons Department, which collected less than minimum wages as its revenue and fed the convicts with wholesome food. The convicts were preferred apparently because of their superior physical strength and a certain degree of regimentation. It was also because of the short supply of regular coolies, local or Indian, and their alleged lack of physical strength and regimentation. The harbour expansions thereafter were few and far between. Notable milestones are the conversion to a sheltered harbour in 1912, and the completion of the Queen Elizabeth Quay and expansions in 1954. Much container cargo has trans-shipped through the Colombo port in the intervening years, but all of the current container terminals were added only after 1985. Three of them under the protection of the old breakwaters the Jaye Container Terminal (JCT), Unity Container Terminal (UCT) and the South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT) were developed between 1985 and 1999. The South Asia Gateway Terminal is the expansion of the old Queen Elizabeth Quay and is the first and perhaps the most successful Public-Private Partnership undertaking in the Port and in Sri Lanka. The subsequent expansion of the port facilities has been under the umbrella of the South Harbour Development Project, the technical studies for which were completed in 2006. The South Harbour expansion is a significant addition to ports terminal and operational capacities. The expansion is based on the construction of new breakwaters and the development of three new container terminals, viz., The Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT, already built, and known previously as the South Container Terminal); the now famous East Container Terminal; and the now-touted-compensatory West Container Terminal. But the procurement process for developing these facilities has been getting murkier and murkier with every passing cargo ship. Not everything was transparent in the selection of the consortium for the CICT facility, although the main consultant and the contactors apparently did a good job of work, at least according to the project evaluation report of the Asian Development Bank, which has been the prime lender for the South Harbour undertakings. And nothing was made transparent about the negotiations and the eventual agreement for the ECT. Why? The answer may lie in the internal decision making processes of the government of Sri Lanka. Rather, the answer is in the lack of any process for the procurement of public goods and service, big or small, local, or foreign. Things get complicated when public undertakings are large and involve foreign participation. Add to the lack of process in procurement, the lacuna of parliamentary scrutiny and overall transparency. In fact, there is no better and more compact example for the deteriorations in process, scrutiny, and transparency in the matter of public undertakings in Sri Lanka than what you can find in the saga of the development of the port of Colombo and its terminals. Police and paramedics gather outside a home in East Gwillimbury, Ont. on Saturday, February 6, 2021. A woman has died and three other people, including two young children, were in hospital following a stabbing in East Gwillimbury, Ont., police said Saturday as they announced the suspect in the case had also died. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young Martha Annette Bradley had a wish in the final days of her life in 2018 while battling terminal cancer. The retired Burlington County grade-school teacher wanted to pass on a living history of her family that she had traced back to a relative who stepped off of a slave ship in Virginia around 1800. The urgency of passing it on was fueled by a phone call from a relative. Zachary Hocker said he had seen old photos of his fathers family in Virginia. There was one black and white photo in their home in San Jose, California he had seen many times but was never curious enough to find out more. One day in 2017, he took the photo off the wall and saw his Aunt Annette had written on the back, Uncle Tom, 1954. His father was entering early stages of dementia but Hocker said his dad burst into tears when he asked him about the photo. He said he gave a lucid account of the man in the picture, who Hocker said clearly looked like a white man standing in front of his familys home in Richmond, Virginia. The mystery spurred Hocker to call cross country to his Aunt Annette. A year of recorded telephone calls followed and 60 pages of hand-written notes that recounted the familys entire history, and included a mix of racial identities that Hocker wasnt expecting. I remember her voice came to life when I mentioned the mysterious man in the picture, Hocker said. I learned that Tom Lewis was her and my fathers great-uncle. Martha Annette Bradley recited her family history on her deathbed to her nephew, Zachary Hocker. It is a tale of Black history. Hocker, 37, a real estate agent, said he has written a book based on the account of family history his aunt recited to him on her deathbed. He hopes to get the book published. But until then, he is entrusted to pass on his familys history for generations to come. Lewis was a key figure in the familys history. He was biracial, as was his mother, Hockers great-great grandmother Ida, a former slave. Lewis had blond hair, blue eyes and fair skin and could pass for white, Bradley told Hocker. He was born in 1890 and was the product of a rape of Ida by white drifter, his aunt told him. Ida was married at the time to a Native American miner named Charles Lewis. The family raised Tom in Richmond, Virginia, but he often faced hardship from some of his siblings and stepfather. Although he could pass for white, and often did, Tom always identified as a Black man, the family history said. Lewiss sister Rebecca, was Hockers great grandmother. His grandmother, Alma, was Rebeccas daughter. Lewis remained close with Rebecca and was instrumental in Almas life. Hocker, whose mother is Japanese, said he also always identified as a Black man. But he didnt know how strong that tradition was until he learned about his Uncle Tom, who died in 1968. Tom Lewis left the family property and money and a legacy he earned as a World War I veteran and wealthy brick mason. Tom Lewis, a biracial Virginian, was a key part of history a family tale that reads like a essential Black History. He and his wife Bessie, who was Black, were often kicked off of segregated buses because Tom insisted on sitting with her in the Black section in the rear of the bus, the family history said. He was a man who looked like he was white and meant the world to a family who was Black, Hocker said. He lived in an era when everyone was divided by race. But he stayed true to himself. He did not try to hide or conceal. Hocker said his Aunt Annette cared for Uncle Tom until he died. She died in November 2018 at the age of 83. Her obituary was only a glimpse of her life. She taught the fourth grade for 30 years at Folwell Elementary School, Mt. Holly and attended Our Lady Queen of Peace Roman Catholic Church in Hainesport, the obituary said. While at Folwell, she gained the admiration of students and faculty and received the Teacher of the Year award in 1987. She retired in 1993. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. 1. Yes. The public must have assurances that ethical standards are met by everyone. 2. Yes. As long as an independent board hears the grievances, its a worthwhile idea. 3. No. The concept is too broad. It should be limited to the citys elected officials. 4. No. There are plenty of stipulations in place already. An ordinance is a waste of time. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say without seeing how it would be structured and applied. Vote View Results A West New York man pleaded guilty to insurance fraud on Wednesday during a virtual plea hearing, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said. Richard Hamedl, 32, was found guilty of one count of third-degree insurance fraud, which can cost up to five years in prison and up to $15,000 in fines. On Aug. 26, 2020, Hamedl was driving a 2019 BMW X6 when he struck a parked vehicle on 10th Street in Hoboken and fled the scene. Suarez said a witness at the scene caught the license plate for the BMW X6, helping police locate the vehicles registered owner, who said she had lent the vehicle to Hamedl. After the accident, Hamedl who had a separate insurance policy for the BMW X6 with Progressive Insurance called the insurance company to modify his coverage, Suarez said. On Sept. 3, 2021, Hamedl filed a fraudulent claim with Progressive stating that the BMW was damaged in a hit-and-run accident that same day while it was parked in the Bronx. Sentencing has been scheduled for March 25 before the Honorable Vincent J. Militello. The state is represented by Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Galler of the Hudson County Prosecutors Office Insurance Fraud Unit. VIJAYAWADA: Ruling YSR Congress is up in arms against State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar for issuing orders confining panchayat raj minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy to his house. Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, YSRC MLA and party official spokesperson Ambati Rambabu said the SEC has stepped out of his purview by passing such orders. He maintained that the election commissioner has no power to take such a decision of confining a public representative, as it amounts to violating the rights of people. He charged that Ramesh Kumar has put curbs on Ramachandra Reddy only because he is active in Chittoor district from where TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu hails. Rambabu warned that strict action will be taken against officials who violate norms by implementing the SECs orders. The MLA criticised the election commissioner for being vindictive and supporting the political interests of Telugu Desam. In this regard, he pointed out that no action has been taken against Chandrababu for releasing the TD manifesto for panchayat elections, though the polls are held on a non-party basis. Rambabu stated that electing candidates unanimously is a common phenomenon in all states and not new to Andhra Pradesh too. He accused SEC of deliberately blowing non-issues out of proportion in a bid to corner the government at opposition TDs behest. In the current age of technology the importance of the radio set may look marginal or negligible but we all know how the radio has been a fundamental part of our day to day life for ages. It kept us singing; it kept us informed, and it educated us. No one can deny the influence of the radio in our lives in almost every sense. It would be practically inconceivable to think of our lives without the radio some years back. Today the advent of several other more complex and more sophisticated mass communication tools may have tried to dampen its relevance but not quite. The radio was the precursor of all forms of electronic media anticipating TV and later on all forms of smart mobile phones. In fact, before the invention of the TV, radio was the most popular way of addressing or reaching millions in one go. The history of radio has been one of decisive history makers having helped form governments and countries and helping depose others. It has been used as a major instrument of communication for any government that happens to control it. In fact it was once said that to control a government one just had to control the radio station i.e. the communication tools of that government. Governments have used the radio as a major means of communicating their message to their population. If they wanted to condemn a certain political group or any form of political association, they would not hesitate to use the radio waves to do it. With the emergence of various radio channels the race to control the attention of the public has been confirmed as a priority along the years since the very first days of the radio. Hence, one may say the role of the radio in the current society may have waned, but in the past years, it has been at the heart of every society, particularly those like ours where the literacy rate is not much and where other means of communication or mass media are not so widespread nor developed. Radio is easy to tune in and listen to any programs besides the latest news now broadcast in real time. But it is also a means of sharing various lessons or information from experts and professionals on any kind of subjects. Radio has been a huge tool to reach millions in an instant and with the spread of wireless or cordless radio sets the importance and practicality of the radio increased exponentially along the years. So much of entertaining programs have also been at the centre stage of radio programs. All sorts of messages could be transmitted using the radio waves and in this sense it has always been irreplaceable until the recent phenomenon of social media expansion that created and expanded 'citizen journalism' to unpredictable levels. Today, with the immense expansion of smart phones and the almost universal usage of social media, the importance of the radio may seem to be diluted, but people still find the time to tune to a popular or preferred radio station or program using their phones or even their vehicles on which they drive. Hence, radios have become even more readily accessible and vital to reach millions in real time and their usage cannot totally fade. Radios are particularly vital in circumstances where one cannot have network to see social media on their smart phones or even have the chance to watch TV. Radio is also simpler and more practical to tune into and it is particularly widespread on transport means when we consider it in our context. One often listens to the radio on a taxi or bus. One can easily tune in privately as well to the radio while driving in a car and in so doing face the stress of daily traffic jams with a certain ease. Using the radio the Ministry of Transport or the local traffic authorities could transmit vital messages on which ways to use and which ones to avoid. And if there are accidents such as a chain of clashes or some natural disaster such as the coming of swarms of locusts or some other insects, the presence of an imminent tornado or storm and floods etc the radio can reach people immediately. It can thus avert further disasters raising awareness to take appropriate measures to protect the public from damages and losses. Radio stations have been used and abused by their owners and sponsors once the monopoly over ownership was lifted from governments with democratic openings expanding, depending on who the owners are and how they earned their license. That was why the kind of government that regulates these radio stations becomes important. No one can undermine the importance of radio stations in political terms. And that may be why many governments watch very attentively what sort of transmission is aired to the public. The history of the radio in our country dates back to the nineteen thirties. Ethiopian radio is may be among the oldest in the African continent even if its spread may have been slower compared to others. Its importance however cannot be overestimated because for years it has been the sole most important means of reaching the population by the government. Every announcement was carried out through this means especially before TV was introduced. Many people remember how there were loud speakers attached to radio sets in a nearby house installed at the most important squares of a city where thousands had the chance to listen to broadcasts, announcements etc. even before radio sets were disseminated among the population. Whenever the government wanted to communicate a certain important message it used the radio and people used to associate the radio with the government. Any communication through the radio was taken as the voice of the leaders. For instance, declarations of wars or any forms of campaigns or public announcements such as important sentences were made across the radio even if other mass media means may have been used as well. With the emergence of cordless radios this tool became even more vital because communication was not to be disrupted even if there was no electric power. Batteries were used to activate radio sets and the sophistication of the technology further expanded the easier access and usage of the radio set. With the emergence of various channels and multiplicity of programs or shows using various languages, both local as well as international, radios began to secure even larger and larger audiences in every corner of the country. Government was at the same time facilitated to reach more citizens and convey its vital messages to its population. Propaganda was of course one of the transmissions that governments used to convey to the public by denouncing all those who opposed its policies while glorifying or justifying their side of the story. In Ethiopia, whatever was transmitted over the radio was considered as a rule or official communication or truth on the part of the government. Only recently did people access exposure to nongovernmental and more independent stations with the emergence of democratic impulses and pressures. With such activism, the views aired on radio stations began to vary and even ideas contradicting governments began to emerge. This may have put under check some authoritarian tendencies the monopoly over the radio wavelengths may have created. With more democratic governments and a multiplicity of stations mushrooming in various parts of the country, particularly FM stations, the exposure of radio listeners increased exponentially and more sustained efforts were necessary to attract the audience as there emerged a certain competition and rivalry among stations. Radio stations are also very important means of promotion and their role in the trade sector is vital. Advertisements have become a huge component of any radio station especially if they are privately owned and run. The economic turnover has also been staggeringly high. That was why the radio became a vital tool of communication and mass media especially with the emergence of multiparty politics, populism and ethnic politics in Africa. We all remember how the radio was a key instrument to win or lose elections. Political parties or personalities who had carefully crafted radio messages were more effective in winning the hearts of voters and hence drive them to power. But radios were also used for nefarious purposes. If hate has been at the centre of certain radio programs, they could very easily ignite the worst instincts on humans. In Rwanda the famous radio station controlled and financed by the so called interhamwe was the one behind the infamous Rwandan genocide costing the lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens. They were instigated and pushed forward by sustained hate speeches and falsehoods transmitted over the radio station repeatedly and uninterruptedly raising the emotions of the public to the worst of levels, to uncontrollable limits. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Ethiopia 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. Hence, we can clearly see that the radio set could also be abused and be an instrument of mass crimes such as massacres or assaults on groups of people, radicalizing people particularly those who had their own suspicions and grievances against a certain category of people and were looking for pretexts to justify their actions. The narratives that are allowed to air using the radio waves become venomous and destructive unless there are regulatory bodies that control the veracity of the facts and statements made on air weighed against the bare facts, making clear distinction between facts and opinions. The appropriateness of revealing certain information would also have to be weighed against public safety requirements, security and law and order standards. Raising the emotions of people may have serious consequences against the back drop of certain radio programs and this must be supervised by some responsible regulatory body, in the interest of the public good. For instance radio messages talking about crimes that never took place must be censored immediately as the repercussions could be incalculable. Public outrage is always a grave risk and could go out of control easily. There should be a sense of responsibility on the part of any transmitter in charge of the radio stations or programs and that is why many people argue that there should always be limits to freedom of expression when it comes to public safety. Creating havoc among the population could be the political program of certain factions. That is why there needs to be a balance between freedom of expression using any kind of means including the radio set and restrictions on the veracity of the programs or news and their repercussions on the society from the point of view of public safety and security. There will be debates on this particular issue for years to come, but we need to hail the mind and efforts of the Italian Engineer Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) when he got to reach this important invention chapter of the radio in 1899. As we celebrate World Radio Day we feel we have to take all these background stories into consideration. We can conclude by saying radio has come a long journey but it is also bound to continue in future despite other forms of communication trying to push it aside. 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. opinion For me I think (and that's bad English!) a DNA test needs to be made to confirm if Hussein Lumumba Amin is truly the son of former president Idi Amin Dada. The boy has come out strongly to condemn the Museveni administration for the widespread State-inspired violence: the killings with impunity, the kidnappings by State operatives... with people turning up dead or disappearing permanently - virtues which for many years were branded as a monopoly of Idi Amin's regime. There is absolutely no need for any such test with regard to the kids of a pick of Uganda's current leaders. Those whose parents are known to pinch public resources and elections... are doing just that. Looks consistent to me! Those who parents are known to commit human rights abuses - kidnaps, tortures and disappearances - are heading outfits that are busy doing exactly that. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree! Hussein's message, suggesting a case of the apple that did fall a good distance from the tree, trended quite a bit on social media. Had I been a "drunko", I'd have quit drinking immediately, believing that I was now "seeing things". But the strongest drink I ever sipped is Pepsi and it hasn't carried me away to such glorious heights yet, ahem! These juxtapositions may seem meaningless at first, for those who didn't know Idi Amin... and those are pretty many! That's why it would be a good idea to read The World's Most Evil Men by Bruce Jones and Neil Blandford (1989). One of the names that come up quite easily, in the same breath as Cambodia's Pol Pot and Germany's Adolf Hitler, Haiti's Papa Doc, Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin, Mongolian Genghis Khan and Russia's Ivan the Terrible, is our own "Big Daddy", Gen Idi Amin Dada, who ruled Uganda from 1971 to 1979. In fact, Idi Amin's story is the very first - or second - in the book. Let the record reflect, however, that evil as Amin was, no one can ever point a finger at his children, for the simple reason that, unlike the case of... ahem! (just clearing my throat)... Amin's children were too young to have played any part in the atrocities of their father. And this Hussein boy, we must admit, does appear very polished, intellectual and humane, even if most of us feel unable to agree with his very diligent attempts to exonerate his father on the human rights front. The statement of Amin's son tells a simple story: we are back to where we were in Amin's regime, in terms of the human rights violations and having to choose between the two leaders is just about where the Israelites were at, wondering which, between Pharaoh behind them and the Red Sea ahead, was better. Honours even! We are talking about two full-blown military dictatorships on the table! The main difference is that Amin was a wolf who attacked the sheep, dressed as a wolf! He didn't pretend to be no sheep! He saved the taxpayer lots of money by declaring himself president for life. We didn't waste trillions of taxpayer's money on pretending we had a Parliament. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Uganda Governance 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. There was no need organising sham elections designed to be won by only one person, with opponents and entire campaign teams being jailed on trumped up charges. There was no need to spend taxpayer's money bribing Members of Parliament to remove term limits, then remove age limits, then pass this or that law. The country, therefore, saved plenty of money by being run - and by identifying itself - as a dictatorship. Amin seems, within his limited frame of reference (because of limited education) to have had a heart for the country. He didn't steal public property, or interfere with the systems the colonialists had left in place. So we had a functional public transport system, hospitals actually worked and people attended the university free of charge. At this rate, something tells me that a few years from now when a new edition of The World's Most Evil Men is written, there just might be a new name entered in, from the land where the Nile begins its journey to Egypt. Mr Tegulle is an advocate of the High Court of Uganda Chamoli : , Feb 7 (IANS) Over 150 people have lost their lives and over 150 are missing following a massive flood near a power project at Reni village in Joshimath area of Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, officials said. The incident occurred after the water level in Dhauliganga river, one of the six sources of the Ganga river, suddenly surged on Sunday morning following an avalanche near the Rishi Ganga power project. The 85 km river meets the Alaknanda river at Vishnuprayag at the base of Joshimath mountain in Uttarakhand. The ITBP said that the flash flood occurred in Rishi Ganga at around 10.45 a.m. due to a glacier falling into it and exponentially increasing the volume of water. Due to this, the Rishi Ganga hydro project was completely devastated, it said. "The BRO bridge on Joshimath highway was also completely washed away. There were six graziers with their livestock there and they were also swept away by the flash flood," the ITBP said. "Rishiganga meets Dhauliganga near Reni village. So Dhauliganga also got flooded. Five to six houses of the village were also washed away. An NTPC project on river Dhauliganga near Tapovan was completely devastated. Two 'Jhula' bridges connecting villages on the other side of the river were also washed away. "More than 100 labourers at the barrage and 50 plus in the tunnel lost their life as per the incharge of Tapovan NTPC work site. As many as 150 people are missing," the ITBP said. "Two bodies were recovered at Tapovan NTPC site. One more was recovered from Chamoli village near Tapovan. About 16 to 17 labourers are safe inside the tunnel. Our team is working to rescue them." Around 250 personnel of ITBP are carrying out rescue and search operations on the site. The paramilitary force said connectivity of its Border Outposts was totally restricted due to bridge destruction near Reni village. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has convened an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation and to supervise rescue and relief operations. Though the impact of the disaster may not be felt in Rishikesh and Haridwar, the temple towns have been put on alert. A government spokesman said that there was not much human habitation at the site where the glacier broke apart but a number of power projects have been hit. The government has appealed to the people not to venture near the Ganga river. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have spoken to the Chief Minister to take stock of the situation in the state. The Prime Minister, during his Assam tour, reviewed the situation in Uttarakhand during a telephonic conversation with Rawat and other top officials, and the rescue and relief work underway. The Prime Minister, in a tweet, said that he is constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation in Uttarakhand. "India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyone's safety there. Have been continuously speaking to senior authorities and getting updates on NDRF deployment, rescue work and relief operations." Meanwhile, Home Minister Shah also spoke to Rawat and Into-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General S.S. Deswal. Shah said that four National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are being airlifted to Dehradun to reach Joshimath. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed That last bit was revealed, to his credit, by Health Minister Greg Hunt . None of this is sinister. But its useful context in which to read Fridays push by several Labor premiers for the federal government to take more responsibility for quarantine. The Prime Ministers blitz of television and radio did nothing to stop the government announcing, a few weeks later, a supply and production agreement for pretty much the same thing. There was an announcement last week about securing an extra 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine. But that wasnt really new, either: it was part of the original contract with Pfizer announced last November. You have probably lost track of vaccine announcements by now. There was the big one, back in August, when the government announced it had a letter of intent with AstraZeneca that was, with some encouragement from the government, widely reported as a guarantee and a deal that had been inked something of an exaggeration. Many years ago, I was told by a veteran spin doctor that any new project a new building, say should be announced 10 times. First, announce you are considering it. Then that you are calling for proposals. Then that the proposals have been received. You should publish the proposals, then announce the winner This goes on until after the building is up, and you celebrate its first anniversary. The point is to wring every ounce of positive publicity out of even the smallest announcement. Up until now, when things have gone wrong, the premiers have suffered. Quarantine has been their issue, as has the debate that always comes next, over lockdowns. Once everyone is vaccinated, lockdowns will be a thing of the past and the premiers will be free. But what about the intervening months, when vaccination has begun but not ended, and a quarantine breach sets the virus loose? What if the vaccination rollout is slow, or slower than it could have been? Who gets the blame if the virus spreads across a state? The premiers, by now, are hyper-aware of the Morrison governments ability to take credit for everything good, while dodging everything bad. By trying to force the Prime Minister to share more of the responsibility for quarantine or at least by putting the issue up in lights they are sending a message: if the vaccine rollout is slow, and something happens, we are going to make sure youre in the frame too. Illustration: Simon Bosch Credit: Vaccines werent the only example last week of the Prime Ministers talent for making 10 announcements when one might do. Scott Morrison has been Prime Minister for almost three years now. In that time, very, very little has been done on climate change. The result, one might think, would be scepticism towards the Prime Ministers commitment. Instead, it seems to have led to a situation in which he is repeatedly given credit, by much of the media, for the tiniest shifts towards a more reasonable position. And so he was widely praised for quietly shifting his party away from coal, towards a gas-led recovery, even though gas is also a huge contributor to global warming. He received attention for his announcement that he might not use a loophole (one that some experts call cheating) to deliver the emissions cuts to which Australia committed itself in Paris. But this was such a hollow boast: he was simply saying that he thought it was going to happen anyway, and in that case, he wouldnt use the loophole. Maybe. Actress Gehana Vasisth, who has been a part of several movies and web-series including ALT Balaji's Gandii Baat has been arrested by police for allegedly shooting and uploading pornographic videos. Gehana, whose real name is Vandana Tiwari, has been arrested by Crime Branch of Mumbai Police and will be produced in front of a court on Monday, according to news agency ANI. A tweet by ANI read, Actress Gehana Vasisth has been arrested by Property Cell of the Crime Branch for her alleged role in shooting and uploading porn videos on a website. She will be produced before a court in Mumbai today: Mumbai Police. Actress Gehana Vasisth has been arrested by Property Cell of the Crime Branch for her alleged role in shooting and uploading porn videos on a website. She will be produced before a court in Mumbai today: Mumbai Police ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 In 2019, Gehana made headlines after she suffered from a near-fatal cardiac arrest. She was rushed to the hospital after being unconscious on the sets of her web-series in Mumbai's Madh island. The doctors had suspected that this might have happened due to an adverse reaction between prescription drugs and certain energy drinks consumed by her. Apart from Gandii Baat, Gehana has also worked on the Star Plus serial Behenein, and films like Luckhnowi Ishq, Daal Mein Kuch Kaala Hai, among others. She first came into the limelight in 2012 after winning Miss Asia Bikini contest. Tokyo, Feb 7 : The Governors of Japan's prefectures have urged the central government to roll out its Covid-19 vaccine plan quickly as there is very little information on the country's inoculation drive against the virus. The National Governors' Association held an online meeting on Saturday calling on the government to provide information on its vaccine rollout preparations as soon as possible, so that the local governments can start making detailed plans, reports Xinhua news agency. The central government has made provisions for the country to receive a total of 310 million doses from the vaccine makers of AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna. The total number of doses is expected to be enough to inoculate 157 million people, more than Japan's current population of about 126 million. However, a recent poll by Kyodo News showed that many local governments have difficulties in making plans for staffing and vaccination sites due to lack of information from the central government. "We can't secure vaccination sites or doctors without knowing exactly when and how long we need them," an official of the Sapporo city government was quoted as saying. "It's like we are being rushed to make preparations with our hands tied," said a mayor from the Tokyo metropolitan area. Meanwhile, Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said that the current state of emergency over the pandemic should be lifted in phases in areas where it is confirmed to be effective to a certain degree. He also called on the central government to present its criteria for applying the measures to contain the spread of the virus outlined in the revised special measures law. The association decided to set up a liaison group to improve communication with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on vaccination, which is expected to begin with healthcare workers in mid-February. The central government has said vaccinations for those aged 65 and over would begin in late March. However, Taro Kono, administrative reform minister who was appointed to lead the vaccination efforts, said recently that the inoculation drive would not start before April. According to the latest figures from the Health Ministry, the confirmed Covid-19 cases in Japan has increased to 403,938, The death toll currently stands at 6,389. The Ministry also said there are currently 815 patients considered severely ill with ventilators or in intensive care units. In Tokyo, the epicentre of the pandemic in Japan, 639 new cases were reported on Saturday, staying below 1,000 for the ninth consecutive day, with the cumulative total reaching 103,416, the highest among the country's 47 prefectures. Gas turbines tender: Chinese company aggrieved by ministry decision By Namini Wijedasa View(s): View(s): Yet another Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) tenderthis time for the design, manufacture and supply of three 35 megawatt gas turbinesis in limbo, with the Power and Energy Ministry wanting the award cancelled even after the process was completed and a Chinese company selected. The decision has led China National Technical Imports and Exports Corporation (CNTIC) to complain that it was seriously aggrieved as it had spent a considerable amount of valuable resources in processing the tender. The purchase of the three 35mw gas turbines had been in the CEBs approved long-term generation expansion plan since 2007. Separately, the existing 115mw open cycle gas turbine (also called Fiat Avio or GT7) is due to be retired in 2023. There are now competing proposals on the table, CEB official sources said. One faction wants to buy new gas turbines for US$ 113mn (Rs 21.8bn) while another proposes to repair the old GT7 which was commissioned in 1997 for Rs 1.4bn. There are arguments for and against each option, energy experts said. Much time and public resources have been wasted on the procurement process which started in February 2016 with regard to the three gas turbines. A Project Management Unit (PMU) was set up, complete with allowances and other benefits for members. But the CEB did not complete the request for proposals (RFP) document till 2019 when it was finally submitted to a Standing Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee (SCAPC). The SCAPC approved the RFP and instructed the CEB to advertise it, thereby inviting bids. This was also not done. Instead, in July 2019, a board paper was submitted requesting a higher allocation for the project and also to extend the period of the PMU, with all its emoluments. By then, the country was in a severe power crisis. And the CEB board decided the utility cannot wait any longer for the team to produce another tender. It instructed the General Manager (GM) to submit a proposal to fast-track the process. The board also directed the GM to explore alternatives that can come into operation within a shorter time frame as the CEB could wait another three years. It was agreed to adopt modern aero-derivative gas turbines that are operational in six months. The PMU was re-formulated and placed under the CEBs Transmission Division. The tender was advertised in October 2019 and five bids were received in December 2019. Two biddersCNTIC and a company named TSKwere notified that they were shortlisted after technical bids were opened. However, the CEB GM then maintained that the utility did not have money for the project as the allocation was used to settle urgent dues to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. He additionally claimed that the chosen financial institution, the Peoples Bank, had said it needed a Treasury guarantee for it to lend the funds. In October 2020, a full year after the tender was published, the Ministry sought approval from the Cabinet to either direct the Treasury to issue a guarantee to the Peoples Bank for a loan of US$ 113mn for the procurement; or to cancel the initial tender and direct the CEB to issue a fresh request on suppliers credit financing basis. The second option was approved. But even years after it was initiated, the project is still pending. In the meantime, the Peoples Bank informed the Ministry that it did not refuse credit and that the matter had not even been negotiated. The Secretary has now written to the CEB asking it to provide documents to substantiate the claim that the bank had refused to finance the project. It is not clear at what stage it was confirmed CNTIC was the bid winner. CEB sources said it was selected in February this year after financial bids were opened they were cheaper than TSK. An award letter was not granted because the utility had claimed it had no funds. But CNTIC has been flexing its muscles with the authorities, even hinting at legal action, the officials reported. Parallel to this, another proposal was submitted to the Ministry to repair GT7. The initial price quoted for this was Rs 3.5bn (including to replace the rotor) but it has been brought down to Rs 1.4bn with scope reduction. The faction that supports outright purchase of new turbines argues that it is more feasible. It is still all in suspense, a senior official said, requesting anonymity. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... For the third year in a row, Big Pot has returned its lobbying effort to Santa Fe in the hopes of finally convincing New Mexico lawmakers to allow the expansion of its addiction-for-profit model in the state. Both Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth have recently continued their coronation of pot commercialization as the next best thing that could shower New Mexico in tax revenue and be a win for social justice. To be clear, lawmakers that tout marijuana legalization for revenue during times of fiscal hardship deserve immediate pushback. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his fellow lawmakers are facing a multibillion-dollar budget deficit and among his top responses has been a call to legalize marijuana for the revenue. To wit, both the states budget director and two chief sponsors of the bill to legalize the drug have pushed back on this, saying it would take several years for the state to begin realizing tax revenues. Even then, the top projected revenue amounts of $350 million would amount to two-tenths of one percent of the overall state budget. In New Mexico, Lujan Grisham is claiming the state could somehow double the projected revenue of New York, with projections of upward of more than half a billion dollars in revenue. This is ludicrous. One would be hard-pressed to find a state with a legal marijuana market where tax revenue projections have come anywhere close to reality. Former governors of such states, as well as former marijuana czars, have thrown water on the legalization-for-revenue argument. Furthermore, states with legal marijuana markets are asking the federal government for more than $1 trillion in aid. So much for the great pot boon. This argument falls flat as the revenues are laughable in the big picture, and they fail to consider the costs related to legalization. No, the sky hasnt fallen in states that have allowed the marijuana industry to expand and no one said it was going to. But there have been many harms that were in fact forewarned. According to a report from Colorado, for every dollar raised in pot tax revenue, $4.50 must be spent to mitigate such harms. Marijuana commercialization has led to an increase in marijuana-impaired traffic deaths, marijuana-related hospitalizations and poison-control center calls, and costs to the workforce, just to name a few. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ On the social justice front, there has not been a greater example of an argument in support of commercialization being completely destroyed. Commercialization results in the proliferation of marijuana stores in vulnerable communities. And the ownership of those stores doesnt reflect those communities: less than 19% of the marijuana industry features minority ownership. State after state has promised to develop a marijuana industry where the people who bore the brunt of the harms from the War on Drugs were the ones who profited from commercialization, and they have each utterly failed. Of course, the beginning of commercialization in Arizona will be a key talking point from the pro-pot crowd, but just because Arizona has chosen to jump off the proverbial bridge does not mean New Mexico has to follow suit. The smarter approach would be to adopt a wait-and-see mentality when it comes to the rollout of Arizonas pot industry. And given how the states rollout will essentially give existing multi-state operators a monopoly on the market and how history has shown that states rushing to implement sales has resulted in rampant issues of corruption, perhaps New Mexico should take a moment to see how this plays out. Marijuana commercialization has succeeded mostly in undercutting the predominate arguments in favor of it while also unleashing harms. We cannot allow such fallacious arguments to continue to be spread, and lawmakers who tout them must be held accountable. Lawmakers in Santa Fe must once again do the right thing and defeat this reckless proposal. She's been soaking up the abundant Miami sunshine since the New Year, after jetting over from her festive break in Barbados. And Kimberley Garner wowed as she hit one of the Floridian city's beaches in a decidedly revealing olive green swimsuit from her eponymous collection on Friday. The former Made In Chelsea star, 29, showcased her slender frame as she strolled the golden shores, a day before she kicked off early 30th birthday celebrations. Beach babe: Kimberley Garner wowed as she hit one of the Floridian city's beaches in a decidedly revealing olive green swimsuit from her eponymous collection on Friday Kimberley's swimwear of choice featured a high cut and a criss-cross open back, while side cutouts unveiled a glimpse of her bosom. Accessorising with a pendant necklace, bracelet and ring, the businesswoman shielded her eyes with a pair of stylish sunglasses as she chatted away on her phone. With her golden locks falling beyond her shoulders on soft waves, she let her natural beauty shine through as she kept her makeup minimal for the laidback outing. On Saturday night, Kimberley took to Instagram to share footage of herself hitting the town with designer Julien Macdonald, 49, as they celebrated her 30th birthday. Swimsuit: The former Made In Chelsea star caught the eye in a revealing olive green swimsuit It's all in the details: Kimberley's eye-catching swimsuit featured a criss-cross open back, while side cutouts unveiled a glimpse of her bosom Safety first: As she basked in the sunshine, the star was seen rubbing sun cream into her legs The blonde beauty, whose big day will fall on Wednesday, donned a black open-back crop top and skinny jeans as she joined the Welsh designer for her meal. Sharing a post of Julien kissing her on the cheek, Kimberley wrote: 'Celebrating my birthday. [S]o much respect for Julien as a designer and the most wonderful friend. They were joined by at least four other friends, who were seen knocking their cocktail glasses together as they settled in for their restaurant meal. Late last month, Kimberley furiously hit back amid mounting backlash about stars jetting abroad on 'work trips' amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. Phone: Shielding her eyes with a pair of stylish sunglasses, she was engrossed in a phone call Golden locks: The TV entrepreneur's golden locks falling beyond her shoulders on soft waves Beauty: She let her natural beauty shine through, keeping her makeup minimal for the outing Fun in the sun: She's been soaking up the abundant Miami sunshine since the New Year, after jetting over from her festive break on the Caribbean island of Barbados Taking to Instagram, she wrote: 'I run a business, I'm not an influencer,' as she defended her reasons for being in the US during the height of the pandemic. Kimberley said she jetted out of the UK on December 14 a week before London moved into Tier 4 to 'check on my apartment'. Kimberley, who travelled to Barbados before heading to Miami, is one of many stars who have been trolled online after being slammed by Home Secretary Priti Patel for jetting abroad under the ruse of a 'work trip' despite strict COVID-19 travel rules. The star, who owns her own swimwear business Kimberley London, wrote: 'I bought my place here this time two years ago. It was a massive achievement, still really can't believe it sometimes. I run a business- I'm not an influencer. Hitting back: Late last month, Kimberley furiously hit back amid mounting backlash about stars jetting abroad on 'work trips' amid the novel coronavirus pandemic Skipping lockdown: Kimberley said she jetted out of the UK on December 14 a week before London moved into Tier 4 to 'check on my apartment' Line: The blonde beauty has made strides with her eponymous swimsuit line in recent years Chill: She appeared to be in her element as she soaked up the sun ahead of her 30th birthday 'Flew out of the UK on the 14th December to come check on my apartment, this was before any lockdown, and plan to wait here until I can return home. I miss London a lot.' Kimberley has been enjoying the past two months in the sunshine and has gone public with her romance with her new mystery beau. The swimwear designer has kept coy about his identity on social media but the couple looked loved up as they headed out on a stroll hand-in-hand. Kimberley's outrage Instagram post comes amid backlash towards influencers who have jetted abroad during the pandemic. Birthday girl: On Saturday night, Kimberley took to Instagram to share footage of herself hitting the town with designer Julien Macdonald, 49, as they celebrated her 30th birthday Stepping out in style: The blonde beauty, whose big day will fall on Wednesday, donned a black open-back crop top and skinny jeans as she joined the Welsh designer for her meal Celebration: They were joined by at least four other friends, who were seen knocking their cocktail glasses together as they settled in for their restaurant meal As they shared photos from sun loungers, lockdown had appeared not to apply to so-called influencers and models who 'used loop-holes' to jet off the sunnier climes under the guise of work. On Wednesday Priti Patel criticised those who have been holidaying in the sun when they have been told to stay at home. She said going on holiday was 'not an exemption' as she unveiled a strict borders clampdown to slow the spread of the virus, telling the Commons: 'People should simply not be travelling. 'We see plenty of influencers showing off where they are mainly sunny places.' As the criticism intensifies, members of the public appear to be taking umbrage with their tone deaf posts from Dubai - now dubbed 'Covid Cosablanca.' Her say: Late last month, she took to Instagram to say, 'I run a business, I'm not an influencer' as she defended her reasons for being in the U.S. during the pandemic 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'. Scores of reality TV stars 'used loop holes' to flee to Dubai to lounge in luxury hotels, pose for pictures with cocktails on sun loungers and enjoy beach parties. At the start of the year, Kimberley had revealed that she was turning down all invitations to socialise on a big scale while in Miami amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She wrote: 'I am here, but I am very very strict still. I see people in tulum and all over going to parties and it doesnt feel right to me. Living it up: Kimberley has been enjoying the past month in the sunshine and has gone public with her romance with her new mystery beau 'I havent been out to any parties and turned down invites from friends as feel its just not right to be in a crowd - its not ok at the moment. 'Im really lucky to be in the sun and outdoors, and am valuing that totally, but not going to live normally as its not a normal world at the moment. 'I really think and feel for everyone home at the moment, it really sucks, please be brave, please be kind to each other. 'I did lots of little rounties when I was in lockdown and that helped keep me happy. Simple things like Praying, walking, working out, cooking and calling people who I like :).' [sic] Concluding her post, she advised her followers: '[B]e there for someone who might need you (even dancing round to loud music at home looking very silly but gosh it helped keep a smile) I hope your ok x.' [sic] The siblings of the late Bomet governor Joyce Laboso have accused their brother-in-law Edwin Abonyo of trying to disinherit them of their parents' property as he seeks to administer the estate of his departed wife. In filings made before the Family Division of the High Court in Milimani, Mary Chepkurui and Judy Cheptoo have filed objections against plans by Mr Abonyo to administer the estate, saying he has 'cunningly' included the estate of their late mother Rebecca and properties that belonged to their late father Fredrick. In an affidavit, Ms Chepkurui says she learnt of the application, for confirmation of grant on January 18, a day before the hearing of the case. Through lawyer Davis Sang, she said Mr Abonyo is trying through the petition, to complete another succession case in Bomet- and which had shared out the properties of their late parents. "... besides (the petition is) illegally attempting to disinherit us by including properties that were not allocated to our late sister in our late mother's succession proceedings," she said in the affidavit, adding that although confirmation of grant was made, the properties - including land and shares - have not been transmitted to the respective beneficiaries. Mother's estate Ms Chepkurui said she and her late sister Dr Laboso were administrators of their mother's estate, holding it in trust of their two other siblings - Judy and their brother David Kipkoech. The land in Sotik is about 180 acres. "The Estate of my late mother Rebecca Laboso have now been made subject of this instant succession and in spite of a clear mode of distribution therein and the properties not having been transmitted; the petitioner herein has deceptively and or illegally listed them as part of the Estate of the deceased and further distributed them exclusively to himself and the other two beneficiaries," Mr Sang submitted. Mr Abonyo had proposed to transfer the parcel in Sotik to his two sons, a move that would ostensibly lock out other beneficiaries of the estate of Laboso. Further, Ms Chepkurui says Mr Abonyo has also taken over a land in Kericho and proposes to bequeath it to his two sons, disinheriting her and her two siblings. Whereas they had no problem with Mr Abonyo taking over what belongs to his late wife, including shares at Parliament Sacco, Egerton University Pension Scheme - where she taught before joining politics, they object his move to take over what they termed as their ancestral property. They also have no objection with him taking the money in her accounts at KCB, Equity, Co-op bank and Absa Kenya as well as land in Kisumu and Nakuru. Contention Other properties in contention is a land in Kericho town, a residential house in Sotik and shares held at Itibo Limited, which she and Dr Laboso held in trust for Judy and David. Itibo estate sits on a 250 hectares. Also contested are shares at the Kenya Grain Growers Cooperative Union Shares, 2,480 shares at Kenya Commercial Bank and shares at Sinendet Multipurpose Cooperative Union, which Dr Laboso held in trust for all beneficiaries of their mother's estate. "Kericho/Kapletundo/chemagel BLOCK 1/27 belongs to our late father and has not been subjected to succession thus if the grant is confirmed herein, we stand to be unfairly disinherited," Ms Chekurui said. She also said she will lose a plot she inherited from her late mother, which Mr Abonyo has allocated to his sons. 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 revealed that KCB, KGGCU and Sinendet shares were to be held in trust for all beneficiaries by herself and Dr Laboso, but they have been allocated to Mr Abonyo's sons. Mr Abonyo moved to court last year seeking letters of administration and was granted temporary order by Justice Aggrey Muchelule on June 10. Dr Laboso died on July 29, 2019 at Nairobi Hospital after battling cancer for several years. Other than administering the estate, Mr Abonyo also wanted to be substituted and take over a case in which his wife had sued Kenya Civil Aviation Authority for the air accident in which her sister and former Chepalungu MP Lorna Chepkemoi Laboso was killed. Some of the properties the Laboso family have no issue with include a land in Karen, a townhouse in Kilimani, two parcels of land in Kisumu and a land in Nakuru town and money in several accounts. The case is set for mention on March 24. Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries to entertain. Trump Mulling Whether to Launch Own Social Media Platform: Senior Adviser Jason Miller, senior adviser to former President Donald Trump, said on Feb. 6 that Trump is deciding how he will reemerge on social media, including considering whether to create his own platform. I would expect that we will see the president reemerge on social media, Miller told Breitbart News on Feb. 6 on radio channel SiriusXM 125. Whether thats joining an existing platform or creating his new platform, there are a number of different options and a number of different meetings that theyve been having on that front. Nothing is imminent on that. When pressed for more information about Trumps social media plans, Miller said that all options are on the table. A number of things are being discussed. So stay tuned there because you know hes going to be back on social media. Were just kind of figuring out which avenue makes the most sense, he said. Trump, who has been one of the most active presidents on social media, was permanently suspended from Twitter and remains indefinitely banned from Facebook following the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol. The targeted policing of Trumps posts occurred throughout his presidency and ramped up following the Nov. 3 election, when the former president and his team repeatedly joined entreaties to independently review the integrity of the results in several states. Other platforms such as YouTube, Instagram (which is owned by Facebook), and Snapchat have also banned the former president from using their platforms. The social media companies justified their censorship as an effort to guard against violence, claiming that Trump had violated their terms of use. Their move to prevent Trump from expressing his views on the platforms came after the media, lawmakers, and other critics claimed that the former presidents remarks on Jan. 6 incited violence, which they say led to the Capitol breach. In the upcoming Senate impeachment trial, Trumps team plans to defend the former president by arguing that the trial is unconstitutional and that he was exercising his First Amendment rights when he made a speech on Jan. 6. Trump had addressed a crowd in Washington as Congress met to count electoral votes, in which he reiterated allegations about election irregularities and potential fraud and his dissatisfaction with the media and several lawmakers. In his speech, Trump called on supporters to peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard at the U.S. Capitol. The breach at the U.S. Capitol began before Trump had finished his speech at the rally, according to a timeline compiled by The Epoch Times. As the incident escalated, Trump continued his urge for peace and respect for law enforcement throughout the afternoon. Following the incident, Trump condemned the violence, lawlessness, and mayhem, saying that those who infiltrated the Capitol have defiled the seat of American democracy. This is a very, very dangerous road to take with respect to the First Amendment, putting at risk any passionate political speaker, David Schoen, one of Trumps impeachment defense attorneys, previously said of the new round of efforts to impeachment Trump. The Justice Department and FBI had also said that they had charged protesters who conspired to breach the U.S. Capitol days before the incident, a detail that challenges the argument put forward in many media reports that Trumps speech on Jan. 6 was the impetus for the violence. Meanwhile, the pipe bombs that were planted at the RNC and DNC headquarters on Jan. 6 were believed to have been placed there the night before the riots, law enforcement bodies have said. This week, media outlets began speculating whether Trump had joined the social media website Gab after the account realdonaldtrump, which is the same handle as Trumps Twitter account, posted a copy of the letter Trumps lawyers wrote to Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the House of Representatives lead impeachment manager. Miller denied that the account is being used by the former president. Meanwhile, Gab said in a statement on Twitter that the account was a mirror of POTUS tweets and statements that weve run for years. Weve always been transparent about this and would obviously let people know if the President starts using it, founder and CEO Andrew Torba said in a statement on Gab. Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok warned that the planned second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) without a legal binding agreement with Egypt and Sudan would have a disastrous impact on Sudan. Hamdoks remarks came as he met on Sunday with Pekka Haavisto, special European envoy and Finnish foreign minister, to discuss the GERD file and tensions on the Sudanese-Ethiopian borders, a statement by the Sudanese cabinet read. Ethiopias plan to [execute] the second phase of the Renaissance Dam filling in July without an agreement among parties within the framework of international law, which ensures the safety of the [dams] operation and the exchange of information, would have a disastrous impact on Sudan, the statement cited Hamdok as saying. The Sudanese PM also warned that further filling of the massive dams reservoir without a deal will especially impact 20 million Sudanese citizens living on the banks of the Blue Nile, the statement read. Sudan demands that the dam be established on the basis of international law, which preserves the rights of all parties and [ensures] that no party gets affected, the statement cited Hamdok as saying. Multiple rounds of negotiations between the three countries to reach a binding deal on the filling and operation of the dam ended in deadlock. Egypt has complained that Ethiopia is acting unilaterally and intransigently in the GERD dispute. Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Saturday has reiterated the importance of reaching a binding deal on the GERD, under the supervision of the AU, before the second filling of the dam. Sudan has twice withdrawn from the AU-mediated talks on the GERD, viewing the current approach of negotiations as fruitless. Sudans Irrigation Minister, Yasser Abbas, has presented to Haavisto on Monday a Sudanese proposal to expand the mediation umbrella in the GERD negotiations so that it includes the United Nations. Hamdok reviewed with Haavisto the issue of armed clashes taking place along the Sudanese-Ethiopian border, reiterating that Sudan would not engage in a war against Ethiopia. Hamdok affirmed Sudans fixed stance that it does not intend to go in a war with neighbouring Ethiopia in terms of the borders issue given that the issue has been settled since the 1902 agreements, the statement added. Ethiopia and Great Britain, which colonized Sudan at the time, signed the 1902 agreement to draw up the frontier. The agreement, however, lacked clear demarcation lines. Short link: A Pakistani-British man acquitted of the 2002 gruesome beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl and three others detained Karachi's Central Prison are to be shifted to newly constructed rooms within the boundary of the prison, authorities said on Saturday. On Tuesday Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh, who has been on death row for 18 years, to be moved to a so-called government "safe house." However, authorities said Saturday Sheikh and the three others, who had been sentenced to life in prison for their part in Pearl's kidnapping and death, would be moved to new rooms where they will be able to have family members visit but these would not be outside the prison complex. The three Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib were alleged to have all played lesser roles in the incident. The Pakistan government has been scrambling to keep Sheikh in jail since a Supreme Court order last Thursday upheld his acquittal in the Wall Street Journal reporter's death, triggering outrage by Pearl's family and the U.S. administration. In a final effort to overturn the acquittal, Pakistan's government, as well as the Pearl family, filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, asking it to review the decision to exonerate Sheikh of Pearl's murder. The family's lawyer, Faisal Siddiqi, however, said such a review had a slim chance of success because the same Supreme Court judges who ordered Sheikh's acquittal sit on the review panel. The order sending Sheikh to a safe house would seem to be a concession to the federal government, as well as the government of southern Sindh province where Karachi is the capital. The Sindh government has refused successive orders to release Sheikh, even courting contempt charges from lower courts. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) A message on the social media website Gab on a phone in New York on Oct. 29, 2018. (Jenny Kane/AP Photo) Gab CEO Says Trump Hasnt Signed Up for Website The CEO of social media platform Gab has disputed news reports that said former President Donald Trump has begun posting on the network. In a video blog posted on Feb. 6, Andrew Torba said that an account had been reserved for Trump since 2016 and contains an archive of all of Trumps tweets. Dozens of outlets around the world all republished the same lie without fact-checking it, Torba said, adding that none of the outlets that reported the story reached out to him for comment. They just printed this lie. Torba said he set up the mirror account because he expected Trump to eventually be banned from social media. The archived posts allow Gabs users to have an uncensored conversation about the presidents messages, Torba added. The wave of news coverage about Trump posting on Gab was led by British media outlets, a number of which said the president appeared to be posting on the platform. Jason Miller, a senior adviser for Trumps 2020 campaign, responded to one of the reports stating, This is a fake account. Gabs Twitter account wrote in response, Its not a fake account, its a mirror of POTUS tweets and statements that weve run for years. Miller said on Feb. 6 that Trump is deciding how he will reemerge on social media, including considering whether to create his own platform. I would expect that we will see the president reemerge on social media, Miller told Breitbart News on Feb. 6 on SiriusXM 125. Whether thats joining an existing platform or creating his new platform, there are a number of different options and a number of different meetings that theyve been having on that front. Nothing is imminent on that. Trump, who has been one of the most active presidents on social media, was permanently suspended from Twitter and remains indefinitely banned from Facebook following the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol. The targeted policing of Trumps posts occurred throughout his presidency and ramped up following the Nov. 3, 2020, election, when Trump and his team repeatedly joined entreaties to independently review the integrity of the results in several states. The social media giants said that banning the president was necessary to prevent him from inciting violence. In his speech on Jan. 6, Trump called out supporters to peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard. Establishment media and Democrats have instead used excerpts from the speech out of context to suggest that the president incited the mob that breached the Capitol. The breach at the U.S. Capitol began before Trump had finished his speech at the rally, according to a timeline compiled by The Epoch Times. Janita Kan contributed to this report. 7 day print subscribers enjoy unlimited access to yakimaherald.com Enter the LAST NAME and the 7 DIGIT phone number on your print subscription account to connect your print subscription to your yakimaherald.com account. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Lawyers are split over whether prosecutors will seek to charge Donald Trump once his Senate impeachment trial is over There's little chance Donald Trump will be convicted by the US Senate of inciting an insurgency but his legal troubles won't end with the conclusion of his second impeachment trial. The former president could soon be indicted on criminal charges, not to mention the multiple civil actions that have been filed against him. The ex-New York property tycoon, now ensconced in his luxurious Florida residence, is no stranger to the legal system, with his army of lawyers long accustomed to defending him and attacking his opponents during civil hearings. Now that Trump is once again a mere citizen without the protection of presidential immunity, he risks the unprecedented infamy of being indicted. He is the target of at least one criminal investigation, led by Manhattan prosecutor Cyrus Vance, who has been fighting for months to obtain eight years of Trump's tax returns. Initially focused on payments before the 2016 presidential election to two women who claim they had affairs with Trump, the state-level probe is also now examining possible allegations of tax evasion, and insurance and bank fraud. In July, the Supreme Court ordered the president's accountants to hand over the financial documents to Vance's team. Trump's lawyers have challenged the scope of the requested documents and a ruling is pending. Trump has called the investigation "the worst witch hunt in US history". Vance's case, heard behind closed doors before a grand jury, appears to be moving along, though. According to US media, investigators from Vance's office recently interviewed employees of Deutsche Bank, which has long backed the former president and the Trump Organization. They spoke to staff at Trump's insurance broker Aon, too. The investigators have also interviewed Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who received a three-year prison term after admitting making hush payments to the two alleged mistresses of Trump. The ex-lawyer had testified to Congress that Trump and his company artificially inflated and devalued the worth of their assets to both obtain bank loans and reduce their taxes. - Threat of imprisonment - New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, is also investigating the allegations. Her team interviewed one of Trump's sons, Eric Trump, under oath despite the opposition of Trump attorneys, and obtained documents on some of the family's properties. Her investigation is a civil one, but she said recently that if she finds any evidence of criminal activity it will "change the posture of our case." If Trump is ever convicted he would be at risk of imprisonment. Unlike federal offences, state convictions cannot be pardoned by the president. And while Biden has vowed reconciliation with Republicans he would be highly unlikely to interfere in any criminal prosecution in any case. Many Trump critics are delighted at the possibility that the 74-year-old might be charged, including activists at "Rise and Resist" who called for his imprisonment during a demonstration in New York in January. However, prosecutors, aware of the volatility of the American political climate, may think twice before pursuing him, several lawyers told AFP. "I don't think anyone is going to be jumping at it," said Daniel Richman, a former prosecutor and law professor at Columbia University. "The last thing you want is for the process to be used as or perceived as being used as just another tool in a political operation." - 'Risks to justice' - Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer who is leading three civil actions against Trump, says there are two schools of thought. "I'm very much of the school that you don't refrain from doing justice out of a fear that if you do justice, it will inflame people," she said. Kaplan believes that pursuing charges against Trump would uphold the principle that no one in the United States is above the law. "In the long term, the risks are far too great not to establish these principles and to make sure that justice is done," she told AFP. For Gloria Browne-Marshall, a law professor at The City University of New York, seeing Trump in the dock would constitute "a very logical denouement" to his time in office. She envisions what she describes as the "Al Capone scenario," where the legendary 1920s gangster was convicted of tax evasion, not other more serious crimes he committed. Manhattan prosecutor Cyrus Vance, seen here in February 2020, investigating Donald Trump's tax affairs But even if an indictment is likely before Vance's term is up in October, Browne-Marshall has difficulty foreseeing a trial or sentence. With millions of Trump supporters ready to fund his defense, he could counterattack with his own legal actions and drag the cases out for years, she said. Prosecutors, who are elected and dependent on taxpayers' money, would have to mobilize a considerable war chest to indict him -- something they may not be willing to do. Bennett Gershman, a former prosecutor and law professor at Pace University, also expects an indictment by Vance but envisages little more. "If he were to face a jury it would be a circus. It would be something nobody has seen before," he said. Twitter India's public policy head Mahima Kaul has resigned citing personal reasons. She decided to step down from the role in January and will be with the company till March to help with the smooth transitioning, the social media firm confirmed. Kaul oversees Twitter's relationship with policymakers, elected officials, government agencies, and NGOs in India and direct policy programmes in these areas. She joined the company in 2015 from Observer Research Foundation, a think-tank, where she was a fellow leading the cyber and new media initiatives. The company has now listed the job opening on LinkedIn. "At the start of this year, Mahima Kaul decided to step down from her role, as Twitter Public Policy Director for India and South Asia, to take a well-deserved break. Its a loss for all of us at Twitter, but after more than five years in the role, we respect her desire to focus on the most important people and relationships in her personal life. Mahima will continue in her role till the end of March and will support the transition," said Monique Meche, vice-president, public policy, Twitter. The news of Kauls resignation comes at a time when the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has served a notice to Twitter for violating Indian law" by not taking down tweets with a controversial hashtag referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and farmer genocide. The notice has threatened the micro-blogging platform with penal consequences if over 250 accounts and posts that were flagged by the government werent blocked. The firm, which blocked the accounts on Monday, restored them shortly stating them as free speech and being newsworthy. Twitter has also been accused of bias against right-wing voices on the platform, including allegations that it is disproportionally suspending accounts espousing right-wing views in India. Not just political bias, Twitter has been in the eye of the storm over several issues around hate speech, fake news, fake profiles and the bots menace. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a rally in Haldia, West Bengal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi blew the poll bugle in West Bengal, with his first election rally in the poll-bound state on February 7. The prime target of Modi's political attack was Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, whom he accused of giving communism a "rebirth" in the state. "In the first year of Mamata government, it became clear that what Bengal had got was not 'parivartan (change)' but rebirth of Left and that too with interest," Modi said at the rally in Purba Medinipur's Haldia. "Revival of Left meant revival of corruption, crime, violence, and attacks on democracy," he added, while accusing the CPI(M)-led Left Front and the Congress of being "hand-in-glove" with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). "We heard of match-fixing in sports. In Bengal, there is match-fixing in politics. The Trinamool and Left are showing a fake contest among themselves," he said. "While our fight is directly against the Trinamool, we should not forget its two friends - the Congress and the Left," the Prime Minister, who is spearheading the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) campaign, added. Modi also asked the Left and the Congress - who have inked a pre-poll alliance in Bengal to explain why they were contesting against each other in Kerala. "They have a deal to loot Kerala for five years each," he said. The BJP, claimed Modi, is the only political entity that can "save the Bengali culture, provide good governance, end corruption and lead the state into an era of prosperity". Also read: 'Conspiracy to malign Indian tea': PM Modi slams foreign celebs, opposition during Assam visit Modi accused Mamata of showing intolerance towards dissent. "In Bengal, if you ask Didi (Mamata Banerjee) about your right then she gets frustrated. She even gets annoyed if slogans of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' are raised," he remarked. The Prime Minister said Mamata should explain the reason behind "blocking" the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme in Bengal. Over 25 lakh farmers in the state wanted to claim benefits of the scheme, he claimed. Modi's attack also included a reference towards the Centre's handling of the coronavirus crisis. The fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is still underway, and "we have two made-in-India vaccines" to strengthen the country's efforts, he added. Apart from addressing the electoral rally, Modi was also scheduled to inaugurate four projects worth Rs 4,700 crore in the oil and gas sector in Haldia. The forthcoming assembly polls in West Bengal are expected in April-May. The BJP has set an ambitious target of winning more than 200 seats in the 294-member assembly. Before heading to Bengal,, which is also slated to go to polls in the upcoming elections. He laid the foundation stones for two medical colleges, to be built at a cost of Rs 1,100 crore, in Biswanath and Charaideo. A nine-month old feud between two of biggest egos in national journalism reignited spectacularly last week when Stan Grant executed a revenge attack on Peter FitzSimons. Previously warm relations between the pair have been up and down since their opinion page fisticuffs last year over FitzSimons book on Captain James Cook. Grant took to this papers opinion pages to label some parts of the book as ludicrous. Fast forward to last week when Grant contributed a chapter to The Australians progressive murder mystery novel (progressive in its publication schedule, obviously not in its politics), an attempt by the boring broadsheet to liven up the silly season. Grant set his chapter at Fitzy and Lisas Australia Day barbecue at their grand house overlooking Sydney Harbour the home of The Sydney Morning Herald columnist and his wife, The Project presenter Lisa Wilkinson. What a woke leftie love-in that was: journos, actors, writers, couple of ex-Wallabies (well it was the North Shore), a few washed up politicians, even a couple of Liberals (small l of course) and a former managing director of the ABC for good measure. Just last year Apple announced that it's moving away from Intel chipsets for Mac devices and will eventually be using its own Apple silicon, which later on turned out to be the Apple M1 with 5nm processing tech. However, Intel has now shared benchmarks that, as PC World report states, is an attempt to prove that the company's latest 11th generation Core processors are superior to Apple's custom designed M1 chip. The report has described these benchmarks as carefully crafted and that's because of several reasons. As per Intel, exporting a PowerPoint presentation as a PDF is 2.3x faster on a Windows laptop that is running 11th-Gen Core i7 processor and 16GB RAM compared to the same exporting process that takes more time in a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Apple M1 chip and 16GB of RAM. Also read: Apple iCloud Keychain extension reaches Chrome in Windows, making website login easy Intel also mentioned that Topaz Labs AI-based photo enlargement software gigapixel AI performed 6x faster on its Core i7 processor as compared to M1 MacBook Pro. According to PC World, this result is understandable as Topaz Labs apps are designed to take advantage of the hardware acceleration inside Intel processors. However, In terms of gaming performance, the results were somehow mixed. Intel says that Mac is not ideal for gaming as it lacks support for countless games like Gear Tactics, Hitman 2 and others. The firm also conducted a real world battery life test, only to find that both the M1 MacBook Air and the Acer Swift 5 with 11th-Gen Core i7 processor achieved almost the same 10 hour battery life when streaming Netflix with additional tabs open. Both laptops were set to 250 nits of display brightness, with MacBook Air running the native Safari browser and Acer Swift 5 running Chrome. Also read: Apple plans new MacBook Pros with better processors and displays, magnetic charging to make a comeback It's worth mentioning that Intel in its slideshows switched from MacBook Pro for the performance benchmarks to MacBook Air when it comes to battery life test, which shouldnt be the case until unless you want one of the products to look good or bad. PC World adds that the chipset maker used a different Core i7 processor SKU for each of these tests, which again, should not happen. One of the Apple columnists, Jason Snell, said that Intel's benchmarks were M1-unfriendly with inconsistent test platforms, shifting arguments and omitted data. It is worth mentioning that Apple is rumored to launch its new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, a redesigned iMac and other devices with its next generation of Apple Silicon, later this year. The official named the condition under which Ukraine may resume the water supply onto the peninsula. Ukraine has taken a tough stance on the supply of water to Russia-occupied Crimea. It is possible only after the end of the Russian occupation of the peninsula, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service in an interview. Read alsoOne of occupied Crimea's longest rivers dries up When asked whether Ukraine's position on water for Crimea is tough, Kuleba answered: "Absolutely! Absolutely tough. Water will appear after the end of the occupation." Previous developments Prior to the occupation of Crimea by Russia, Ukraine covered up to 85% of the peninsula's demand for freshwater supplies through the North Crimean Canal. After Russia occupied Crimea in 2014, Ukraine severed water supplies onto the occupied peninsula. The Ukrainian authorities insist the resumption of water supplies to Crimea would be possible only if Russia ceases its occupation of the peninsula. In 2020, the situation with water availability in Crimea became critical over droughts and the subsequent shallowing of water reservoirs. In many cities and villages, the occupying authorities imposed restrictions on the use of water. Reporting by UNIAN Petrofac, a leading provider of oilfield services to the international oil and gas industry has been awarded two contracts, together worth around $300 million through Petroleum Development Oman (PDO). The first is a direct engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for PDOs Marmul Main Production Station (MMPS) - Gas Compression project. The scope of work for the 30-month, lump-sum turnkey contract includes engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, start-up and initial operational support. Located at Marmul in the South of Oman, approximately 800 km from Muscat, the purpose of the new facility is to eliminate permanent flaring and manage associated gas. The work includes gas recovery and booster compressors, gas sweetening, dehydration and other units, utility systems and modification of existing facilities. The second is a project delivery contract with Petrofacs partner and main PDO contract holder Arabian Industries Projects, for selected PDO concession areas in the north of Oman. The scope of this seven-year contract is for provision of reimbursable engineering services, integrated project support and management services, and has an option to extend for three years. In line with the main objectives of the integrated project services part of this contract, Petrofac will ensure the effective management, control, execution and documentation of changes and additions to production facilities through specific technical studies related to concept development, development of front-end engineering design (FEED) and detailed design. Elie Lahoud, Chief Operating Officer Engineering & Construction, said: Petrofac has a significant track record in Oman and PDO are a longstanding client. We look forward to building on our strong relationship through these latest contract awards. Both will be delivered by our teams in the Sultanate, with the focus on safety, maximising local and sustainable delivery, and generating In-Country Value. Petrofac has been serving Omans energy industries for more than 30 years and during this time has established a multi discipline engineering and project execution office in Muscat, invested $30 million in a state-of-the-art technical training centre with its partner Takatuf Petrofac Oman (TPO), developed a highly capable workforce, with over 30% Omanisation in the Sultanate and recorded multi-billion-dollar ICV contribution to Omans economy in respect of the purchase of Omani goods and services. TradeArabia News Service Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. House Bill 133 aims to extend Medicaid coverage to eligible new mothers. The House version of the bill calls for a one-year extension, whereas the Senate version calls for a six-month extension. Advocates say the bill could reduce the states maternal mortality rate. Currently, the state offers Medicaid for two months after giving birth. Should Texas extend Medicaid for eligible new mothers for six months or one year? You voted: Aspen, CO (81611) Today Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 44F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 44F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. LUDLOW Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi recalls a time last year when his overtime spending was on pace to finish about $200,000 below what he spent in 2019. But then, here came the virus, he said. Cocchi is the first to admit that, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, overtime spending for the Hampden County Sheriffs Department went through the roof. By years end, the departments anticipated $200,000 surplus became a $7.4 million deficit. Overtime spending went from $1.3 million in 2019 to $8.6 million in 2020. That works out to a 571% year-over-year increase. Thats a lot of money. Dont get me wrong, he said. That is above and beyond what we normally spend. And all of it, he said, is due to the virus. Once the first cases of COVID-19 appeared in Massachusetts, and the governor declared an emergency shutdown, budgetary stability took a back seat to keeping the mens and womens jails in operation, and keeping staff and inmates safe. It was all bets are off, he said. It was, How do we survive and keep everyone safe and healthy? According to an analysis by The Republican / MassLive of payroll data from the Massachusetts Office of the Comptroller, sheriffs across the state found themselves in the same budgetary boat last year as they tried to stay afloat in the tempest-tossed sea of red ink. The states 14 county sheriff departments spent a combined $51.1 million in overtime in the 2020 calendar year, up about 32% from $38.7 million in 2019. Six departments recorded at least a 50% increase in overtime spending in 2020, the analysis found and all four departments in Western Massachusetts posted triple- or quadruple-digit percent increases. Still, total payroll spending remained in check, with increases only in the single or low double digits across the state and slight declines in a few counties. Franklin County Sheriff Chris Donelan. (Douglas Hook / MassLive) Franklin County Sheriff Christopher Donelans overtime spending was up by 560%, from $187,619 to over $1.2 million. Much of that was due to the pandemic but not entirely, he said. Following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, there were protests and demonstrations for racial justice and against police brutality across the country, including two in Greenfield and one in Montague. Deputies from the Franklin County Sheriffs Department worked crowd control. We probably had 15 to 20 officers on overtime for us for just about a full day, he said. And that does add up. But the rest I would say was directly related to COVID-19. Across Western Massachusetts, the Berkshire County Sheriffs Department posted the smallest increase last year but overtime spending still went up 170%, to $1.13 million. In Hampshire County, the increase was a staggering 1,043%. For the not-mathematically inclined, that means the departments overtime spending increased by more than 10 times, from $82,573 in 2019 to $944,256 last year. Thats a pretty big jump, said Hampshire Sheriff Patrick Cahillane. Theres no question we had a lot of overtime. Definitely because of COVID-19. While businesses and state agencies sent staff home to work remotely, those in public safety did not have that option. Police officers still have to patrol the streets, firefighters have to staff firehouses, and corrections officers still have to keep watch over the jail. When the governor gave the order for people to work from home, our men and women dont have that ability because they have to come in and care for our population, Cocchi said. The Hampden County Sheriffs Department tracks spending in fiscal years from July to June, rather than by calendar year. According to its data, the department spent $6.8 million on overtime in fiscal 2020 an increase of $5.5 million, or 423%, from $1.3 million in fiscal 2019. In an April 2020 file photo, Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi shows the cafeteria of a recovery home he created for first responders who tested positive for COVID-19. (Hoang 'Leon' Nguyen / The Republican) Long shifts and hazard pay Usually the mens and womens jails in Hampen County are staffed each day with three eight-hour shifts. But Cocchi said there were times the number of corrections officers unable to work either out sick, or sent home as a precaution pending COVID-19 test results left large gaps in necessary coverage. There was a time that I had to go to 12-hour shifts here, and that costs a lot of money, he said. The jails in Ludlow and Chicopee have more than 800 inmates who require round-the-clock oversight and medical attention. Increasing the use of single-occupant cells a measure to follow social distancing guidelines also required staffing changes that drove up costs. The facilities have been locked down to visitors since April, and anyone entering has been screened as officials try to keep the virus from sweeping through the staff and inmate population. Roughly 10% of the Hampden County inmates and more than 20 employees tested positive for the disease through December. In addition to overtime to cover staffing shortages, Cocchi awarded hazard pay to workers who reported for their regular shifts between April and June. The decision was meant to compensate the extra time they spent on precautions to keep the virus from taking hold in the jails, he said. Employees had to be screened at the start of each eight-hour shift and then decontaminated at the end. They received hazard pay equal to two hours of overtime per day, or 10 hours per week. That practice accounted for the majority of the departments fiscal 2020 overtime pay. A spokesman for Cocchis office said many of the states sheriffs offered hazard pay, but some departments processed it as a differential instead of as overtime. So, in some departments, the extra spending was not reflected in overtime data from the comptroller. Among the 14 departments, the year-over-year change in total payroll spending in 2020 ranged from a 4.4% decrease in Norfolk County to a 16% increase in Dukes County, according to a review of the data. In Western Massachusetts, total payroll spending increased 13.4% in Hampden County, 8.3% in Berkshire County, 6.2% in Hampshire County and 3.2% in Franklin County. Donelan, the Franklin County sheriff, said a source of frustration was the lag time between COVID-19 tests and results. We had officers who were potentially exposed or who were sick, and once we tested them we sent them home until the test results came back, he said. And in many cases we were waiting five, six or seven days for the test. And while they waited for the results, the department had to pay overtime to fill their shifts, he said. Cocchi said the salvation of his budget has come from the $1.8 billion in federal money awarded to Massachusetts under the CARES Act. That money will be used to reimburse sheriffs for COVID-19-related overtime costs and expenses. In Cocchis case, it will cover the total fiscal 2020 overtime costs. The Franklin County House of Correction in Greenfield. It just worked out Five of the 14 county sheriff departments Barnstable, Nantucket, Essex, Norfolk and Worcester showed declines in overtime spending in 2020. The biggest decrease was in Worcester County, with a 20% drop. Overtime spending went from $2.8 million in 2019 to $2.2 million last year. David Tuttle, superintendent for the Worcester County Sheriffs Department, said the decrease was the result the Worcester County House of Correction largely avoiding COVID-19 cases until late in the year. Tuttle, who is in charge of the day-to-day operations at the jail, said the facility did not record any cases among inmates until December, when six inmates who were already exposed were brought in. It just worked out that way for us. There was not a lot of illness, there was not a lot of sickness, he said. The jail had open shifts from time to time due to illness or people being sent home as a precaution, but Tuttle said they were able to reallocate staff to fill gaps without having to pay overtime. With the courts shut down, the department used corrections officers who would normally shuttle inmates back and forth between the jail and the courthouse to fill staffing gaps, he said. There were a few minor problems. We were able to manage it here, he said. Before the pandemic, the jail had around 1,000 inmates. That number has since fallen to around 515. There are 570 employees. Hampshire County Sheriff Patrick J. Cahillane speaks with reporters during a 2016 interview.The Republican file Cahillane said for the Hampshire County House of Correction, 2020 was kind of a perfect, budget-busting storm. He already had a number of vacancies to begin with, which meant more overtime to fill gaps. Then the department opened a training academy for new officers, and that added to the spending. Then COVID-19 hit and the department had to adapt its operations, he said. Every other place in society shut down, he said. We ended up in a place where we had to change on a dime. Visits to the jail were canceled. But the jail set up virtual visiting hours for family and attorneys, and even court appearances were conducted over Zoom. Staff had to work extra to make that happen. All of those things happened in that same period of time, Cahillane said. And we had all the uniformed staff and all of the office staff come in, because we still had to run everything else we do. The pandemics costs were seen outside of overtime, too, Cocchi said in spending on needs ranging from personal protective equipment to technology upgrades allowing for visits and remote court appearances. Cocchi, Cahillane and Donelan all believe their overtime numbers will decline this year to pre-2020 levels. Vaccinations began for staff and inmates in January, so each sheriff expects the risk of COVID-19 to wane. This is a turning point for us, Cocchi said. Youre going to see our overtime drop significantly to where it was pre-pandemic. Theres still going to be overtime, but its going to be used as a last resort. Cocchi said his budget process simply could not have predicted the 2020 costs, because who can predict the first pandemic in a century? When the pandemic hit, all the playbooks were off the table because nobody had a playbook that worked, Cocchi said. We had to then create the playbook for how to navigate through the pandemic because we had never been there before. Donelan expressed the same sentiment. As far as the budget goes, and even operations-wise, we were kind of flying by the seat of our pants, trying to figure it out, from week to week, he said. His department relied on health officials and medical professionals for strategies to minimize the spread of the virus. But those recommendations seemed to change from week to week, he said. I mean, it was really a challenging year, trying to stay ahead of COVID-19, he said. I equate it with trying to fight a ghost. Assistant managing editor Greg Saulmon contributed data analysis. The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, said he prayed and fasted 14 days not to be orda... The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, said he prayed and fasted 14 days not to be ordained as a pastor. Adeboye, during the churchs February Thanksgivng Service focused on his 40th anniversary as General Overseer of the church, expressed appreciation to the founder of the church, late Pa Josiah Akindayomi for finding him worthy. According to Adeboye, he was elected by grace, stressing that when the quest for the founders successor began, he was the least qualified. In his words: I want to thank God for my father in the Lord, Pa Josiah Akindayomi. I want to thank God that He heard from God, of all the people who were qualified to be the General Overseer, l was the least qualified. I just came and after two years, he ordained me a pastor, when he said he will ordain me, my wife and l prayed and fasted for 14 days so that God will not allow it to happen because in those days, being a pastor is a sentence to poverty. I have seen poverty before, when l joined the church, my second hand car was the newest car in the Church and suddenly they want me to be a pastor, we prayed and fasted, thank God He didnt answer the prayer. When my father in the Lord told me l will be succeeding him, l told him no, it will not happen. I told him anyone He (God) chooses for you, l will support him but for me to leave my comfort to come to one room in Mushin, no, not me. He insisted but l wrote him a letter, he could not read but could read the Bible. I told him in the letter to choose somebody else. He said l know what God told me, l know what you are saying, l wont force you and l love you. I couldnt forsake someone who loved me, Papa loved me. He was a prayer warrior, He could hear from God and it is the covenant God gave him that we are operating now. Once the head is good, all is well with the body. We had a good head that had a covenant with God. On many occasions, China has expressed that it will make its COVID-19 vaccine a global public good when available, contributing to expanding vaccine accessibility and affordability in line with its vision of building a global community of health for all. A health worker receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine from China in Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 14, 2021. (Xinhua/Osman Orsal) During the initial stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many countries first started to develop vaccine candidates, some of the more advanced countries with a longer history of developing and manufacturing vaccines had put forward high aims and high promises. To date, only a small handful of countries have developed vaccines after undergoing successful trials for human use. Chinas Sinopharm vaccine was among the first to be recognized as both safe and effective. The joint cooperation between Pakistan and China in the fight against COVID-19 has been exemplary since the start of the outbreak. Pakistan has remained steadfast in supporting China's global and regional initiatives aimed at defeating the virus. Looking to the year ahead, China will continue to provide its COVID-19 vaccines to other countries, especially developing countries located in the Global South, doing so promptly within its capacity and contributing to building a community of health for all. China donated its first batch of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines to Pakistan. It was the first consignment of vaccine aid provided by China to another country and a concrete step in honoring President Xi's pledge of making COVID-19 vaccines a global public good. Vaccine cooperation is an integral part of the joint efforts by Pakistan and China to overcome COVID-19. It demonstrates the two countries sincere attempts at mutual assistance as all-weather strategic partners as well as their collective struggles as two developing countries to make vaccines a global public good and promote their accessibility and affordability among fellow developing nations. Late last month, Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, received a consignment of 500,000 doses of Sinopharms vaccine from the Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Nong Rong, at Nur Khan Airbase near Islamabad. The Foreign Minister thanked China's leadership and the Chinese people for sending the donation of Sinopharm vaccines in aiding Pakistan to combat the pandemic. He added that the vaccine had arrived exactly at a time when Pakistan was grappling with a second wave of the virus. Its delivery, which coincides with the commencement of celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, reaffirmed the cherished legacy of China repeatedly standing by Pakistans side. It revealed that the Pakistan-China friendship is timeless and that China continues to remain Pakistans staunchest partner. The Foreign Minister also underlined that the recent Phase-III clinical trials for CanSino Biologics COVID-19 vaccine candidate had reached a successful conclusion in Pakistan. Moving forward, Pakistan aims to continue deepening its cooperation with China in matters relating to the roll-out of vaccines. While ensuring a satisfactory domestic response, China has also actively participated in and promoted international cooperation in both a transparent and responsible way. China was the first country to report cases of the novel coronavirus to the world, releasing the genome sequence of the virus to the international community, along with diagnosis and treatment plans, and other critical information, having taken this step at the earliest time possible. It has taken various additional steps to help developing countries access life-saving vaccines. China will continue to work with the international community to continually advance areas of relevant cooperation and make a determined effort in achieving an early and complete victory over the pandemic. Zamir Ahmed Awan is a senior fellow with the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) and a sinologist at the National University of Sciences and Technology in Pakistan. E-mail: [email protected] The Sinn Fein president has said Brexiteers must accept that new trading borders between Great Britain and the island of Ireland are a permanent consequence of the UK's exit from the EU. Mary Lou McDonald said the focus now needs to be on resolving "some teething problems and difficulties" with new Irish Sea trading arrangements, not ditching the Northern Ireland Protocol that now governs the movement of goods. "Brexit is for keeps, I mean this is a big game changer for all of us and it has to be managed in a way that is sensible, in a way that is fair," she told Sky News Sophy Ridge On Sunday. She added: "None of us wanted trading barriers between our island and the island to Britain, or across the continent, but Brexit has happened and in some respects those that advocated it so strongly now need to very much accept the fact that these are the consequences of their decisions. "For us on the island of Ireland, there is the immediate need to have the protocol work to protect Irish jobs and livelihoods, to secure the infrastructure of our peace process." Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald says there are "some teething problems and difficulties" with the Northern Ireland protocol and calls for the flexibilities in the protocol to be used to "iron out and mitigate those initial problems" #Ridge Latest: https://t.co/MHVln75FBC pic.twitter.com/7PEVDeAytw Trevor Phillips on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) February 7, 2021 Ms McDonald said there are "some teething problems and difficulties" with the Northern Ireland protocol. She called for the flexibilities in the protocol should be used to "iron out and mitigate those initial problems". "Brexit was never a good idea, we argued strongly against it," Ms McDonald said, adding that it "should not come as a surprise to any sensible person" that there have been difficulties. Ms McDonald said she believed such difficulties are "surmountable". The Sinn Fein leader also acknowledged that the EU's threat to invoke Article 16 of the protocol with regards to Covid vaccine supplies was "absolutely ill judged and fortunately the European institutions stepped back from that very quickly". Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald acknowledges that the EU's threat to invoke Article 16 of the protocol with regards to vaccine supplies was "absolutely ill judged and fortunately the European institutions stepped back from that very quickly" #Ridge https://t.co/MHVln75FBC pic.twitter.com/Gzc1QnK0Ar Trevor Phillips on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) February 7, 2021 Meanwhile Ms McDonald urged the UK to share any excess coronavirus vaccinations with Ireland. Asked if she would like to see spare doses being diverted to the Irish Republic, given the slower pace of rollout in the EU. "Certainly if there is an excess of supply in Britain and if there is a capacity for that to be shared with Ireland at some point, well yes of course, absolutely, the project here is to get people vaccinated," she said. "This is a race against this virus and against death so yes I think a spirit of fairness and generosity needs to prevail in this, my goodness, above all other issues, so yes is the answer and if the scenario were vice versa I would expect that a similar generosity would be afforded to the British people because the virus doesn't care about politics or borders or any of these things. "We all share the same human biology and it's just so important that the incredible work that has been done by scientists internationally, including at Oxford University, and across the globe that the fruits of that endeavour and knowledge and expertise is shared in the way that good science would intend and that means keeping all of our fellow human citizens safe and alive and well." Mrs McDonald said she would like to see a spirit of "generosity and solidarity" on vaccine sharing extend globally, and not just between the UK and Ireland. Gateway Pundit founder Jim Hoft has been permanently banned from Twitter after posting false election fraud claims to the site. Conservative radio host Wayne Allyn Root's account was also suspended Sunday after both men were accused of 'violating Twitter's civic integrity policy'. Following the storming of the U.S. Capitol earlier this month, Twitter has banned over 70,000 accounts for sharing misinformation. Donald Trump, who had urged on the mob, has also had his account permanently suspended. It was not immediately clear which exact posts by Hoft and Root triggered the suspensions. A Twitter spokesperson told DailyMail.com: 'The accounts were permanently suspended for repeated violations of our civic integrity policy.' Hoft, the founder and editor-in-chief of far-right news website Gateway Pundit, had posted claims that ballots cast for Joe Biden were illegal, an archived version of his account shows. He had also written about a video Gateway Pundit said showed a delivery of absentee ballots in Detroit after the deadline to receive votes had passed; this clip was quashed by other media outlets. On February 6 Hoft also appears to have tweeted: 'Just an FYI - The fake news media and others challenged our TCF Center video report from Friday. That was a bad move. We have much more coming!' In a statement on Saturday Gateway Pundit doubled down on the claims, writing: 'We have much more on this incident to report on in the coming days.' An archived version of his page shows Root had been tweeting about Kamala Harris and Hunter Biden shortly before his suspension. Gateway Pundit founder Jim Hoft, pictured, has been permanently banned from Twitter after posting false election fraud claims to the site Conservative radio host Wayne Allyn Root's account was also suspended Sunday after both men were accused of 'violating Twitter's civic integrity policy' On February 6 Hoft appears to have tweeted: 'Just an FYI - The fake news media and others challenged our TCF Center video report from Friday. That was a bad move. We have much more coming!' On the day of Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20 Gateway Pundit still reported the election had been 'stolen' from Trump. Hoft was pictured in DC on the day of the Capitol siege. Twitter civic integrity policy states: 'You may not use Twitter's services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections or other civic processes.' An election systems worker driven into hiding by death threats has already filed a defamation lawsuit against Gateway Pundit. Eric Coomer's lawsuit, filed December 22 in district court in Denver County, Colorado, names it along with the Trump campaign, lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, conservative columnist Michelle Malkin, Colorado conservative activist Joseph Oltmann, and outlets Newsmax and One America News Network. Of his ban Root told Fox News : 'I am in shock. It appears to be a permanent ban. Although I don't know. Twitter never warned me...and never sent any communication saying I've been suspended or banned' A Twitter spokesperson told DailyMail.com: 'The accounts were permanently suspended for repeated violations of our civic integrity policy' Of his ban Root told Fox News: 'I am in shock. It appears to be a permanent ban. Although I don't know. Twitter never warned me...and never sent any communication saying I've been suspended or banned. 'I simply tried to tweet yesterday afternoon and could not. But unlike a previous suspension...my followers suddenly said 0.' He said he face a temporary ban after saying COVID-19 lockdowns 'don't work'. Root added: 'That got me a 7 day suspension for 'misleading medical advice'. 'We made Jack Dorsey one of the richest men on earth. He got an army of worker bees to spend thousands of hours for free making him rich. And whats my reward? 'No more free speech. In America. My opinions are banned. My opinions are forbidden.' Hoft, the founder and editor-in-chief of far-right news website Gateway Pundit, had posted claims that ballots cast for Joe Biden were illegal, an archived version of his account shows An archived version of his page shows Root had been tweeting about Kamala Harris and Hunter Biden shortly before his suspension. He said he face a temporary ban after saying COVID-19 lockdowns 'don't work'. Root added: 'That got me a 7 day suspension for 'misleading medical advice' Twitter permanently banned then-President Donald Trump for inciting violence over the Capitol siege. Last month it also permanently banned My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell's account after he continued to perpetuate the baseless claim that Donald Trump won the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Twitter decided to ban Lindell, who founded bedding company My Pillow, due to 'repeated violations' of its civic integrity policy, a spokesperson said in a statement. The policy was implemented last September and is targeted at fighting disinformation. Lindell, a Trump supporter, has continued to insist that the presidential election was rigged even after U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has begun. He is also facing potential litigation from Dominion Voting Systems for claiming that their voting machines played a role in alleged election fraud. Lindell had also urged Trump to declare martial law in Minnesota to obtain its ballots and overturn the election. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Andrew Neil today slammed 'woke warriors' for trying to cancel his new GB News channel before it even starts. The former BBC presenter laid into activists after they launched a sabotage campaign against his soon-to-be-launched TV channel. Twitter activists are urging firms not to advertise with the new station under the hashtag 'Don'tFundGBNews', because they fear the channel will be 'like America's Fox News' - a comparison bosses have rejected. And those backing the campaign, including equality campaigner Femi Oluwole, have threatened to cancel their phone contracts if companies such as EE and Vodafone pay for advertising spaces on the channel. But Mr Neil, who is the chairman of GB News, today hit out at those behind the campaign. His comments come as he described news debate in Britain as 'increasingly woke and out of touch with the majority of its people' in an interview with the Sunday Express. In a tweet he said: 'The woke warriors trying to stir up an advertising boycott of GB News, a channel that hasn't even started broadcasting, are hilarious. Andrew Neil (pictured left) has slammed 'woke warriors' for trying to cancel his new GB News station before it even gets started. Those backing the campaign, including equality campaigner Femi Oluwole (pictured right), have threatened to cancel their phone contracts if companies such as EE and Vodafone pay for advertising slots on the channel 'Even funnier is their threat to cancel mobile phone contracts of operators who dare to advertise on GB News. Andrew Neil says news debate in Britain 'is increasingly woke and out of touch with the majority of its people'. Andrew Neil has today described Britain's news debate as 'increasingly woke' and 'out of touch with the majority of its people'. The former BBC presenter, who is to head up the soon-to-be-launched GB News Channel, said the news agenda was also 'too southern and too middle-class'. Speaking to the Sunday Express about the new channel, he said: 'I believe our national conversation has become too metropolitan, too southern and too middle-class. 'Some journalists and commentators seem too confident that their liberal-left assumptions must surely be shared by every sensible person in the land. 'But many of those same sensible people are fed up. They feel left out and unheard.' Advertisement 'I mean have they ever tried to cancel a mobile contract?! But GB News will be ready to help. We will campaign for easier cancellation.' The row erupted last night when campaign group Stop Funding Hate - previously criticised as a 'hard-left censorship group' - urged people to join the hashtag Don'tFundGBNews. The group, founded a former Amnesty International worker, said on Twitter: 'If you want to help stop 'Fox News style' TV in Britain: 'Tweet your mobile phone company using the hashtag #DontFundGBNews 'Urge them not to advertise with GB News or any 'Fox News style' channel, & explain why this matters to you.' GB News officials have repeatedly hit back at the Fox News comparison, with some media experts expecting the channel to be 'right-leaning' rather than right wing. The hashtag was backed by LBC Presenter Natasha Devon, who threatened to quit Vodafone, as well as Mr Oluwole, a political activist and co-founder of the pro-European Union advocacy group Our Future Our Choice, threatened EE to threaten to quit their network if they advertise with GB News. He said: 'Hi EE, I was on Orange since I started using mobile phones and switched to you almost as soon as you took them over. 'But I will switch service provider immediately if I hear of one EE advert placed on that channel. #DontFundGBNews.' But while the Tweet received support from some, many quickly criticised his backing of the campaign, saying it amounted to 'mass censorship'. One Twitter user said: 'Democracy to the far left is now a mix of mass censorship, persecution and an absolute intolerance of hearing an viewpoint that is different to their own. 'But all the time they project how 'inclusive' they are. A very dangerous form of hypocrisy.' But Mr Oluwole later hit back in a follow-up tweet, saying: 'The irony is: Nobody is talking about actually censoring GB News. 'I talked about simply refusing to pay them via their advertisers. 'And Right-wingers gave me so much abuse I twitter-trended for 6hrs! Apparently consumer choice isn't a freedom these people respect. #DontFundGBNews.' Others to criticise the campaign include Conservative MP James Cleverly, who said: 'Im waiting for someone to jump up and shout I saw GB News dancing with the Devil.' Susan Hall, Leader of the Greater London Authority Conservatives, said: 'So against free speech and competition now are we Femi - dont agree with #GBNews- great reason for many more of us to tune in, I cant wait!' Editor of the Jewish Chronicle Stephen Pollard also criticised the campaign, saying: 'GB News hasn't broadcast a word yet. It is staffed by some of the most eminent and brilliant journalists in Britain. 'And these people want to close it down. For shame.' Actor Lawrence Fox added that he would take out two EE contacts if the company didn't bow to the pressure of the campaign group, while conservative political commentator Darren Grimes accused the 'left of trying to extinguish diversity of thought'. Bosses behind GB News say they aim to rival BBC and Sky as well as to reach those who feel 'undeserved and unheard' by the media. Mr Neil will be the face and chairman of GB News, after ending his 25 year relationship with the BBC, where he has been one of the most respected political interviewers. Sun journalist Dan Wootton, who broke the story of Megxit, will also join the news channel. Mr Wootton will host a daily show, five days a week, on GB News. The yet-to-be launched channel has been compared to American right-wing news outlet Fox News due to its format, which Mr Neil said will feature 'news anchors with a bit of edge'. Other comparisons made include a TV-version of radio version LBC. But bosses say the channel, which will be regulated by Ofcom, will remain 'impartial'. Chief Executive Angelos Frangopoulos said last month that bosses 'are committed to impartial journalism'. Meanwhile, Mr Neil told The Spectator: 'I am as neutral and as impartial as anybody on the BBC. 'I come from a different political tradition but I don't let that affect how I do interviews.' It comes as Mr Neil today described Britain's news debate as 'increasingly woke' and 'out of touch with the majority of its people'. Speaking to the Sunday Express about the new channel, he said: 'I believe our national conversation has become too metropolitan, too southern and too middle-class. 'Some journalists and commentators seem too confident that their liberal-left assumptions must surely be shared by every sensible person in the land. 'But many of those same sensible people are fed up. They feel left out and unheard.' Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 16:58:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- A booklet of the special address made by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Virtual Event of the Davos Agenda has been published. The speech, titled "Let the Torch of Multilateralism Light up Humanity's Way Forward," was delivered by Xi on Jan. 25. The booklet, published by the People's Publishing House, is available at Xinhua Bookstore outlets across the country. Enditem July 2021 will mark 50 years since Washington upended its China policy, moving to forge relations with the communist-ruled Peoples Republic and sending what it had called the Republic of China - todays Taiwan - into a form of diplomatic limbo. What was more surprising was Senator Paynes pointed refusal to echo some of then secretary of state Mike Pompeos more bellicose rhetoric. We make our own decisions and we use our own language ... The relationship with China is important and we have no intention of injuring it, she said. When Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds travelled to Washington in July for AUSMIN talks, it was perhaps to be expected that eight of the 10 points in Canberra and Washingtons joint statement would refer to the Peoples Republic of China. It was a decision that caught the Coalition government of the day on the hop. Having condemned opposition leader Gough Whitlam as a dupe for visiting Beijing, then prime minister Billy McMahon had little choice but to declare that his [Nixons] policy is ours. This left Australia and the United States in an ambiguous position that persists to this day. Officially, we do not recognise Taiwan as a sovereign state or even a separate entity, nor do we regard its elected officials as a national government. Yet practically we support it as an outpost of democracy, at a time when Beijing is becoming increasingly authoritarian, particularly in its approach to dissent and minorities. When relations with China were improving - with even Taiwan moving towards closer ties - this ambiguity could be papered over. But as relations deteriorate and Beijing pursues an increasingly aggressive regional policy, the question becomes: what are we willing or able to do to uphold Taiwanese self-determination? Loading After the Trump administrations chest-beating and its ineffective trade war, our Asian allies will be watching closely to see if US President Joe Biden has a better formula for bringing Chinas leadership to the table. When White House press secretary Jen Psaki used the phrase strategic patience - widely associated with Barack Obamas approach to North Korea - to describe policy on China, alarm bells rang. It was soon renounced by a spokesman for the National Security Council, as national security adviser Jake Sullivan affirmed the need to impose costs for Beijings behaviour. Moscow, Feb 7 : An Amsterdam-bound passenger plane returned safely to Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, following a partial failure of the radio communication system. On Saturday, flight Su2694 operated by Russian flag acrrier carrier Aeroflot had to make a U-turn shortly after takeoff when the pilot reported the problem, Xinhua news agency quoted the company's spokesman Mikhail Demin as saying. It was reported that the Airbus A320 passenger plan had issued a distress call about 20 minutes after takeoff at an altitude of about 8,000 metres over the Tver Region, TASS News Agency reported. Demin said then that the pilot had sent a message about a partial failure of the radio communication system and decided to fly back to the departure airport. The spokesman added that the lives and health of the passengers and crew were not in danger and that the airliner was burning off the fuel. Representative image Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net buyers to the tune of Rs 12,266 crore in the Indian market in the first five trading sessions of February, as positive sentiment post-Union Budget 2021 sparked a rally in investment. As per FPI statistics available with depositories, overseas investors pumped in a net Rs 10,793 crore into equities and Rs 1,473 crore in the debt segment between February 1-5. During the period under review, the total net investment stood at Rs 12,266 crore. In the previous month, FPIs invested a net sum of Rs 14,649 crore in Indian markets. Kotak Securities Executive Vice-President and Head (Fundamental Research) Rusmik Oza said, "The outcome of the Union Budget has sparked a rally and led to FPI inflows. The sharp jump in capital expenditure and glide path of keeping fiscal deficit at elevated levels till 2025-26 will lead to a strong economic revival and higher earnings growth in future." Besides, Groww co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Harsh Jain added that India''s projected growth rate for the financial year 2022 is encouraging. India is also slated to become one of the few nations that recovered from the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic much faster than most other major economies of the world, Jain said. "The continued good performance of the Indian markets is being partly fuelled by this investment from FPIs," Jain further said. Regarding the debt segment, Morningstar India Associate Director (Manager Research) Himanshu Srivastava said the RBI announced few measures in its monetary policy announced on Friday to promote investments by FPIs in corporate bonds. "The central bank announced that FPI investment in defaulted corporate bonds will be exempted from the short-term limit and the minimum residual maturity requirement under the medium-term framework," Srivastava said. This measure will help investors build greater confidence in the Indian debt markets going ahead, he added. For future of FPI flows, he said there is a strong possibility of profit-booking by FPIs at regular intervals given the way markets are headed. The continuation of accommodative stance by central banks globally may ensure flow of foreign investments into emerging markets, including India, said Srivastava. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... No matter how excited you are about getting the coronavirus vaccine, do not post a selfie online showing the details of your vaccination card. The card will list your full name, birth date and where you got the shots. Publicizing this information could make you a target for identity theft, says the Better Business Bureau. It also could make it easier for scammers to create and sell fake vaccination cards. If you do want to boast to your friends, consider sharing only your vaccine photo or setting a frame around your profile picture, the BBB says. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ n n n Despite what you see on Caller ID, thats probably not the FBI calling. The agencys Albuquerque has seen a recent increase in calls that spoof its main office number. The point is to scare people into paying money, usually in the form of gift cards. While the FBI does not want the public to ignore calls that appear to come from law enforcement, be aware that neither the FBI nor any other legitimate law enforcement officer will ever demand cash or gift cards from you, says an agency alert. n n n A new report shows that the number of data breaches in 2020 dropped by 19% compared to the year before. As part of a continuing trend, cybercriminals are showing more interest in attacking businesses via phishing or ransomware rather than stealing large amounts of consumers personal information through data breaches, according to the annual report by the Identity Theft Resource Center. The preferred method of hitting businesses is through stolen employee credentials, such as logins and passwords, the center says. Threat actors are also sending phishing emails to employees asking them to click a link in an unsolicited email, text or social media account. Ransomware and phishing require less effort, are largely automated and generate payouts that are much higher than taking over the accounts of individuals, the report said. One ransomware attack can generate as much revenue in minutes as hundreds of individual identity theft attempts over months or years. Still, despite the decline, there were more than 1,000 data breaches tracked last year, the report said. And that means consumers should continue to be vigilant about data breaches and the theft of personal information. Our analysis does not suggest that consumers can relax as cybercriminals look elsewhere for quick, easy wins, the report says. Identity thieves still steal and misuse consumers personal information even as the information they want and how they obtain it changes. For individuals, the center recommends these security measures: n Do not reuse passwords. Create a unique one for each account you have. n Passwords should be at least 12 characters long. n Whenever possible, use multi-factor authentication. This is a practice in which you must log in not only with your password but with a second form of identification, such as a code texted to your phone. n Consider creating online accounts so cybercriminals cant create one in your name. n Use a secure password manager, if needed. Basic protection for businesses, the center says, includes frequently backing up systems, patching software flaws as soon as notified and refusing to pay ransom demands. Contact Ellen Marks at emarks@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3842 if you are aware of what sounds like a scam. To report a scam to law enforcement, contact the New Mexico Consumer Protection Division toll-free at 1-844-255-9210a. The biodiversity of wetlands in Ireland has been estimated to be worth 385 million per year to the Irish economy. Yesterday February 2 was world wetlands day and is the 50th anniversary of the Ramsar Convention which recognized the importance of wetlands for the first time internationally. A wetland is an area of land that is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally and where the water table is near the surface. There are special types of plants adapted to cope with wet conditions and they are in abundance at Cabragh. The biodiversity of wetlands in Ireland has been estimated to be worth 385 million per year to the Irish economy. Why not use Cabragh to explore the wetland treasures on your doorstep and to enter the World Wetlands Day photography competition for amateur photographers. Upload your photograph via the Wetlands Surveys Ireland Snapshot App. One species that will definitely visit Cabragh Wetlands is the barn owl. Nature sticks to its own timetables and presently, hidden and unobserved, the barn owl makes its preparations for that magical day in May when a new brood emerges and stares for the first time across the wetland-the white owl or in Irish, an Screachog Reilge which translates as the cemetery screecher. There are thirty sub-species of barn owl worldwide and they occupy a range of habitats throughout the world from rainforest to savannah. It is one of the most widely distributed terrestrial birds and is found on every continent with the exception of Antarctica. They are a small bird when perched but in flight their size is significantly more impressive due to their long and broad wingspan. Their upper parts are honeycombed in colour with beautiful intricate patterns. Their heads can turn 270 degrees in both directions due to their S-shaped neck bones. Although barn owls have a diverse range of calls, they dont include the classic hoot or twit-twoo in their repertoire. They use an extensive range of twitters, chirrups, hisses, squeaks and clicks to communicate, to establish pair bonds and to warn predators but it is their impressive screeches or snores that we are more likely to hear. Both adults emit a long and far-carrying screech as part of their courtship and territorial behaviour at dusk or during the night at any time of the year and particularly in the lead up and during the nesting season. Owlets and females snore which is a type of hiss which is a hunger call. To the farmer and the horticulturist the barn owl has been a useful ally by controlling rodent pests around grain stores and farmyards and special windows were built in many farm buildings to allow the owls access to nest in the loft space. A breeding pair of barn owls can dispatch over 2,000 rats and mice in a year. Today their popularity continues for different reasons, a Late Late Show appearance or in the Harry Potter movies. In Ireland the decline of barn owls has been the object of widespread research. The intensification of agriculture has negatively impacted on the barn owl. Removal of hedgerows, loss of small scale tillage, the switch from hay to silage and the increased use of pesticides has resulted in the reduction of prey rich foraging habitat. Anti coagulant rodenticides have also become more toxic over time. In Ireland there is generally good availability of suitable nesting sites. Many barn owls are killed on roads in Ireland each year with most reported from motorways, particularly in autumn when juveniles are dispersing. Barn owls in Ireland are non-migratory and sedentary. Once a pair establishes in an area, they tend to remain in the territory throughout their lives. A good barn owl territory, in addition to suitable foraging habitat , will also have suitable nesting sites as well as a number of roost sites. The majority of nests are below the 150m contour. The size of the range depends on the quality of the habitat and the abundance of prey. Home range sizes in Ireland are much larger than in Britain with breeding birds travelling up to 6Km and even further in search of food. Barn owls are very set in their ways and generally have favourite flight paths, perches and hunting patches which are used routinely, even nightly. For a territory to hold a successful pair of barn owls, it must have prey rich hunting habitats with a plentiful supply of small mammals. Rough grassland, species rich grassland or unmanaged grassy margins at the edge of fields, hedgerows and woodlands are all optimal with wetlands and rank vegetation also important. A landscape without these will also be lacking in barn owls. Please follow HSE guidance at all times. Slan go foill. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Best friends Millie Wilson and Sarah Goodwin founded their womenswear and accessories brand in 2015, aged 24. While Millie lives in London, Sarah lives in Mexico City hence the brands name. The pair were inspired by the crafts created by Mexican artisans. Working with these craftspeople, everything is handmade in Mexico. Designs include hand-woven clothing in bright patterns, gold-plated jewellery and jewel-tone bags. Sustainability is at the heart of the brand; packaging is biodegradable, cactus leather has been introduced as a vegan alternative and for every order received, a tree is planted by Tree Sisters. Prices start at 25, teaandtequila.com. Passing showers on Sunday slicked roads with slush but did not drop much snow. AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Tom Kines said between 1 and 3 inches of snow was expected to fall in Northeast Pennsylvania. In Scranton, snowfall appeared to be on the lower end, while preliminary reports from the National Weather Service showed more snow fell in spots farther north. The state Department of Transportation briefly lowered speed limits on some area interstates to 45 mph and restricted commercial vehicle traffic to the right lane. Bethany, in Wayne County, saw about 3 inches of snow, while Montrose, in Susquehanna County, saw about 4 inches, according to the weather service. Storms are expected to bring more snow Tuesday and possibly Thursday, though neither seem to be huge storms, Kines said. Punxsutawney Phils prediction of six more weeks of winter, so far, appears right on the money, Kines said. JOSEPH KOHUT Solar energy is a strong option for summer electricity-demand peaks, and offshore wind can help meet winter peaks, said Ben Hellerstein, executive director of the advocacy group Environment Massachusetts. He and others want to curtail use of plants that generate electricity at times of high demands, including sites that are among the worst polluters. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. New Delhi, Feb 7 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday announced its candidates for by-polls in five municipal wards in the national capital scheduled for February 28. The BJP list of candidates for municipal by-polls in Delhi also include a Muslim candidate Mohd Nazir Ansari. The BJP has fielded Ram Kanojia from Kalyanpuri ward, Om Prakash Gugarwal from Trilokpuri, Mohd Nazir Ansari from Chauhan Bangar, Rakesh Goel from Rohini C and Surbhi Jaju from Shalimar Bagh North. Of these five seats, four fell vacant after the AAP councillors won assembly polls in February last year. The Shalimar Bagh seat has been vacant since the death of BJP's Renu Jaju last year. By-polls have been delayed due to pandemic. BJP candidate from Chauhan Bangar, Ansari has been associated with the party for over two decades. He was chief of party's Minority Morcha of North East district of Delhi. Surbhi Jaju, daughter-in-law of deceased councillor Renu Jaju, is active in local politics. Goel is block president and unsuccessfully contested 2017 municipal polls in the city while Gugarwal was former block president and Kanojia was a party worker for a long time. In the last Delhi civic polls held in 2017, the BJP had won 181 seats, the AAP was at second position with 49 seats, while the Congress had secured 31 seats. The elections for 272 seats in three Municipal Corporations of Delhi will take place in 2022. The BJP ruling is ruling the municipal corporations since 2007. Armenia ex-minister of emergency situations hospitalized with heart attack Mher Grigoryan: Clarification of border points is possible only after withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from Armenia Suspicious deal: Whether there was profit from buying DNA IDs? Armenia ex-president says current authorities are trying to blame Russia for defeat in war 4 people killed in Afghanistani bus attack Robert Kocharyan: This war could not have happened, it was a consequence of the policy of the authorities Kocharyan: I have to ask people how it happened that overwhelming majority elected this leader Armen Gevorgyan presents 'Armenia' bloc program: We offer the concept of a working country Biden's administration proposed to leave unchanged amount of financial support to Armenia US Embassy in Baku calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release Armenian POWs Luxembourg MFA calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release all Armenian prisoners 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 WV Gov. says God's guidance, common sense helped put state on top in vaccine rollout Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said in a recent interview that the state has managed to administer COVID-19 vaccines to more people per capita than almost any other state, thanks to Gods guidance and good sound thinking. Its just simply good sound thinking and having the guts to move and get it done, Gov. Justice told CBN News in an interview that aired last Thursday. Since March 25, which Justice proclaimed as a statewide day of prayer, God has surely guided the boat since that day. I can promise you that, the Republican governor added. On the day of prayer, the governor urged people to pray for Gods mercy and intervention. But Father, I pray for all of us in our great state that You will intervene now and hear our words as I know You will, and some way, somehow intervene to stop this terrible virus, the 69-year-old Justice prayed at the time. Justice pointed out that the state chose not to go with a federal plan to send the vaccine to big pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens. We recruited our local pharmacies, our local health clinics. We absolutely put our National Guard right to work. We took this to the people because the people are used to going to certain places and everything, he said. And with all that, we started putting shots in people's arms, and that's why we've led the way. During Fridays briefing, Justice said he and other state pandemic response leaders are pushing as hard as we can. He urged the federal government to supply more doses of the vaccines. Were going through every channel we can go through, he said. One thing that I cannot get straight in my head is you have states all across this country that have hundreds of thousands or millions of vaccines that are not in somebodys arm; theyre in a warehouse. Hours mean something not days, weeks, or months hours mean something to try to save somebodys life. According to the latest numbers posted to the CDCs National Vaccination Tracker, out of the over 59 million vaccine doses delivered to states across the country, only 39 million had been administered as of Sunday afternoon. On Friday, the state reported that West Virginia has successfully administered 294,059 of the 328,600 total doses that have been delivered in the state, an overall administration rate of 89.4 percent. More than 124,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in West Virginia, while 2,129 people have died due to COVID-19 as of Sunday. There were over 16,000 active cases of COVID-19 as of early Sunday. Last month, Gov. Justice said on Face the Nation that his state was at 98.1 percent, as far as vaccines in peoples arms or names tied to it that are going to be put into peoples arms immediately. Were saving all kinds of lives, the governor proclaimed. Were putting our kids back in school. West Virginia has been the diamond in the rough that a lot of people have missed. DUBAI : The United Arab Emirates will temporarily only vaccinate residents and citizens who are elderly or who have certain health conditions, state media said on Sunday. The temporary policy change was made following a spike in infections over the past weeks "to ensure acquired community immunity and contain the disease", state news agency WAM said, quoting the health ministry. For the next four to six weeks authorities will try to vaccinate as many elderly people and people with certain diseases as possible. Some other appointments will also be available for other population segments, it added. The move came as daily infections tripled in around six weeks to hit a record 3,977 on Feb. 3 in the UAE. The Gulf state has not given a breakdown for each emirate. A vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) had been made available to all adults in the Gulf state. Dubai has also made the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines available to citizens and residents of the emirate, with priority given to the eldery, those with chronic diseases and frontline workers. The healthy ministry reported 3,093 new cases on Sunday. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Brussels has been accused of 'kissing the backside of Russia' after a leading minister urged the European Union to seek help from Moscow with vaccine supplies. Josep Borrell, the EU's minister for foreign affairs, held a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Friday, where he praised Moscow's Sputnik V jab and urged the independent European Medicines Agency to approve it for use. 'I take the floor to just congratulate Russia for this success,' said Mr Borrell. Josep Borrell (right), the EU's minister for foreign affairs, held a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov (left), on Friday, where he praised Moscow's Sputnik V jab and urged the independent European Medicines Agency to approve it for use Ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith (above) said: 'This is an example of the EU kissing the backside of Russia' But critics condemned his comments, citing Moscow's jailing last week of opposition leader Alexei Navalny the target of a nerve-agent attack that Navalny claims was mounted by the Kremlin. Ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said: 'This is an example of the EU kissing the backside of Russia.' Britain remains firmly on course to reach the target of vaccinating 15 million people by February 15, with latest figures revealing 12 million have got the jab so far. Another 549,078 people received their first dose of the coronavirus jab on Saturday and, at the current rate, 16 million will be reached by the mid-February target. In total, 12,014,288 people have now had at least one dose of the vaccine, with Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi revealing that the UK's vaccine roll-out almost hit 1,000 jabs a minute yesterday. The minister also believes that the Government will have vaccinated all over-50s by May. Mr Zahawi today said AstraZeneca is 'confident' its jab prevents serious illness caused by the South African coronavirus variant after early data from a small study suggested the vaccine was less effective against the strain. The minister said he had spoken to England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van Tam this morning about the study as he insisted the vaccine 'does protect against severe disease'. He said that through its own trials AstraZeneca is 'confident that it does effectively deal with serious illness, serious disease and hospitalisation'. A small trial of just 2,026 people in South Africa found the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab had 'limited efficacy' in protecting against mild and moderate disease caused by the mutant strain, which has been found in 11 people in the UK who have not recently travelled from abroad. However, nobody died or was hospitalised during the study by South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University, which has not yet been published but has been seen by the Financial Times. The pharmaceutical giant said scientists have already begun adapting the vaccine to better protect against the new variant, with hopes a booster shot will be ready by autumn if required. AstraZeneca said it remains confident that its vaccine can prevent severe disease caused by the variant - and pointed out that the trial could not measure its effectiveness at preventing severe disease caused by the mutant strain because the median age of participants was 31. Data from the Department for Health shows that Britain recorded 15,845 cases today, down by 25 per cent from 21,088 cases last Sunday. The number of daily Covid-related deaths fell 36 per cent week-on-week, from 587 last Sunday down to 373 today, the figures show In more positive news, coronavirus cases plummeted by 25 per cent on last week while daily Covid-related deaths fell by more than a third as the latest official figures suggest the third lockdown is curbing transmission of the virus. Data published by the Department for Health today shows that another 15,845 cases were recorded in the UK, down by 25 per cent from 21,088 daily cases last Sunday. The number of coronavirus-related deaths fell 36 per cent week-on-week, from 587 last Sunday down to 373 today, bringing demands for fewer than 1,000 cases per day ever closer. It comes as hospital chiefs have warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson that there must be less than 1,000 coronavirus cases per day before the third national lockdown can be eased. NHS Providers chief executive Chris Hopson will urge Mr Johnson not to lift the restrictions or risk a potential fourth wave of infections - despite 22 per cent of all over-18s in Britain now having been vaccinated. His demands mean that daily cases of Covid-19 must fall by a staggering 95 per cent from their current number - 18,262 yesterday - to record fewer than 1,000 per day. At the current weekly fall in cases of 20 per cent, it would take 14 weeks to record fewer than 1,000 cases - meaning some form of restriction would remain until at least May 15. Syracuse, N.Y. Motorists on Interstate 690 called 911 this afternoon to report seeing flames coming from the roof of a building near Syracuses Hawley-Green neighborhood. Firefighters were already en route to 100 Oak St. after someone outside the building saw smoke around 2:12 p.m. and called 911. When crews arrived, they found heavy, chocolatey smoke coming from the eaves and second floor, said Syracuse Fire Department District Chief Barry Lasky. The fire was concentrated to the second floor and had traveled through the walls into the cockloft of the two-story brick building. Metal security bars covered the windows and doors, which made it harder for firefighters to get inside. When firefighters were able to make it inside, it took around 10 minutes to knock down the fire, but another 20 minutes to fully extinguish the flames in the cockloft, since crews had to cut a hole in the roof in order to access the space. Firefighters could also be seen tearing down the ceiling of the second floor in order to access the small attic above where the fire had spread. The building was vacant, but under renovation at the time, Lasky said. No one was inside at the time and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The intersection of Burnet Avenue, Oak Street and Lodi Street is temporarily closed while firefighters and police remain at the scene. Contact Jacob Pucci at jpucci@syracuse.com or find him on Twitter at @JacobPucci. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the PM's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to the tragic avalanche caused by a Glacier breach in Chamoli, Uttarakhand. The central government has also announced Rs 50,000 for those seriously injured. In a massive flood in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, 100 to 150 people are feared to be dead, while 10 bodies have been recovered so far. According to state Chief Secretary OM Prakash, 100 to 150 casualties are feared in the flash flood where the water level in Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers rose suddenly after an avalanche near Rishiganga Power Project at Raini village. In a tweet, the Prime Minister's Office said, "PM Narendra Modi PM has approved an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from PMNRF for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to the tragic avalanche caused by a Glacier breach in Chamoli, Uttrakhand. Rs 50,000 would be given to those seriously injured." Earlier today, the Prime Minister, who was in Assam for an event, had spoken to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and reviewed the situation. He took stock of the rescue and relief work underway. Also read: Uttarakhand Glacier Burst Live Updates: PM Modi approves ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to kin of deceased PMO tweeted, "While in Assam, PM Modi reviewed the situation in Uttarakhand. He spoke to CM @tsrawatbjp and other top officials. He took stock of the rescue and relief work underway. Authorities are working to provide all possible support to the affected." "Am constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation in Uttarakhand. India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyone's safety there. Have been continuously speaking to senior authorities and getting updates on NDRF deployment, rescue work and relief operations," the Prime Minister said in a tweet. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand government has also decided to give financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of the deceased. A part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off at Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, leading to a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river causing large-scale devastation. Homes along the way were swept away as the waters rushed down the mountainsides in a raging torrent. There were fears of damage in human settlements downstream. Many villages were evacuated and people taken to safer areas. Across the country, terminally ill patients - both with COVID-19 and other diseases - are deciding to die at home rather than face the terrifying scenario of saying farewell to loved ones behind glass or by phone. National hospice organizations are reporting that facilities are seeing double-digit percentage increases in the number of patients being cared for at home, amid nationwide limits on family visitations during the pandemic. 'What we are seeing with COVID is certainly patients want to stay at home,' said Judi Lund Person, the vice president for regulatory compliance at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. 'They don't want to go to the hospital. They don't want to go to a nursing home.' In addition to limits on visitations, Lund Person said another driving force behind the trend is that patients who don't have COVID-19 are fearful they may contract the deadly virus while seeking treatment in a hospital or nursing home. Missouri mortuary owner Brian Simmons said he has been making more trips to homes to pick up bodies to be cremated and embalmed than ever before, since the pandemic hit last March. With COVID-19 devastating communities in Missouri, his two-person crews regularly arrive at homes in the Springfield area and remove bodies of people who decided to die at home, he said. Simmons said he understands all too well why people are choosing to die at home: His own 49-year-old daughter succumbed to the coronavirus just before Christmas at a Springfield hospital, where the family only got phone updates as her condition deteriorated. 'The separation part is really rough, rough rough,' said Simmons. 'My daughter went to the hospital and we saw her once through the glass when they put her on the ventilator, and then we never saw her again until after she died.' Across the country, terminally ill patients - both with COVID-19 and other diseases - are decided to die at home rather than face the terrifying scenario of saying farewell to loved ones behind glass or during video calls (file photo) Mortuary owner Brian Simmons holds a photo of his daughter Rhonda Ketchum who died before Christmas of COVID-19 Simmons said he has been making more trips to homes to pick up bodies to be cremated and embalmed than ever before since the pandemic hit Similarly to Missouri, the phenomenon has played out Carroll Hospice in Westminster, Maryland, which has seen a 30-to-40 percent spike in demand for home-based care, said executive director Regina Bodnar. Bodnar said avoiding nursing homes and coronavirus risks are the 'biggest factor behind the increase.' Lisa Kossoudji, who supervises nurses at Ohio's Hospice of Dayton, pulled her own mother, now 95, out of assisted living and brought her home to live with her after the pandemic hit. She had gone weeks without seeing her mother and was worried that her condition was deteriorating because she was being restricted to her room as the facility sought to limit the potential for the virus to spread. Her mother, who has a condition that causes thickening and hardening of the walls of the arteries in her brain, is now receiving hospice services. Kossoudji is seeing the families she serves make similar choices. 'Lots of people are bringing folks home that physically, they have a lot physical issues, whether it is they have a feeding tube or a trachea, things that an everyday lay person would look at and say, "Oh my gosh, I cant do this,"' she said. 'But yet they are willing to bring them home because we want to be able to be with them and see them.' Owner Brian Simmons looks over the preparation room in mortuary as workers get ready to prepare a body Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 National hospice organizations are reporting that facilities are seeing double-digit percentage increases in the number of patients being cared for at home, amid nationwide limits on family visitations during the pandemic Before the pandemic, hospice workers cared for patients dying of heart disease, cancer, dementia and other terminal illnesses in long-term care facilities and, to a lesser extent, home settings. Many families hesitated to go the die-at-home route because of the many logistical challenges, including work schedules and complicated medical needs. But the pandemic changed things. People were suddenly working from home and had more time, and they were more comfortable with home hospice knowing the alternative with lack of visitation at nursing homes. 'What happened with COVID is everything was on steroids so to speak. Everything happened so quickly that all of a sudden family members were prepared to care for their loved ones at home,' said Carole Fisher, president of the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation. 'Everything accelerated.' 'I have heard families say, "I can care for my aged mother now very differently than I could before because I am working from home,"' she added. 'And so there is more of a togetherness in the family unit because of COVID.' In addition to limits on visitations, another driving force behind the trend is that patients who don't have COVID-19 are fearful they may contract the deadly virus while seeking treatment in a hospital or nursing home (file photo) Dying at home isn't for everyone, however. Caring for the needs of a critically ill relative can mean sleepless nights and added stress as the pandemic rages. Karen Rubel recalled that she didn't want to take her own 81-year-old mother to the hospital when she had a stroke in September and then pushed hard to bring her home as soon as possible. She is president and CEO of Nathan Adelson Hospice in Las Vegas, which has designated one of its in-patient facilities for COVID-19 patients. 'I get where people are coming from,' she said. 'They are afraid.' Since the pandemic began in March 2020, 462,272 Americans have died from COVID-19 and 26.9 million have tested positive for the virus. A more contagious variant of the coronavirus first found in Britain is spreading rapidly in the United States, doubling roughly every 10 days, according to a new study. Analyzing half a million coronavirus tests and hundreds of genomes, a team of researchers predicted that in a month this variant could become predominant in the United States, potentially bringing a surge of new cases and increased risk of death. The new research offers the first nationwide look at the history of the variant, known as B.1.1.7, since it arrived in the United States in late 2020. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that B.1.1.7 could become predominant by March if it behaved the way it did in Britain. The new study confirms that projected path. Nothing in this paper is surprising, but people need to see it, said Kristian Andersen, a co-author of the study and a virologist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. We should probably prepare for this being the predominant lineage in most places in the United States by March. A consignment of Covid 19 vaccines has been sent to Afghanistan from Mumbai earlier this morning. This comes a day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India has so far supplied COVID- 19 vaccine to 15 countries and another 25 nations are in the queue at different levels for the jab. He said on Saturday: there are three categories of countries that are keen to get the vaccine from India- poor, price-sensitive nations and other countries which directly deal with pharmaceutical companies that make the antidote. "I think right now we have already supplied to about 15 countries (as per my recollection). I would say there would be another about 25 countries that are at different stages in the pipeline. But what it has done is today it has put India on the map of the world." The minister said some poor countries are being supplied the vaccine on a grant basis while some nations wanted it on par with the price that the Indian Government pays to the vaccine makers. Some countries have direct contracts with the Indian vaccine producing companies and have negotiated commercially. India will supply 1 lakh Covishield doses to Cambodia The Indian government has decided to supply vaccines after Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen's requested Modi for assistance. The vaccine will be supplied by Serum Institute of India. "The India Embassy in Phnom Penh is pleased to announce that the Government of India has approved the supply of one hundred thousand doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the Kingdom of Cambodia on an urgent basis," the embassy said. "The supply has been assured through the Serum Institute of India despite innumerable competing requests from partner countries and our commitment to our domestic population. The decision is a testament to India's appreciation for Cambodia as an important partner and its concern for the health and prosperity of the people of Cambodia," it added. Cambodia has so far registered over 470 confirmed COVID-19 cases. From January 20 onwards, New Delhi has supplied coronavirus vaccines to several countries including Bhutan, Maldives, Mauritius, Bahrain, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Seychelles and Sri Lanka. (ANI) Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The AFLW has made a fierce return after the drought Melbourne footy fans endured last year of not being able to wrap their team scarves around their necks and see a live game under local stadium lights. Itd been a hot minute since the city heard cheers, boos and choruses of helpful information yelled out at the umpires. Yet, our pipes were warm and ready when Carlton and Collingwood ran out at Ikon Park two weeks ago to open the 2021 AFLW season. North Melbourne fans at the round two match between North Melbourne and St Kilda at Arden Street Oval. Credit:Getty Images It wasnt long at all before the crowd were shouting, BALLLLLLL! from the stands, celebrating impressive goals on the run and yelling words of encouragement as their favourite players got hands on the ball. The return of the AFLW felt particularly momentous after last years competition was cut short right before the finals. There was a palpable buzz in the air at the opener. The atmosphere was alive with fans so happy to be back. After so much time away, watching the women run out onto the field felt both surreal and overdue. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has said that Daleep Singh, the Head of the Markets Group at the bank is set to join US President Joe Biden's administration as deputy national security adviser. According to a February 5 statement by the New York Fed, Singh will be leaving the bank in mid-February to join the Biden administration. In his new role he will serve as the deputy National Economic Council (NEC) Director as well and report to both National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and NEC Director Brian Deese. Singh, 45, had worked at the US Department of the Treasury from 2011 to 2017, in the Obama administration serving as Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Affairs, helping to shape the Treasury Department's crisis response to Ukraine, Russia, Greece, and Puerto Rico. "Daleep brought his dedication to public service and leadership skills to the New York Fed and had a meaningful impact during his tenure," said John C. Williams, president and chief executive officer of the New York Fed. "Over the past year, Daleep has played a critical leadership role in the emergency facilities the Fed launched in response to COVID-19. I'm thrilled that he will continue to leverage his knowledge and expertise in support of economic policy at this important time." Anne Baum, Head of Central Bank and Account Services, will serve as interim Head of the Markets Group in place of Singh, while the Fed will launch a search for his successor in the coming weeks. Singh joined the New York Fed in February 2020 and also served as a member of the Executive Committee. As Head of the Markets Group, he focused on bringing together policy, strategy, analysis and operational effectiveness. Previously, Singh was Senior Partner and Chief US Economist at SPX Capital, a global investment firm. Born in Olney, Maryland and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina Singh holds a bachelor's degree with Duke University in economics and public policy and a master of business administration/master of public administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University, with a focus on economics. Singh's great grand-uncle was Daleep Singh Saund, the first Asian-American elected to the US Congress. (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.) Pilibhit : , Feb 7 (IANS) Local farmers in Pilibhit district have demanded that the FIR lodged against the widow and brother of a protesting farmer, who had recently lost his life in Delhi, be immediately withdrawn. Three persons, including the deceased farmer's wife and brother, were booked on Thursday for draping his body in Tricolour. Local farmer leaders and politicians have expressed their support to the demand for withdrawal of the FIR. Yogendra Yadav, who is the president of Swaraj India, said that he was not surprised with the police action. "There is a technicality of law and the spirit of law. The technicality always needs to be reviewed in context of the spirit. If the protesting farmers wish to honour their martyr by draping his body in a national flag, they only enhance the dignity of the national flag which shows their love for the Tricolour and their sense of pride. In such a situation any government should celebrate rather than come up with the technicality," he said. Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) district president Satvinder Singh Kahlon said the 'kisan panchayat' will take up the 'FIR issue'. "We will give a memorandum of our demand, addressed to the Prime Minister, and it will be handed over to the officials, he added. RLD's state vice-president Manjit Singh Sandhu and a former minister Hemraj Verma of Samajwadi Party have also demanded the withdrawal of the FIR. Incidentally, another deceased farmer Navreet Singh's body was also wrapped in the national flag. Singh had died when his tractor overturned in Delhi. When asked, Additional Director General of Bareilly zone Avinash Chandra said, "An FIR should have been lodged in Rampur too as the national flag code allows this privilege only in certain cases." .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Numerous leaders and law enforcement personnel in New Mexico along with locals in his hometown of Lordsburg have spoken about fallen State Police officer Darian Jarrott in recent days. On Saturday afternoon, his familys voice was heard, calling the 28-year-old man an irreplaceable officer and father of three. We have all lost someone special and close to our hearts, and I am so honored and proud to see the amazing impact he has left on this Earth, said Gabriella Jarrott, who shared two sons with Darian Jarrott. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Authorities say Jarrott was shot by Omar Felix Cueva, 39, during a traffic stop on Interstate 10 east of Deming just after noon Thursday. Soon after, Cueva was killed in a shootout with authorities in Las Cruces. While a spokeswoman with the 3rd Judicial District Attorneys Office had previously said that Cueva was wearing a bulletproof vest, State Police have since said that was not the case. Saturday, outside the State Police Office in Deming, where Darian Jarrott had been stationed, Gabriella Jarrott reminisced that the officers favorite thing was getting hugs from his kids at the end of each shift. He no longer gets that relief at the end of his days because our children have lost their best friend, she said. But I am sure to remind them that he is not gone because he always will be in their hearts and watching over them, protecting them and loving them in ways they cannot see but I know that they will feel. Next to being a father, Gabriella Jarrott said Darian Jarrotts greatest passion was being an officer, which showed in the spotless shine of his boots, the cleanliness of his guns and a uniform starched to the point where it stood up on its own. He was proud of his job, and to him it wasnt just a job because he never worked a day in his life, she said, calling him a fallen hero. State Police officer David Taranga, Darian Jarrotts uncle, said his nephew was a curious, smart, child born into a family with strong ties to law enforcement in southwest New Mexico. Our family remembers Darian as a happy, outgoing, lovable person regardless of what life threw at him, Taranga said. He was always smiling. He loved with all his heart most of all, he loved his children. In a shocking turn of events, a huge amount of devastation has been observed after a glacier broke in Dhauli Ganga valley in Joshimath area of Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. Hundreds of NDRF and ITBP personnel have been deployed for rescue operations owing to the sudden avalanche as many people are currently fear-trapped. A great tragedy has occurred in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand today in which a glacier situated in the Dhauli Ganga valley in the Joshimath area collapsed. Meanwhile, hundreds of personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Rescue Force (SDRF) have been dispatched to the surrounding areas to begin immediate extraction of any locals stuck. #UPDATE: ITBP rescues all 16 people who were trapped in the tunnel near Tapovan, Chamoli. #Uttarakhand https://t.co/vi2ZbTyB9N ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 The nearby areas have also been flooded due to the large amounts of water released by the glacier. These include the Dhauliganga and Alaknanda river basin. Cities like Rishikesh and Haridwar are in a state of emergency, though the likelihood of the floods affecting them is low. Seven Indian Navy Diving Teams are on standby for Uttarakhand flash flood relief operations, said Navy officials. Rescue operation underway at the tunnel near Tapovan dam in Chamoli to rescue trapped people. #Uttarakhand (Pic courtesy: Indian Army) pic.twitter.com/lcKlHdcNn3 ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 Seven Indian Navy Diving Teams are on standby for Uttarakhand flash flood relief operations: Indian Navy officials ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 The Uttarakhand police said that people located in and around the affected areas are advised to evacuate as quickly as possible. The Rishiganga Power Project has also been damaged and contact with around 150 employees working there has been lost. 16 people who were trapped in Tapovan Dam are being shifted to safer places by Police, said the Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat being briefed on flood situation by Army and ITBP jawans, in Tapovan area of Chamoli district. pic.twitter.com/uBraBzSFzJ ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 Also read: It revealed a lot: S Jaishankar on farmers protests toolkit shared by Greta Thunberg Prime Minister Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind also took to Twitter to express their grief about the natural disaster. Deeply worried about the glacier burst near Joshimath, Uttarakhand, that caused destruction in the region. Praying for well being and safety of people. Am confident that rescue and relief operations on ground are progressing well: President Ram Nath Kovind (File photo) pic.twitter.com/ywEhPkJn29 ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 Am constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation in Uttarakhand. India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyones safety there. Have been continuously speaking to senior authorities and getting updates on NDRF deployment, rescue work and relief operations. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 7, 2021 Also read: Myanmar coup: As US considers imposing sanctions, all eyes on India to clarify its position Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat stated that the efforts of the police and disaster management departments have been diverted towards the situation. Rawat is also surveying the situation on the ground. The rescue operations are being carried out with utmost vigour and the flow of the nearby Bhagirathi River has been halted. Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat reaches near Reni village in Tapovan area of Chamoli; takes stock of the situation. pic.twitter.com/Slw1Vn2Qx9 ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 Also read: US calls for recognition of Kashmir American Day on Feb 6: NY State Assembly passes resolution Egypts health ministry said in a statement that it detected 509 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, bringing the total infections toll nationwide since the outbreak of the pandemic last year to 169,106. The health ministry also reported 44 deaths, bringing the total fatalities from the virus to 9,604. Health Ministry Spokesperson Khaled Megahed said in the statement that 422 patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of recoveries to 132,054. Earlier on Saturday, Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi welcomed an invitation for Egypt to join the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) during the 34th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly, which is held online for the first time over coronavirus concerns. The AUs AVATT started the operation last month. It was established by South Africas President Cyril Ramaphosa, the chairperson of AU in 2020, to serve as a component of the Africa vaccine strategy. President El-Sisi affirmed Egypts keenness to carry out its responsibilities with the aim of securing the coronavirus vaccine for the African countries. Egypt initiated its COVID-19 vaccination roll-out in January, with priority to the countrys medical staff who are on the frontline battling the outbreak. It received in late-January 50,000 doses as a first batch of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine from the British-Swedish companys branch in India a month after nearly a month of another first batch from Chinas Sinopharm vaccine that compromised the same amount. Short link: A 62 year old man has been charged with the murder of pensioner, Mary OKeeffe, whose body was found in a burning car in Doneraile, Co Cork earlier this week. Michael Leonard of Hillcrest, Glenosheen, Killmallock, Co Limerick appeared before Fermoy District Court charged with the murder contrary to common law on the 4th of February last of Mary OKeeffe at Dromdeer East, Doneraile, Co Cork. Inspector Tony OSullivan presented evidence of arrest, charge and caution at the special sitting of the Co Cork court which took place shortly after 11am today. The court heard that at 11.53pm yesterday at Fermoy Garda Station Det Garda James OShea charged Mr Leonard with the murder of 72-year-old Mary OKeeffe. He said that Mr Leonard made no reply when the charge was put to him under caution. Brendan Gill, solicitor, representing Mr Leonard made an application for legal aid in the case which was granted by Judge Marie Keane. No applications can be made for bail at District Court level in murder cases. Mr Gill asked that every medical assistance be given to Mr Leonard following his remand in custody. This includes psychological and physical assistance. Judge Keane directed that a psychiatric assessment be carried out on Mr Leonard at Cork Prison. Mr Leonard was remanded in custody to appear by video link at Cork District Court on February 12th next. The DPP has directed a trial by indictment in the case. Two family members of the accused were in court for the short sitting. Mr Leonard was in court for the brief hearing. He was wearing a wine zipped hooded fleece and dark pants. Ms OKeeffe lived in Dromahane near Mallow in Co Cork and worked as a cook. A post-mortem was carried out on her body at Cork University Hospital on Friday afternoon. The results of the post-mortem, which was carried out by Assistant State Pathologist Margaret Bolster, were not released. The alarm was raised on Thursday afternoon when a passer by spotted a car on fire near the Coillte forest in Doneraile. Ms OKeeffe was pronounced dead at the scene. She is survived by her three sons. Funeral arrangements will be finalised in the coming days. San Francisco police officers found two missing children early Sunday after their fathers SUV was stolen while they were inside. Police said the victim left his silver Honda Odyssey parked on the 2100 block of Jackson Street and left the engine running while he made a food delivery at 8:47 p.m. His two young children a one-year-old boy and a four year old girl were in the vehicle as it was stolen, police said. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's vitriolic, conspiracy-laden, violent (anti-Semitic, white supremacist) rhetoric and politics have drawn widespread condemnation. News outlets and Republican colleagues have called her comments "nutty," "kooky" and "loony," while Democrats have been even harsher. On Thursday, in an unprecedented move, the House voted to strip Greene, R-Ga., of her committee assignments as punishment for her rhetoric. Yet Greene remains unrepentant, claiming that the vote "freed" her to spread her message, and to hold the "Republican Party accountable" and push it "to the right." While fellow Republicans have tried to paint Greene as an aberration - outside of the mainstream of their party, someone for whom they bear no responsibility - the truth is far blurrier than they are willing to admit. The congresswoman is actually part of a long line of radical far-right White women who have animated American politics dating back to the 19th century. By consequence of their conspiracy theories and extreme rhetoric, they have managed to stretch the margins of what is considered politically respectable. Their politics have also stoked the radical wings of their respective parties (Democrats in the early 20th century; Republicans in the late 20th and early 21st centuries). With her advocacy of violence and condemnation of party leaders and American officials, Greene fits squarely in this inglorious tradition in American politics. One of Greene's most prominent foremothers hailed from the outskirts of her 14th congressional district in Cartersville, Ga. Rebecca Latimer Felton was the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate, albeit only for a day. Felton was a suffragist, proponent of public education, opponent of convict leasing and advocate for working-class White women. But she was also a virulent white supremacist who used rumor and fantasy to support her racist politics. In 1897, ignoring the structural economic issues plaguing Southern farmers, Felton told a Georgia farm convention that the most significant problem facing farm women was "Black rapists." She faulted White men for not supporting their wives and leaving them at the mercy of Black men. Her solution: lynching Black men, "a thousand times a week." This rhetoric from a prominent political leader helped fuel the one coup in American history. The following year, as White North Carolina Democrats tried to defeat interracial fusionists, Felton's speech appeared in a White Wilmington newspaper. The editor of a Black newspaper responded by suggesting that interracial relationships actually resulted from White women seeking Black men as romantic partners. White supremacists used this claim as cause for destroying the newspaper and unleashing the terror that became the Wilmington Massacre. They threatened violence to keep Black Republicans from the polls, elected White Democrats and conducted a successful coup against the democratically elected interracial city government. Killing Black Wilmington residents and running off others, white supremacists took over the city. The fear Felton had whipped up helped justify this sort of extreme action. And this violent overthrow received the tacit approval of the federal government. Anti-lynching legislation, introduced more than 200 times, failed to pass the Senate for the entire 20th century. The willingness of a political leader like Felton to traffic in such bigoted and false stereotypes also helped produce a culture in which false accusations of rape led to the murder or imprisonment of Black men and boys - a problem that persists to this day. She helped to pull politics in an extreme, racist direction with long-lasting impact. Felton would not be the last prominent White woman to help inculcate radical ideas on the right. In 1943, Mississippi newspaper publisher Mary Dawson Cain blamed both the wartime resurgence of lynching and the 1943 insurrection in Detroit on first lady Eleanor Roosevelt for raising expectations for social equality. Cain trafficked in other conspiracy theories and bigotry, as well, joining in anti-Semitic charges against the Anti-Defamation League, accusing the Supreme Court and Congress of being communists, the United Nations of being Godless and Americans of being duped by humanitarianism. Far from ostracizing her, this incendiary and at times delusional rhetoric landed Cain at the center of right-wing politics. As president of the Congress of Freedom, she honored, among others, Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., Republican Gov. George Wallace of Alabama and John Birch Society founder Robert Welch. Her politics served as a forerunner of the rise of the new right, with everyone from Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., to Goldwater embracing similar rhetoric in the years to come. Within two decades, Goldwater would be the Republican presidential nominee, and future president Ronald Reagan would later receive the award created by Cain. Fellow Mississippian Florence Sillers Ogden, sister of Mississippi's speaker of the house, trafficked in similar rhetoric as Cain. She charged that the United Nations Genocide Convention, which condemned mass murder by national governments, would permit the rape of White women by Black men and then prevent their punishment. Ogden's arguments won over, among others, the Daughters of the American Revolution. In speeches to DAR chapters, Ogden and other radical White women like her claimed that the U.N. meant "[A] Negro, a Chinese, or a member of any racial minority, could insult you or your daughter. Your husband might shoot him . . .. If so, he could be tried in an international court. It would also make it a crime to prevent racial intermarriage and intermarriage would destroy the White race which has brought Christianity to the world." This incendiary rhetoric propelled the Vigilant Women for Bricker movement in the early 1950s. This organization accused internationalist senators of being communists and supported amending the U.S. Constitution to move treaty ratification out of the federal government and into state legislatures. Again, instead of the members of the movement being ostracized, the American Bar Association's president saw fit to speak to the group, which included Cain and a young Phyllis Schlafly. While the latter did not profess to fear the U.N. because of interracial rape and marriage, she happily forged political alliances with White women who did, taking advantage of their political capital as part of her rise to becoming maybe the most prominent female political activist on the right. The conspiracy-mongering among radical White women in this era knew no bounds - even fueling claims that 14-year-old Emmett Till's murder was a hoax created by the NAACP to arouse federal condemnation against Southern segregation. Such extremism did not damage, let alone doom, the women associated with it. Instead, it helped elevate them to prominence in conservative politics. During the 1960s, radicals like Cain and Ogden shifted to colorblind - yet still white supremacist - rhetoric and formed organizations that pledged to "save the Constitution," in response to school busing to achieve racial equality. In the 1970s, they extended this argument to the Equal Rights Amendment, ultimately gaining traction among other conservatives. This language portrayed the right as conservers of constitutional government and the left as its destroyers, but it was rooted in the conspiracy theories and bigotry of decades past. History has forgotten much of this extreme activism, in part because it has been whitewashed, and in part because of a gender bias that shifts political seriousness away from "nutty" (read: not dangerous) White women. Antibusing extremists in Boston leveled death threats at elected officials, destroyed cars of "integrationists," called in the Ku Klux Klan and stood outside playgrounds yelling racist epithets at young children. And indeed, they recycled Felton's arguments, expressing fear that their daughters would sit beside Black boys. Yet, history remembers them as antibusing advocates, not white supremacists. Resurrecting this history and labeling it correctly helps to place Greene in the proper context and exposes the real danger of her ideas. While her colleagues have condemned her rhetoric, history teaches us that they won't cast Greene out of the Republican Party. Instead, they'll welcome her supporters, and perhaps repackage her claims in less incendiary terms, making them the new mainstream of conservative politics. - - - McRae is an associate professor of history at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Cloudy with periods of rain. High 51F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Low around 45F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Employees are able to sue their bosses if they catch Covid-19 while commuting to work or while in the office and there is no legal requirement for anyone to be called back in if they can work from home. Those that have enjoyed remote working since the early months of 2020 can argue their case for not returning to the office, with employees able to sue their company if they contract coronavirus. According to current state government rules, companies can't force employees to return to the office, 'if it is reasonably practical for them to work from home or another location', reported the Herald Sun. Employees who are forced back to the office can sue the company if they contract Covid-19 while in the workplace or on their commute Return-to-work disputes that 'escalate' would likely end up being mediated before the Fair Work commission said Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari. Mr Hilakari said privileges for 'vulnerable' workers could also be necessary, to be used by people who are putting their health at risk by returning to work. Employers could be accused of breaching their duty of care to their workers by exposing them to an unnecessary risk said Larry Dent, partner at Arnold Thomas and Becker. 'Depending on the severity of the illness suffered by the worker, the employer could be open to paying substantial compensation.' Businesses could be forced to pay substantial compensation to their workers if they contract Covid-19 while on the job With the high rate of unemployment across the country, it would be hard for employees to refuse a direction to return to work, said Professor John Buchanan, head of business analytics at the University of Sydney's Business School. There is currently 940,000 Australians who are currently unemployed and looking for work, reported The Sydney Morning Herald. 'In the current situation employers have deep structural power and we can talk about what is optimal, but employers can pick and choose,' Professor Buchanan said. Current state government rules state that an employer can't force an employee to return to the office if it is reasonably practical for them to work from home or from another location It's predicted that most workplaces will work towards a blend of remote and on-site working days in the opinion of Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief Paul Guerra. 'We are seeing businesses that are able to operate remotely coming to the table in good faith and permitting a hybrid approach where employees work from home and the office.' 'There will need to be some give and take to make it work'. Gerard Butler celebrated his 50th birthday by releasing sea turtles into the ocean. The actor, famed for his hardman roles such as Spartan warrior Leonidas in 300 and army man Mike Banning in the Olympus Has Fallen film series, revealed he marked the milestone in Costa Rica doing 'environmental stuff'. Gerard turned 50 in November 2019 but has only now discussed how he celebrated, saying that it was attended by 'spiritual people' and was 'very powerful'. Spiritual! Gerard Butler celebrated his 50th birthday by releasing sea turtles into the ocean The Scottish actor, now 51, told Total Film Magazine: 'I'm not a birthday party guy. I've often, on my birthday, at 7PM, said "okay, let's have dinner". And everybody is told with 15 minutes to spare. 'But this time, I actually did a big event in Costa Rica and brought loads of friends down. 'And it was very, very powerful. We brought down a lot of spiritual people, a lot of performers. 'We did a lot of environmental stuff, like releasing sea turtles out into the ocean. It was such a mix of so many things, I'm so glad I did it.' He said: 'We did a lot of environmental stuff, like releasing sea turtles out into the ocean. It was such a mix of so many things, I'm so glad I did it' Gritty! The actor is famed for his hardman roles such as Spartan warrior Leonidas in 300 and army man Mike Banning in the Olympus Has Fallen film series [pictured] This took place several months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world, with many unable to celebrate their birthdays over the past year. In his latest movie, Greenland, which was released in 2020, Butler and his family struggle for survival in the face of a terrifying cataclysmic natural disaster. The pandemic delayed the movie's release several times, eventually being made available through video on demand in December. Tropical: He revealed he marked the milestone in Costa Rica doing 'environmental stuff' He added: 'And it was very, very powerful. We brought down a lot of spiritual people, a lot of performers' This follows Gerard's recent controversial gender stereotyping row, leading to the banning of a South African beer advert. The Paisley-born actor fell foul of advertising standards with his TV ad for Diageo-made Windhoek beer. They banned the commercial for suggesting real men, like Butler, drink real beer. Controversy: Gerard was recently caught up in a gender stereotyping row, leading to the banning of a South African beer advert featuring the tee-total actor Butler agreed to take part in the ad despite having his well-publicised battle with the booze. He went tee-total after a spell in rehab, checking into the Betty Ford clinic in 2012. He claims not to have drank alcohol since then. Butler is seen casually dressed and bearded while enjoying a pint at the bar with the slogan: 'It's time for the perfect beer.' The beer campaign features the tag line, 'Keeping It Real With Mr Gerard Butler'. Hot water: The Paisley-born actor fell foul of advertising standards with his TV ad for Diageo-made Windhoek beer Under fire: The beer brand used a 'gentle looking' man who succumbs to the pressure of 'macho' movie star Gerard Butler, said South Africas Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) The beer brand used a 'gentle looking' man who succumbs to the pressure of 'macho' movie star Gerard Butler, said South Africas Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB). The ad features Butler, described in the regulator's decision as 'a macho looking movie star', remonstrating with a bar patron who asks for a slice of lime with his Windhoek. 'Hey, thats a Windhoek. Its 100% beer. You dont need any lime,' Butler tells the other customer, before turning to the camera and says, 'Keep it real, Joe. Keep it real.' Getting involved: The ad features Butler, described in the regulator's decision as 'a macho looking movie star', remonstrating with a bar patron who asks for a slice of lime with his beer Soft target: The man he takes to task, says the ARB, 'is a gentle looking, red-headed man two characteristics that might typically make him a target for teasing in a toxic environment' The man he takes to task, says the ARB, 'is a gentle looking, red-headed man two characteristics that might typically make him a target for teasing in a toxic environment'. By showing a man deciding against having a lime with his beer, Windhoek is entrenching toxic masculinity, the regulator ruled. The interaction between the two, the regulator ruled, sends an unavoidable message that is not acceptable in advertising, especially because it does not actually come out and say that real men drink real beer. Don't do it: 'Hey, thats a Windhoek. Its 100% beer. You dont need any lime,' Butler tells the customer, while sitting at the bar with a pint of lager Zest free: By showing a man deciding against having a lime with his beer, Windhoek is entrenching toxic masculinity, the regulator ruled 'The reality is that it is exactly the unspoken nature of the communication that makes it particularly dangerous the gender stereotype portrayed as so normal that it does not even require explanation,' said the ARB. It took issue with both 'the entrenchment of the role of men as having to behave in a certain way' and 'the entrenchment of male behaviour that is bullying, and what has come to be labelled as "toxic masculinity"'. The decision cites a clause in the ARB's code of advertising practice that bans 'gender stereotyping or negative gender portrayal' unless it is 'reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom'. Heineken, the brewers of Windhoek, had argued its central character had ordered a lime out of habit, 'and when he tasted the Windhoek Lager without the lime, his response was one of appreciation. He does not react with offence or shame'. Defiance in Myanmar Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in cities and towns across Myanmar over the weekend, nearly a week after the military took back power. Undaunted by the memory of army massacres of pro-democracy protesters as recently as 2007, the demonstrators called for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the civilian leader who was detained in the coup. They carried red balloons and ribbons, the color of her party. The internet was cut off in Myanmar on Saturday, as it was during the coup, but then restored on Sunday. Fearful of more shutdowns, protesters posted live videos on Facebook in the hours that they could. Military tactics: The junta has resorted to familiar tactics, including mass arrests, beatings by mysterious thugs and telecommunications outages. It has also used social media bans targeting Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. An entire class of people poets, painters, reporters and rap artists among them has gone into hiding. By Yereth Rosen ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A weekend court ruling has temporarily blocked winter construction at a huge ConocoPhillips oil project on Alaska's North Slope. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason issued an order Saturday barring ConocoPhillips from starting planned gravel mining and gravel-road construction at its Willow project. With an estimated 590 million barrels of oil and the potential to produce 160,000 barrels per day, Willow would be the westernmost operating oil field in Arctic Alaska. First oil is planned as early as 2024, according to ConocoPhillips. Gleason's injunction came in response to an environmental lawsuit claiming the Trump administrations Willow approval failed to properly consider wildlife and climate-change impacts. The judge last week rejected environmentalists' request for a more sweeping injunction. Her new order halts gravel-related work until at least Feb. 20, giving the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals time to weigh in. ConocoPhillips had intended to start blasting gravel on Feb. 12, according to Gleason's order. The plaintiffs have shown "there is a strong likelihood of irreparable environmental consequences once blasting operations commence," the order said. Additionally, the plaintiffs' arguments concerning climate change "could well be likely to succeed on the merits" at the appeals court, Gleason said. Gleason's order does not stop construction of seasonal ice roads, which melt away in summer. Plaintiff representatives noted that Biden is reviewing Trump administration oil policies, including the approval of Willow. "We're hopeful this terrible project can be stopped, either by the courts or the Biden administration's review," Kristen Monsell, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement on Sunday. ConocoPhillips Alaska spokeswoman Rebecca Boys said by email that the company does not comment on pending litigation. (Reporting by Yereth Rosen; Editing by Daniel Wallis) The role of a Minister for Finance requires someone with an appreciation of economics as well as the practical understanding of how an economy works, a deep understanding of financial markets and public finance; and for a developing country like Ghana, someone with market credibility at both the domestic and international levels. These create the respect and trust necessary for the Minister to work with relevant stakeholders on Ghanas development agenda. One must also be mindful of the fact that a Finance Minister must be able to protect the public purse against pressures that come with profligate spending, sometimes even to the annoyance of his own government. As parliament is about to vet Ministers nominated for the second Akufo-Addo led Government, one of the key positions that appears to have drawn a significant amount of attention is that of the Minister for Finance - especially in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our economic progress and the critical need for experienced, skillful, creative and internationally respected leadership if we are to emerge from this COVID nightmare stronger and more resilient. A key trend for selecting a Minister for Finance in countries that have active participation in local and global capital markets, is for the person to have a deep understanding and connection to these markets or more than substantial pedigree in the practice of economic policy in order for markets to have confidence in the person. Evidence for this is prevalent in countries like the US, UK, among others. For example, the current Chancellor of the Exchequer in the UK was a former investment banker at Goldman Sachs, the immediate US Treasury Secretary is also an ex investment banker and hedge fund manager. Others who played similar roles at critical times include Henry Paulson, Jack Lew, who were both investment bankers, among others. In Ghana, a significant success in navigating the financial sector clean-up, which was a difficult crisis inherited from the previous Government, the successful exit from the IMF without international investors getting overly jittery about their portfolio holdings in Ghana and the more than successful raising of over US$8b dollars through Eurobond issuances to support budget spending over the past years have been largely due to the pedigree of the Minister for Finance. Who then is Ken Ofori-Atta? Ken was born on 7 November, 1959 in Kibi. He went to the prestigious Achimota School, and subsequently obtained a BA in Economics from Columbia University in 1984, and an MBA from the esteem Yale University School of Management in 1988. He practiced as an investment banker both in the US and in Ghana for over 30 years. His track record as the Executive Chairman of Databank, and through the successes at firm, he built an enviable track record as a leading emerging market investment banker and entrepreneur, with global and domestic understanding of financial markets and economic issues. Ken was honored as a Donaldson Fellow at Yale University and is the first African to receive the John Jay Award from Columbia University which is presented to alumni of Columbia College in recognition of their commitment to a new generation of African leaders. He was also the first African to testify at the US Congress Ways and Means Committee to support the AGOA law. This background and experience puts Ken in the league of the qualified and suitable candidates for the position of Finance Minister. It is important that the country puts its best foot forward in selecting a Minister for Finance in the next 4 years as uncertainties remain in the global financial system. The Covid-19 pandemic has made it even more urgent for Ghana to have a Finance Minister whose track record engenders confidence from global economic institutions, and capital markets in a way never before seen in our history. It is clear that the next couple of Eurobond issuances by Ghana will have to be done without in-person meetings, and many investors will want to identify with whoever is responsible for the economy. At the same time, businesses will want a situation where there is a clear understanding of the impact of Covid-19 on their balance sheets and what interventions are required to fix them at the economy-wide level. Kens experience as an investment banker and entrepreneur fits this. So what are some of the legacies of Ken Ofori-Atta over the last 4 years? Ken has led the Ministry of Finance with unprecedented energy over the last 4 years. Under his leadership, the Ministry spearheaded various policy reforms and initiatives to ensure effective economic policy management for the attainment of macroeconomic stability and sustainable economic growth. His understanding of the economy and its prudent management resulted in him working with President Akufo-Addo and his colleagues in Government to achieve an average decline in Ghanas fiscal deficit from 6.5% of GDP in 2016 to 4.8% in 2017, 3.9% in 2018 and 4.8% in 2019. While fiscal deficit declined on the average, the overall real GDP growth rebounded from 3.4% in 2016 to 8.1% in 2017, moderating to 6.3% in 2018, and then rising to 6.5% in 2019. The projected real GDP growth for 2020 was revised considerably downwards from 6.8% to 0.9% reflecting the impact of Covid-19 on economic activities. Provisional third quarter GDP data released by the GSS, shows that Overall GDP, after growing by 4.9% in the first quarter contracted by 3.2 percent and 1.1 percent in the second and third quarter of 2020 respectively, averaging 0.2 percent. Importantly, there were also many real sector initiatives undertaken at the Ministry during the period of Kens 4 years stewardship which include paying down accumulated Contractor arrears and Energy Sector Legacy debts, expending over GHS21 billion on Financial Sector Clean-Up to protect the savings and investments of over 4.6 million Ghanaians and businesses, supporting local banks to stay in business through the set-up of Ghana Amalgamated Trust (GAT), the development of Capital Market Master Plan (CMMP), establishment of the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX), support for the re-development of the mortgage sector and availability of cheaper loans to local developers through the National Housing and Mortgage Fund (NHMF), facilitating Ghanas Membership into the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), and leading efforts to develop a blue-print economic policy for Ghanas response to the Covid-19 crisis the Ghana CARES (Obaatan Pa) Programme. Ken is the first Minster for Finance to establish a formal relationship with Faith-based institutions, organized labor and employers association by setting-up the social partnership council for industrial harmony, transparency of policy and take advise from these critical stakeholders. Kens success can also be summed up over the last 4 years by recognitions such as the World Bank naming him as African Finance Minister of the Year for 2018, successfully chairing the World Bank-IMF joint Development Committee, and the Governing Board of African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). With the above experience, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta has the required knowledge, skill, attitude and mind-set to continue his public service role as the Minister for Finance. It will also give him the opportunity to complete ongoing flagship programmes for economic and social development. As a country, we must seize the moment and ensure that we continue to make use of our best talent to support our economic growth and development at any given moment. By Yaw K. Dei Accra, February 4, 2021. 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 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. More than 29 lakh people visited "Hunar Haat", organised at Avadh Shilpgram in Lucknow from January 22 to February 7, the Union Ministry for Minority Affairs said in a statement. (Twitter) Image Source: IANS News More than 29 lakh people visited "Hunar Haat", organised at Avadh Shilpgram in Lucknow from January 22 to February 7, the Union Ministry for Minority Affairs said in a statement. (Twitter) Image Source: IANS News More than 29 lakh people visited "Hunar Haat", organised at Avadh Shilpgram in Lucknow from January 22 to February 7, the Union Ministry for Minority Affairs said in a statement. (Twitter) Image Source: IANS News More than 29 lakh people visited "Hunar Haat", organised at Avadh Shilpgram in Lucknow from January 22 to February 7, the Union Ministry for Minority Affairs said in a statement. (Twitter) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Feb 7 Feb : More than 29 lakh people visited "Hunar Haat", organised at Avadh Shilpgram in Lucknow from January 22 to February 7, the Union Ministry for Minority Affairs said in a statement. Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi while talking to the reporters on concluding day of the "Hunar Haat" said, "The Hunar haat at Lucknow was also available on virtual and online platforms. People have purchased products through digital platforms and appreciated it too. Now, it is also available on GeM (Government E-marketplace) portal." He told the reporters that artisans and craftsmen from 31 states and UTs participated in the hunar haat at Lucknow. Talking about providing employment opportunities, he said that more than five lakh artisans, craftsmen and people associated with them have been provided employment and employment opportunities in the last six years through "Hunar Haat". "Indigenous products like Ajrakh, Applique, Art Metal Ware, Bagh Print, Batik, Banarsi Saree, Bandhej, Bastar Art and Herbal products, Block Print, Brass Metal Bangles, Cane and Bamboo products, Canvas Painting, Chikankari, Copper Bell, Dry Flowers, Handloom Textile, Kalamkari, Mangalgiri, Kota Silk, Lac Bangles, Leather products, Pashmina Shawls, Rampuri Violin, wooden and iron toys, Kantha Embroidery, Brass products, crystal glass items, Sandalwood products, wooden and cane furniture etc were available at hunar haat," he said. Sharing the information about the next hunar haat, he said that the 25th hunar haat is being organised at Maharaja College Ground, Chamarajapuram, Mysuru (Karnataka) from February 6 to 14. Apart from this, it will also be organised from February 20 to March 1 in Delhi and from February 28 to March 7 in Kota. It will also be organised in places like Jaipur, Chandigarh, Indore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ranchi, Surat/Ahmedabad, Kochi, Puducherry etc. This is a dream come true. That was Kevin Gordons reaction after his brilliant five-year-old pacer Lochinvar Art continued his ascent up the world harness charts, brilliantly winning the $500,000 Del-Re National A.G. Hunter Cup on Saturday (Feb. 6). The now seven-time Group 1 champion Lochinvar Art always looked to travel perfectly after his trainer-driver David Moran took him to the lead two laps out at Tabcorp Park Melton in the 2,760-metre Grand Circuit classic. When he activated his afterburners during the last lap, the beauty of this Hunter Cup wasnt that it would be battle at the finish. The magic was watching a modern-day marvel strut his stride. Lochinvar Art was in full flight from the 800m to the 400m, when he ripped through a :26.1-second quarter which broke the hearts of his rivals. His last half was paced in :53.1. Hes just the perfect racehorse, Moran said. Hes got the speed, got the stamina, got the toughness and an unbelievable attitude. He knows hes good. Hes relaxed and casual. Hed stand here all day if he could. Hes just a pleasure to be around. It also shouldnt be missed how cool and calm Moran was tonight. Post nine was awkward but Lochinvar Art trailed into a beautiful spot early before Moran hit the button to ensure he maintained the advantage over his key adversary King Of Swing, who drew 12. We had to keep an eye on where Luke [McCarthy] was. If he were in a three-wide position early he had an opportunity to follow through, so we had to get on the bike earlier than we would have liked, Moran said. But he did it easily and hes a champion. Your browser does not support the video tag. That he is. Hes only five. That almost gets forgotten. His top-flight wins include tonights Hunter Cup, the Ballarat Cup a fortnight ago, the Vicbred Super Series Final on New Years Eve, the Victoria Cup, Chariots of Fire and record-breaking four-year-old Bonanza last year, and the Bathurst Gold Chalice of 2019. Lochinvar Art will next head to New South Wales for a tilt at the $100,000 Newcastle Mile on February 19, with the winner of that race to receive a ticket to the $1-million Miracle Mile on March 6. Moran indicated earlier this year that he and owner Gordon have discussed a North American campaign for Lochinvar Art, a son of Modern Art from the Ponder mare Ponder In Paris. As far as America goes, its something Kevin and I have talked about and its a real chance, but we want to get through these couple of months of big races and go from there, said Moran in January, referring to the recently captured Hunter Cup and the pending Miracle Mile. Id love to take him across myself, it would be the chance of a lifetime, but we could also send him to one of the top trainers over there if we decide he should go. (with files from HRV) Haiti - FLASH : The United States suspends deportation flights of Haitians The United States suspended deportation flights to Haiti on Friday, February 5, 2021, a sign that Joe Biden's administration is trying to assert its control over the Immigration and border control agency of the Department of Homeland Security (ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement) whose recent deportations violated its guidelines which stipulate that only suspected terrorists and convicted felons who pose a danger to the public may be deported from the United States. Recall that when he came to power, President Joe Biden ordered a 100-day moratorium on deportation, while the system and procedures for the removal of migrants and asylum seekers were subject to review. But on January 26, a Texas judge (appointed by Trump) suspended the application of this moratorium and the ICE had resumed deportations to Africa, Haiti and Central America. "The mass deportations to Haiti during Black History Month are bad and inhumane," the organization "Mouvement du Reseau d'Action Familiale" (FANM) said on social media as ICE carried out the Monday February 1 and Tuesday February 2, 2021 to the expulsion of 166 Haitians to Port-au-Prince. The numerous calls Thursday evening and in the early hours of Friday to the team of Alejandro Mayorkas, the new Secretary for Internal Security, calls which would have implicated among others Guerline Jozef, co-founder of the "Haitian Bridge Alliance", a support group to immigrants; Patrice Lawrence the National Director of Policy and Advocacy for the UndocuBlack network and the staff of the office of Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen have borne fruit, the Biden administration on Friday February 5 indefinitely suspended deportation flights to Haiti, avoiding the deportation in the next two weeks of nearly 1,800 other additional Haitians pending... In addition, let us recall that in recent days, the American authorities have also returned on foot Haitians arrived by Mexico, from El Paso (Texas), to the border town of Ciudad Juarez, in violation of an agreement of the administration Trump with the Mexican government who had accepted the return of the Guatemalans, Hondurans and Salvadorans who crossed its territory but not the Haitians. SL/ HaitiLibre Kolkata, Feb 7 : Newly-inducted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday said that West Bengal has not advanced an inch in terms of industrial resurgence in the last 10 years. "There has been zero investment in the state in the last 10 years of Trinamool Congress' regime. The youths of the state have faced unemployment. There is no job opportunities in Bengal," Adhikari said. He said that Bengal need a double-engine BJP government to improve the economic condition of the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) airport. He left for East Midnapore's Haldia by helicopter from the airport and reached the destination around 4 p.m. Other senior BJP leaders like Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, All India Vice President Mukul Roy, National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargi, BJP state unit chief Dilip Ghosh, Rajib Banerjee were also present at the rally. Its one of those things you hear that is so preposterous you just assume its fake news. Im talking about the assertion that smokers get special preference for COVID-19 vaccinations in New Jersey. When I first heard that, I dismissed it as one of those internet rumors. But then the other day I decided to register online for the vaccine. The online form asked the usual dumb questions. After I reported that I am male, for example, I also had to tell them Im not pregnant. I could live with that sort of thing - but not with what I saw when I checked the list of health conditions that permit a person to get the vaccine with the same priority as those over 65. Cancer and kidney disease? Fine. But at the bottom of the list appears the word smoking. The rationale for that classification comes from the CDC and its assertion that smokers face far worse health outcomes if they catch COVID-19. But thats a good reason for them to stop smoking. If I had my druthers, anyone who checked that box would be told to give up the habit or go to the end of the line. If John Ioannidis had his druthers, hed go a lot further. Hed ban cigarettes altogether. Ioannidis is a physician and statistician at Stanford University who was once described as one of the worlds foremost experts on the credibility of medical research. Last week Ioannidis had an article in the British medical journal the Lancet headlined Does the COVID-19 pandemic provide an opportunity to eliminate the tobacco industry? Ioannidis hopes so. He argues that cigarettes kill way more people than COVID does. If were going to be shutting bars, restaurants, etc., to prevent deaths from a disease that attacks the lungs, he says, then we shouldnt permit the sale of the No. 1 cause of preventable lung damage. Even under the most pessimistic projections, COVID-19 fatalities are well below the perpetuated burden of tobacco deaths, Ioannidis writes. Moreover, COVID-19 kills mostly older people with multiple underlying diseases, whereas half of tobacco deaths occur in people aged 3069 years. One of those underlying diseases is COPD (chronic obstructive and pulmonary disease), which is caused primarily by smoking. People with COPD also get preference for COVID vaccinations in New Jersey. But in their case its too late to prevent it. But under the current system, if a 35-year-old smoker decided to quit smoking then hed lose his priority for the vaccine. That makes no sense. And if our governor is going to issue emergency orders banning and restricting activities, then why not include the most deadly activity of them all? When I emailed Ioannidis that question, he replied, Indeed, smoking is one of the most serious, devastating health conditions, and it would be great if a governor has the courage to be the first to ban cigarettes sales in his/her state. Someone needs to do the first move, others will follow. If Murphy wants to help smokers, then it follows that he should be that governor. I sent Phil Murphys people an email asking whether he would. They didnt get back to me in time for deadline. So I couldnt get the governors views on the doctors plan for phasing out tobacco: While setting a specific future date when sales would be banned, during the transition period sales could be heavily taxed (much more than they are today) and sales could be allowed only through prescribed government-run shops, Ioannidis told me. I couldnt help but notice that the call for tobacco to be sold only in prescribed government-run shops sounds a lot like the system New Jersey now has for medicinal marijuana. Meanwhile a bill now on Murphys desk would create government-run shops for all adult pot users. Marijuana is actually safer because it can be consumed without the threat of lung damage. The states leading authority on marijuana Ed NJ Weedman Forchion - tells me that women actually prefer the edible forms of pot he sells in his semi-legal dispensary in Trenton. They dont like all that smoke, Forchion said. Neither do I, which is why I dont smoke. But maybe I should take it up - for my health, of course. The state vaccination site doesnt distinguish between smoking pot and smoking tobacco. So if I were a pot smoker, I could check that box and get the same privileges as a cigarette smoker. But dont tell the potheads I said that. The line is long enough already. It could cost as much as $5 trillion if rich countries dont help vaccinate the rest of the world. by Prabir Purkayastha The world seems to have turned topsy-turvy when the undisputed voices of global capital start talking about the virtues of cooperation among nations and universal distribution of vaccines to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its January 2021 report, talks about strong multilateral cooperation and universal distribution of vaccines at affordable prices for all for the global economy to recover. Meanwhile, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Research Foundation has commissioned a study that shows that even in their self-interest, rich countries need to share vaccines with poorer countries instead of the vaccine-grabbing they have been doing. Let us first look at the numbers that the IMF and the ICC, the self-avowed voice of big business, have produced. The IMFs World Economic Outlook Update says that in 2021, the world GDP will recover from the 3.5 percent fall it suffered in 2020 and is projected to grow 5.5 percent in 2021. The GDP will be pulled up largely by a recovery in emerging markets and developing economies, while the recovery will be considerably slower for advanced economies (read: the club of rich countries). In the United States, the Donald Trump administration had framed the philosophy of selfishness as a virtue in vaccine sharing, comparing it to putting on oxygen masks in the depressurized cabin of an aircraft: You put on your own first, and then help others. According to the ICC study, such a me-first policy will result in the rich countries losing between $203 billion and $5 trillion. Only a fraction of this cost$38 billionwill pay fully for the World Health Organizations entire Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT)-Accelerator program that is meant to support vaccine procurement, cold chain requirements and delivery costs for everyone. The ICC says, Strikingly, a $27.2 billion investment on the part of advanced economiesthe current funding shortfall to fully capitalize the ACT Accelerator and its vaccine pillar COVAXis capable of generating returns as high as 166x the investment. In straightforward language, the return on capital is the highest if the rich countries support universal vaccination at the global level. Nothing else that I know can generate an astronomical 166-time return on investments. Today the global economy is interconnected via supply chains, both for imports and exports. The premise for the ICC model is that no nation is an island. All countries need raw, intermediate and finished goods for industries and to meet the needs of their people and need to export these goods to grow. The composition of these goods differs from country to country, but whether they are advanced or developing, all economies are linked to one another. Starting with this premise, the ICC report, The Economic Case for Global Vaccinations, says its aim is to: demonstrate the importance of making the vaccine globally available, not from a moral standpoint but from an economic one, by illustrating the large economic costs in the absence of global vaccinations. Ironically, a significant portion of these costs will be borne by the advanced countries, despite the fact that they might vaccinate most of their citizens by the summer of 2021. This is because advanced economies (AEs) are tightly connected to unvaccinated trading partners Regarding the pandemic, World Health Organization (WHO) Director Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus and the President of the European Commission Dr. Ursula von der Leyen noted that None of us will be safe until everyone is safe. Our findings extend this argument to the economies by showing that no economy fully recovers until every economy recovers. While the WHO has been emphasizing the need for a world effort to fight COVID-19, the Trump administration had criticized the organization for not being aggressive enough in containing the spread of the virus in April 2020. Now the club of big capital, the ICC, is repeating the WHOs words not only as public health truth but also as hard-headed economic truth. Strange as it might seem, the path of enlightened self-interest for capitalism is the same as altruism! The picture on the vaccine front is bleak as vaccine nationalism overwhelms most countries. I have previously noted how skewed the vaccine-supply scenario is. According to the Duke Global Health Institute (DGHI), As of mid-January, more than 7 billion vaccine doses had been purchased globally and the lions share4.2 billion doseshave gone to high-income countries. By DGHIs calculations, the total global population will not have vaccines by even 2024, let alone the end of 2021, as required for a global economic recovery. The figures are even more skewed if we look at individual countries. The United States, the UK, and the European Union have bought two to three times the vaccines they need as insurance; DGHI reports, Canada has purchased enough to vaccinate its population five times over. Contrary to earlier reports, Indias figures are only a small fraction of what it needs, and it is not one of the countries with huge advance orders. In the figures reported by DGHI, India has placed orders for 116.5 million doses, of which 100 million are supposed to be for the Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiologys Sputnik V vaccine. This vaccine is yet to be cleared by Indias drug regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization. The only confirmed orders of CDSCO-approved vaccines that India has are 11 million from the Serum Institute for Oxford-AstraZenecas Covishield vaccine and 5.5 million of Bharat Biotechs Covaxin. The WHOs Covax platform, launched with the support of philanthropic private funds, meanwhile, has a target of delivering 2 billion vaccine doses by 2021with about 1.8 billion of those doses going to developing countries, covering one-fifth of each of their populations. Even with these modest targets, the Covax platform will only be able to reach about 50 percent of its target and is woefully short of funds as rich countries focus on securing two to three times what they need. Bourgeois ideologues have been preaching the virtue of selfishness as a road to prosperity for so long that it is now enthroned as an economic truth in the rich countries. Forget sharing vaccines; large sections of the right in these countries oppose even wearing masks, from a perverted view of selfishness as individual liberty. Therefore, to suggest loosening the purse strings for the benefit of the poor, even if it means saving their economies, smacks to them of dreaded socialism. Or as the old Cold War slogan went in the U.S., Better dead than red. Global capital needed an existential crisisbe it the pandemic or global warmingto make clear to the world what the left has been saying all along. The road to perdition is a common one; we either flourish together or perish as a species. To quote 17th-century poet John Donne, with which the ICC report opens, No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. This article was produced in partnership by Newsclick and Globetrotter. Prabir Purkayastha is the founding editor of Newsclick.in, a digital media platform. He is an activist for science and the free software movement. DRAMA: Actresses Juliet Stevenson, Lena Olin and Julia Stiles in front of the mansion used in the television series Riviera The 60m mansion that was used as a central location for Paul McGuinness's hit television series Riviera must be demolished, a judge in France has ruled. The Renaissance-style palace, nestled in the hills above the Riviera, is owned by property tycoon Patrick Diter, but it was found to have been built without planning permission. The ruling was handed down by the Cour de Cassation, France's highest court dealing with such matters, and ends a 15-year high-profile legal battle between Mr Diter and some wealthy neighbours. Known as Villa Carmella, the faux-Italianate villa appeared throughout series one and two as the home of American art curator Georgina Marjorie Clios, played by actress Julia Stiles. The 18-bedroom chateau, built in 2005, was the most glamorous location in the sun-soaked drama, with two helipads, a swimming pool, cellar, bell tower and an orangery. Neighbours are said to have taken issue with the fact Mr Diter built it on the 17-acre site without proper authorisation or respect for local zoning laws. Locals were also said to have been angered as the mansion had become a wedding destination for oligarchs and Bollywood stars, who reportedly used the 132-speaker sound system for nights on end. Production crews using the location to shoot the Sky Atlantic TV drama added to the tensions. Mr Diter will have to demolish the structure by June next year or risk paying a fine of more than 500 a day for every day it stands. The property developer has now hinted he may take his case to the European Court of Human Rights, according to Airmail, a digital news site run by the former editor of Vanity Fair, Graydon Carter. It is the latest off-screen drama to hit the big-budget series. In 2017, director Neil Jordan and writer John Banville distanced themselves from the project despite featuring in the opening credits. The pair co-wrote the two-hour pilot for the series after former U2 manager McGuinness came up with the original concept. However, Jordan later said the finished product could not have been more different from his vision. "All I can say is, good luck to them," he told reporters after walking away from the project. "The first two episodes that myself and John wrote were very dark and complex, and that's what got everybody attracted to the project. "Sky Atlantic got involved because of these scripts, but then the producers decided to go in a different direction." The show's future is in doubt after the last episode of the third season was shown in December. Speaking late last year, Stiles said the pandemic posed a major hurdle. "We're in early talks about it, but we need to see how this season goes and we also need to see what happens with the world," she said. "We certainly have our hopes and ideas of where the show could go, but that's not guaranteed. "The biggest challenge or unpredictable factor is when travel restrictions will be eased and when it will be easier to film in the way we have in the past. "Right now, it would be pretty challenging. Hopefully, in 2021 things will be eased." Its not going to tow your trailer, its not going to tow your boat, its not going to get you out to your favourite camping spot with your family, he said. Loading However, in a sign of increasing pressure on climate action Morrison used his strongest language yet at the National Press Club on Monday, declaring he wants Australia to reach net-zero greenhouse gases by 2050. But he stopped short of committing to a deadline. The federal government has said its on track to reach its 2030 emissions reduction commitment under the Paris Agreement, but its long-term climate pledge is unchanged: to reach net-zero emissions sometime before the end of this century. Morrison said on Monday he wouldnt commit to an emissions deadline until I can tell you how we get there, and argued there werent too many other places which had mapped out a pathway to net-zero. The policy commitments of Australias major trading partners like Japan, South Korea, China and the UK isnt rated above Australias by the independent analyst at the international Climate Action Tracker. Loading But like the US under the Biden administration, these countries have formed a coalition of the willing and pledged to reach net-zero by 2050 or 2060, which former diplomats and climate-policy watchers say could create enough leverage to push Australia to match their rhetoric. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday ordered government departments to model a carbon price across all areas of the economy, which will include a policy framework to achieve net-zero emissions. This is expected to be announced in the lead-up to the UN climate talks that the UK is hosting in November. Carbon Market Institute chief executive John Connor, a former head of the Climate Institute think tank, says there was no question Australia is falling behind on climate action. We lack the framework countries are putting in place to guide business investment for industry in infrastructure, transport or agriculture, Connor says. Climate Council researcher Dr Simon Bradshaw says Australia is now almost alone among major advanced economies in remaining stubbornly wedded to its existing target for 2030, rather than stepping up its ambition in line with expectations under the Paris Agreement. Economists say despite Morrisons increasing ambition to hit a 2050 deadline for net-zero, the governments focus on low emissions technology will not be enough on its own to achieve it. Steven Hamilton is a senior economist at the Blueprint Institute, which includes former Liberal MPs Christopher Pyne and Robert Hill. Hamilton says technology wont get us there. Its necessary but not sufficient. What we need is incentives. Its inconceivable we can get to net-zero without a market mechanism to drive investment in lowering emissions, he says. Connor says other countries were straightening their 2030 targets and the EU and New Zealand are pursuing reforms of markets that price carbon emissions while China launched its emissions trading scheme this week. Loading They are coherent policy frameworks that send signals to industry and provide clear guidelines for investment, he says. An international race is on to be the first nation to develop a hydrogen export supply chain. The fuel source is viewed as a potential boom commodity if its adopted as a zero-emissions replacement for petroleum products. Former Chief Scientist Alan Finkel and eminent economist Ross Garnaut say Australia, with its abundant land and sunshine, can become a hydrogen superpower, and the Morrison government has committed $500 million to support the hydrogen industry. But Australias investment to date pales in comparison to other nations. Saudi Arabia, the worlds biggest oil exporter, is investing $6.5 billion to drive down production costs and make exports economically viable. Other heavy fuel users in Japan, France, Spain and Germany are each planning to invest more than $10 billion in production and to switch from fossil fuel energy generation to hydrogen. Loading Australias business community is voting with its wallet for more ambitious climate action. An investment splurge on Australias carbon credits markets revealed this week investors have started betting Morrison will wind up with firm climate targets one way or another. Australian export behemoths including Rio Tinto and BHP, as well as the Business Council of Australia, employer groups, major agriculture lobbies and multinational food companies are pursuing carbon neutrality deadlines - in part to avoid being stung with trade tariffs or charges by countries that have set net-zero targets. Climate change is a key concern for Pacific Island leaders, and showing willing to act on climate action could boost our standing in the region - now viewed as crucial due to Chinas efforts to grow its influence. But a coal-borne wind blowing out of the Nationals party room and against the climate current, is creating choppy waters for the Coalition. Outspoken backbenchers Barnaby Joyce and Matt Canavan raised concerns over the Prime Ministers net-zero pitch this week, warning regional communities and blue-collar workers will suffer. Its an open question whether Morrison thinks the fight on the domestic front is worth it - and hell be keenly aware his performance in the Pacific is unlikely to influence voters in whats expected to be an election year. However, former adviser to Julie Bishop when she was foreign affairs minister, Philip Citowicki, disagrees with this calculation. Increasing international pressure driven by the US means the net-cost to Australian foreign policy is begging to outweigh the domestic political gain, says Citowicki, also a former political aide to Australias High Commissioner to the UK George Brandis. Its a ticking time bomb for the government to act in this space. Theres an election sooner rather than later, and it makes increasing sense to realign with international momentum. Loading Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama warned in December that inaction on climate change would lead Fijians and our Pacific Island sisters and brothers to be some sacrificial canary for coal-burning countries and high-emitting companies. When it comes to climate change, Im fond of saying every nation is in the same canoe. Currently, that collective canoe is taking on water and there are too few of us trying to patch the holes, he said. Citowicki says growing geostrategic competition in the Pacific is the focus of Australian foreign policy priorities, and working enthusiastically with the Biden administration would help overcome negative perceptions of the Morrison governments closeness to the former Trump Whitehouse. China labelled Australia a condescending master in the Pacific in 2019 and has since committed to net-zero emissions while rapidly expanding infrastructure and delivering loans throughout the region. He doesnt expect the US to force Australias arm, but to diplomatically state climate deadlines and co-operation in the Pacific is something that is much preferred for the Coalition to pivot to. My personal fixation is John Kerry as the (US) Climate Envoy who has a heavy focus on national security elements of climate change, and it brings a whole new lens for (the Morrison government) to enact legislation to assure Australians we have a climate-resilient strategy, Citowicki says. Washington-based national security expert Richard Weitz says the disruptive threats from climate change will be front and centre in diplomatic relations with the US. Just like when foreign leaders came to Washington during the Obama administration they would come prepared to talk about nuclear disarmament, now they will come ready to talk about making progress on climate change, says Weitz, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute Center for Future Security Strategies. Weitzs research details how climate-related disasters like droughts and floods could spark conflicts over resources, declining agricultural yields and rising sea levels could cause mass migrations of people across international borders. Loading It would be seen as a sign of a healthy US-Australia partnership, and conversely if Australia was seen as not supporting these initiatives, that could be seen as a source of tension, he says. Its worth noting that the Morrison government had no problem setting a tight deadline on another form of pollution, announcing last a year a 2024 phase-out of dangerous waste exports. But a bold move on carbon emissions is still off-limits. The health sector's evolution calls for active involvement and participation of all stakeholders and use of innovation to bridge intent and execution, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Sunday as he noted that healthcare delivery in India is poised to undergo a change at all stages. He also hoped that the world has learnt the right lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. "Healthcare delivery in India is poised to undergo a change at all stages prevention, diagnosis and treatment. No single entity in the healthcare sector can deliver results and achieve outcomes," Kovind said. Healthcare delivery in India is poised to undergo a change at all stages prevention, diagnosis and treatment. No single entity in the healthcare sector can deliver results and achieve outcomes. President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) February 7, 2021 Addressing the 23rd annual convocation of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, he said the evolution of the sector calls for active involvement and participation of all stakeholders and use of innovation to bridge intent and execution. "Though COVID-19 seems to be one-of-a-kind health-crisis that happens rarely, a section of scientists has warned us to be prepared for similar challenges ahead. The world has, let us hope, learnt the right lessons," he said, adding that the pandemic has taught the world that one cannot be safe if others are at risk and it is a lesson in universal brotherhood. The pandemic has taught the world that one cannot be safe if others are at risk. It is a lesson in universal brotherhood. President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) February 7, 2021 Noting that COVID-19 has inflicted agony and misery of unprecedented levels around the globe, the President said the nation is proud of its doctors and paramedics who rose to the challenge, even if it meant a great risk to their own lives. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries to entertain. Sorry! This content is not available in your region How about a statue of Whipped Pete? Like characters in a Eugene ONeill play, Louisiana continually pushes down its past sores, hoping theyll go away, only to see the unreckoned memories periodically burst out, causing despair. Signs are clear for another such outbreak over Louisianas Confederate and segregationist past. Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broomes Commission on Racial Equity and Inclusion report downplayed how to handle Confederate-named streets. She wants to focus on removing systemic economic barriers that would help minority firms expand their businesses, create jobs, and on education, rather than get tied down in a round-robin rumble over names on streets that are symbolic reminders of the citys racist legacy. Eugene Collins, president of the local chapter of the NAACP, praised the 60-page report, then criticized the section on infrastructure, saying, that portion on street names just took a softball approach to achieving racial equity. Critics say Baton Rouge panel took 'softball approach' toward Confederate street names New criticisms are emerging over the effort to consider changing Baton Rouge street names honoring Confederate generals, with the head of the Much of the focus is on a residential avenue in the Shenandoah neighborhood named for Nathan Bedford Forrest. He was a Memphis slave trader who became one of the Confederacys most successful generals. He also commanded troops who murdered more than 300 Black soldiers who had surrendered at Fort Pillow in Tennessee. After the Civil War, Forrest joined the Ku Klux Klan and became its leader as later did his grandson. Unlike Baton Rouge, which has a convoluted political process for changing street names that is full of cul-de-sacs, only nine members of the Board of Supervisors are needed to change the names of buildings and roads and remove statues on LSU campuses. Later this month, a committee charged with researching who the university has memorialized will be turning over its report to the Building Name Evaluation Committee. That panel will recommend a sheaf of changes to the supervisors, whose decision surely will be met with a storm of protest. LSU considers renaming buildings that evoke 'racist and segregated past;' committee announced LSU has created a committee to evaluate the names of buildings on campus and decide if any need to be changed because they are a reminder of Which brings us back to a statue memorializing Whipped Pete from the Civil War. Whipped Pete is the name of a widely distributed photograph. His real name was Gordon and the image of welts on his back is credited with persuading the North to make ending the Souths peculiar institution a war goal. Were talking about the history, and thats part of the history. Gordon is more closely connected to Baton Rouge and Louisiana history than Nathan Bedford Forrest, said Albert Samuels of Southern University. He backs the idea of a statue, particularly in Louisiana where reminders of the old Confederacy are easy to find but almost nothing acknowledges slavery. We havent just shied away from the topic of slavery; weve lied about it. Weve said it wasnt that bad," said Samuels, who teaches political history. The most popular publication at the time, Harpers Weekly, in its July 4, 1863, edition ran an account of what happened. Gordon ran away in March 1863 from the Lyons plantation on the Atchafalaya River, a little north of what is now Krotz Springs. Rubbing onions on his body to throw off his pursuers dogs, Gordon walked barefoot through swamps now traversed in about half hour on elevated U.S. 190 before running into Union troops who ferried him to Baton Rouge. It took about 10 days. While getting a medical examination, Yankee doctors were shocked by the sight of his back, though one wrote that he had seen dozens that just like it. The famous photograph was taken in the doctors tent about where Florida Street now crosses Interstate 110 at the edge of downtown Baton Rouge. Baton Rouge Commission on Racial Equity report Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Broomes Commission on Racial Equity and Inclusion 60-page report It was the first viral image of the brutality of slavery that the world saw, Antoine Fuqua told the Hollywood trades in June 2020. He is directing a movie starring Will Smith about Gordon, which begins production later this year. You cant fix the past, but you can remind people of the past and I think we have to, in an accurate, real way. We have to face our truth before we can move forward, Fuqua added. As president, Donald Trump repeatedly criticized the movement to remove Confederate monuments and flags. At a June 2020 rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trump said: "This cruel campaign of censorship and exclusion violates everything we hold dear as Americans. He spoke a few days after the 99th anniversary of the June 1, 1921, racial rampage, during which a White mob stormed through the Greenwood District of Tulsa, burning businesses, killing hundreds of Black residents, injuring hundreds more. Sadly, much of America learned about the Tulsa race massacre from the Netflix mini-series The Watchman, rather than in school. But did you know about the Thibodaux massacre of November 1887? Black farm workers went on strike seeking a pay increase to $1.25 daily, payable in cash rather than script that could only be used in the company store. Planters sent White paramilitaries to terrorize Blacks, killing several hundred, including children. Hundreds more were injured or left homeless. That's also not mentioned in school books. In defending Confederate monuments, political editor and commentator John Daniel Davidson wrote in The Federalist, a conservative publication: A more mature society would recognize that the past is always with you and must always be kept in mind. Theres a reason Christians in Rome didnt topple all the pagan statues and buildings in the city or raze the Colosseum. The Union budget, presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1 February, received generally good marks from commentatorswith the exception of a new round of tariff increases, which has been widely criticized. As a trade economist steeped in the doctrine of gains from trade, I must confess that my first instinct too was to criticize the changes. Indeed, your columnist has been sharply critical of the governments latter-day return to tariff protection in more than one recent column. At this juncture, however, it is evident that what is afoot is not an unthinking return to higher tariffs for revenue generation, nor an old-fashioned effort at deterring imports to protect domestic industry, but one pillar of an evolving new economic policy paradigm. Another pillar is the progressive opening up of Indias hitherto sheltered capital markets, and the attempt to entice a large quantum of foreign direct investment (FDI) as well as portfolio investment flows into sectors where the Indian economy possesses a comparative advantage, such as information technology (IT). This policy mixof more restrictive import tariffs and the loosening of controls on capital flowshas not gone unnoticed. Writing in the Financial Times on 31 January, Urjit Patel, former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, characterized it as an incongruous" economic policy. This would go with conventional wisdom in the theory of economic policy, which counsels the lowering of trade barriers while at the same time maintaining prudential controls on potentially-destabilizing capital flows. Indeed, economists as different in their ideologies as Jagdish Bhagwati and Joseph Stiglitz have been critical of the Washington consensus" view favouring unfettered capital mobility. It is easy to assume cynically that recent tariff increases are misguided and ill-informed. Perhaps. However, it behooves us to heed finance minister Sitharamans words, and for once make the working assumption that a politician can mean what she says, rather than imputing ulterior motives. She has said: Our customs duty policy should have the twin objectives of promoting domestic manufacturing and helping get India onto global value chains and export better. The thrust now has to be easy access to raw materials and exports of value-added products." The evident conclusion is not that India has lapsed unwittingly into protectionism, but rather that what India is attempting is nothing less than an East Asian model, which marries trade barriers and industrial policy with a policy that encourages inward investment in domestic industry, both for indigenous consumption as well as for export. The twist in the Indian case would be that these favoured industries are not necessarily labour-intensive manufacturing sectors, as in the East Asian case, but IT and other services and manufacturing industries with high value-addition, where India may be globally competitive. It is worth reminding ourselves that this model has been used with some success, not only in East Asia, and Japan before that, but in the newly industrializing countries of North Americathe United States and Canadaat the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, tariff barriers were used to induce a foreign investment inflow from other countriesthis is what became known as the tariff jumping" motive for foreign investment. Relatedly, foreign investment could enter in advance of anticipated tariffswhat is known as tariff defusing" foreign investment. It worked. It is no exaggeration to say, for example, that Canadas entire manufacturing base, which comprises in large measure the subsidiaries ofor joint ventures withcompanies based in the United States, came into being as a result of the countrys tariff policy. Economic theory provides some rationale for such a policy. Indeed, this is to be found in my own early scientific work. A paper of mine written jointly with German economist Alfons Weichenrieder, Tariff Jumping Foreign Investment and Capital Taxation (Journal of International Economics, 2001), provides an explicit rationale for modest tariffs in a situation in which the inward flow of investment is subject to capital taxation. In contrast to the received wisdom that tariffs are welfare-worsening, we show that in a standard model, they would be welfare-improving under a highly realistic assumption that capital is subject to taxation. Our model thus provides a theoretical underpinning for the policy of inducing inward investment flows through tariffs, so long as such inflows are subject to taxation. The important caveat is that what is true in theory does not always work as expected in practice. Sound public policy formation requires a judgement on whether the implications of any particular theory are empirically relevant and whether the quantum of gain would outweigh the distortion costs to the economy of policy errors or misjudgements. In this respect, it is crucial that tariff increases should fall on finished products (or final services), not on intermediary inputs for final manufactures. Thus, it is far better to levy a tariff on finished television sets or mobile phones, than on their components. The latter would only have the perverse effect of increasing the cost of domestic manufacturing, and would be detrimental to domestic producers as well as act as a disincentive for inward foreign investment. Equally, it is imperative that the government work harder to ensure an improved environment for doing business, a necessary precondition for enticing high-quality and durable FDI. Tariff increases thus far have been modest and specifically targeted. If they remain so, and if they succeed in energizing the Indian economy through inward flows of investment and technology, the naysayers may yet be proved wrong. Vivek Dehejia is a Mint columnist Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. New Delhi, Feb 7 : For robust and quick intelligence inputs on "real-time" basis relating to terrorism and insurgency, the Central government has been extending its dedicated and secure electronic network "TMS and NMB" at 451 new locations across the country. This is part of the Indian government's 'Phase III' intelligence gathering operation that began in 2020 and is expected to achieve its goal by the end of this year or mid-2022 when the country will be celebrating its 75th anniversary of Independence. The network is being extended to 475 districts selected in consultation with the state police chiefs. Out of 475 identified locations, 451 locations have been found feasible for providing connectivity, out of which 174 districts have already been connected. Currently, a total of 374 locations across the country are on the intelligence network. When completed, the network will cover 825 locations around the country, a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs report, accessed by IANS, mentions the details. The report, presented in the Rajya Sabha on February 2 and tabled in the Lok Sabha on the same day, mentions that the network hosts two platforms -- an intelligence sharing tool called 'Threat Management System' (TMS) and a database tool called 'National Memory Bank' (NMB). TMC was developed in-house by the technical staff from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), while the NMB software was developed by C-DAC, Pune on specifications provided by the IB. The NMB software is deployed on all Multi Agency Centre (MAC) and state police servers. MAC was created in December 2001 in the aftermath of the Kargil conflict as a platform to share, collate and analyse all intelligence relating to terrorism, and was strengthened in December 2008 following 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. The forum, along with its Subsidiary MAC (SMAC) units in all states, has emerged as the nationally recognised coordinating agency for intelligence on terrorism and insurgency. As per the report, a large amount of data has already been uploaded onto the database by IB and some other agencies including some of the states. The report is prepared by the Standing Committee on Home Affairs based on information shared by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The Committee including its Chairman Anand Sharma, a senior Congress MP, consists of 31 parliamentarians -- 10 from the Rajya Sabha and 21 in the Lok Sabha. Besides, the MHA informed the Committee that it has established a comprehensive system of communication and connectivity to share or disseminate terrorism related information or data. For this purpose, the Ministry said the national capital was connected with 25 Central member agencies and all state capitals. In the state capitals, the network links the SMAC (housed in the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau or SIB), state police's Special Branch, and offices of all central and other counter-terror agencies. The MHA shared the inputs with the Committee after it recommended that due to lack of coordination and distrust among multiple agencies like IB, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), Army, State Agencies and others timely action against terrorism could not be taken. The Standing Committee had suggested the MHA to act as a focal point to coordinate amongst those intelligence agencies; device mechanism for collating intelligence inputs and sharing it on real-time basis through MAC to avoid any delay in taking necessary action on the ground level. (Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in) Traders taking the lead from social media site Reddit's r/WallStreetBets channel have contributed to an increase in the sale of silver bullion and coins in Ireland. Traders taking the lead from social media site Reddit's r/WallStreetBets channel have contributed to an increase in the sale of silver bullion and coins in Ireland. Seamus Fahy, co-founder of Merrion Gold, which sells gold and silver bullion, told the Sunday Independent that the company experienced a "huge impact" following posts on Reddit. "Our silver volumes since [Monday] morning, compared to the last few weeks, are up about 600pc," he said. Fahy, who also co-founded Merrion Vaults, added the profile of buyer was different from their usual clientele. "We have regular customers at Merrion Gold, but what we noticed is, and I even came in to give the guys a hand because the phones were ringing so much, was that an awful lot of them would've been first-time buyers," he said. "They were obviously following the news late last week and over the weekend and wanted a piece of the action." Earlier this week, Bullionbypost.ie had run out of much of its silver bullions and coins. At the time of writing, it has replenished some of its silver bullion and coin stock, though "awaiting stock" notifications are displayed for the majority of its silver products. Bullionbypost did not respond to a request for comment. Last week, silver prices hit an eight-year high after calls on social media sites to buy the metal sparked a trading frenzy similar to that of GameStop. According to the BBC, silver rose by around 11pc on Monday to $30 an ounce, while shares in some mining firms were up around 60pc. At the time of writing, the silver price has retreated to around $26.60 an ounce. Small-time traders swapping tips on Reddit are thought to be behind the trend. However, some site users dispute this, alleging the "Silver Squeeze" is being coordinated by big Wall Street firms. Call it a clash, an altercation, a fracas or even a contretemps, if you want to get fancy. However you label the confrontation between Tanya Plibersek and Craig Kelly in the hallway of the Parliament House on Wednesday, it was significant for both the Coalition and Labor, for very different reasons. The argument between the Labor frontbencher and Kelly, frequently called a maverick MP, was over Kellys pushing of incorrect claims about COVID-19 and treatments for it. Kellys idiosyncratic views, which he shares chiefly on his well-subscribed Facebook page, are counter to official government guidelines and contradict scientific consensus. Craig Kelly and Tanya Plibersek argue in the hallway of Parliament House on Wednesday. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Until now, the government has only had a generic problem with Kelly. Every now and then, he pops his head up to freelance on subjects on which he is not qualified to offer expertise the Azerbaijan election, wind farms, his assertion that coral islands float. But now the government has a very specific problem with Kelly. He is undermining its public health message over the pandemic, which has been successful because it has been orderly, centrist and unified. Kelly is also a dangerous reminder to voters that the Coalition has often been at the mercy of its conservative right wing, which commands so much of the attention economy that its influence is outsized and unrepresentative. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Tajik authorities have increased pressure on opponents of the government, both at home and abroad, in recent weeks. Several activists, government critics, and suspected supporters of banned opposition groups have been jailed. By the government's own admission, 10 people were arrested in January alone for allegedly "collaborating" with Tajik opposition groups based abroad. Prosecutor-General Yusuf Rahmon said those detained had provided "deceitful" information to "agitators abroad" -- information that he said was critical of the government and aimed at destabilizing the country. The term "agitators" is often used by Tajik officials to describe members of two banned opposition movements -- Group 24 and the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT). Hundreds of opposition members and their supporters have sought asylum abroad since Dushanbe declared the two groups terrorist organizations in 2014 and 2015. "We will continue to expose and bring to justice those who cooperate with the traitors and work against the national interests of Tajikistan," the prosecutor said on February 2. He didn't provide any further information about those detained. Isloh, an independent news and analysis website, claims that the number of arrests in the crackdown is much higher. It reported that "dozens" of opposition supporters had been detained in recent weeks, including at least 25 people taken into custody in the capital, Dushanbe, alone. The IRPT has condemned the arrests as an intimidation campaign intended to "create a climate of fear" in the country. "Despite the IRPT's repeated statements that the party currently is not active inside Tajikistan, the government is using IRPT supporters and members there as hostages," party spokesman Bobojon Qayumzod told RFE/RL. Qayumzod denied that self-exiled members of the opposition had been receiving political information from supporters in Tajikistan. "The foreign-based opposition's contacts with those inside Tajikistan is strictly limited to private communications with family, relatives, and friends," he said. "The party doesn't have any organized and politically motivated interactions" with anyone inside Tajikistan. Political Graffiti A report last year by the U.S.-based human rights watchdog Freedom House declared that Tajikistan was among the world's 10 most repressive countries. It said the Tajik government severely restricted people's rights and civil liberties, and showed little tolerance for dissent. Isloh said 25 Dushanbe residents were detained in January in connection with political graffiti that had been sprayed by unidentified people on the walls of a public school in Dushanbe. The graffiti reportedly called for the resignation of President Emomali Rahmon, the authoritarian ruler in power since 1992. Another set of graffiti appeared on concrete pavement and walls in the northern city of Khujand, Isloh reported. The website posted images of graffiti that read: "Rahmon resign," "Rahmon must end brutality," and "Revolution is near." RFE/RL could not independently verify the authenticity of the video, which Isloh said it was sent from Khujand. Tajik officials have not commented about the graffiti and the reported arrests that followed. Unrelenting Pressure The government sparked condemnation after a court in Dushanbe issued a 14-year prison sentence to opposition politician Mahmurod Odinaev, who was convicted on dubious charges of extremism and hooliganism on January 28. His two sons were also taken into custody on charges of hooliganism. Other relatives say the case was fabricated to punish Odinaev, a deputy head of the Social Democratic Party, for his political activities. Odinaev's sentencing came a month after 80-year-old former IRPT member Doniyor Nabiev was given a seven-year prison term in a trial held behind closed doors. Nabiev's supporters say he came under scrutiny for using his retirement fund to give food and modest financial support of no more than $30 to families of jailed IRPT members. The Interior Ministry, however, said in January that Nabiev had purchased and disseminated extremist material with funds he received from unnamed foreign countries. Dozens of IRTP officials, lawyers, and supporters are currently serving prison sentences on charges of extremism and terrorism as part of a government crackdown that began in 2015. Precondition For Amnesty Meanwhile, several European-based Tajik opposition activists say they have been contacted by government officials who have promised them an amnesty if they denounce the opposition and return to Tajikistan. Ramazon Huseiniyon, a 30-year-old, self-exiled activist from the northern town of Isfara, has been charged in Tajikistan with inciting hatred and being involved in extremist activities. He is currently in Europe. Huseiniyon says he was told by Tajik officials that the charges would be dropped if he signed a letter renouncing his political activism. The letter -- written on his behalf by the Tajik authorities -- expresses "regret" for "going astray," he told RFE/RL. It also pledges his support for President Rahmon's policies. Contacted by RFE/RL, regional authorities in Isfara confirmed they had had several phone conversations with Huseiniyon. The officials called it a routine practice to help "disillusioned young Tajiks abroad" return to their homeland if they agree to express regret for their actions. Huseiniyon said he didn't trust the authorities and had no plans to return to Tajikistan. For full access, please log in, register your subscription or subscribe. Try for 99 a month for two months, cancel or pause anytime. 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. More than 10 children have died from a suspected Cholera break out at an IDP in the outskirts of Marka district in Lower Shabelle region. Fatuma Ismail who lives at the IDP camp told Dalsan TV they lack basic needs such as food, shelter and toilet. "We are displaced from the villages near the Bufow Ba'ad. We need help," Fatuma an IDP told Dalsan TV. "We are displaced and requesting humanitarian agencies to help us with water, food and build us toilets," Fatuma added. 2 killed, 5 injured in 2 separate attacks in Somalia Farmaajo Blames Foreign Interference In Collapsed Poll Talks Farmaajo, Madobe Point Fingers At Each Other As Dhusamareb Polls Summit Collapses The IDPs blame the deaths to poor sanitation in the camp. They demanded the Southwest state to improve the condition of the camp which is home to hundreds displaced from over 40 villages. They have also called upon the government, humanitarian agencies and the Somali people to take urgent measures in responding to the issue. Seoul, Feb 7 : North Korea is scheduled to hold a plenary meeting of its ruling Workers' Party this week to finalise plans for "strategic tasks" for this year, a state media report said on Sunday. The second plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea will be held "within the first 10 days of February to examine and decide the 2021 working plans of all fields to thoroughly carry out the strategic tasks" set forth during the eighth party congress, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in the report. Last month, the country held the party congress and put forth a wide range of policy goals, such as a new five-year economic development plan for self-reliance, and the development of a new weapons system and its nuclear arsenal, Yonhap News Agency reported. A plenary session of the party usually takes place at least once a year to decide its key policy line, organisation reshuffles and other major issues. The first plenary meeting of the party committee was held last month during the party congress. 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. Medical Device Connectivity Market Insights Market Research Future in its report states that the global medical device connectivity market is estimated to reach the highest valuation at a CAGR of 16.1% during the forecast period. Growing penetration of health information exchange systems and EHRs (Electronic Health Records) in healthcare companies are some of the critical factors attributed to market growth. Rising saturation rates attained by EHRs is anticipated to stimulate the progress of the medical device connectivity market. The development of centralized platform to create uniformities by restructuring physician workflows is projected to create opportunities in the global medical device connectivity market. Growing number of patient population and adoption of preventive medication is anticipated to boost the demand for medical device connectivity solutions and services. Moreover, rising occurrences of cybercrimes, high deployment cost for small healthcare organizations are predicted to hamper the global market growth during the evaluation period. Avail Free Sample Copy at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/6041 Medical Device Connectivity Market Segmentation The global medical device connectivity market is bifurcated based on products and services, technology, and end-user. On the basis of products and services, the global market is divided into medical device connectivity services and medical device connectivity solutions. Medical device connectivity solutions are further classified into telemetry systems, medical device integration solutions, interface devices, and connectivity hubs, whereas medical device connectivity services are further segmented into maintenance and support services, training services implementation, and integration services. The technology segment is diversified into wireless technologies, wired technologies, and hybrid technologies. By the end-user, the market is segregated into diagnostic centers, hospitals, ambulatory care centers, home healthcare, and others. Medical Device Connectivity Market Regional Outlook Being the first preference for the medical device connectivity solutions deployment, the US leads the North American market. The medical device integration solutions segment is projected to lead the regional market. Standing at second, Europe holds a noteworthy market share in the global medical device connectivity market. Increased use of medical device connectivity and services that helps to increase the efficacy healthcare systems and workforce. The growing demand for wearable patient monitoring systems is also one of the factors responsible for market growth. The Asia Pacific region is likely to develop at a swift pace during forecast period due to presence of high number of emerging nations such as Malaysia and India, among others that are aggressively adopting the medical device connectivity solutions and services for superior healthcare and spreading awareness about the medical advancements. The market growth is accredited to the growing application of remote monitoring and medical device connectivity services and solutions. The Middle East and Africa regions are the least contributors to the medical device connectivity market. This slow-performing growth trend is attributed to limited availability of medical facilities and low expenditure on funds. The political instability in the region is also a factor lowering growth of the global medical device connectivity market. The Middle East region has a major contribution to the global medical device connectivity market due to increased healthcare expenditure and development of ultramodern technologies. The African region is anticipated to witness fastest growth owing to emerging opportunities for market growth. Medical Device Connectivity Market Major Players The global players supporting the development in the medical devices market include Cerner, Stryker Corporation, Medtronic, True Process, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Bernoulli Enterprise, Lantronix, eDevice, GE Healthcare, Infosys, Nuvon, Inc, Ihealth Lab, Nanthealth, Qualcomm, and Cisco Systems. Entrance of new medtech players, high number of acquisition and mergers with an objective to sustain in the market is predicted to bestow growth of the global medical device connectivity market. Medical Device Connectivity Market Recent Updates A global safety science organization, The Department of Veterans Affairs and UL, accomplished a two-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement for medical device cybersecurity. NIST and various other agencies worked together to unveil the important matters, which led to additional activities around creating a set of standards and requirements to cover several important standards with common security essentials. Browse Complete Report with TOC at https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/medical-device-connectivity-market-6041 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. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Jennifer Lawrence was left injured after being hit in the eye with a shard of glass when a stunt went wrong on the set of her latest film. The Oscar-winning star, who is earning a reported 10 million to star opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the sci-fi drama Dont Look Up, was said to be shaken but OK after the incident in Boston. The accident happened as the 30-year-old was filming a riot scene where a rubbish bin was thrown through a window next to where she was sitting. Jennifer Lawrence was left injured after being hit in the eye with a shard of glass when a stunt went wrong on the set of her latest film A source said: It was a routine stunt and everything seemed fine until the window shattered and she screamed and fell to the floor. The glass hit her above the eye but there were concerns tiny fragments might have gone in the eye so she was taken to hospital. There doesnt appear to be any long-term damage. The movie, already delayed by Covid, has now been put on hold while the actress recovers. RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' call for elections has thrown his political future into peril, forcing him to negotiate competing demands to engage with a friendlier U.S. administration, mend the rift with his militant Hamas rivals and keep his unruly Fatah movement from breaking apart. The presidential decree issued last month, calling for what would be the first Palestinian elections in 15 years, stemmed from negotiations launched with Hamas last year aimed at shoring up ranks in the face of unprecedented crises. The Trump administration had cut off all aid and proposed a Mideast plan that overwhelmingly favored Israel and would have allowed it to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. A U.S.-brokered normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates last summer put annexation on hold but left the Palestinians increasingly isolated in the region. So Abbas embarked on talks with Hamas, the Islamic militant group that seized Gaza from his forces in 2007. Those discussions culminated in the presidential decree calling for legislative elections on May 22 and presidential elections on July 31. It's far from clear the elections will actually be held. Doing so will require an agreement between Abbas's secular Fatah movement and Hamas, which have been bitterly divided for more than a decade despite multiple attempts at reconciliation. The two sides plan to meet in Cairo this week. The outcome of the talks will largely depend on the 85-year-old Abbas. He has spent decades nonviolently seeking a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territories seized by Israel in the 1967 war. Instead, he has come to rule an increasingly autocratic and unpopular Palestinian Authority confined to parts of the occupied West Bank. Reconciling with Hamas and holding elections could shore up his legitimacy and meet longstanding Western demands for accountability. But even a limited victory by Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by Israel and Western countries, could result in international isolation and the loss of vital aid as it did after Hamas won the last parliamentary elections in 2006. Story continues In a briefing with Palestinian journalists, EU representative Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff welcomed the call for elections but declined repeated requests to explain how the EU would respond to a Hamas victory. Do you put the cart before the horse?" he said. Why don't we start with the horse. President Joe Biden has restored aid the to the Palestinians and vowed to adopt a more even-handed approach, but the Mideast conflict is likely to take a distant backseat to more pressing crises like the coronavirus pandemic, and the U.S. is unlikely to engage with any Palestinian government that includes Hamas. Even a government of independents supported by Hamas could pose problems for Western donors. Elections could also precipitate the breakup of Abbas' Fatah party. He has not groomed a successor, and could face a leadership challenge from Marwan Barghouti, a popular Fatah leader who is serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison for his role in the 2000 intifada, or uprising. For Barghouti, running for president is his only way out of prison, or at least this is what he thinks," said Ali Jarbawi, a political science professor at Birzeit University in the West Bank. Abbas might also have to contend with Mohammed Dahlan, a Fatah rival who was convicted in absentia of corruption charges by a Palestinian court after being driven out by Abbas. Dahlan has a base of support in his native Gaza and powerful allies in the United Arab Emirates, where he lives in exile. So far all the talk is about having one (Fatah) list, but its not unlikely that there would be two lists or even three," said Jehad Harb, a Palestinian political analyst. "Or Barghouti may wait for the presidential election. Hamas would face its own challenges in elections, where voters might hold it accountable for the economic devastation in Gaza, which has endured three wars with Israel and a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade since the militant group seized power. One idea making the rounds is to assemble a joint list of Fatah and Hamas, but that would largely settle the outcome of the parliamentary election before any ballots are cast, raising questions about its legitimacy. Yara Hawari, senior analyst at Al-Shabaka, an international Palestinian think tank, says that either way, if the elections go ahead there will be an engineered outcome that allows Fatah and Hamas to maintain the status quo. Both Palestinian authorities have suppressed dissent through torture and arbitrary arrests in the areas under their control, and Israel routinely detains Palestinian activists and cracks down on protests and boycott movements. Its already been rigged," Hawari said. "If you have a society thats completely stifled politically, that is punished routinely for political opposition thats already rigged. The unresolved issues between Fatah and Hamas could also be used as pretexts for cancelling or postponing the elections. The two sides still need to agree on a court to settle election disputes and a mechanism for securing polling stations in Gaza, where Palestinian security forces have had no presence since Hamas seized power. The Palestinian Authority has also demanded that Israel allow Palestinians in annexed east Jerusalem to take part in the elections. Khalil Shikaki, the director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, said Abbas could cancel or postpone the elections and blame Israel or Hamas. However, if Israel does not give him that pretext and Hamas does not give him that pretext, then his hand will be forced and he will have to go to elections, he said. Abbas, whose presidential term expired in 2009, already faces a legitimacy crisis, and Western donors may rethink their support if elections are scrapped. Abbas could also face a backlash from the Palestinian public. The process has dynamics of its own, and although Abbas controls it, I think his calculation will have to adjust to what options he will be left with, if he unilaterally decides to cancel elections, Shikaki said. "There will be significant disagreement within Fatah about this. Illegal immigrants will be granted an 'amnesty' to come forward for Covid jabs, the Daily Mail can reveal today. The unprecedented move is aimed at helping Britain to reach herd immunity and accelerate the easing of lockdown. 'The moral in this is that everyone needs to get the jab, for everyone's safety,' a Whitehall source said. Officials insist that illegal migrants will not be able to jump the queue for vaccines or use the scheme as a way to acquire other rights. It will mean only that the Home Office takes no action if they register with a GP to be inoculated. No official count exists for the number of foreigners with 'irregular status' but some estimates put the figure as high as 1.3million. The unprecedented move is aimed at helping Britain to reach herd immunity and accelerate the easing of lockdown. (Stock image) 'Coronavirus vaccines will be offered to everyone living in the UK free of charge, regardless of immigration status,' a Government spokesman said last night. 'Those registered with a GP are being contacted at the earliest opportunity and we are working closely with partners and external organisations to contact those who are not registered with a GP to ensure they are also offered the vaccine.' All categories of illegal migrants will be guaranteed they will suffer no repercussions if they come forward, including those who entered Britain clandestinely, such as on boats crossing the Channel or in the back of lorries. MP for Dover Natalie Elphicke who said the move is 'in all our interests' Other categories of irregular migrants will also be covered for example overstayers who arrived legitimately as visitors or on short-term visas but failed to leave. Publicity campaigns will be mounted to encourage so-called 'hard to reach groups', including non-English speakers, to have the jab. NHS trusts have been told there are to be 'no immigration status checks' on patients who come forward for vaccination. The same applies to anyone having a Covid test or treatment for the disease, the Mail has learnt. Natalie Elphicke, Conservative MP for Dover, said: 'Once people are in our country, it's in all our interests to contain the virus. So vaccinating everyone whose turn it is on public health grounds, in the end, will protect us all.' The Department of Health and Social Care will share only 'limited' data with the Home Office on anyone who comes forward, it is understood. It means the identities of irregular migrants will not be passed on to police or immigration officers who are responsible for removing those here illegally. The migrants will have to wait for their place in the jab schedule set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, according to age and health risks. Alp Mehmet of MigrationWatch UK, which campaigns for tougher border controls, said: 'We can see the common sense behind this at a time of national emergency when as many people as possible must be vaccinated. But it is a matter of regret that successive governments have been reluctant to come up with solid research on how many people there are in this country with irregular status. Asylum seekers held inside Napier Barracks head to a meeting with Home Office representatives, January 12, 2021, Folkestone, Kent 'It would be short-sighted and a wasted opportunity if the Government does not now keep thorough records of how many illegal immigrants come forward. That would be absolutely batty.' A study by the Pew Research Centre found there were between 800,000 and 1.2million 'unauthorised immigrants' in this country in 2017. Last year, Oxford University's Migration Observatory looked at studies conducted since 2001 and concluded the figure could be between 120,000 and 1.3million. GP practices are not required to ask for proof of identity or immigration status when a patient registers. Some may ask for identification, however. For more complex NHS treatment, such as hospital care, Whitehall guidance says it is 'residence-based' which means patients should be asked to prove they are living in the UK lawfully. However, it is thought many illegal migrants are reluctant to register with a GP for fear they will be reported to immigration officers. POTTSVILLE A Tamaqua man will not have to spend more time behind bars after recently admitting to a Schuylkill County judge that he committed two crimes in March 2020 in his hometown. Quintin Sabol, 24, pleaded guilty to unlawful restraint and theft. Prosecutors withdrew charges of robbery, false imprisonment and receiving stolen property. Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin accepted the plea, sentenced Sabol to serve three to 23 months in prison and granted him immediate parole. Dolbin also sentenced Sabol to pay costs, $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account and $350 restitution, undergo a mental health evaluation and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities. Tamaqua police charged Sabol with committing his crimes on March 22, 2020. Also in recent action in the county court, Michael V. McCall, 40, of Berwick, pleaded no contest to retail theft and receiving stolen property. Dolbin accepted McCalls plea, ordered preparation of a presentence investigation and scheduled his sentencing for 2 p.m. March 1. Rush Township police charged McCall with committing the theft on May 13, 2020, in the township. By pleading no contest, McCall did not admit committing the crimes, but offered no defense to the charges, acknowledged prosecutors had sufficient evidence to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and agreed to be sentenced as if he had pleaded or been found guilty. Also recently in the county court, Senior Judge D. Michael Stine found Anthony M. Webb, 36, of Tower City, guilty of indirect criminal contempt, which is contempt committed outside the courtroom. Stine sentenced Webb to pay costs and a $300 fine. State police at Schuylkill Haven charged Webb with violating a protection from abuse order on Dec. 18, 2020. In another recent county court case, Judge James P. Goodman found the Onoolloo Corp., Manhasset, New York, guilty of violating the Borough of Shenandoahs property maintenance ordinance. Goodman sentenced the corporation to pay costs and a $1,000 fine. Borough Code Enforcement Officer Joseph Shoup had charged the corporation with violating the ordinance on May 4, 2020. Magisterial District Judge Anthony J. Kilker, Shenandoah, had found the corporation guilty on Oct. 5, 2020, but it filed an appeal of that ruling on Nov. 5, 2020. Also recently in the county court, Goodman found Charles C. Morris, 63, of Pottsville, guilty of three separate violations of Norwegian Townships burning ordinance. Goodman sentenced Morris to pay costs and $3,000 in fines. Township Code Enforcement Officer Jon J. Bowman had charged Morris with unlawful burning on June 17, 2019, Oct. 9, 2019, and July 25, 2020. Magisterial District Judge David A. Plachko, Port Carbon, had found Morris guilty on Oct. 20, 2020, of all three charges, but the defendant appealed those rulings on Nov. 20, 2020. In another recent county court case, Goodman found Violet L. Kireta, 58, of Tower City, guilty of harassment. He sentenced her to pay costs and a $200 fine. State police at Schuylkill Haven had charged Kireta with committing the harassment on July 28, 2020, in Porter Township. Magisterial District Judge David J. Rossi, Tremont, found Kireta guilty on Nov. 18, 2020, but the defendant appealed that ruling on Nov. 30, 2020. The Israeli government on Friday announced the extension of the COVID-19 lockdown in the country until February 7. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet approved the restrictions to be extended until Sunday. The current lockdown measures were imposed in the country on December 27 following a surge in COVID-19 cases. Last month, the Israeli government extended the lockdown until February 5. Read: Israel, A Global Leader In COVID Vaccinations, Finds Limits 'Vaccines are working' Prime Minister Netanyahu urged the members of the public to "strictly" follow the measures put in place to prevent the spread of the virus. He also called on people to get vaccinated as quickly as possible in order to be able to gradually start reopening the economy, claiming "the vaccines work". Read: Palestinians Give First Vaccines After Israel Shares Supply "It is good that the Cabinet has accepted the recommendations of the Health Ministry and my recommendation, with only minor changes. The lockdown will continue until Sunday morning. I ask that the public take very strict care to follow the directives and to go and be vaccinated. The vaccines work. The more people who are vaccinated, with emphasis on the 50+ age group, the more we will be able to gradually, cautiously and responsibly open the economy," Netanyahu said in a statement. Read: Israel And Kosovo Establish Diplomatic Ties In A Virtual Ceremony The country will witness gradual ease in restrictions starting February 7, which includes cancellation of the restrictions on movement, reopening of nature reserves, national parks, heritage sites, etc. Places of work, which do not receive public will also be allowed to reopen. Lodging facilities have been allowed to reopen from Sunday onwards, but only for small families, that include a couple and their children. Israel is running one of the most effective COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in the world with over half the population already inoculated against the deadly disease. Israel has administered 5.3 million doses of vaccines to date, at an impressive rate of 61.7 people per 100 persons. Israel has recorded more than 6,76,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases so far, of which over 5,000 people have lost their lives. Read: Israel To Give Coronavirus Vaccines To Palestinians For Front-line Medical Workers (Image Credit: AP) Internet Access Restored as Burma Coup Protests Grow YANGON, BurmaAs enthusiastic crowds of tens of thousands marched through the streets of Burma (also known as Myanmar)s biggest city on Sunday to protest last weeks coup ousting Aung San Suu Kyis elected government, their spirits were lifted by the return of internet services that had been blocked a day earlier. Separate protests that began in various parts of Yangon converged at Sule Pagoda, situated in the center of a roundabout in the citys downtown area. Protesters chanted Long live Mother Suu and Down with military dictatorship. Protesters in other parts of the country echoed their calls. Authorities had cut access to the internet as the protests grew Saturday, fanning fears of a complete information blackout. On Sunday afternoon, however, internet users in Yangon reported that data access on their mobile phones had suddenly been restored. Police security fix road barricades blocking protesters in Yangon, Burma, on Feb. 7, 2021. (AP Photo) The demonstrators are seeking to roll back last Mondays seizure of power by the military and demanding the release from detention of Suu Kyi, the countrys ousted leader, and other top figures from her National League for Democracy party. The military has accused Suu Kyis government of failing to act on its complaints that last Novembers election was marred by fraud, though the election commission said it had found no evidence to support the claims. The growing protests are a sharp reminder of the long and bloody struggle for democracy in a country that the military ruled directly for more than five decades before loosening its grip in 2012. Suu Kyis government, which won a landslide election in 2015, was the first led by civilians in decades, though it faced a number of curbs to its power under a military-drafted constitution. During Burmas years of isolation under military rule, the golden-domed Sule Pagoda served as a rallying point for political protests calling for democracy, most notably in during a massive 1988 uprising and again during a 2007 revolt led by Buddhist monks. The military used deadly force to end both of those uprisings, with estimates of hundreds if not thousands killed in 1988. While riot police have been sent to watch the protests this past week, soldiers have been absent and there have been no reports of clashes. Several videos posted online Sunday that were said to be from the town of Myawaddy, on Burmas eastern border with Thailand, showed police shooting into the air in an evident effort to disperse a crowd. There were no signs of panic and no reports of injuries. Protesters gather outside the Hledan Center in Yangon, Burma, on Feb. 7, 2021. (AP Photo) Showing little fear, protest crowds have grown bigger and bolder in recent days, while remaining nonviolent in support of a call by Suu Kyis party and its allies for civil disobedience. In one of Sundays gatherings, at least 2,000 labor union and student activists and members of the public gathered at a major intersection near Yangon University. They marched along a main road, snarling traffic. Drivers honked their horns in support. Police in riot gear blocked the main entrance to the university. Two water cannon trucks were parked nearby. The mostly young protesters held placards calling for freedom for Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, who were put under house arrest and charged with minor offenses, seen by many as providing a legal veneer for their detention. We just want to show this current generation how the older generation fights this crisis, by heeding the guideline of Mother Suu, which is to be honest, transparent and peaceful, said 46-year-old protester Htain Linn Aung. We dont want a military dictator. Let the dictator fail. Reports on social media and by some Burma news services said demonstrations were taking place in other parts of the country as well, with a particularly large crowd in the central city of Mandalay, where there was also a motorbike procession in which hundreds took part, constantly beeping their horns. Saturday had seen the size of street protests grow from the hundreds to the thousands, but it also saw the authorities cut most access to the internet. Holes in the militarys firewall allowed some news to trickle out, but also fanned fears of a complete information blackout. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter were earlier ordered blocked, but had remained partially accessible. Social media platforms have been major sources of independent news as well as organizing tools for protests. Netblocks, a London-based service that tracks internet disruptions and shutdowns, confirmed that there had been a partial restoration of internet connectivity on Sunday, but noted that it might be temporary and social media remained blocked. The communication blockade was a stark reminder of the progress Burma is in danger of losing. During Burmas decades of military rule, the country was internationally isolated and communication with the outside world strictly controlled. The elected lawmakers of Suu Kyis party met in an online meeting Friday to declare themselves as the sole legitimate representatives of the people and asked for international recognition as the countrys government. Like countless academic institutions nationwide last year, Highland Elementary School had an especially busier summer schedule than usual. After the coronavirus pandemic led to Connecticut schools being closed for four months, Highland administrators, teachers, and families focused on strategies to bring students back to classes safely. Like all other local schools, we adopted a plan from the state of Connecticut and the town of Cheshire, reflected Principal Scott Jeffrey. We evaluated everything to make sure we could social distance, wear masks, and sanitize all surfaces. While the school has taken on a new look since opening last September, Jeffrey is pleased that Highland students have been able to attend in-person classes without interruption. The reopening process took the work of a lot of people, including our assistant principal (Erica Bordonaro) and school committees, stated Jeffrey. We had to do videos to explain the changes and meet with parents. On a weekly basis, Jeffrey estimates that there are 15 to 21 students learning in each classroom. Desks are spread out to follow guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Highland staff and students are required to wear masks except for when they have social-distancing activities like lunch. With our lunch protocols, we had to get three large tents outside for the kids, stated Jeffrey. We also have had to separate kids at recess. The students have to stay with their cohort. Jeffrey recalls hearing concerns last year over how children would handle wearing face coverings, but in a pleasant surprise, he has seen students transition well to the protocol. They have proved adults wrong in that way, said Jeffrey. We have to remind some kids about putting it (the mask) above their nose, but theyve adapted quickly to that. While Highland has been open since last fall, Jeffrey estimates that 15 to 20 percent of families have opted for their children to learn from home during the pandemic. Doing remote learning is a parents decision, but we want the kids to feel as comfortable as the students in class, explained Jeffrey. Collaboration used to be done in groups, but now it also happens over the computer. The kids are technology natives, so they have done well adjusting to the changes. Jeffrey is proud of how teachers have handled remote learning, but feels that students also benefit from being around each other in the school setting. For a lot of people, the emotional and health level has suffered during the pandemic, but I think going back to school was a booster shot for kids, stated Jeffrey. The students enjoy seeing their friends and teachers. If they have to quarantine, they miss those relationships. Positive interaction was one of the aspects that Highland staff spoke about during Kindness Week, which ran from Jan. 25-29 in Cheshire. While the pandemic is still ongoing, Jeffrey felt that his staff could safely continue with the traditional program that coincides annually with the Great Kindness Challenge. The event is done around the country. Each day, we have activities to promote kindness, such as writing thank you cards to people or doing random acts of good will, Jeffrey explained. When you demonstrate kindness, it provides social and emotional support for others. While proceeding with a popular event, Highland has had to adapt their schedule to meet health concerns. There are currently no field trips scheduled this year, while cultural arts events have been changed to remote activities. Highland couldnt hold their traditional Halloween Parade last year, but students were able to wear costumes to school and participate in a craft activity with their peers. Room parents worked with teachers to provide supplies for the project. In recognition of Valentines Day this month, students will be able to give cards, but there will be no food or candy exchange. For activities like the holiday projects, Jeffrey adds that all materials are required to be individually wrapped and then quarantined for 72 hours prior an event. Everything has to be looked at differently, explained Jeffrey. We have to evaluate how to hold events and maintain safety. Along with teaching, Highland staff and administrators also work on honing their skills in professional development programs. When teachers meet at Highland, they form groups to look at social and student needs. We are all life-long learners, Jeffrey explained. Whether it is learning on our own or as a group, it is important to help students in the best ways possible. To assist families outside of school, Jeffrey is happy that Highland uses the Circle of Security Parenting Series, a researched-based program that stresses supporting and strengthening secure relationships between parents and children. This program is one piece of the puzzle, as we work to support our students social and emotional needs, explained Jeffrey. With families still having concerns about the pandemic, Jeffrey is happy that Highland is offering in-person and remote learning options this year. Everyone hopes that the vaccines get us back to normal in the future, said Jeffrey. We all pray that we dont all have to go back to remote learning like last year. But, when television screens flashed the name of Ali Manikfan among the Padma awardees, the people were lost in words as to who they had ignored albeit unknowingly. Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 7 (IANS) The locals of Olavanna in Kozhikode used to see an upright, lean person wearing Arabian clothing walking towards his home. They only knew that he was a retired official from Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) living here and was from Lakshadweep. Mohammed Basheer and P.R. Ramachandran, employees of a private firm in Olavanna said, "He is lean and frail but walked straight and with a twinkle in his eyes but we never knew who he was until the news flashed that he was awarded the Padma Shri." Manikfan, who is currently living in a rented accommodation along with his wife in Olavanna, was sent to Kannur in Kerala for studies but after fifth standard he did not pursue formal education and returned to Minicoy, his home town in Lakshwadeep Islands. He was a keen observer, knew almost every fish that inhabited the sea off the Minicoy islands and this observation turned into a passion for fishes. This motivated him to study more about fishes, their origin and everything in and out about them. The research in fishes got him a job at the CMFRI where he discovered a rare fish which has been named after him - Abudefduf Manikfani. He can speak, read and write 14 languages including French, German, English, Arabic and other languages and uses seven of them to communicate. In 1981, he was invited to Oman to make a ship, a replica of the one believed to be used by Sinbad, the Sailor, during his voyages. He was invited by the Irish voyager Tim Sirven who wanted it to be made without metals. Ali and his made a 27-m long ship using timber and coir in an year. Named "Sohar" after the town of Sohar in Oman. Tim and his team travelled 9,000 km from Oman to China on it and it is now kept in a museum in Oman. Manikfan told IANS, "Those days metal was not used for making ships and hence we had to replicate one using timber. This ship sailed up to China from Oman and is still kept at Oman museum." Another major interest of Manikfan is Lunar calendar and he has built one calendar based on the New moon and on astronomical algorithms. The multifaceted personality had invented a bicycle with roller motor and travelled to New Delhi along with his son Musa. Another of his interest is agriculture and he has converted a barren 15 acre land at Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu into a lush green farm land using indigenous methods of cultivation. He also built a residential premises using traditional materials. He is now basking in the glory of Padma Shri award but local people vouch that there is no difference in his attitude even after this honour. Ramachandran said, "He is a great personality and down to earth, we never knew who he was until media reported about him. The local people are planning a grand programme to felicitate him." --IANS str/rt .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Linda Lomahaftewas bold Hopi landscapes unite the ancient world with the contemporary in a symphony of shape and color. The Moving Land: 60+ Years of Art by Linda Lomahaftewa, featuring 70 paintings and works on paper, is open at Santa Fes IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts. The exhibition runs through July 17. Best known for her prints, the show marks Lomahaftewas first solo exhibition in a retrospective spanning her career from high school to retirement. We have works from when she was 15 years old, said Lara Evans, guest curator and associate professor of art history. In the beginning, she was experimenting with Abstract Expressionism. Then she breaks out into the aesthetic of explosive mark-making. Then she expands it with figurative work, influenced by Hopi and Choctaw painting. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Lomahaftewas father was Hopi; her mother was Choctaw The works follow Lomahaftewa as a student at the Institute of American Indian Arts, her scholarship to the San Francisco Art Institute, where she earned both her bachelors and masters degrees, to her work as a teacher at IAIA and beyond. I think shes been overlooked at bit, Evans said. She was in the first cohort of IAIA. There historically wasnt as much publicity about the women of her generation as much as the men. Shes sort of an artists artist, Evans continued. Shes collected by many Native American artists as well. In San Francisco, Lomahaftewas class included T.C. Cannon, Kevin Red Star and Bill Prokopiof. Of the four, only she graduated. She would go on to teach at Sonoma State University and the University of California at Berkeley before returning to IAIA. Healing Prayers for a Pandemic Universe is a mixed-media collage from 2020. We all have a different way of praying, Lomahaftewa said. It could be an abstract version of a healing prayer. When I put the stars in, it was to the universe for healing. The museum rented Lomaheftewa studio space to create her current work. Its a very abstracted interpretation of balance and imbalance, Evans said. Some works are evocative of the virus and others are of things coming together. Untitled (detail), late 60s-early-70s, is a large (65-by-60.5 inches) oil on canvas splashed with the artists signature vibrant color palette. That was when I was in San Francisco, Lomahaftewa said. The corn to me is growth; the triangles are mountains. The diamonds and triangles are also from the Choctaw culture. The exhibition marks the first time the series has been publicly displayed, Evans said. It gives you an idea of her composition, the forms; theyre really compelling, she said. In San Francisco, Lomahaftewa felt the mammoth influence of the Abstract Expressionist movement, as well as the psychedelic handbills tacked to the telephone poles, as shown in the pen and ink drawing Untitled (from Artist College Portfolio), ca. 1965-75. In 2001, Lomahaftewa created a monotype in reaction to the Cerro Grande Fire. The 2000 fire started as a controlled burn, then spread because of high winds and drought conditions. At the time, she was living in Pojoaque and working in Santa Fe. The composition features Black Mesa with the fires raining down and a row of cornstalks in the foreground. I was driving back and forth and looking at the night sky, she said. For the monotype Crescent Moon (1999), Lomahaftewa lifted the image of a lizard-like motif in the foreground from a Utah petroglyph. I was calling it the horned serpent and then the dragon, she said. The spiral represents the migration path. The Awatovi parrot is another repeated symbol. I did a series of that parrot,Lomahaftewa said. It came from one of the kiva ruins of a parrot that was destroyed in the Pueblo Revolt. Awatovi is the name of a Hopi village. The parrots are very important natural symbols that came from Central America, Evans said. They are associated with water, rainfall. Their long feathers attract the rain and drip over their backs. Lomahaftewa came from an artistic family who encouraged her creativity. I just have to paint, she said. Ive done artwork ever since I was little. In kindergarten I wanted to be either an artist, a nurse or a teacher. I think I became all three. Lomahaftewas influence can be seen in the work of her former students Tony Abeyta, Ken Williams and America Meredith. If you go WHAT: The Moving Land: 60+ Years of Art by Linda Lomahaftewa WHEN: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday through July 17 WHERE: IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, 108 Cathedral Place, Santa Fe HOW MUCH: $10 general; $5 student; $5 senior; $5 New Mexico resident; free to children under 16, museum members, native and Indigeous people and U.S. military veterans. CONTACT: Visits are in one-hour increments. Admission rates are subject to change. For questions, please contact store@iaia.edu or call 505-428-5912. A Filipino nurse has died from Covid-19 in the NHS hospital she had worked at for 18 years and her colleagues have paid tribute to the 'wonderful, caring' mother-of-two. Estrella Catalan, 52, died on Friday after weeks in the critical care unit of Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, where she had worked since September 2002. Ms Catalan was a staff nurse on the Gunthorpe and Heydon wards, as well as the emergency department and acute stroke team. Sam Higginson, chief executive of Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH), said: 'Our deepest and heartfelt condolences are with Estrella's loved ones and friends at this very difficult time and with all those who worked alongside Estrella and knew her. Estrella Catalan (right), 52, died on Friday after weeks in the critical care unit of Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, where she had worked since September 2002 Ms Catalan was a staff nurse on the Gunthorpe and Heydon wards, as well as the emergency department and acute stroke team 'She was a wonderful person and a caring and conscientious nurse, who loved to teach and mentor students; she will be terribly missed. 'This is a heartbreaking reminder of the situation we are facing every day to help others and we want to thank our staff for their ongoing courage and commitment during the pandemic.' According to a GoFundMe page created in her honour, Ms Catalan is survived by her husband Melvin and their sons John and Josh - adding that her eldest son Vince died two years ago. The page has raised more than 21,031 for funeral expenses and financial support for the family, and describes her as a 'caring, conscientious and hard-working person'. A GoFundMe page has raised more than 21,031 for funeral expenses and financial support for the family, and describes her as a 'caring, conscientious and hard-working person' 'She puts the needs of others first before her own,' the page, written by Jenelyn Bales, reads. 'Her selflessness and dedication carried on even when she was on her hospital bed, she still thought and talked about when she could go back to work to help patients and colleagues throughout this pandemic. 'Estrella promised her family, 'I will be back' when she was taken to the hospital few weeks ago... sadly, a promise that she could no longer physically keep.' David White, chairman of NNUH, said: 'Every Covid-19 death is a tragedy and to lose one of our own is even more poignant. 'Our thoughts are with all her colleagues and the NNUH staff who did their very best for Estrella.' By Zamir Ahmed Awan On many occasions, China has expressed that it will make its COVID-19 vaccine a global public good when available, contributing to expanding vaccine accessibility and affordability in line with its vision of building a global community of health for all. A health worker receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine from China in Istanbul, Turkey, Jan. 14, 2021. (Xinhua/Osman Orsal) During the initial stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many countries first started to develop vaccine candidates, some of the more advanced countries with a longer history of developing and manufacturing vaccines had put forward high aims and high promises. To date, only a small handful of countries have developed vaccines after undergoing successful trials for human use. Chinas Sinopharm vaccine was among the first to be recognized as both safe and effective. The joint cooperation between Pakistan and China in the fight against COVID-19 has been exemplary since the start of the outbreak. Pakistan has remained steadfast in supporting China's global and regional initiatives aimed at defeating the virus. Looking to the year ahead, China will continue to provide its COVID-19 vaccines to other countries, especially developing countries located in the Global South, doing so promptly within its capacity and contributing to building a community of health for all. China donated its first batch of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines to Pakistan. It was the first consignment of vaccine aid provided by China to another country and a concrete step in honoring President Xi's pledge of making COVID-19 vaccines a global public good. Vaccine cooperation is an integral part of the joint efforts by Pakistan and China to overcome COVID-19. It demonstrates the two countries sincere attempts at mutual assistance as all-weather strategic partners as well as their collective struggles as two developing countries to make vaccines a global public good and promote their accessibility and affordability among fellow developing nations. Late last month, Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, received a consignment of 500,000 doses of Sinopharms vaccine from the Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, Nong Rong, at Nur Khan Airbase near Islamabad. The Foreign Minister thanked China's leadership and the Chinese people for sending the donation of Sinopharm vaccines in aiding Pakistan to combat the pandemic. He added that the vaccine had arrived exactly at a time when Pakistan was grappling with a second wave of the virus. Its delivery, which coincides with the commencement of celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, reaffirmed the cherished legacy of China repeatedly standing by Pakistans side. It revealed that the Pakistan-China friendship is timeless and that China continues to remain Pakistans staunchest partner. The Foreign Minister also underlined that the recent Phase-III clinical trials for CanSino Biologics COVID-19 vaccine candidate had reached a successful conclusion in Pakistan. Moving forward, Pakistan aims to continue deepening its cooperation with China in matters relating to the roll-out of vaccines. While ensuring a satisfactory domestic response, China has also actively participated in and promoted international cooperation in both a transparent and responsible way. China was the first country to report cases of the novel coronavirus to the world, releasing the genome sequence of the virus to the international community, along with diagnosis and treatment plans, and other critical information, having taken this step at the earliest time possible. It has taken various additional steps to help developing countries access life-saving vaccines. China will continue to work with the international community to continually advance areas of relevant cooperation and make a determined effort in achieving an early and complete victory over the pandemic. Zamir Ahmed Awan is a senior fellow with the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) and a sinologist at the National University of Sciences and Technology in Pakistan. E-mail: awanzamir@yahoo.com. Fuel price hike on the horizon if no tax cut View(s): Petrol and diesel are set to become costly as international oil prices continue to rise compelling the government to mitigate with appropriate tax reduction or removing import duty surcharges without burdening the public. The benchmark Brent crude oil price is seen increasing to US$ 60 -70 per barrel from the current average level of $49 per barrel this year, official data showed. In the wake of sharp rises in world fuel prices, State Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila recently disclosed that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is incurring a loss of Rs.10 for a litre of diesel and Rs. 17 for a litre of petrol. CPC losses in fuel trading had increased to Rs.100 billion last year due to the depreciation of the rupee and overhead costs. Thereby he noted that if the tax imposed earlier during the period of fuel price decline, is not reduced, it will lead to a local fuel price hike in the future. Heavy costs on overheads and debt servicing of CPC and losses in fuel imports from volatile market under high customs duty incurred by Lanka IOC have made it difficult for the two entities to maintain the fuel price at present levels. Despite losses incurred in fuel imports, drop in sales along with overheads during the COVID-19 lockdown period, Lanka IOC maintains the fuel prices at the same level of the CPC, its Managing Director, Manoj Gupta said. The company is losing Rs. 7 to 8 per litre by selling petrol and diesel at current prices; he said adding that they welcome a considerable reduction in the customs duty to continue retail trade without any price hike till the end of the year. He expressed the belief that the Treasury will consider the Lanka IOC request favourably to reduce taxes since the company has considerably contributed to enhance state tax revenue. The Finance Ministry has brought back the import duty surcharges (taxes) on refined fuel for three months till November 2020 and it has been extended up to February this year, other officials said. They added that it will not affect fuel pricing as the CPC and Lanka IOC will have to bear this additional tax cost. (BS) For every American, the fallout from Democrat party control of the presidency and both Houses is to be slowly dispossessed of their freedom to choose, speak, assemble, bear arms, and to be assured that your children will be given a proper education free of political animus, gender confusion, and allegations of racial privilege. Putting 52 stars on the flag, overstuffing the Supreme Court, and loading up the voter rolls with illegal aliens will usher in a permanent political class exercising one-party rule. Apart from a bit of moaning and groaning, there seems little backbone from the Republican political establishment to hold the hill. As for the working class, COVID has been instructive to the far left on how fearmongering and shaming can bring Americans to heel and condone the theft of their rights and privileges. For the entire country, the legitimacy of the past presidential election remains an open wound that will not soon heal. Tens of millions are concerned that Biden was installed, not elected, and that Democrat majority rule will set the stage for an encore in two years time. To stir the coals, Nancy Pelosi secured passage of House Resolution 1. It would extend the use of mail-in ballots to all 50 states, trample federalism underfoot, destroy states rights to regulate the conduct of their own elections, and codify forthcoming fraud. Congress has also introduced H.R. 127, a broadside on gun rights through the creation of a federal firearms registration system. The database would be accessible at all levels of government, as well as the military and the public. With retroactivity, gun owners would be ordered to federally register all legally owned weapons, where they are stored, require costly insurance, and subject owners and their families to a psychological interview. While a fearful nation spent a whole year locked down and beholden to the doyens of pandemic science, state lawmakers and the high courts of the land turned a blinds eye to the straightforward and immutable laws of mathematics. A bit of wizardry in five swing states gave immaculate conception to a statistically impossible number of Democrat voters. State legislatures held unproductive hearings that gave lip service to whistleblowers and number crunchers armed with irksome statistical and technical proofs. Voter fraud started early in the election year by co-opting COVID fears to unleash a salvo of intimidating lawsuits that effected changes to state voting protocols and left unlocked the backdoor to political hijinks by blue state governors. Since the election, we have been browbeaten daily to accept the outcome and all evidence to the contrary as extremism. No federal court wanted to touch the third rail of state-controlled elections. Good men and women in black robes dispatched plaintiffs without further discourse and cleared away all roadblocks to the greatest deception in American political history. The Supreme Court trotted out brusque statements to deny standing to serious challenges from Pennsylvania and Texas, sounding the death knell to a continued Trump presidency. On December 3, less than a month after the election Attorney General Bill Barr essentially shut down Justice Department inquiries by claiming no evidence of election fraud that would affect the outcome. That was two days before the Atlanta ballot suitcases fiasco was revealed, and two weeks after data was provided by the White House that a late-night Trump election lead in Michigan had been instantly erased by an early morning dump of ballots for Biden in a Detroit counting center. Considering that the FBI has had the Hunter Biden laptop for over a year and the Durham Russia hoax investigation has dragged on for two, the hurried assessment by Barr on his way out the door and before a fair vetting of the evidence shortstopped a probe into a deeper and more dangerous political reality. While any challenge to the election is now written off as delusional, its open season for left-wing abuses of free speech. Social media has wiped the online slate clean of any mention of election fraud and shut down or pressured conservative blogsites to follow suit. Democrat martinets have persecuted Republican lawmakers and their donors in the public square and television commentators have invoked battle cries to cleanse America of any conservative orthodoxy. Where is the investigation of security camera videos of suitcases stuffed with ballots being dragged out from under a table by a mother/daughter team of poll workers in Atlanta? Purportedly, they produced thousands of Biden votes in the wee hours as a nearby leaky urinal in the guise of a burst water pipe dripped away, and Republican poll observers were made to flee in fear of the approaching tsunami. A half hour after the building was evacuated, the suitcases were fetched to several workstations and their contents run several times through the voting machines. Both poll workers have turned down media interviews and lawyered up, with the mother claiming, I need an attorney. This is bigger than me. There is no word of an FBI investigation into that event. And what will come of the 24 pallets containing upwards of a quarter million completed ballots illegally transported overnight by a USPS truck from Long Island to Pennsylvania, only to disappear shortly thereafter from a Lancaster postal terminal? The postal driver, Jesse Morgan, came forward, got airtime, and swore out affidavits exposing the activity. With Trump receiving two-thirds of the vote on election night, Biden somehow snatched victory from insurmountable defeat by capturing four-fifths of all late arrival ballots counted over the next three days. The FBIs missing-in-action response to plain view evidence of massive vote fraud in the presidential election seems poles apart from the agencys enforcement priority to bring to justice the Capitol rioters. It is more reminiscent of slow-walking White House declassification efforts in the matter of Crossfire Hurricane, or stonewalling the release of subpoenaed documents requested for Senate hearings into the Russia hoax. One wonders little that Biden is pleased with the work Wray has been doing and would be keeping him on as director. On November 3, we went to bed in America. On November 4, we woke up in Venezuela. But simply rigging the election in soft coup style through bloodless machinations to deny a second Trump term doesnt end the vendetta. Election Day was but the opening salvo in the Democrat game plan to dupe Americans into abdicating their own liberties. Through dozens of executive actions, our freedoms are being purloined in plain sight and over the lethargic objections of Republican lawmakers. Image: Thomas Nast Photo: (Photo : cottonbro from Pexels) A father and daughter got a matching tattoo years ago. This matching tattoo is now the daughter's lasting memory of her father. Michele Theil shared in an article for Metro how this matching tattoo was something she never regretted sharing with her father. ALSO READ: Toronto Dad Creates a Swimwear Line for Transgender Teens The dad and daughter duo Michele shared that she and her dad had a strong bond. She grew up in Hong Kong with him, and he would always support her with whatever she wanted to do. In 2014, Michele moved to England to do her A-Levels and for her to attend university. The dad and daughter shared details of their lives over the phone. Despite being away, the father and daughter would still spend holidays together. The dad's illness According to Michele, her father had been sick her whole life. She shared that even before she was born, her dad had cancer and was significantly overweight. During his life, he had to deal with many health complications, which she considered severe. Despite these, Michele never thought that her father's cancer would lead to his death. ALSO READ: Florida Mom to 300 Foster Kids Died Due to Coronavirus Getting the matching tattoos Last September 2017, Michele's father flew to London for a visit. It became one of the most memorable father and daughter bonding for Michele. Her dad helped Michele move into student accommodation. They moved all of her things, and at the same time, during that visit, Michele asked her dad if they could get a matching tattoo. She only joked about it. However, she was surprised to find out that her 64-year-old father was not against the idea. The father and daughter duo discussed what they wanted to get. They enjoyed coffee so much, so they decided to get a coffee cup as their matching tattoo. She chose to put her tattoo on her ankle while her dad had his tattoo on his arm. The dad died after months in a coma. In December, Michele's father fell into a coma due to kidney failure. That year, she was supposed to visit Hong Kong. However, her relatives advised her not to see her dad because it might be too upsetting. After four months, Michele's dad died. In the article, she said, "Four months on, in April 2018, my dad died in hospital with family friends nearby." ALSO READ: Designer Dad Makes Disney Princess Costumes for His Kids The daughter's lasting memory Years have passed, and Michele says that she still considers the day they got the matching tattoo as the most memorable one despite all the memories she has with her father. She said that she saw how her dad loved it and that every time Michele sees her tattoo, she's reminded of that day, "Every time I cuff my jeans or lace up my shoes when I take a bath or cross my legs, I see that little coffee cup and I'm reminded of getting the tattoo with my dad." ALSO READ: Viral Video: Father and Daughter Duo Dancing Together The Sindh government on Saturday shifted Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the prime accused in the 2002 killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl, and his four associates from jail to a newly-built facility inside the prison, Dawn reported, citing sources. Last week, Pakistan Supreme Court had directed authorities to move Sheikh from a death cell in the Karachi Central Prison to a government rest house. "All the suspects have been moved to the newly-built rest house inside the prison," said a source, citing a notification issued by the Sindh home department, reported Dawn. "They would be allowed to see their families at the rest house though they would not enjoy any internet and telephone facility. The families of the suspects have also been offered space in Qasr-e-Naz" -- a federal government-owned building in the city. The apex court had also directed the authorities to ensure complete security of the rest house and allowed Sheikh's family access to him from 8 am to 5 pm (local time) while hearing a petition filed by the accused against his detention despite the high court's orders. Earlier on January 28, the three-member SC bench had acquitted all the accused involved in the murder case of the American journalist, Pearl. He was abducted and beheaded in Pakistan in 2002 while he was investigating links between Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Al-Qaeda. Pakistan was condemned globally for the acquittal. The United States had expressed deep concerns over the release of multiple terrorists responsible for the murder of Pearl. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had earlier talked with Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and had discussed ways to ensure accountability for convicted terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh regarding Pearl's murder case. (ANI) Also Read: PM Modi monitoring flood situation in Chamoli, speaks to U'khand CM Deputy President William Ruto Saturday ended his three-day tour of the Coast region with a message to the two Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) principals - President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga - to "give the people the document to read for themselves". But while he was harsh in his criticism of the proponents of the proposed constitutional changes, Dr Ruto said he is not pushing for a No vote. "I have not said I oppose BBI, but I am saying the people are asking questions, come give them answers. Bring them the copies and they will decide. They are not stupid, they will decide," he said. During his entire visit of Kwale, Kilifi and Mombasa counties, where he held at least eight meetings with local leaders and youth, he poked holes into the BBI programme without out-rightly asking the electorate to reject it at the referendum. Provide copies At his final meeting at Frere Town Grounds in Nyali, Mombasa Saturday, he asked those pushing for the BBI referendum to first provide copies of the report, whose contents he said ordinary people do not know. He said for the longest time now, the BBI proponents, especially ODM leader Raila Odinga, have been using him as a punching bag by accusing him of campaigning against the BBI, yet wananchi are yet to read the document. "Stop using me as an excuse," he said. "Please bring copies to these people because they want to read and understand where and for whom is the Constitution being changed. These people do not want to be told what is in the report, they need to know." 35 per cent revenue Dr Ruto questioned the provision of the 35 per cent revenue to counties as proposed in the BBI Bill, expressing doubt that the funds will be made available at a time when the national government is already finding it hard to provide the current 15 per cent. "Counties have debts of about 100 per cent; where will 35 per cent come from if we cannot have the 15 per cent? The people want to know if 35 per cent will come to the counties why not do it now because the current Constitution allows it, as it says we can provide a minimum of 15 per cent -- which means it can be increased," he said. The DP also poked holes into the recommendation to have more representatives in the National Assembly, which he said would burden the wananchi. He said the people want to know how they will benefit from having an additional 200 MPs proposed in the BBI Bill. 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. Creating positions He reiterated his position that the BBI is about creating positions for a few leaders and how they will share power. He noted that Kenya cannot be a place of discussions of sharing of power and positions only. "As we talk about power and positions we must also talk about ordinary jobs for ordinary Kenyans. We must also talk about more resources and creating wealth for these people down here," he said. He also criticised on the issue of dynasties versus hustlers narrative which he said his competitors are framing as a class war. The DP said there is not class war in the country, but a discussion about the poor which he said is currently taking shape. He said now, in every political forums held by leaders, the conversation has been about wheelbarrow and the hustlers. "I told you we will change the discussion in this country. It will not be about leaders and finally the discussion has changed. We are happy because every meeting is talking about the wheelbarrows and hustlers," said Dr Ruto. The DP also launched a scathing attack on Mr Odinga and his Nasa leaders whom he said are waiting for endorsement from President Kenyatta. He said Mr Odinga and his brigade, who were together in Nasa coalition, are clueless leaders who do not know whether they are in opposition or in government. amohamed@ke.nationmedia.com Libya's new prime minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah hailed on Saturday the new political map, which will become a path to end the conflict and to reach democratic elections based on constitutional and democratic foundations. In his first speech since assuming power, Dbeibah said that the agreement reached on Friday in Geneva was a "symbol of the victory of national unity, reunification, peace-building and achieving the desired democracy." "Failure is not an option," he added, pledging that his government will support women, the youth, local governments and the spreading of a culture of freedom of opinion. Dbeibah also called on regional and international countries to cooperate with Libyas interim administration. Dbeibah, the appointed prime minister, should form a Cabinet and present its program within three weeks. After months of talks, the U.N. process - known as the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum which includes 75 delegates from across the country - appointed Mohammad Younes Menfi, a Libyan diplomat from the country's east, as chairman of the Presidential Council, and Dbeibah, a powerful businessman from the western city of Misrata, as prime minister. Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The country has been divided since 2015 between two governments, one in the east and one in the west, with each backed by an array of militias and foreign governments. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Islamabad, Feb 7 : Pakistan Army helicopters have failed to locate a mountaineer and two of his team members who went missing while attempting to summit K2, the second highest peak of the world, the media reported on Sunday. According to the expedition team, Pakistani mountaineer Ali Sadpara, John Snorri from Iceland and MP Mohr from Chile, have not been contacted since they began their climb at midnight between Thursday and Friday, Dawn news reported. According to the Alpine Club, two Pakistan Army helicopters started a search and rescue mission on Saturday morning to locate the three missing climbers who at the time had not been contacted for over 30 hours. Chhang Dawa Sherpa, the team leader of the SST winter expedition team, said that the helicopters made "a search flight almost up to 7,000 metres and returned back to Skardu". "Unfortunately, they can't trace anything," Dawn news quoted Sherpa as saying in a statement. "The condition up in the mountain and even at the base camp is getting poor. We are looking for further progress, but the weather and winds are not permissible," he added. In an update on Saturday night, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfiqar Bukhari said Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa were "concerned and personally following all developments regarding our missing mountaineers". President Arif Alvi said he hoped the missing climbers were alive and fine. News of the missing climbers came a day after a Bulgarian mountaineer was confirmed to have died on K2. K2 is located on the China-Pakistan border between in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan, and Dafdar Township in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang, China. It is the highest point of the Karakoram mountain range and the highest point in both Pakistan and Xinjiang. The peak is known as the "Savage Mountain" because of its harsh weather conditions: winds can blow at more than 200 kilometres per hour, and temperatures can drop to minus 60 degrees Celsius, according to a Geo News report. Unlike Mount Everest, which has been topped by thousands of climbers, K2 is much less travelled. Aftermath of deadly gunfire earlier in the week as violence this year threatens to keep pace with last year's historic count. Check-it: New Delhi, Feb 7 : Ad-hoc teachers form the backbone of teaching in most colleges affiliated to the Delhi University, if one goes by statistics. As per a teacher, more than 6,000 ad-hoc teachers are working in the DU and its affiliated colleges at present. In many colleges, ad-hoc teachers account for around 70 per cent of the faculty. As per DU data for 57 colleges, over 3,500 ad-hoc teachers are working there. According to Delhi University, 135 ad-hoc teachers are working at Daulatram College, 134 at Ramjas College, 126 at Shri Venkateshwara College, 114 at Kalindi College, 110 at Deshbandhu College, 109 at Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College, 104 at Dayal Singh College, 96 at Shaheed Rajguru College, 99 at Mata Sundari College, 87 at Gargi College, 84 at Kamla Nehru College, 84 at Janaki Devi Memorial College, 81 at Kirorimal College, 79 at Indraprastha College, 75 at Shri Aurobindo College, and 75 at Sriram College of Commerce. The issue of ad-hoc teachers was raised in the Rajya Sabha, wherein college- and year-wise details were sought from the Ministry of Education. MPs Vishambhar Prasad Nishad, Chaudhary Sukhram Singh Yadav, and others asked Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal about the increasing number of ad-hoc teachers and the reasons for non-appointment of permanent teachers in the Delhi varsity. As per DU information, 3,530 posts of teachers are lying vacant in 57 colleges. In reply, Pokhriyal said that the university had informed the government that 56 ad-hoc teachers were appointed in the academic year 2020-21 in DU departments, adding that filling up vacant posts was a continuous process. "Being an autonomous body created under the Act of Parliament, the right to fill up the posts lies with the university. As per UGC regulations, all sanctioned, approved posts in the university system are to be filled up on an urgent basis. The UGC as well as the Ministry are continuously monitoring the process." Pokhriyal said that the university had advertised posts of 857 permanent faculty, including Professor, Associate and Assistant Professors, in July 2019. Dr Hansraj Suman of Delhi University Teachers Association told IANS that 57 DU colleges have 3,530 ad-hoc teachers on its rolls at present. "Altogether, there are more than 6,000 ad-hoc teachers in the entire DU. Further, the DU has not given any details of posts on which ad-hoc teachers have been appointed in the last five years, in addition to quota seats," he said. Dr Suman claimed that the appointment process was taken up in some departments or colleges but shut midway. He said that he had written to the university to initiate the process of permanent appointments. "For the last three months, the process of making permanent appointments in the departments was going on but it was stopped till the new Vice Chancellor took charge," he alleged. (@FahadShabbir) MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th February, 2021) The Wyoming Republican Party has voted to censure Liz Cheney who sided with Democrats in the House of Representatives, voting to impeach former US President Donald Trump, The Hill reports. The Saturday vote criticized Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, for voting in favor of impeachment without offering Trump a "formal hearing or due process," according to the censure document quoted by The Hill. Cheney told The Hill that she "was compelled by the oath I swore to the Constitution" in voting to impeach Trump last month and that "this oath does not bend or yield to politics or partisanship." The US Representative for Wyoming said that she was going to fight for the issues that matter most to the state. "Foremost among these is the defense of our Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees," she said, adding "We have great challenges ahead of us as we move forward and combat the disastrous policies of the [Joe] Biden Administration. I look forward to continuing to work with officials and citizens across Wyoming to be the most effective voice and advocate in defense of our families, industries and communities." The US House of Representatives Articles of Impeachment charge Trump with "inciting insurrection" during the January 6 Capitol Hill events. The January House vote to impeach Trump for a second time saw 10 GOP lawmakers breaking party lines and backing Democrats. HORTON, MI -- They got cold for a good cause. A Mini Polar Plunge on Saturday, Feb. 6 helped Jackson police officers, along with family and friends, raise money for Special Olympics Michigan. About 15 plungers hit the frigid water of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County under the watchful eye of Hanover and Liberty Township firefighters with a Jackson Community Ambulance crew on standby. A larger Polar Plunge, usually held at Clark Lake in late January, was canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Trent Marcum, Jackson Police Department liaison officer for the Special Olympics, said $2,172 was raised for the cause. Its amazing, Marcum said. Not only having a great time doing it, but its also letting all of the athletes in the state of Michigan be able to compete and pursue their goals. Social distance guidelines were in effect at the outdoor jump, which took about five minutes to complete in the 15 degree weather. Scroll down to see photos of the frigid fun or click into the gallery above. Plungers from the Jackson Police Department, along with some family and friends, hit the waters of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County for a "Mini Polar Plunge" on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The plunge was part of the police department's efforts to raise money for the Special Olympics.J. Scott Park | MLive.com Plungers from the Jackson Police Department, along with some family and friends, hit the waters of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County for a "Mini Polar Plunge" on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The plunge was part of the police department's efforts to raise money for the Special Olympics.J. Scott Park | MLive.com Plungers from the Jackson Police Department, along with some family and friends, hit the waters of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County for a "Mini Polar Plunge" on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The plunge was part of the police department's efforts to raise money for the Special Olympics.J. Scott Park | MLive.com Plungers from the Jackson Police Department, along with some family and friends, hit the waters of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County for a "Mini Polar Plunge" on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The plunge was part of the police department's efforts to raise money for the Special Olympics.J. Scott Park | MLive.com Firefighters from Hanover and Liberty Townships lounge in the water as they wait for plungers from the Jackson Police Department, along with some family and friends, hit the waters of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County for a "Mini Polar Plunge" on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The plunge was part of the police department's efforts to raise money for the Special Olympics.J. Scott Park | MLive.com Plungers from the Jackson Police Department, along with some family and friends, hit the waters of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County for a "Mini Polar Plunge" on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The plunge was part of the police department's efforts to raise money for the Special Olympics.J. Scott Park | MLive.com Plungers from the Jackson Police Department, along with some family and friends, hit the waters of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County for a "Mini Polar Plunge" on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The plunge was part of the police department's efforts to raise money for the Special Olympics.J. Scott Park | MLive.com Plungers from the Jackson Police Department, along with some family and friends, hit the waters of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County for a "Mini Polar Plunge" on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The plunge was part of the police department's efforts to raise money for the Special Olympics.J. Scott Park | MLive.com Plungers from the Jackson Police Department, along with some family and friends, hit the waters of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County for a "Mini Polar Plunge" on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The plunge was part of the police department's efforts to raise money for the Special Olympics.J. Scott Park | MLive.com Plungers from the Jackson Police Department, along with some family and friends, hit the waters of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County for a "Mini Polar Plunge" on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The plunge was part of the police department's efforts to raise money for the Special Olympics.J. Scott Park | MLive.com Plungers from the Jackson Police Department, along with some family and friends, hit the waters of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County for a "Mini Polar Plunge" on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The plunge was part of the police department's efforts to raise money for the Special Olympics.J. Scott Park | MLive.com Plungers from the Jackson Police Department, along with some family and friends, hit the waters of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County for a "Mini Polar Plunge" on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The plunge was part of the police department's efforts to raise money for the Special Olympics.J. Scott Park | MLive.com Plungers from the Jackson Police Department, along with some family and friends, hit the waters of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County for a "Mini Polar Plunge" on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The plunge was part of the police department's efforts to raise money for the Special Olympics.J. Scott Park | MLive.com Plungers from the Jackson Police Department, along with some family and friends, hit the waters of Farwell Lake in southern Jackson County for a "Mini Polar Plunge" on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The plunge was part of the police department's efforts to raise money for the Special Olympics.J. Scott Park | MLive.com MORE JACKSON NEWS: Former Jackson bible institute being eyed as potential trauma-informed shelter More snowfall through weekend will put some Michigan cities over foot of snow New 24/7 crisis services are alternative to hospitals for mental health needs in Jackson, Hillsdale COVID relief funds may be added to foreclosure prevention fund in Jackson Landlords shouldnt ask applicants for criminal history, some Jackson residents say Taiwan 's central bank said on Sunday it had banned Deutsche Bank from trading Taiwan dollar deliverable and non-deliverable forwards and suspended it for two years from trading forex derivatives as part of a crackdown on speculation. The Taiwan dollar is at a more than 23-year-high against the US dollar as the island's trade-dependent economy booms on global demand for its tech products as people work from home. The central bank has been particularly concerned about a case where it said foreign banks helped grain companies engage in currency speculation through deliverable forwards, affecting the stability of Taiwan's foreign exchange market. Sources told Reuters on Friday that the central bank had sent letters outlining punishments to Deutsche Bank, CitigroupInc, ING and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) for their involvement. Apart from the punishment for Deutsche Bank's Taipei branch, the central bank said in statement that ING and ANZ's Taipei offices would not be allowed to trade Taiwan dollar deliverable and non-deliverable forwards for nine months. Citi's Taipei office would be suspended from trading Taiwan dollar deliverable forwards for two months, it added. Citi and ANZ declined to comment. Representatives for the other two banks did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The punishments will come into effect on Monday, the central bank added. Eugene Tsai, head of the central bank's foreign exchange department, told Reuters that transactions made by the banks in accordance with the rules before Friday had been completed on schedule. He added that the punishment against Deutsche meant it would not be able to trade forex options or swaps. The central bank announced its probe into the case last month, which it said involved eight grain-trading companies. 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. Kabul, Feb 7 : Afghan National Security Advisor (NSA) Hamdullah Mohib claimed that the Taliban has no intention towards being committed to the country's peace process, adding that the militant group has totally abandoned the negotiations in Doha, the media reported on Sunday. "Taliban's intention is clear. Taliban do not want peace, their bosses won't allow them to make peace. It is a fact that they want permanent instability in Afghanistan," Khaama Press quoted Mohib as saying a press conference on Saturday. According to Mohib, the Taliban are not prepared to reduce level of the violence in the war-torn country. "The Taliban want to destroy Afghanistan, they just want complete power and nothing else. "If the Taliban do not want peace, we must defend our people. President (Ashraf) Ghani is committed to peace. But the Taliban are the main obstacle to the peace process. "We will not allow them to collapse the system and carry out their nefarious goals here," the NSA added. Also addressing the press conference, Interior Minister Massoud Andarabi claimed that the Taliban leadership is in Doha and were not aware of the war situation in Afghanistan. "They are killing Afghans illegitimately," he added. Deputy Defence Mnister Shah Mahmood Miakhel added at the briefing that "if the Taliban want war we are ready", Khaama Press reported. The peace negotiations between the Afghan Republic and the Taliban have stalled over the last 20 days and violence has also remained high in the country, TOLO News said in a report. The Ministry of Defence on Friday reported fighting between the government forces and the Taliban in at least 20 provinces in 24 hours. Sources said over 20 security force members were killed in Taliban attacks in Kunduz and Faryab provinces on Thursday night. Emotions ran high at a public meeting discussing the implementation of Maori wards in Tauranga last Friday with opposing views on racism and approaches that benefit Maori. Hobsons pledge members Don Brash and Casey Costello were headline speakers at the meeting, along with New Conservative member Elliot Ikilei. The gathering was organised by a group called Concerned Citizens, which recently submitted a petition opposing Maori wards. Hundreds of people both in favour and against the petition attended. Protesters standing with signs and Maori flags filled the back of the Tauranga Yacht Club club room, behind rows of seats filled to the brim with other meeting attendees. Some of the remarks made by Brash, Casey and Ikilei were visibly difficult for protesters to hear, with many shaking their heads and tearing up. Tauranga City Council voted to establish a Maori ward for the 2022 local government election in August last year. Concerned Citizens then started a petition calling for a binding poll on the issue. A binding poll is required if requested in writing and signed by at least five per cent of electors. The Electoral Office confirmed that the introduction of a Maori ward at Tauranga City Council would go to a referendum last Friday, with the petition reaching the threshold of 4742 signatures. However, a proposed legislation announced by Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta last Sunday could mean the petition against the establishment of a Maori Ward will no longer be upheld. The first stage of the legislative reform will include immediate changes to establish transitional measures making the establishment of Maori wards easier ahead of the 2022 local elections. In his speech, Ikilei argued that everyone wants equality, and believes the implementation of Maori wards encourages segregation. He told the crowd judging people based on the colour of their skin is nothing less than Nazi-style racism. Protesters sang a waiata together during his speech. Brash covered a range of topics. When Te Tiriti o Waitangi was raised, the crowd began sharing their opinions, with both sides yelling at each other. Arguments for Maori Wards, and against the petition followed from iwi leader Buddy Mikaere and one other speaker. Buddy says the fact that no other ward has gone through the same process or scrutiny proves that racism is fuelling the petition. He says the views of Concerned Citizens and others who support the petition do not represent the views of Tauranga. The tides are turning. Your day is done. He says Maori representation on council is crucial, so Maori issues are properly represented. "When you see that actually, almost 20 per cent of the population in Tauranga is Maori. I am sure those people are entitled to have a say in how the city operates." Vaccination centers in New York City were left empty last weekend, as one local health official said: 'We blew our chance to vaccinate thousands.' Pictures show both the Lincoln High School on Coney Island and George Westinghouse Vocational High School in Brooklyn were ghost towns last Saturday. One Department of Health worker at Hillcrest High School in Queens told The New York Post: 'You cannot imagine how much nothing it was. We could have used that day to vaccinate thousands of people and we just blew it.' Data shows just over 22,000 doses were administered this Saturday in NYC; on Friday that figure was more than 36,000. Vaccine trackers shows 18,866 vaccinations were given January 30 - compared to 39,964 the previous day. A Department of Health spokesperson told DailyMail.com: 'Our capacity to distribute is much greater than our supply of vaccine. The limited supply we had was exhausted over the weekend. DOHMH sites were open that day to accommodate a limited number of rescheduled appointments from the prior week. 'Every dose was used over the course of the weekend.' The daily number of people getting vaccinated now well surpasses the numbers infected, CNN reports. A total of 102,420 people tested positive for the virus on Friday; the US is averaging more than 1.3 million vaccinations a day. More than 26 millions have been infected with the virus; 462,272 have died. The Centers for Disease Control announced on Saturday that 8,317,180 Americans have now received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, amounting to 2.5 percent of the population. At least one dose of a vaccine has been administered to 30,250,964 million people, which equals to 9.1 percent of the population. Pictures show the Lincoln High School. pictured, and the George Westinghouse Vocational High School in Brooklyn were ghost towns last Saturday The vaccine trackers shows half the amount of vaccinations were given on January 30 - 18,866 - compared to the previous day - 39,964 But the daily number of people getting vaccinated now surpasses the numbers infected, CNN reports City Councilman Mark Treyger had tweeted video from the center at Lincoln High School on Coney Island, writing: 'Mostly staff and almost no one getting vaccinated. Irony is the citys website says no appointments are available for my constituents today, but no one is there & theyre sitting on vaccine supply. This is unacceptable @nycHealthy!' City Councilman Mark Treyger had tweeted video from the center at Lincoln High School on Coney Island last weekend, writing: 'Mostly staff and almost no one getting vaccinated. 'Irony is the citys website says no appointments are available for my constituents today, but no one is there & theyre sitting on vaccine supply. This is unacceptable @nycHealthy!' Councilman Brad Lander shared his own footage from a hub that same day, writing: 'Heard from a constituent that the same happened today at George Westinghouse HS in downtown Bklyn: Lots of staff eager to help vaccinate but no appointments & no one coming in. '@NYChealthy what's going on? We cant sit on supply, we need as many shots in arms as possible ASAP.' Yankee Stadium finally opened as a COVID-19 mass vaccination site Friday but many of the coveted spots for appointments remain unclaimed by Bronx residents. At a press conference on Friday with Gov. Cuomo, Yankees President Randy Levine said they'd be giving out 'trinkets and gifts for people, to help incentivize people'. The Bronx has by far the worst COVID positivity rates of anywhere in New York City but it has the lowest interest in the vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control announced on Saturday that 8,317,180 Americans have now received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, amounting to 2.5 percent of the population. At least one dose of a vaccine has been administered to 30,250,964 million people, which equals to 9.1 percent of the population Data shows just over 22,000 doses were administered Saturday; on Friday that figure was more than 36,000. The vaccine trackers shows half the amount of vaccinations were given on January 30 - 18,866 - compared to the previous day - 39,964 Following Treyger's tweet walk ins were at that center. He said: 'It seemed as if they were planning on just letting the day go by with no one getting vaccinated whatsoever with vaccine doses in a refrigerator, which is unacceptable.' A spokesperson for the Department of Health said the citys 15 vaccination hubs were open last weekend 'to accommodate a limited number of rescheduled appointments from the prior week'. Officials say all doses were used by the end of the weekend. They added: 'Doses were in short supply and there were appointments the following day as well.' The staffer working at Hillcrest High School on January 30 said he was one of 70 working; just 10 people were given the jab, he said. Despite that, the unidentified worker said requests to allow those without appointments were denied. People line up in the rain outside the Yankee Stadium on Friday The hubs had already been forced to close from January 21 to 24 because of supply issues. Last week's snowstorm also meant closures on Monday and Tuesday. Lawmakers have slammed the city for its 'poor outreach,' particularly among the Bronx's high number of black and Latino residents, many of whom are wary and reluctant to get the shot. New York City Councilman Mark Levine, who represents District 7 in New York City (northern Manhattan) shared a screen grab of the many unfilled appointment slots on Twitter. 'There are still...vaccine appts available at Yankee stadium next week. They are not disappearing fast,' he wrote on Thursday. 'This is good news - but also bad news. It means NYC is not doing enough outreach to people on the ground. The City should have teams out all over the [Bronx] signing people up.' Levine lamented that not enough canvassing teams had been dispatched in the borough to signs up residents. 'Everyone please help spread the word. We don't want one [appointment] slot to go unused!' he tweeted. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had distributed 59,304,600 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States and that 39,037,964 doses had been administered as of Saturday morning. The tallies are for both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, vaccines as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Saturday, the agency said. According to its tally posted on Friday, the agency had administered 36,819,212 doses of the vaccines and distributed 58,380,300 doses. The agency said 30,250,964 people had received 1 or more doses, while 8,317,180 people had gotten the second dose as of Saturday. A total of 4,628,962 doses of vaccine have been administered in long-term care facilities, the agency said. When news broke that the newly developed coronavirus vaccine would soon be released, Woman's Hospital nurse Caroline Stewart had just discovered she was pregnant with her second child. Stewart, 33, works with high-risk pregnant women, so she was interested in getting the vaccine to keep them safe. But she was also unsure if she would even be eligible to receive a dose; pregnant women were not included in vaccine trials for either Moderna or Pfizer. She was "pleasantly surprised" when she realized she qualified for the vaccine and spent time consulting with her obstetrician, along with several maternal-fetal medicine doctors about whether she should go for it. "Its a personal decision obviously, and its not for everyone," she said. "But I decided to get the vaccine." On Jan. 22, Stewart received her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine and is scheduled for her second. Other than a little arm soreness, she said she feels "great." "I want to protect myself, my family, even my patients," she said. "Personally, Ive had friends and family that have had COVID, and I want to do anything to help prevent that if I can." Caroline Stewart Caroline Stewart, a nurse at Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge, received her COVID-19 vaccine while pregnant. Stewart's experience is one many pregnant women will encounter soon, once the vaccine becomes more widely available. Others who hope to conceive are also weighing their options against a deluge of misinformation about how the vaccine will affect their fertility. Some obstetricians say patients have come to them with concerns. They have stressed that pregnant women receiving the vaccine is a personal decision, but one that is ultimately safe based on guidance from the country's leading health organizations. Dr. Pamela Simmons, a maternal-fetal medicine doctor at Womans, said she wants her patients to assess their risk to COVID-19 and where they fall along a spectrum. For instance, if a woman already suffers from chronic hypertension, is over the age of 35 and has diabetes, she is in a more vulnerable category than a healthy 22-year-old. Some women say I know that if I stay as healthy as possible that will make my pregnancy as healthy as possible,' and they want to go ahead and get vaccinated, she said. And other women are going to say, You know, I just need more information, I need more studies done so I want to forgo it because I feel like my risk is low.' Other factors to consider include how easily an expectant mother can self-isolate for months during her pregnancy and if a woman is working in health care and therefore faces more exposure. Simmons said this is particularly important because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidance saying pregnant people are at an "increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 and death," and that other negative outcomes could include preterm birth. Woman's Hospital medical chief: Women should self-isolate in final weeks of pregnancy Woman's Hospital says pregnant woman need to take extra precautions during the coronavirus pandemic, including self-isolating at home in the f When searching for information, she encouraged pregnant women to review credible sources run by medical professionals. For instance, both the World Health Organization and the CDC say pregnant women should weigh the dangers of the virus against the relative unknowns and possible benefits of the vaccine. Similarly, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine says the mRNA vaccines are not thought to cause an increased risk of infertility, first or second trimester loss, stillbirth, or congenital anomalies. The reproductive organization also does not recommend the vaccine be withheld from patients who plan to conceive, are currently pregnant or are lactating. 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 And on Wednesday, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview for The Journal of the American Medical Association that 10,000 pregnant women had received the vaccine. So far, "no red flags" were detected by the Food and Drug Administration, he said. Guidance is important, Simmons said, and she gives her patients the facts. We support the patients autonomy in making that decision and are really just here to kind of help navigate those waters, Simmons said. Ariyeil Dunnaway, a 27-year-old nurse at Baton Rouge General, had planned on getting the vaccine when discussions began early on in the pandemic. However, as the months passed, two things happened: She suffered a miscarriage and then got pregnant again. After her pregnancy loss, she decided against receiving the vaccine to "play it safe." A lack of data worries her, because she doesn't know how her body would react to the vaccine. However, after she has her baby, she said she will likely get the vaccine while breastfeeding. She hopes that by her June due date, more research will simplify her decision. Dr. Jonathan Wise, an obstetrician at Baton Rouge General, acknowledged that limited data can be a big factor in some patient decisions about the vaccine. "Our data is very, very young and were continually learning," Wise said. "I dont think that should be seen as a negative thing or a scary thing. I think its important people know were still learning." Wise said he reassures his patients that no matter what they decide, he will support them and that nothing will change in their care based on their choice. He points them to advice from leading health organizations to make that decision less difficult. +3 29-year-old mom dies of coronavirus weeks after delivering her new baby in Baton Rouge Ke'Lin Dillard had planned everything for the arrival of her new baby even amid a pandemic. She had hosted a socially distanced, drive-by ba Kaitlin Green, an intensive care unit nurse at Baton Rouge General, was no longer pregnant or breastfeeding her 14-month-old when the vaccine came out. However, she was concerned with how the vaccine may affect her fertility, because she wanted to have another child. Green, 33, ultimately decided to get the jab after researching the issue and reading that the mRNA vaccine was unlikely to affect fertility. She has been a nurse for eight years and has worked in the ICU since 2014, which also had some bearing on her decision. "Ive been through a lot of bad flu seasons," she said. "Ive never been through anything like this. Were seeing really young, otherwise healthy people get sick. Thats more so the exception, not the rule, but it is happening." Witnessing the virus wreak havoc even on healthy bodies contributed to her choice. She said that people trust nurses, not "Big Pharma," so getting the vaccine was important to set an example for others. "Say in the long run that it does affect my fertility," she said. "I kind of personally feel getting the vaccine is so much bigger than if I can have a second baby, because I do have one healthy child. Its about everybody thats high-risk and protecting them and being the bigger person and stepping up and being an example for people." Armenia ex-minister of emergency situations hospitalized with heart attack Mher Grigoryan: Clarification of border points is possible only after withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from Armenia Suspicious deal: Whether there was profit from buying DNA IDs? Armenia ex-president says current authorities are trying to blame Russia for defeat in war 4 people killed in Afghanistani bus attack Robert Kocharyan: This war could not have happened, it was a consequence of the policy of the authorities Kocharyan: I have to ask people how it happened that overwhelming majority elected this leader Armen Gevorgyan presents 'Armenia' bloc program: We offer the concept of a working country Biden's administration proposed to leave unchanged amount of financial support to Armenia US Embassy in Baku calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release Armenian POWs Luxembourg MFA calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release all Armenian prisoners 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 He was snapped proudly receiving the Covid vaccine last month. Now Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville is helping others get their jabs, volunteering as a marshal at a vaccination centre. The 57-year-old actor, wearing a cowboy-style hat, mask, hi-vis jacket and puffy winter coat, stood at the entrance and guided patients. Hugh Bonneville wore a cowboy-style hat, mask, hi-vis jacket and puffy winter coat, as he guided patients. The Hollywood star was seen helping guide people at the centre in Midhurst, West Sussex He ensured they used hand sanitiser before entering the centre in Midhurst, West Sussex. He has been giving his social media followers regular updates about his role as a volunteer. Last month Bonneville shared photos after receiving the Covid jab while wearing his vaccination team T-shirt and giving a thumbs-up. He shared a picture of himself last month when he got the vaccine, flashing a thumbs up to the camera Hugh Bonneville's look today was a far cry from his days as Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham, in Downton Abbey He captioned the snaps: Delighted to be part of the support team as a volunteer marshal. I get to wear hi-vis and everything. Jabtastic. Bonneville, who played the Earl of Grantham in Downton, joined other top stars to get the jab including Joan Collins and Sir Ian McKellen. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 16:05:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GENEVA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The chief executive of Swiss pharma giant Roche said China's role as a provider of medicines and an innovation hub is increasingly important as the company reported solid 2020 results on Thursday and expects sales growth in the low to mid-single digit range this year. CEO Severin Schwan told Xinhua in an interview following the announcement of the group's annual earnings that Roche sees "very good growth for our new medicines, which we have recently launched. On top of it, we also see a strong demand for our COVID-19 tests. Overall, I am confident that we can grow our business also for the current year." The Swiss drugmaker posted a rise in net profit to 15.1 billion Swiss francs (16.7 billion U.S. dollars) from 14.1 billion Swiss francs in 2019. Sales reached 58.3 billion Swiss francs, down five percent from 61.5 billion Swiss francs a year ago due to the appreciation of the Swiss franc against major currencies. At constant exchange rates, sales increased one percent. Roche, the biggest maker of cancer drugs and headquartered in the Swiss city of Basel, is also the largest manufacturer of diagnostic equipment for identifying diseases. While the company does not produce COVID-19 vaccines itself, it has a deal with U.S. biotechnology company Regeneron to develop, manufacture and distribute Regeneron's investigational anti-viral antibody cocktail. The CEO also said that China, the company's second-biggest market behind the United States, was gaining importance. "Not only as a market but very much so also as an innovation hub. That's also the reason why we are present in China across the full value chain, from research, development, manufacturing to distribution," Schwan said. "I'm convinced that China will play an ever-increasing role not only as a market but also as a provider of medicines, not only for China but also for the world. That's the reason why we invest in particular in research and development in China." Asked about his view on China-developed vaccines such as Sinopharm or Sinovac Biotech, Schwan said: "I think it's very good news that we have several companies around the world developing vaccines. Because what we have learned about this coronavirus is that it can easily mutate." "Many companies are in competition and working on new versions of a vaccine that increases the likelihood enormously that the world will cope with this pandemic. Therefore, the efforts that the Chinese companies are investing are very important, not only for China but also for the world." (1 Swiss franc = 1.11 U.S. dollars) Produced by Xinhua Global Service High alert in Uttar Pradesh as glacier breaks off in neighbouring Uttarakhand India pti-Madhuri Adnal Lucknow, Feb 7: The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday asked authorities in all districts on the banks of the Ganga river to be on a high alert and continuously monitor the water level after a glacier broke off in Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. The disaster caused a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river in Uttarakhand and endangered the lives of people living along its banks. Massive destruction is feared. PM Modi reviews flood situation in Uttarakhand, says nation prays for everyone's safety there Glacier Breaks: 10 dead bodies found, atleast 125 feared dead| Oneindia News More than 150 labourers working at the Rishi Ganga power project may have been directly affected, said State Disaster Response Force DIG Ridhim Aggarwal. In a disaster alert issued here on Sunday to all the district magistrates in UP, the Relief Commissioner said, "Report of breaking of a part of Nandadevi Glacier in Uttarakhand has been received. The districts on the Ganga river (banks) need to be on a high alert and the monitoring of water level needs to be done 247. If required, the people need to be evacuated." The NDRF, SDRF and PAC Flood Company have been given instructions to be on the highest alert, the statement added. In a tweet in Hindi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, "To tackle the natural disaster which has occurred in Uttarakhand, the Uttar Pradesh government will extend all possible help." 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, Feb 7 : The arrival of Covid-19 pandemic in March last year left thousands of cancer patients - both within and those coming from outside the national capital - without early medical intervention and timely treatment of the disease since most of the tertiary care hospitals were converted into dedicated Covid care facilities. At a time when super speciality hospitals had to completely restrict their cancer care services, the treatment at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi continued, albeit, with a significant drop. Dr Rakesh Garg, Additional Professor, Onco Anesthesia and palliative medicine, AIIMS, said that barring one or two weeks, the treatment of cancer patients continued in the hospital. The data by the apex institution's dedicated cancer institute--Institute of Rotary Cancer Hospital--showed that it realised 29 per cent of drop in Cancer surgeries in the pandemic year compared to 2019. As per the data, the institute performed 1592 surgeries in 2019 while 1135 surgeries happened in 2020. The major drop was witnessed in certain kinds of cancer surgeries like Gynae, Soft-Tissue Sarcoma and Gastrointestinal, where more than 50% drop in surgeries were witnessed. However, the institute witnessed a marginal drop in the surgeries of Breast Cancer. The data showed that most of the surgeries conducted by the institute in both the years of comparison was of breast cancer. In 2019, the institute performed 449 surgeries of breast cancer while in 2020, 426 such surgeries took place. Besides, certain departments also showed a higher number of surgeries in the pandemic year than 2019. Skin cancer surgeries conducted in 2020 stood at 33 compared to 2019 when 32 such surgeries were performed. Interestingly, surgeries of metastatic diseases showed improvement in 2020 where 105 such surgeries took place against 88 surgeries performed in 2019. The data also showed that 426 surgeries were performed between April and November when the national capital suffered three surges of Coronavirus cases. Speaking to IANS, Dr (Major) MD Ray, said that the institute performed overwhelmingly given the pandemic circumstances. "Many of our staff were inducted in Covid duties which created a shortage of manpower. Besides, our surgeries procedure also slowed down since a chunk of patients turned positive before their surgeries. So we had to treat their Covid first before putting them under the knife," he said. As per the data, 42 patients before and after their surgeries tested positive for the Covid-19 at the centre. Meanwhile, Ray also pointed out that many of the staff got infected with the COVID-19 as well, which added to the delay. As per the data, total 34 healthcare workers at the institute including surgeons, anaesthesists, nursing officers, technicians and others tested positive for the disease between April and November 2020. "Given all the pandemic restrictions and real-life situations, we did fairly well in treating cancer patients," Ray commented. However, the lack of initial care in patients during the Covid enforced lockdown aggravated their cancer status. Many hospitals estimate that 40 per cent of their patients have now gone to stage three of the disease since they could not avail timely treatment. But the doctors at AIIMS went an extra-mile for their patients to contain the aggressiveness of their cancers since they could not visit the institute due to travel restrictions amid the lockdown. "Our doctors took out records of patients who were on the wait-list of surgeries. We sent them drugs so that their disease does not progress till they are able to come for the surgeries. With this measure, the disease condition in our patients did not turn aggressive," Ray added. Meanwhile, Dr Garg said that now the hospitals will have to overwork to provide care to the cancer patients who were left behind while dealing with the pandemic. "Since the Covid cases have seemed to have settled down and services at many hospitals have started to resume, the footfall of the cancer patients would increase at all the tertiary cares more than usual. They all will have to overwork now," he commented. Former Vice President Mike Pence has unveiled plans to launch a new podcast aimed at Americas youth to attract new hearts and minds to the conservative cause. The podcast will be one of a number of projects Pence will work on in the coming months as part of his newly revealed partnership with the Young Americas foundation (YAF), a conservative youth organization dating back to the 1960s. Pence will join YAF as the groups first Ronald Reagan presidential scholar, and his podcast will enable him to share the good news of conservatism through one of today's most popular mediums, the organization said in a statement. He will also tour US colleges and speak on behalf of the organization to deliver his pro-freedom message directly to the rising generation, YAF continued. Additionally, Pence will be provided a platform to publish a monthly op-ed on relevant issues and serve as a speaker at various student conferences hosted by the foundation. Former Vice President Mike Pence has unveiled plans to launch a new podcast aimed at Americas youth to attract new hearts and minds to the conservative cause In a statement, Pence said he was honored to be partnering with YAF. Throughout its 60-year history, Young America's Foundation has been a bulwark of the Conservative Movement, advancing the cause of freedom and ensuring our future leaders embrace America's founding principles and I am honored to join YAF as the Ronald Reagan Presidential Scholar, he said. Long before I became Vice President to President Donald Trump, the vision and leadership of Ronald Reagan inspired my youth and I am humbled to continue the work of advancing the Conservative cause from a position bearing his name. He added: Now more than ever, we need to take the case for freedom, free markets, and traditional values to the rising generation and I look forward to working with the great YAF team to ensure the torch of freedom shines bright for generations to come. Details regarding the podcasts launch date or official name have not yet been revealed. However, broadcasting on the airwaves will be familiar territory to Pence, who was a prominent conservative radio host in the Midwest for the better part of a decade, before he was elected to Congress in 2000. The former Indiana Governor billed his presenting style as Rush Limbaugh on decaf a laid back version of the right-wing radio personality and regularly hosted discussion on conservative and religious themes. The Vice-President will certainly be focused on the conservative accomplishments of the last four years and projecting those accomplishments and lessons learned forward, a spokesperson for Pence told Politico. Pence is not stranger to broadcasting on the airwaves, having hosted The Mike Pence Show in the Midwest before being elected to Congress in 2000 Pence left office last month amid strained relationship with former President Donald Trump following his certification of Joe Bidens election win, and after the US Capitol riots. His latest venture with YAF comes as an effort to re-establish himself among the upper echelons of the conservative moment, and step out of Trump's shadow. Earlier this week, the 61-year-old announced he was joining the conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation, as a distinguished visiting fellow concentrating on public policy. Pence is also said to be eyeing a potential book deal, has plans to create a new fundraising committee, and is weighing a future presidential bid of his own in 2024. The former Vice President, who recently returned from a vacation in Saint Croix with his wife Karen, is currently living in the suburbs of DC and places to keep a residence in the nations capital, as well as in his home state of Indiana. Pence left office last month amid strained relationship with former President Donald Trump following his certification of Joe Bidens election win, and after the US Capitol riots President Joe Biden recorded his first podcast of sorts on Saturday, when he conducted the first of his weekly conversations with Americans on Saturday In a statement, Scott Walker, the former Wisconsin governor who is president of the Virginia-based YAF, said Pence would enhance the values of the conservative youth group. Vice-President Pence has been a stalwart defender of individual freedom, traditional values, free markets, and limited government throughout his career of distinguished service to our country, Walker said. Now, by partnering with YAF, the Vice-President will continue to attract new hearts and minds to the conservative cause. His energy and enthusiasm for Ronald Reagans values has and will continue to inspire a new generation of young people. The Young Americas foundation (YAF) is a conservative youth organization dating back to the 1960s Reagan, the 40th US President, delivered a daily radio commentary while he was Governor of California in the early 1970s, in a YAF-sponsored venture. President Joe Biden recorded his first podcast of sorts on Saturday, when he conducted the first of his weekly conversations with Americans on Saturday. Biden spoke to California woman Michele Voelkert, 47, who is having a 'tough time' after getting laid off. 'Keep the faith,' Biden told Voelkert, of Roseville, who lost her job at a California clothing company Stitch Fix last summer. With the new feature, Biden is reinstating a presidential tradition dating back to 1933, when former president Franklin D Roosevelt began hosting his evening fireside chats, which ended under the previous administration. More than 550 Leaving Cert 2020 students are receiving a higher CAO offer after sitting the November exams. It means that at least one in four of the 2,155 candidates are guaranteed a place next autumn based on their 2020 points. While the offers are being made across the across the board, it is understood that about half are going to students who applied for courses where at least 450 points were needed. With Biology the most popular subject in the November exams, there will be no surprise if there is a relatively large number of offers being made in courses such as Medicine and other health professions. About one on four of the 806 Biology candidates achieved the top Leaving Cert grade of H1, the highest H1 success rate among all subjects. Another science subject, Chemistry, was the second most popular paper, with 416 candidates 16pc of whom achieved a H1. Higher education institutions are making direct contact with students to advise them of their offers. Further and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris has tweeted that 554 honours degree (Level 8) offers are in the process of being made to students. As well as that, there are 37 offers being made for Level 7/6 (ordinary degree/higher certificate) courses. Some students may have received an offer at both Level 8 and Level 7/6/. Unlike the usual Leaving Cert, students sitting the November exams knew exactly what was needed in terms of CAO points for college entry. Most candidates took one, two or three papers, suggesting they were focused on maximising points in the hope of getting an offer for their top choice course. In the extraordinary circumstances of 2020, Leaving Cert students were awarded calculated grades after the June exams were cancelled because of Covid-19. Candidates who went on to take the November exams are able to mix the best of their results for CAO purposes. Any student who is entitled to a new CAO offer will receive that in July, under what is known as CAO Round A. Unusually, but taking into account the exceptional circumstances, if they have also applied for other courses in 2021, they may also receive a different offer in Round One and may choose between them at that point. The Government opened extra college places for 2020/21, to adjust for the impact of calculated grades, which resulted in a 4pc rise in Leaving Cert grades generally. Almost 50,000 first years registered last autumn. There is a commitment to extra places in 2021/22 as well, but about 500 of those may be filled in July as a result of this weeks offers. Some students achieving a higher CAO offer this week may already be on a course and be happy to stay there, but many will want to pursue the new opportunity. Shes committed to her physical fitness routine, and has the killer body to show for it. And Kaia Gerber was seen out for her daily morning Pilates class on Saturday, rocking dark athleisure wear in West Hollywood, California. The model, 19, wore her habitual high-waisted leggings, in a shade of dark gray. Stick thin: Kaia Gerber was seen out for her daily morning Pilates class on Saturday, rocking dark athleisure wear in West Hollywood She paired this with a cropped navy blue hoodie sweatshirt, which ended high enough to allow an occasional peek at her midriff. The famous daughter of Cindy Crawford wore her short brownish blonde hair down, parted at the middle. She shouldered a small tan leather purse. Striking silhouette: The model wore her habitual high-waisted leggings, in a shade of dark gray Gerbers covered her eyes with ovular black sunglasses. She carried a plastic Fiji water bottle, her smartphone, and car keys on a beaded keychain. Kaia stayed protected against the ongoing coronavirus pandemic with a snug black face mask by Enro. Peek of midriff: She paired this with a cropped navy blue hoodie sweatshirt, which ended high enough to allow an occasional peek at her midriff The leggy beauty kept her feet warm in cushy looking black socks, and then slipped them into black Birkenstock-style sandals. Kaia was on her way to a class at Forma Pilates, which offers private and semi private classes to an exclusive clientele in LA. The company was founded last year. From the front and back: The famous daughter of Cindy Crawford wore her short brownish blonde hair down, parted at the middle Gerber reposted footage of her grueling Saturday morning workout from Formas Instagram stories, showing her and a few other students on Pilates reformer machines. The caption read, 'No days off / we sweep on Saturdays' referring to the sweeping movement the students were performing with their legs. The starlets sighting comes the morning after she was seen out with her mother Cindy, 54, along with father Rande Gerber and brother Presley Walker for dinner at Malibus ritzy Nobu Japanese eatery. Chandigarh: A group of farmers protesting against central farm laws disrupted the shooting of actor Bobby Deol's upcoming film 'Love Hostel' in Punjab's Patiala district. The protesting farmers said they will not allow the shooting as none from the actor's family spoke in favour of the protesting farmers. Furthermore, they expressed their disappointment that despite being from Punjab, the Deol family did not stand by them or support their cause. It is to be noted that Bobby's family share a close connection with BJP. His brother and actor Sunny Deol is a BJP member and MP from Gurdaspur, whereas his step-mother Hema Malini is a BJP MP from Mathura. The incident took place on Friday when the film's shooting was taking place at a house in Mehon village near Devigarh in Patiala district, they said. Around 150-200 farmers gathered there and halted the shooting of the film, Inspector Harmanpreet Singh, Julkan police station, Patiala, said over the phone. The police official said Bobby Deol was not present during the time of the incident. The film 'Love Hostel', a crime thriller, also stars Vikrant Massey and Sanya Malhotra in key roles. Incidentally, it was the same district that the shooting of actress Janhvi Kapoor's film 'Good Luck Jerry' was halted by farmers following which filmmakers shifted the shooting schedule to Chandigarh. Shooting of the film was disrupted twice in Patiala and one-time in Fatehgarh Sahib district last month. Farmers had insisted that actor Janhvi Kapoor should make a statement in support of farmers who are agitating against the Centre's three new farm laws. Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh demanding the rollback of the three farm laws. The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the 'mercy' of big corporations. On the other hand, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring farmers better opportunities and usher in new technologies in agriculture. Regarding the recent article, Districts open window policy gets bit of a freeze, about a now-settled dispute between Upper Freehold teachers and administrators over COVID-19 measures: In my very first classroom evaluation as a teacher, the principal at my school wrote that at least one of rooms my windows should be open slightly no matter how cold it is outside. Her reasoning was that fresh air will help children concentrate on their tasks, as well as keeping fresh air circulating in the room. This also reduces the distraction that is caused by having children squirming in their seats in a stifling classroom with closed windows and doors, while the heat is on. Moreover, an open classroom window helps to make the classroom a healthier place to work in for both the teacher and the students. Sister Marys observation was right on point! Samuel Monaco, Toms River Counter Rep. Greenes invective with tribute When the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee holds its first meeting of the new congressional session with or without the vicious Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. it would be fitting for the chairperson to open by recalling by name and by school the child and teen victims of school shootings at Columbine (1999), Sandy Hook (2012), Parkland (2018), and Santa Fe (2018). Before her election to Congress, Greene had endorsed false conspiracy theories, including those contending that the Sandy Hook and Parkland shootings were fake. The families of victims, who will mourn for the rest of their lives, as well as the wounded and traumatized surviving students of those schools, should be remembered. Sandra Moss, Metuchen Note: After this letter was submitted, the Democrat majority in the House voted to remove Greene from her education/labor committee and budget committee assignments. Onward and upward with electric cars in N.J. The lives of thousands of New Jerseyans are caught in the crossfire as our state emerges from a dual crisis. About a year ago, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a landmark bill favoring plug-in electric vehicles, outlining ambitious goals, policies and incentives to transition the states transportation sector toward a renewable energy future. Since then, we have experienced a public health and economic crisis, draining already low government coffers and effectively limiting progress on the new laws objectives. However, COVID-19s immense impact on our state further proves the need to prioritize electrification moving forward. New Jerseys numerous interstate highways emit massive amounts of pollutants into the air, contributing over 40% of our greenhouse gas emissions while contaminating nearby communities air. Diseases perpetuated by air pollution correlate to higher death rates from COVID-19. To build back healthier from the pandemic, we must transform our transportation sector by prioritizing the goals and programs of the electric-vehicle law. While public debt is a reality, electrification creates new jobs and is cost-effective in both the long and short terms. The next step to ensure healthier environments while increasing job opportunities is to build more electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the state to make this vision a reality. Margaret Berei, Mountain Lakes, campaign coordinator, Environment New Jersey Biden must mistrust his own party Recent letters from Richard Kochman and Michael Schnackenberg were off-base in being critical of another letter writers complaint about President Joe Biden signing too many executive orders. There is no need for the abundance of executive orders that Biden has been signing when he could easily work with both houses of Congress which, unfortunately, have Democratic majorities. Biden must not trust his own party to work with him, and do the peoples business constitutionally. Bruce Papkin, Edison Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 (Reuters) - The United Nations special envoy on Yemen is visiting Iran for the first time to discuss Yemen's crisis, Iranian state TV reported on Sunday, days after Washington announced an end to its support for Saudi-led military operations in Yemen. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened in Yemen's civil war in 2015, backing government forces fighting Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. Saudi Arabia and Iran compete for influence across the Middle East, from Syria to Iraq and Yemen. "The U.N. Special Envoy Martin Griffiths has arrived in Tehran for a two-day visit, during which he will meet with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and other Iranian officials," state TV said. Griffiths' office said the visit was part of his diplomatic efforts to support a negotiated political solution to the conflict. His immediate priority was to support agreement between the warring parties on a ceasefire, urgent humanitarian measures and a resumption of the political process, it said in a press release. Griffiths' spokeswoman, Ismini Palla, said the visit had been planned for some time, adding it comes at a time when he is trying to bring together more diplomatic, regional and international support to his efforts to end the war. "Griffiths will consult with Iranian officials on ways to alleviate sufferings of the Yemeni people," Iranian state news agency IRNA reported. On Saturday, Iran welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden's move on Thursday to end Washington's support for offensive operations in the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen as a "step towards correcting past mistakes". When asked whether the U.S. decision will produce the opportunity to end the war in Yemen, Zarif told CNN: "I certainly hope that it does ... it is best for the United States to show some tough love to its allies and tell them to stop this atrocity. They will never win in Yemen." Reversing one of former U.S. President Donald Trump's most criticised last-minute decisions, Washington also said on Friday it intended to revoke a terrorist designation for the Houthi movement in response to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where the United Nations says some 80% of the population is in need. (Additional reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi in Dubai and Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Frances Kerry and Susan Fenton) Rescuers bring the Philippine sailor ashore for treatment in the south central province of Khanh Hoa. (Photo: VNA) According to the Vietnam Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Centre (Vietnam MRCC), Sil Verio Rosal, a 40-year-old mechanic, was on board the bulk carrier Antonis Angelicoussis en route from Singapore to China when he suddenly suffered bowel obstruction a day earlier. Vietnam MRCC received a request for medical assistance from the captain when the ship was navigating through waters about 235 km southeast of Nha Trang. The centre then maintained close contact with the ship to update about the sailors health and instruct how to provide first aid for him. However, as his health rapidly deteriorated, the SAR27-01 was dispatched for the rescue mission. Once ashore, the man was immediately taken to the Khanh Hoa provincial General Hospital for emergency care. Vietnam MRCC has strictly complied with preventive rules against the COVID-19 pandemic during the rescue operation./. Damscus, Feb 7 : Iran and Syria have called for accelerating the establishment of a joint bank to boost bilateral trade, it was reported. "In order to increase economic exchanges, it has been proposed that we establish a joint bank to support economic activities," Xinhua news agency quoted of the Iran-Syria Joint Chamber of Commerce Keyvan Kashefi as saying at a meeting with Syrian officials in Damascus on Saturday. The implementation of a free trade agreement and the reduction or elimination of customs tariffs can be instrumental in the increase of mutual trade exchanges, Kashefi was quoted as saying. "Syria is one of our main trade markets and export destinations... We have common interests with this country in various fields, which can support our economic relations," he said. Earlier, Kashefi said that the annual value of Iran's trade with Syria could reach $1 billion by the end of current Iranian calendar year which will start on March 20. The Syrian economic and trade officials also attended the meeting. They stressed their interest in increasing cooperation with Iran and proposed ways to develop the two countries' trade relations. It was announced on December 26, 2020, that Iran and Syria had plans to establish a joint bank to facilitate trade cooperation. Uttarakhand: ITBP, NDRF teams rushed to Chamoli's Joshimath India pti-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Feb 7: Teams of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the National Disaster Response Force were rushed to flood-hit areas in Uttarakhand, where a glacier broke off at Joshimath and caused massive flooding in the Dhauli Ganga river on Sunday, officials said. ITBP personnel rescue people stranded in Tapovan tunnel in Chamoli | Oneindia News An ITBP officer said two teams of the force, comprising about 200 personnel, had moved to the affected areas from Joshimath. The border guarding force has units based in Joshimath as part of its mandate to guard the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. As news of the disaster came in, two teams were rushed from Dehradun to Joshimath, NDRF Director General S N Pradhan added. Glacier bursts in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, 100-150 casualties feared: LIVE updates We are working to airlift three-four more teams from the Hindon IAF base near Delhi, he said. The extent of damage can only be ascertained after some more time, he said. More than 150 labourers working at the Rishi Ganga power project may have been directly affected, said State Disaster Response Force DIG Ridhim Aggarwal. Representatives of the power project have told me that they are not being able to contact around 150 of their workmen at the project site," she said. Though details are awaited, several districts, including Pauri, Tehri, Rudraprayag, Haridwar and Dehradun, are likely to be affected and have been put on high alert. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. The Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, has again explained why he left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Mr Umahi, who was elected governor twice after also serving two terms as deputy governor under the PDP, defected from the party in November last year. In Jigawa State on Saturday as the guest of Governor Muhammad Badaru, Mr Umahi said PDPs politics of bitterness and anger drove him out of the opposition party. Speaking to a crowd of government officials and APC supporters at a ceremony to commission a road project in Jigawa, Mr Umahi said his major problem in the PDP was that he was expected to be castigating President Muhammadu Buhari. The event in Babura, the home local government area of the host governor, was attended by top APC politicians from Ebonyi and Jigawa States. As governor, my only boss is my wife and President Muhammadu Buhari is the overall boss of all. If you were brought up well, you will know that you dont have to insult an elder and your boss, the governor said. The president deserves our respect and support because he means well for all Nigerians and the country. When I was in the PDP, all the governors got support from the president to strengthen their states. This is a man that has respect for every governor, a man who never sends anybody against his enemy. He deserves our respect and support. Without the support of the president it would have been terrible for governors, he never showed party inclination in helping the states. The unity of Nigeria is very important. I urge the leaders of this country to come together and stop bitter politics. Stop bitterness and anger, let us stop sending provocative messages and comments in trying to pull down the ruling party, Mr Umahi said. Igbo politics Mr Umahi also said he moved to the APC to take back the Igbo into the national political centre. He said the southeast had always been in alliance with the north, saying this is what we are fighting for and you need to be informed. Host governor speaks Mr Badaru thanked Mr Umahi for accepting his invitation to the state and assured him of the protection of lives and property of all Nigerians in Jigawa. ALSO READ: Umahi vows to prosecute officials linked to Ebonyi communal crisis Mr Badaru corroborated Mr Umahis remarks on President Buhari, saying he has been fair to all the governors. He said without his support, many states would not have been able to execute infrastructural projects. When we came on board in 2015, the economy went into recession. 27 states were not paying workers salaries but the president supported the governor with bailouts and with that, we were able to pay arrears of salaries, Mr Badaru said. He also gave us N10 billion each as infrastructure development fund and refunded the Paris Club deduction done to the state and local governments, without which I could not have done the roads, the electricity and the projects in the health sector. The federal government refunded all the money states spent on federal projects. The Governor of Rivers, Nyesom Wike, received over N70 billion. The president did that across party lines. He also refunded to the states all PAYE deductions and gave the states additional N1 billion support after the monthly allocation for 18 months until all states were able to stabilise, Mr Badaru said. ADVERTISEMENT South Africa needs 16,000MW of new power generation capacity by 2030, but the government has not procured a single megawatt of additional power. Over the past week South Africa experienced its latest bout of load-shedding. This time it was blamed on heavy rains which caused problems feeding coal to boilers at the Medupi power station. While the reasons for load-shedding differ from week to week, the underlying problem remains the same there is not enough electricity generation to meet the demand from customers. Bad news for South Africans is that the situation is set to get much worse unless immediate and decisive action is taken. Even Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter warned that the country has some real challenges in terms of electricity generation capacity. In a recent presentation, De Ruyter explained South Africa has an installed generation capacity of 46,000MW. Of this 46,000MW, around 11,000MW is unavailable at any given time because of unplanned maintenance. These outages are caused by the unreliability of the generation fleet. Another 5,000MW is offline because of planned maintenance, while various other problems take out 2,000MW more. Effectively, of the 46,000MW installed capacity there is only 28,000MW available to South African electricity users. In terms of the countrys Integrated Resource Plan (IRP2019), Eskom is going to retire about 10,000MW over the next decade. That leaves us with a very significant shortfall of 16,000MW which needs to be supplemented urgently, said De Ruyter. To address this shortfall Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe is punting new coal and nuclear generation plants. This is misguided. De Ruyter explained the timeline in which the new generation capacity must be procured is forcing the countrys hand in terms of which technologies to use. There are only three options which have an average built time quick enough to provide the additional power we need by 2030 solar, wind, and natural gas. Coal and nuclear, which have a build time of between 10 and 15 years, can be discounted in the short and medium term because they will not be able to come online by 2030. De Ruyter believes natural gas offers a particularly compelling case to bring new capacity online quickly. We would really like to explore what opportunities there are for us to repurpose some of our existing coal-fired power stations to natural gas, as there is a significant cost saving associated with it, he said. Not a single megawatt procured Yelland The Eskom CEO said they strongly support all efforts to bring additional capacity onto the grid. Eskom is even willing to open up its network and work with independent electricity suppliers to add additional capacity to the grid. Recent research by energy expert Chris Yelland found that there is currently 5,000MW which can be added to the grid, which can go a long way to stave off load-shedding. It is, however, not up to Eskom to procure new capacity. The government, through the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, is in charge of this process. There are plans to bring 13,800MW of new generation capacity online, of which 2,000MW are planned to be available by June 2020. De Ruyter believes even more capacity is required to bridge the gap between electricity supply and demand. This is where the private sector can help, but there is a problem. Mantashe and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy is not doing what needs to be done to make this happen. A regulatory change is needed to lift restrictions on licensing large electricity generation projects, which the minister is not doing. Yelland highlighted that the requirements for a 1MW system is currently the same as for a 4,000MW system. The licensing requirements are completely inappropriate, Yelland said. Another problem is that the government has not procured a single megawatt of power in recent years despite the pressing shortage. Not one kilowatt of new generation capacity has been procured since the Integrated Resource Plan for electricity was published in November 2019, Yelland said. None of these procurements if they are procured and when they are procured are going to come onstream in less than two to three years. South Africa is therefore facing a prolonged energy shortage and it will be up to households and businesses to look after their own energy future. People need to become part of the solution by installing solar solutions or buy generators to supplement Eskom power, he said. Not the first time Eskom warned the government Eskom is clearly raising the red flags about the state of South Africas energy supply, but the government does not seem to listen. If this situation sounds familiar, it is because it resembles the warning to the Department of Minerals and Energy in 1998. A white paper on the energy policy outlined the state of South Africas energy sector at the time which stated the present generation capacity surplus will be fully utilised by about 2007. The government shrugged off this warning, and as predicted electricity demand exceeded supply in 2007. Eskom was forced to implement load-shedding for the first time ever in South Africa to prevent a national blackout. After load-shedding hit, former President Thabo Mbeki admitted We were wrong. Eskom was right. This apology did nothing to resolve the energy crisis in South Africa and the country experienced increasingly serious blackouts over the years. The last three years were particularly damaging. In 2018 there was 15 days of load-shedding during which 812,205MWh were shed. This increased to 36 days and 494,759MWh in 2019 and to 52 days and over 1,260,000MWh in 2020. It is clear that Eskom alone will not be able to resolve the countrys power problems. It needs help from the private sector. Unless the government realises the seriousness of the situation and encourages private power production by easing licensing requirements, the country is facing a dark future. 1998 White Paper warning Russian epidemiologists at the Gamaleya Institute, the maker of the world's first COVID-19 shot, are working on a technology that will allow to swiftly tweak and rollout vaccines against mutant strains, its director said on Saturday PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKIY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th February, 2021) Russian epidemiologists at the Gamaleya Institute, the maker of the world's first COVID-19 shot, are working on a technology that will allow to swiftly tweak and rollout vaccines against mutant strains, its director said on Saturday. "The institute is currently working on a technology that will allow us to swiftly develop efficient vaccines in the event of a fast pathogen mutation," Alexander Gintsburg told Rossiya 1, a Russian television channel. The institute's Sputnik V vaccine is in demand in Russia, Europe, Latin America and the middle East. Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said on Saturday that all Russians who want to be vaccinated will likely have an opportunity to get a shot by June. Eerie, Mind-Bending Ghost Forests Appear Around Oregon Coast Published 02/05/21 at 7:56 PM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Oregon Coast) Parts of the central Oregon coast are thick with a new yet extremely old sight. 4,000-year-old ghost forests have popped up in numerous sections as sand levels there get scoured out by winter storms and the recent king tides. (Above: ghost forest stump at Seal Rock) These ghost forests are older and much more interesting than those that show year-round at Neskowin. Those at Neskowin are only 2,000 years old, while many of those found around the Newport area right now are 4,000 years or more in age. They are sometimes spooky in appearance, and for their reminder of what climate change is capable of. Then their origin story is a mind-bending trip back in time filled with interesting scientific twists and turns. What youll see are either small stumps that look especially ragged, some of which may be tilted on their side, or theyll be large root systems lying half in the sand with no discernible tops to them. Ghost forests are not petrified forests theyre not solid rock. They were created by some gradual change in the landscape where sand and / or soil enveloped them, killing them by choking off the oxygen. Then, paradoxically, its that same lack of oxygen that preserved them by keeping them safe from the decaying properties of exposure to air. They were not - as rumored on the internet - the result of a sudden subsidence event such as an earthquake. (See Explanations of Neskowin Ghost Forest Wrong, Say Oregon Coast Geologists) Charlie Plybon, Oregon Policy Manager for Surfrider Foundation, reported seeing plenty in the Newport area. Ive seen them in all the other usual spots south of South Beach and down past Ona - super exposed, Plybon said. The sand on most the beaches has been really scoured between the king tides, swells and stormwater (rain). This is referring to places like Thiel Creek / Holiday Beach (a secret spot just south of Newport) and Curtis St. at Seal Rock, among other places. Other reports have come in from Gleneden Beach as well. Thiel Creek ghost forest According to PSU geologist Dr. Curt Peterson, these ancient stumps in the Newport area are roughly 3.5 to a little over 4,000 years old. This comes from his paper co-authored with Roger Hart in the early 2000s called Late-Holocene Buried Forests On the Oregon Coast. The Hart / Peterson paper also points out just about all other places you can find ghost forests on the Oregon coast, although some had been discovered later after the papers publication. Some of the most famous ghost forest finds are those at Arch Cape and Hug Point near Cannon Beach, although its uncertain if those showed up this year or not. Those areas are definitely worth looking at. They also sometimes boast the oddity of the red towers - which are reddish objects of varying shapes and size that are the result of things clumping together beneath the sand and then getting colored red by oxidation. They disappear shortly after being exposed, however. Sometimes, these are found at Moolack Beach just north of Newport. Moolack is another area that ghost forests have likely showed up if those sections south of there have seen them emerge. Those at Moolack are of the root system variety, looking like giant octopuses in the sand. Moolack Beach ghost forest, taken 1998 Other areas to look at along the Oregon coast: McPhillips Beach on the northern face of Cape Kiwanda, Netarts and Cape Lookout State Park can be plentiful. On the southern Oregon coast, look to Crook Point, Otter Rock, Nesika Beach, Blacklock Point Bandon, Whiskey Run and Five Mile Point. Same beach, 2007. Ghost forests are starting to get uprooted and are threatened According to Hart and Peterson, the oldest ghost forest is in the Coos Bay area at 7,000 years old, and the youngest at Netarts at just under 1,000 years. However, in 2019 Peterson told Oregon Coast Beach Connection there is also a set of ghost forests at Netarts that are over 80,000 years old. MORE PHOTOS BELOW: In Search of More Oregon Coast Ghost Forests - Where to Find Ghost Forests Oregon Coast Hotels for this - South Coast Hotels - Where to eat - Map - Virtual Tour MORE PHOTOS BELOW Tillicum Beach near Yachats Arch Cape 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 Thiruvananathapuram, Feb 8 : A madrasa teacher has been arrested in Kerala for allegedly killing her 6-year-old son by slitting his throat, the police said. The shocking incident took place in Palakkad in the early hours of Sunday. The arrested teacher, Shahida, 30, is said to be pregnant. The deceased has been identified as Amil. Her husband Sulaiman was sleeping in another room when the incident happened. The woman was booked under section 302 of Indian Penal Code. Palakkad Superintendent of Police R Viswanathan told IANS: "We have arrested the lady and booked her under Section 302 of IPC. However, we are probing all aspects of the case and will press more charges on her if required." Sulaiman is an autorickshaw driver, and Amil was the youngest child of the couple. Subaair, a neighbour, told the media that the family was not superstitious. IDLIB, Syria Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was recently interviewed by American journalist Martin Smith in Idlib, sparking controversy among the Syrian opposition and activists, especially since he was not wearing his traditional shami sirwel (loose pants) or his turban or carrying his rifle. Smith tweeted a picture Feb. 2 with Golani with a caption saying, Just returned from three days in Idlib, Syria with Abu Muhammad al Jolani [ Abu Mohammed al-Golani], founder of al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra. He spoke candidly about 9/11, AQ [al-Qaeda], Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS [Islamic State, or IS], America, and more. The next day, the US State Departments Rewards for Justice Twitter page posted a sarcastic comment saying, Hey, handsome Golani, what a sweet suit. You can change your outfit, but you will always be a terrorist. Don't forget the $10 million reward. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, also known as HTS, is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, the United Nations and others. In 2017, the US State Department announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of Golani. Following this controversy over Golani's attire, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's public relations office issued a statement saying, Golanis photo in a suit, which is far from the usual, was part of his hosting of the American journalist, Martin Smith, in Idlib for a period of three days. The visit included a field tour and an official meeting [with Smith] in which he [Golani], with his long experience, dealt with the most important milestones and shifts, in addition to trivial questions about the current situation and the future. The statement added, We must break the isolation [of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham] and convey the situation with all available legitimate means, with the aim of communicating this to the peoples of the region and the world in a way that contributes to achieving our interests and pushing away those spoiling our blessed revolution. Since the first day of the 10-year Syrian revolution, we have always been proud of it and all the victories and defeats it went through because it is a people's revolution and a modern experience in which a bright future for the Syrian people will emerge, the statement added. In this context, Orabi Abdel-Hay Orabi, a Syrian journalist specializing in the affairs of Islamic and jihadi groups and residing in Turkey, told Al-Monitor, The picture caused an uproar because Golani seemed to be doing exactly what he had always criticized. He used to say that anyone who meets with Western media or builds ties with the West is an infidel, but here he is getting closer to the West. He added, Many activists expected that Golani would reach this stage and change all of his principles on which he fought the factions, claiming they had connections with the West. Today, their expectations came true. Orabi noted, Golani aspires to establish a political party that will have a role in the future of Syria. He wants to show that he has a military force on the ground, that he has legitimacy through the Salvation Government and that he enjoys popularity, all with the intention of being recognized internationally. He also worked to restructure the HTS, to make it more centralized, and tried to convey an image of himself as a strong, popular man in control. Golani succeeded in deflecting his opponents and exploiting some files in his favor, such as the fight against the Islamic State. Golani has a powerful media machine, which portrays him as a shrewd man with experience in politics and as someone who can turn cards in his favor. For his part, Mustafa Sejari, director of the political bureau of the Mutasim Brigade affiliated with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), who is based in the Aleppo countryside, told Al-Monitor, The uproar caused by Golanis meeting with Smith is a natural result given Golanis suspicious behavior in recent years. The Syrian street sees Golani as a bloody, volatile and pragmatic figure who quickly shifts his behavior to achieve his goals. I think that Golani seeks to promote himself internationally after he extended his control over Idlib by force of arms. However, one cannot tell to which extent the West will respond to him. Oftentimes, such matters are not linked to principles and values, but rather to special interests. Sejari added, Golanis entourage is made up of extremists who are completely loyal to him. They will not budge, no matter the changes. The other jihadi groups, such as Hurras al-Din and IS, are trying to weaken Golani's position and question his jihadi history and intentions, but they are too weak to be able to affect Golani's plans. Meanwhile, Mohammed Omar, an activist close to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Idlib, told Al-Monitor, Those criticizing Golanis recent appearance are jealous and hateful because with his cunning and intelligence, Golani reached a stage of global respect that the moderate opposition, the [US-led] coalition and the FSA, had always dreamed of. The difference is that the opposition presented itself as a servant and fell into the arms of Western supporters, while Golani's actions, control, organization and strength led him to this stage. Golani spared no effort to appear anywhere that would improve the situation of the liberated areas in north Syria. We sometimes find him with the children of the martyrs, and sometimes with notables and tribal sheikhs, and at other times with activists and the media. Golani wants to break the isolation and siege of the liberated areas in north Syria and he wants to tell the world that Idlib is open to all media channels. Activist Hazar Hashemi, who lives in Idlib, told Al-Monitor, The world is accustomed to seeing jihadi leaders hide in mountains and caves, with little media exposure, so in principle the leader should be in disguise, wearing certain clothes and speaking in a certain way; in complete isolation from people, even from his own soldiers. An exception is happening today with Golani, the leader of the largest faction in northern Syria. He broke all stereotypes about the leaders of jihadi organizations, and he wants to show openness to the world. At this stage of the Syrian revolution, a military solution to the Syrian crisis has become unlikely, as neither the regime nor the factions is capable of resolving it militarily, meaning a political solution is inevitable. Ronja, the Robbers Daughter centers on the relationship between a father and his child, and his desire to keep her away from his successful, albeit illegal, business. The films director, Goro Miyazaki, knows a bit about having a father who is successful and choosing to follow in his line of work. Son of legendary animation director and producer Hayao Miyazaki, Goro is extending the anime practice of mining Scandinavian kids books to use as TV programs and movies. Ronja was written by Pippi Longstocking writer Astrid Lindgren, and Miyazaki has put his twist on the tale for the new series, which premiered Jan. 27 on Amazon Prime. We caught up with Miyazaki to ask him about his Studio Ghibli-produced Ronja, about bringing it to the States and, of course, about following in his fathers footsteps. How did you come across the Astrid Lindgren story/book Ronja, the Robbers Daughter? Advertisement When I was looking for a book suitable for a new film project, I read many books for children. I came across the book Ronja, the Robbers Daughter. Many Scandinavian books have been made into animated productions in Japan. For example, Vicke the Viking, The Wonderful Adventures of Nils and Moomin. Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki even once tried to create a film of Astrid Lindgrens Pippi Longstocking. Japanese viewers and creators, including me, are quite familiar with books for kids from overseas. The story of Ronja and Birk is very much like that of Romeo and Juliet, though they have much more of a brother-sister relationship than a romance. What was your inspiration when directing the series? More than romance, I first attached great importance to the relationship between a child and her father. I thought that the book emphasizes the relationship between Ronja and Mattis more than that of Ronja and Birk. Also, I was careful when depicting the difference between the affection of children for their parents and the affection of parents for their children. When directing the series, I referred to the cultures of medieval Europe, including central and Eastern Europe, and Russia, and I studied Scandinavian Vikings. Also, I was inspired by my journey to Romania, and my experience in forests when climbing mountains. What does Gillian Anderson bring to the series as a voice actor? Her gorgeous voice has brought a sense of stability and luxury to the series. The show has been very popular overseas. What do you hope the reaction will be in the U.S.? Advertisement I hope that many people have a chance to watch it. Never have we needed mutual understanding more than in the antagonistic age we are experiencing now. What kind of influence has your father had on the show? And what kind of influence has he had on your professional path? He has influenced all of my productions, the backbone and spirit of which come from his works. In this regard, he has influenced the show in every way. As far as my professional path, unlike Ronja, Ive felt remorse for choosing to follow in my fathers footsteps. (laughs). Advertisement Seems like with the kids growing up together and the Robber clans being mixed up, it could make for more seasons. Is that the plan? I dont have any plan to make more seasons. How Ronja and her clan develop and grow, and what kind of lives they lead, will be found in the hearts and imaginations of readers and viewers. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour >> jevon.phillips@latimes.com Advertisement Follow me on Twitter: @Storiz Bangladesh on Sunday launched its nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive with lawmakers along with top administration and health officials taking the first shots of the vaccine. Health Minister Zahid Maleque, who inaugurated the campaign at a virtual event at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) here, urged people not to spread propaganda against the vaccine, saying it is safe and has no side effects, Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. Lawmakers and top administration and health officials took the first shots of vaccine, the report said. However, there have been tepid responses from vaccine seekers in the country, it said. Bangladesh on January 21 received as gift from India two million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine manufactured under license by the Serum Institute of India. The first consignment of 50 lakh doses of Covishield purchased by the government landed in Dhaka on January 25. Bangladesh has so far purchased 30 million doses from the Serum Institute of India through private Beximco pharmaceuticals under a tripartite agreement Health Minister Maleque said that the government is continuing its fight against the coronavirus and the condition of Bangladesh is now better than many other countries. "The vaccine campaign will continue throughout the year. There is another process to get the jab other than online registration. People will be able to take the shots immediately after registering themselves at the vaccine centres," said Health Minister Maleque, who took the jab at Sheikh Russel National Gastroliver Institute and Hospital. Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque; Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim; Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin; Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman; State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain among others were also vaccinated, the report said. The health authorities have decided to administer the second doses of the vaccine four weeks after the first jab, instead of eight weeks. DGHS Director General Khurshid Alam on Saturday said a total of 2,400 vaccination teams would be deployed across the country - 204 teams at 50 vaccine centres in Dhaka and 2,196 teams at 995 centres outside Dhaka. According to the DGHS, 10 vaccination teams (eight on duty and two in reserve) will be deployed at hospitals of each district, while three teams (two on duty and one in reserve) will be deployed at other centres. Each team should be able to vaccinate 100-150 people per day. Initially, the officials had planned to deploy 6,725 vaccination teams, with 619 teams in reserve. While the original deployment would have been able to vaccinate 670,000-1,000,000 people per day, the reduced number of teams should be able to inoculate about 360,000 people per day, the report said. Meanwhile, the government has cancelled leave of health workers until February 10 due to the nationwide vaccination drive. India is one of the world's biggest drugmakers and an increasing number of countries have already approached it for procuring the coronavirus vaccines. In the last few weeks, India has sent consignments of domestically produced coronavirus vaccines under grant assistance to Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Mauritius and Seychelles. It is also undertaking commercial supplies of the doses to a number of countries, including Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Brazil and Morocco. Bangladesh has so far registered 538,062 COVID-19 cases and 8,205 fatalities. More than 483,000 people have recovered from the contagion. Image credit: PTI (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Nurses embrace during a ceremony marking International Nurses Day, at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province on May 12, 2020. - As frontline hospital staff are constantly facing the risks from the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, the world is marking International Nurses Day, celebrated around the world every May 12, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. (Photo by STR / AFP) / China OUT Nurses and female health care workers are most at risk of experiencing psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new research. The study, carried out by the University of Sheffield in the UK, is the largest global review of factors associated with distress amongst health care workers during an infectious disease outbreak, including COVID-19, SARS, bird flu, swine flu and Ebola. Researchers assessed fixed factors such as demographic characteristics, age, sex and occupation as well as social psychological and infection-related factors in more than 143,000 health care workers from around the world. The review of 139 studies included data collected between 2000 and November 2020. Consistent evidence indicated that being female, a nurse, experiencing stigma and having contact or risk of contact with infected patients were the biggest risk factors for psychological distress among health care workers," Dr Fuschia Sirois, Reader in Social and Health Psychology in the university and lead author of the study, said. By analysing data from previous infectious disease outbreaks such as SARS, bird flu and swine flu, it appears that distress for health care workers can persist for up to three years after the initial outbreak. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show As the world continues to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic it is so important that we identify the health care workers who are most at risk for distress and the factors that can be modified to reduce distress and improve resilience, Sirois said. The findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, have informed a new framework which health care providers can use to identify those most at risk of increased distress, as well as areas to target to help build resilience. This framework can help guide early interventions and ongoing monitoring. Personal and organisational social support, feeling in control, sufficient information about the outbreak and proper protection, training and resources, were associated with less psychological distress. It was interesting to see that factors such as age didn''t appear to have a significant impact - even during COVID-19. In some studies, older people weren''t distressed - perhaps because they had worked as health care professionals for many years and therefore felt more equipped in dealing with an outbreak, whereas younger people who are physically less likely to be affected by the infectious disease tended to be less experienced in dealing with an outbreak professionally, therefore causing them to be more distressed, Sirois said. Social aspects also affected people differently - people certainly benefited from having a social support network. However, living with a partner or children caused increased stress for many who were scared about passing on the infection. Dr Sirois and a team from the University of Sheffield and the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust are now conducting a further study with National Health Service (NHS) workers using this new framework in order to help identify factors which could help to reduce distress during COVID-19. The Department of Psychology at the University of Sheffield is focused on exploring the science behind the human brain and human behaviour. Researchers cover a wide range of topics, ranging from the intricacies of neural networks and brain function, to the developmental, biological and social mechanisms that shape who we are, to increasing our understanding of physical and mental health issues, and how we can treat them. Researchers apply a variety of research methods and use a range of specialist research facilities to understand human behaviour, thinking, interaction, and health problems. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Lucknow, Feb 7 : Authorities in Uttar Pradesh has been put on high alert after a part of Nanda Devi Glacier broke in Uttarakhand, official sources said on Sunday. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed all District Magistrates of UP districts situated along the Ganga river to be on high alert and monitor water levels continuously, a government spokesman said. "If required, people will be evacuated to safe places. National Disaster Response Force, SDRF and Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary have also been put on highest alert," the spokesman said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-08 00:49:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JUBA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan said Sunday that it is preparing to import 864,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines in the coming days to strengthen its fight against COVID-19 amid a spike in cases. John Rumunu, director-general for preventive health services at the Ministry of Health, disclosed that the first consignment of the vaccine is expected to reach the country from Europe by the end of February. "I am happy to inform you that we have met all the requirements and we have received information from COVAX that there are 864,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine which has been allocated to South Sudan and depending on the process South Sudan will be able to receive this consignment latest by end of February," Rumunu told journalists in Juba. The east African nation has confirmed 57 new COVID-19 cases within the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative number of cases since April 5 to 4,492. The first case of COVID-19 was registered on April 5 last year. The total fatalities still stand at 66. South Sudan in January requested the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) to support it with AstraZeneca vaccines. Rumunu said once the vaccines arrive, the government will first immunize frontline health workers and people with underlying conditions like diabetes and people living with HIV/AIDS. Enditem Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 7) A lawmaker has filed a bill which seeks to triple the amount of unemployment benefits that laid off workers can receive from the Social Security System. Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel filed House Bill 8594, which proposes to grant displaced workers a one-time insurance claim amounting to 50 percent of their monthly salary for a maximum of six months. This measure would amend the Social Security Act of 2018, wherein the current claim is equal to 50 percent of the monthly salary for a maximum of two months. If approved and signed into law, this means that an individual who used to have a monthly income of 15,000 can receive 45,000 in unemployment benefits. At present, the same person can receive only 15,000. Our bill seeks to give more meaning to social security and to the mandate of the 1987 Constitution for the State to afford full protection to labor, Pimentel said. We have to guarantee households income security and safeguard them against distress when breadwinners lose their jobs through no fault of their own. Millions of Filipinos in the country and overseas were left jobless due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has severely affected the global economy. Among the more recent major workforce reductions was announced last week by the Philippine Airlines, which will lay off 30% of its employees, or about 2,300 people, amid losses due to the crisis. Those forced out of work may avail of the unemployment benefit from SSS guaranteed under the Social Security Act of 2018. This is a cash grant which covers employees, including kasambahays and overseas Filipino workers, who were separated from employment due to retrenchment or downsizing, closure or cessation of operation, installation of labor-saving devices, or redundancy, among other cases as may be determined by the SSS or the Department of Labor and Employment. To be eligible for the claim, an SSS member should not be over 60 years old at the time of the termination; not over 50, if an underground or surface mineworker; and not over 55, if a racehorse jockey. A member should also have paid at least 36 monthly contributions, 12 months of which should be in the 18-month period immediately preceding the month of involuntary separation. The benefit is granted through a one-time payment, and the claim must be filed within a year from the date of the separation. Documentary requirements include the original and a photocopy of any of the valid ID cards or documents (see list of valid IDs/documents here) and the Department of Labor and Employment certification on the termination. The cash grant shall be credited to the member's SSS UMID card enrolled as ATM, or UBP Quick Card Account. The election campaign launched by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at 139 places in Punjab on Friday, is getting an overwhelming response. The campaign 'saareyan nu ajmaya, saareyan ni ditta dhoka, hun jhadoo waleyan nu devangey mauka', was launched with an to eradicate corruption in local government, and within a day of its launch, a large number of people were joining the AAP's campaign. The slogan in Punjabi translates to: "Tried all, they all broke trust, give 'jhadoo wala' a chance", a jhadoo or broom is the elction symbol of AAP. The people's response suggests they are pushing for the AAP to win. In a joint statement, AAP Jalandhar urban district president Rajwinder Kaur and rural district president Principal Prem Kumar, said that people now had expectations only from the Aam Aadmi Party which can solve their problems. They said that the SAD, BJP and Congress had followed the same policy and promoted corruption in local bodies. "They have been robbing people of their money in one way or the other. People in the cities are not getting clean drinking water, poor sanitation and the stench of traditional political filth in the cities has made life difficult for the people," the leaders said. The leaders said that this time the Aam Aadmi Party was giving a change to the people so that such traditional parties would be eliminated and those working for the people would be made councillors. They said that the ruling party was now misusing the government resources to create an atmosphere of terror among the people so that these elections can be looted instead of being held in a democratic manner. The AAP leaders further said that the people were now aware and would retaliate against all the atrocities committed by the Congress. They also appealed to the people of Punjab to give a chance to the honest, people- serving candidates in the local bodies this time, who would work for them for five years. A recently released United Nations report takes the west African nation of Liberia to task, claiming that the trafficking of precious metals and gems takes place on its soil, including diamonds, according to All Africa cited by Israelidiamond.co.il. The report authored by the UN Panel of Experts states that most of the trafficked diamonds in Liberia originate in its next-door neighbor Sierra Leone. Miners who unearth gems in Sierra Leone are motivated to smuggle the stones out of the country in order to avoid having to pay a 15% tax on diamonds valued at over half a million dollars. The report also claims that the illicit diamond trade runs both ways, with smaller, less expensive diamonds from Liberia being sold directly to buyers in Sierra Leone. The accusations made in the report were corroborated by government officials on both sides of the border, with Sierra Leone's government noticing that the quantity of large stones officially exported from the country had decreased, while a senior Liberian official confessed that he believed many of these were being trafficked in his own country. Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. As former President Donald Trumps impeachment trial is getting ready to begin, a clear majority of Americans want the Senate to convict the former president and bar him from holding federal office again, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll. And its by a wide margin. While 56 percent of Americans want the Senate to convict Trump only 43 percent are opposed. As might be expected the feelings are very much split along party lines. More than nine in 10 Democrats, or 92 percent, want senators to convict the former president while only 15 percent of Republicans feel the same way. Independents track along the lines of the population as a whole, with a majority agreeing with Democrats as 54 percent say they support convicting Trump while 45 percent are against it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The clear support for convicting Trump contrasts a bit with recent polls that have claimed Americans are more evenly split on the issue. A survey from the Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released a few days ago found a lot more uncertainty among Americans. While 47 percent of Americans believed the Senate should convict Trump, 40 percent disagreed, and 12 percent said they werent sure. That poll was also largely split along party lines, with more than eight in 10 Democrats agreeing with conviction compared to only around one in 10 Republicans. A month after the Capitol riot, more Americans say there are more extremist elements in the Republican Party, although many see extremism as something that affects both parties, according to the new ABC /Ipsos poll. Forty-two percent of Americans say there are more radical extremists in the Republican Party, compared to 25 percent who say the Democratic Party has more extremists. A bit more than three-in-10 Americans say there are the same number of extremists within both parties. Kenya and the United Kingdom will co-host a two-day conference on global partnership for education financing on July 25 and 26, President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced. The President said the agenda of the education financing conference is to raise 5 billion US dollars to ensure that all children, particularly those in developing countries, have equitable access to quality education. He invited African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government to join the effort and commit to protect education budgets in their respective countries. "You will all agree with me that our children received the harshest brunt of the (COVID-19) pandemic; the lockdowns resulted in significant loss of income of the caregivers." "We need to show up and hold our governments accountable in setting aside the adequate resources to ensure that all children, both girls and boys and those in vulnerable situations, can go back to school and complete their studies," Mr. Kenyatta said. The President spoke Saturday at State House, Nairobi, at the start of the two-day virtual 34th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU whose theme is "Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want". (CGTN) A whole generation of students is now wondering what to do when they graduate following a year of bankruptcies and redundancies across the oil and gas industry. While were gradually seeing oil companies across the US emerge after a difficult year, they are not unscathed. Few are looking to hire as they attempt to pull themselves back from the brink. According to last years figures, over 100,000 jobs have been lost in the oil and gas industry by October 2020. This was the fastest job-loss-rate in the history of the industry. So as a new wave of students flock to the job market, little is left in the wake of this wreckage. 2020 was a catastrophic year for oil and gas as oil prices fell to -$37.63 per barrel in April and demand remained stagnated for most of the year. With people working from home, international travel halted, and businesses closed, there was significantly less demand for this previously vital energy source. Oil and gas seemed a sure bet to many budding students who were attracted to the high-paying industry. With around 2 million employed in the oil sector across the USA, landing a decent job with good upward projection opportunities after completing the right degree seemed like a done deal. Entry-level jobs for petroleum engineering graduates were paying as much as $101,000 prior to the pandemic, making it an attractive opportunity for many youths across the country. Pay in the industry is high for those even without degrees, but graduates entering the sector could expect to earn quadruple the national average within their first decade of work. But were seeing, from the recent generation of graduates, that the assumption that oil and gas scouts led them to believe when visiting their campuses do not apply in times of global pandemic. Related: Energy Commodities Rally: Oil Nears $60, Natural Gas Jumps Above $3 The worry for these students is whether the industry will bounce back as it has before. The difference between the drop in oil and gas demand now compare to previous decades is the potential for something else. As governments look to achieve net-zero targets and incorporate greener policies into their future, many question the role of the oil and gas industry beyond the next decade. Regulators, governments, and activists used 2020 as a time to put greater pressure on the industry to plan for a more sustainable future. There are now few oil and gas companies that are not also exploring the potential of sustainable energy going into 2021. So will students give up on oil adapt their knowledge to sustainable energy? As students are being left with tens of thousands of dollars of student debt, many debate whether they should switch industries or focus on sustainable energy going forward. Thousands of students are now forced to move home while they continue to apply for the few available and highly competitive jobs, as they ponder their futures. While traditional jobs in oil and gas are hard to come by at present, the outlook may not be so bleak. As oil companies rein in their spending and act cautiously going into 2021, several tech startups have emerged in many of the USAs oil hubs, hoping to offer an innovative hand to the sector. Houston tech startups raised $466 million in funding in 2020, with several of these companies providing the oil and gas industry with innovative money-saving technologies and the means for greater digitalization. Oil majors are becoming more and more willing to invest in blockchain technologies, ghost rigs, and AI as a means of modernizing, cutting costs, and reducing the physical workforce. As 2020 upended the traditional way of working for many oil companies around the world, many realized the importance of a clear future-proof strategy where remote work became possible, the supply chain became more straight-forward, and time-wasting over inventories became a thing of the past. Although this is not positive for all oil workers, oil-innovation provides a potential pathway for many of these graduates who are stuck in limbo. Now seems to be the time for innovation, one of the few times that oil majors will look to small startups for new ideas. So, while 2021 will not be clear sailing for oil and gas graduates, the potential for greater innovation in the sector could clear the path for new opportunities for the next generation of oil tycoons. By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has said that Daleep Singh, the head of a markets group at the bank will join newly minted Joe Biden's administration as deputy national security adviser. Singh, who had joined the bank last year, would take charge to ensure safety and security of the nation later this month. In his new role, the 45-year-old will serve as deputy National Economic Council (NEC) Director as well and report to both National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and NEC Director Brian Deese. Singh has previously worked at the US Department of the Treasury in the Obama administration serving as Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets and Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs. Born in Maryland and raised in North Carolina, Singh holds a bachelors degree with Duke University in Economics public policy and a master of business administration/master of public administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University, with a focus on international economics. Read: Biden Talks To California Woman In Weekly Address Read: Biden Gives Calif. Woman Pep Talk In Weekly Address Revival Anne Baum appointed as interim head Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Bank of New York has appointed Anne Baum as interim head of the Markets group until they find a replacement for Singh. John C. Williams, president and chief executive officer of the New York Fed, speaking to AP hailed Singhs contribution to the bank saying that he had had a meaningful impact during his tenure. "Over the past year, Daleep has played a critical leadership role in the emergency facilities the Fed launched in response to COVID-19. I'm thrilled that he will continue to leverage his knowledge and expertise in support of economic policy at this important time," he added. Read: Biden Administration Moves To Reverse Trump's Migration Agreements With Three Countries Read: Beijing Listening? US' New Biden Govt Plans To Bring QUAD Leaders Together, Circle China President-elect Joe Biden and his deputy Kamala Harris had promised one of the most diverse administrations in the history of the United States after they defeated Donald Trump in November. It looks like Biden and the Vice-President-elect have kept their words because the first 100 members of the incoming White House staff come of all backgrounds and can easily be called the most diverse in terms of their ideology, gender, race, and skin colour. Biden and Harris have named more than 100 White House appointees so far, a goal they had set to complete by the end of 2020. (Image: NewYorkFed/Twitter) Sorry! This content is not available in your region Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Cloudy with periods of rain. High 51F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Low around 45F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Saturday marked two years since the Central African Republic's government signed a peace deal with rebel groups in an attempt to end years of fighting, but the country faces growing violence that threatens to null the agreement. "In the current context of our country, this agreement remains and remains the only way forward," President Faustin-Archange Touadera said at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the deal. "We cannot and must not turn back because of the criminal actions of some signatories of the peace agreement," he said. Despite the violence, he said the agreement was not void and urged parties to stay faithful to it while assuring civilians that the army is doing what it can to reclaim rebel-held areas. "It is certainly difficult to achieve the desired objectives immediately," the president said. "But the pursuit of the peace agreement seems essential to me if we want one day to get the Central African people out of this infernal cycle of the military or political crisis which brings misfortune and shame to our nation." The renewed violence occurred after the constitutional court rejected former president Francois Bozize's candidacy for December's presidential election. A coalition of the six strongest militias backing Bozize seeks to overturn the election results. Touadera won a second term with 53% of the vote. Last month rebels attacked the outskirts of the capital, Bangui, killing at least two United Nations peacekeepers. It was the most serious threat to the capital since 2013 when the predominantly Muslim Seleka rebels seized power. While the country had a few years of relative calm, intermittent fighting has continued since the peace deal with 14 rebel groups was signed. Eight still adhere to the agreement. The U.N. has called on authorities to hold meaningful and inclusive talks with the political opposition and armed groups that have renounced the violence. The mineral-rich nation faces an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis, with some 200,000 people fleeing their homes in less than two months, according to the U.N. (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. Following the reform, the government of Ethiopia has been working exhaustively in order to strength its diplomatic relationships across the globe. In recent times, these diplomatic engagements are mainly focused on the current situation in Tigray, the ongoing reform and the upcoming elections. This week, the Premier and other diplomats have made various diplomatic discussions with different leaders and higher officials in the world. Here under are among the diplomatic activities that are taken place. On his Facebook Prime Minister Abiy Ahimed noted that that he has made a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron. Being thankful for Emmanuel Macron for good conversation on strengthening cooperation between Ethiopia and France, the premier stated that the president has agreed to support on addressing national and regional issues. By the same token, Abiy has also made "good phone call with Chancellor Angela Merkel on national and regional issues, including COVID19 as well as strengthening development and economic cooperation between Ethiopia and Germany." Similarly on his phone conversation with Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on February 04, they emphasized the importance of the U.S.-Ethiopia bilateral relationship. Secretary Blinken reaffirmed the United States' commitment to Ethiopia's reform agenda and "our support for upcoming national elections, regional peace and security, democracy and human rights, justice and accountability, and economic prosperity for all Ethiopians." By Ben Norton Ben Norton traveled to Ecuador to report on the historic February 7 election, which pits a wealthy US-backed right-wing banker against a left-wing economist who pledges to continue the socialist Citizens Revolution launched by former President Rafael Correa. In this dispatch, working-class Ecuadorians explain why they support leftist candidate Andres Arauz and oppose the repressive Washington-allied government of Lenin Moreno. February 07, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - - QUITO, ECUADOR The South American nation of Ecuador is currently suffering through its worst economic crisis in decades. Poverty is skyrocketing, corruption is rampant, and the US-backed government has shown itself to be deeply undemocratic. On February 7, Ecuador will hold a historic election that could fundamentally change its direction, moving the nation away from its current neoliberal policies and reliance on Washington, and restoring the socialist-oriented program of former President Rafael Correa, who launched a progressive movement called the Citizens Revolution. Today, Ecuadors sitting President Lenin Moreno has a mere 8 percent approval rating, with staggering 91 percent disapproval, making him the most unpopular leader in the countrys modern history. Under Morenos rule, the government has imprisoned and exiled many left-wing political leaders, banned pro-Correa electoral candidates, gutted social programs, destabilized Latin American regional institutions, and heavily indebted Ecuador with billions of dollars in loans. And in a historic act of betrayal, Moreno renounced the asylum that Correa had given to WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, allowing British authorities to enter Ecuadors sovereign embassy in London and arrest the Australian journalist. Under Morenos reign, unemployment, inequality, and hardship have reached peak levels, with more than 58 percent of Ecuadorians living in poverty and nearly 39 percent in extreme poverty, according to a United Nations University study. Meanwhile Ecuadorians have endured a catastrophic response to the Covid-19 pandemic, with one of the highest per capita death rates in the entire world. In 2020, Ecuadors GDP shrunk by an estimated 11 percent. Everywhere you walk in the capital city Quito, you see for sale and for rent signs. US-backed banker vs. grassroots socialist economist Ecuadors February 7 election has boiled down to two main choices, and the difference could not be any starker: On one side is the right-wing candidate Guillermo Lasso, a banker who served as economic minister when Ecuador suffered through a financial meltdown in 1999 that bankrupted millions of citizens and destroyed their life savings. Lasso, who has long been credibly accused of corruption and the use of off-shore tax shelters, has the staunch support of Ecuadors wealthy economic elites and the United States. On the other side is left-wing candidate Andres Arauz, a young economist who follows in the footsteps of former President Correa and his movement, known as Correismo, and wants to bring back his socialist policies. Arauz has built a huge grassroots following in a presidential campaign based on his promises to tax the rich, to give $1000 checks to a million poor and working-class families, and to abandon suffocating and extremely unpopular economic agreements that Ecuadors current Moreno government signed with the International Monetary Fund, or IMF. Arauz also plans to revive regional institutions to integrate Ecuadors economy with other Latin American countries, and he wants to return to closer business ties with China, just as his mentor Correa had done. Virtually all polls show Arauz leading and likely to win the presidential election, if the vote is free and fair. The fact that the leading presidential candidate wants to reject the IMF and seek deeper economic relations with Beijing has angered Washington, which has meddled in Ecuadors internal affairs and thrown its weight behind the banker Lasso. Lenin Morenos war on Ecuadors left Under the US-backed Lenin Moreno administration, Ecuador has attacked regional institutions, withdrawing from the Bolivarian Alliance, or ALBA, a trade bloc of left-wing Latin American countries, and taking Ecuador out of the Union of South American Nations, or UNASUR, kicking out the international bodys Quito-based headquarters. While overseeing widespread corruption and looting of public money, the Moreno government also ensnared Ecuador with billions of dollars in loans from the IMF. As part of an austerity package demanded by the IMF, Moreno announced in 2019 a series of aggressive neoliberal reforms, which included cutting 23,000 state sector jobs and ending longtime fuel subsidies, which nearly doubled the price of gasoline. The proposed austerity package kicked off a massive uprising in October 2019. Labor unions organized strikes, while Indigenous groups and students held massive protests that brought the country to a halt. The Moreno government responded with brutal violence. Police shot protesters, killing several, injuring more than 1,000, and detaining another thousand. The Correista movement decided to close its electoral campaign this February 4 at a park in the heart of the capital Quito, known as the parque del arbolito. This location was deeply symbolic, because it was here that the uprising against Morenos neoliberal reforms started in October 2019. Correismo and the Citizens Revolution Rafael Correa remains the most popular politician in Ecuador. In his 10 years as president, from 2007 to 2017, Ecuadors poverty rate plummeted, the minimum wage increased rapidly, and the government invested billions of dollars in universal healthcare, education, and advanced infrastructure. While Ecuador is still a developing, formerly colonized nation, it has significant natural resources that could make the country rich. These include substantial oil and mineral reserves, such as gold, silver, and copper. For decades, these resources were monopolized by a small handful of Ecuadorian oligarchs. Correa was the first leader to use the countrys plentiful natural resources to instead fund popular social programs. Correa also pursued an independent foreign policy, strengthening relations with China and Russia, collaborating closely with other socialist governments in Latin America, and committing Ecuador to political and economic integration with its neighbors. Correa spoke with The Grayzone editor-in-chief Max Blumenthal in December about the stakes of the election: In Ecuador the rule of law has been permanently broken. They seized the state with a completely fraudulent, manipulated consultation in the absence of constitutional control. Using the same methods, they took control of the council that appoints all the supervisory authorities The government of Ecuador is totally submitted to the interests of the government in the United States, above all to try to persecute progressive leaders and try to threaten the stability of Venezuela. That is evident So they are really desperate. They are capable of anything, because for them the worst thing that can happen is that we win. Because they know that they will have to face justice.We are not vengeful people, but justice must be done. Without hatred, but with memory I ask the world to be very attentive to what is happening in Ecuador in these elections. Under Correas leadership, Ecuador launched the progressive Citizens Revolution, which fundamentally transformed the country and is still a powerful force today. At the rallies in the countrys two biggest cities, Quito and Guayaquil, working-class Ecuadorians showed their undying support for this revolution. From Correas vice president to his anti-democratic persecutor Lenin Moreno once served as Rafael Correas vice president. He won the 2017 presidential election precisely by claiming to follow in the footsteps of Correa and feigning fidelity to the Citizens Revolution, but quickly did a political 180, betraying Correismo and turning hard to the right. With backing from the United States, Moreno formed alliances with corrupt oligarchs and bankers in Ecuador, implementing aggressive neoliberal economic policies, privatizing large parts of the economy, and gutting social programs. The publication of leaked documents known as the INA papers offered insight into the Moreno governments extreme corruption, showing how the leader has used off-shore bank accounts in Panama to siphon millions of dollars out of public coffers. While overseeing this looting of the state, the Moreno administration ironically accused Correa of corruption, slapping the leftist leader with dozens of politically motivated, unsubstantiated charges. Moreno even imprisoned Correas other former vice president, Jorge Glas, on spurious accusations. Glas has remained incarcerated in Ecuadors notorious Latacunga prison, even after a 52-day hunger strike that landed him in the hospital, nearly killing him. Throughout the 2021 electoral process, the Moreno government has placed obstacle after obstacle to try to prevent the leftist Correistas from returning to power. The Moreno administration blocked Correa from running a vice presidential candidate. It also banned Andres Arauzs political party from participating, forcing the Correista movement to instead register with a little-known party. The National Electoral Council (CNE), which was politicized by the Moreno government and is controlled by the countrys right-wing, even declared that left-wing candidates were not allowed to use images of Correa in their ads and political campaign materials. At the same time, Ecuadorians living abroad, who are overwhelmingly supporters of Correismo, have faced obstacles in the election as well. The CNE has made it difficult for expats to vote. Mere days before the vote, the CNE similarly sought to revoke the electoral observer credentials for a Spanish member of European Parliament and a Spanish political scientist, because of their left-wing political ties. Right-wing media outlets in Latin America have also played a key role in the anti-democratic crackdown. Colombian and Argentine newspapers owned by wealthy conservative oligarchs kicked off a disinformation campaign, spreading fake news accusing Arauz of taking money from Colombias socialist guerrilla group the ELN. These unsubstantiated stories were near carbon copies of a propaganda drive from several years before that was weaponized against Correa, falsely accusing him of taking money from Colombias socialist guerrilla group FARC. While his government was busy clamping down on the left in Ecuador, Lenin Moreno himself was in the United States. Just two weeks before the election, he visited DC for several days. Moreno had a series of meetings with powerful figures, including the following: During his junket, the Ecuadorian presidential office produced several slick videos lavishing praise on the United States and showing Moreno smiling with his political and economic sponsors in Washington. Observers have warned that Morenos meetings may have been aimed at rigging the election, or at least making more anti-democratic obstacles to prevent a Correista victory. Nearly all polls show leftist candidate Andres Arauz easily winning Ecuadors February 7 election. Yet the Ecuadorian medias reliance on a corrupt firm funded by right-wing candidate Guillermo Lasso to produce exit polls after the vote is one of many signs of potential irregularities. The Ecuadorian people however seem ready to fight. The massive turnouts for the Correista movements demonstrations in the major cities, with tens of thousands of working-class flooding the streets and parks, reflects a popular outrage in the country, and a widespread yearning to return to the Citizens Revolution. Egyptian correspondent of the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news channel Mahmoud Hussein was released on Saturday from Egypt's Abul-Nomros police station, according to local news reports. Hussein's release came in implementation of a criminal courts decision to release him under precautionary measures. He was detained pending trial in 2016 on charges of spreading false news, joining a banned group and receiving foreign funds. The Qatar-based broadcaster, however, has denied the accusations levelled against him. In May 2019, a Cairo Criminal Court decided to release Hussein under precautionary measures, but remained in pre-trial detention over similar charges in another case. In November 2019, Hussein was temporarily released by the interior ministry to attend his father's funeral service, with the ministry describing the move as part of the country's "commitment to the principles of human rights for all prisoners regardless of their political affiliation or background." The ministry also added at the time that the measure "is in line with its commitment to implementing modern penal policy controls." Egypt has accused Al-Jazeera and Qatar of supporting the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood group. It designated the Brotherhood a terrorist organisation in 2013, months after the ouster of Islamist Ex-President Mohamed Morsy following mass protests. In June 2017, Egypt along with Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain had cut ties and transport links with Qatar , charging that it was too close to Iran and backed terrorist groups -- allegations Doha has always denied. In January 2021, however, Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry signed the al-Ula agreement for Arab reconciliation with Qatar, which was signed by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states during the 41st GCC summit held in Saudi Arabia. Short link: The EU has authorised Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use in children as young as 12, paving the way for a broader roll-out in the bloc after the US and Canada. The decision comes after European Medicines Agency backed its use in 12 to 15-year olds. One of Kilkennys most impressive businesses, LoanITT Ltd have been announced as a finalist for this years National Enterprise Awards. This year the event will take place virtually on Thursday, February 11 from 6pm-7.30pm via live weblink localenterprise.ie/Awards. The awards, an initiative of the Local Enterprise Offices, will be presented by Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail Damien English. LoanITT were selected to represent Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny at the awards and will compete against 29 other finalists for a prize fund totaling 50,000. LoanITT was founded by company directors John Duggan, originally from Tullahought, and Padraig Nolan, a native of Limerick. Headquartered in MacDonagh Junction, LoanITT provides car, agricultural and commercial finance through a digitalised credit application. The company has developed a platform that streamlines the application process and removes the need for documentation. The Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny has supported the promoters since the beginning of their entrepreneurial journey. In 2019, the company won Best Idea Category in Irelands Best Young Entrepreneur competition at County Level and represented Kilkenny at the National Finals. LoanITT has since become Irelands largest financial credit intermediary in the markets they serve, with plans to have over 40 people employed by the end of 2021. The business has transferred as a High Potential Start-up to Enterprise Ireland as their employment numbers continue to grow in order to provide further supports to the business. Kilkenny has achieved national success at the awards. In 2019, Mechanical Modular Solutions in Castlecomer won the Best Export Business title, while in 2015 MyBio, founded by Linda Nolan received the overall National Enterprise Award. It has been a challenging year for small businesses so this is a chance to highlight positive stories and businesses who have excelled in the face of unprecedented challenges, said Head of Enterprise Fiona Deegan. These businesses have been through a rigorous process of judging, auditing every aspect of their business and this in itself can be a huge benefit to them as they plan for the future. Whether they win or not these finalists are well positioned to follow in the footsteps of the great companies that have gone before them such as Mechanical Modular Solutions and MyBio, and as a network, the Local Enterprise Offices look forward to continuing to support them to help them grow. The National Enterprise Awards are one of a number of initiatives that the Local Enterprise Offices run to foster entrepreneurship across the country. The Local Enterprise Offices in conjunction with Local Authorities work with over 7,000 client companies across Ireland in a diverse range of sectors offering mentoring, training, expert advice and financial supports to small businesses. For more information see www.localenterprise.ie/awards. Myanmars junta Saturday continued its crackdown on the internet in response to the mass protests, now in its second day, sweeping across the streets of the countrys main city, Yangon, following a coup and the detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi last week. The southeast Asian countrys military hit the headlines around the world last week after it seized control and declared a yearlong state of emergency, citing irregularities in last November elections which Ms Suu Kyi won by a landslide. The military had earlier in the week blocked the access to social media platform Facebook saying it hopes to ensure stability as it consolidates on power. Facebook is the main internet platform for more than half of the countrys over 54 million people. It has now banned Twitter which is also used by millions of citizens. But some residents in the Buddhist-majority country are managing to circumvent the internet ban by rushing to download VPN apps, which encrypt an internet connection so its location is not identifiable. There has been a 4,300 per cent increase in the demand for VPN, according to Top10VPN.com, a platform which conducts research on these services. Online footages of the mass protest in the country which had been largely under the tight grip of the military, show demonstrators demanding the release of Ms Suu Kyi, whose popularity back home is high. Ms Suu Kyi and members of her National League for Democracy party have been detained since the putsch on February 1. The Myanmar police are pressing charges against the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate for allegedly importing communications equipment. But protesters have not backed down. Respect our vote, BBC quoted a protest banner to have read in reference to the NLDs landslide win in Novembers election. The BBC added that many demonstrators gave the three-fingered symbol-of-protest salute, banged on pots and pans, and held red balloons, while cars and buses slowed to sound their horns in support. We will move forward and keep demanding until we get democracy, AFP news agency also reported a protester, Myo Win, 37, to have said. While there has been no official statement from the putschists, AFP quoted an unverified communication ministry document that said the two social media sites were being used to cause misunderstanding among the public. Currently the people who are troubling the countrys stabilityare spreading fake news and misinformation and causing misunderstanding among people by using Facebook, the ministrys letter was quoted to have read. A spokeswoman for Twitter, BBC reported, said the ban undermined the public conversation and the rights of people to make their voices heard. Facebook has also called on the authorities to restore connectivity. Amnesty International has also called the internet shutdown heinous and reckless and warned it could put the people of Myanmar at risk of human rights violations. The ground of the ongoing protest, Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon), is Myanmars largest city and former capital. The countrys capital was moved to Nay Pyi Taw, located approximately 320 kilometres north of Yangon, in 2005. History of coups Myanmar was known as Burma, a name derived from its dominant language, Burmese. ADVERTISEMENT But Myanmar (English variant of Burma) became its formal name in 1989 after the military junta renamed the Rakhine State, a year after thousands of people were killed in a crackdown on the pro-democracy protests known as 8888 uprising. Largely a Burmese speaking country and home to a Buddhist majority, Myanmar gained independence from Britain in 1948 and was ruled by the military from 1962 until 2011. By 2015, Myanmar held its first openly contested elections since 1990, and an absolute majority of seats in both chambers of the national parliament was won by NLD, with Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced Un San Su Chi) the prime minister. She won reelection in 2020 in a landslide, a result the military has rejected alleging fraud without evidence, and had since been under house arrest. Not new to house arrest, Ms Suu Kyi had once been placed under house confinement for 15 years, a streak that earned her the Nobel Peace Prize, for being an outstanding example of the power of the powerless. However, her international reputation has since been dented after she was accused of launching a genocide against Rohingya Muslims in 2017. Myanmar considers the Rohingya Muslims as illegal immigrants and denies them citizenship. This has led to over 700,000 Rohingyas fleeing the country to neighbouring Bangladesh to escape persecution and thousands others being killed in an army crackdown in 2017. When she appeared before the International Court of Justice in 2019, Ms Suu Kyi denied the allegations that the military had committed genocide. NEW YORK - Chandra Singh wanted a coronavirus vaccination. A native of Guyana, the 71-year-old doesn't own a computer, with which she might access information online. So when she saw a crowd of elected officials and community leaders gathered on a corner for a news conference, she asked them where she could get the shot. They couldn't answer but directed her to a nearby library, where she settled for getting a free coronavirus test. It wasn't a vaccine, but the test gave her some peace of mind because her Queens neighborhood, South Richmond Hill, had soared to the highest coronavirus infection rate in the city. "The area is badly disorganized - they never inform you of anything," said Singh, who has lived here for 33 years. New York City health officials released data on Jan. 31 that revealed vast racial disparities in vaccine distribution. Among those whose race was recorded, nearly half of city residents who have received a coronavirus vaccine are White. Fifteen percent of those vaccinated are Latino, 15 percent are Asian and 9 percent are Black. The experience in New York is reflected across the nation, where communities of color, which have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, have fallen behind first in testing and now in vaccinations. "We cannot make the same approach that we made in responding to the pandemic, where we assumed the risk was the same for everybody," said James Hildreth, an infectious-disease expert and president of Meharry Medical College. "With the vaccine, if the goal is to save as many lives as possible, we've got to be focused on the most vulnerable populations." A Feb. 1 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that of those whose race was known among the 13 million Americans vaccinated in the first month of the drive, Black people accounted for little more than 5 percent. Six percent were Asian and 11.5 percent Latino. The CDC data are incomplete: While the sex and age of recipients was reported in almost every case, only about half reflected the race or ethnicity of vaccine recipients. Researchers are calling for more accurate reporting to ensure equitable vaccine distribution, even as some jurisdictions work to counter the worrisome trend, knowing that gaps in vaccination rates could widen existing health disparities. Chicago officials are making concerted efforts to boost the number of vaccine doses delivered to at-risk neighborhoods, with "strike teams" encouraging residents to sign up for shots. In Philadelphia, an African American physician launched the Black Doctors Covid-19 Consortium in April. It has partnered with the city health department to provide testing and is now rapidly ramping up the number of vaccine doses it delivers in familiar neighborhood settings, such as churches. Maine health officials are encouraging older members of the Somali community to be vaccinated and have allocated vaccine doses to a clinic in Lewiston that serves that community. "A mistake we make in public health is assuming we have the right way to message, and we parachute into the community to deliver that message," said Sandra Albrecht, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health. "We're learning that it's important to work with key members of the community that are trusted." Officials in three adjoining Queens neighborhoods - Richmond Hill, South Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park - say they have long been left out of coronavirus outreach. For weeks, the virus positivity rate in the neighborhoods has hovered around 18 percent, more than double New York's average. They said it took weeks of news conferences and a social media blitz from outraged elected officials to get the city to add the neighborhoods to its equity task force's priority list. There are now plans to accelerate educational outreach and add testing sites; a new neighborhood vaccination site is in the works but won't be possible until supply increases. A city-run vaccination site sits across a highway from the neighborhoods but has little vaccine supply. A state-run site at a nearby racetrack has had few, if any, appointments available since it opened last month. "Make no mistake - this is a relief," said Richard David, a Democratic state district leader. But he still has concerns. "Knowing that we are always thought about last, I am so scared," he said. The three working-class neighborhoods have recorded 347 coronavirus deaths since the start of the pandemic. Tucked into a pocket near John F. Kennedy International Airport, they are home to more than 54,000 Caribbean and South Asian immigrants, primarily from Guyana, Trinidad, Bangladesh and India's Punjab state. Many arrived in the 1970s and 1980s. Spanning 20 blocks of Liberty Avenue are Guyanese bakeries, Trinidadian roti shops, Indian grocery stores and Hindu boutiques selling bright garlands of plastic flowers that spell the word "welcome." "What's clear is, the status quo does not make sense," Mayor Bill de Blasio said last week of vaccine access. "We've got to have a more systematic approach to ensuring that we focus on the places where the danger is greatest." That effort, he said, demanded more of a grass-roots approach to help assure people that the vaccine is safe. "We've got a profound problem of distrust and hesitancy, particularly in communities of color," he said. Queens officials said the neighborhoods have been overlooked for vaccination and testing. The city opened a permanent testing site at a library in South Richmond Hill in November. Local officials said it came too late and residents were not adequately informed. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. said the city's approach to testing and vaccination has been profoundly inequitable because it did not sufficiently involve local organizations. "It is imperative that we involve each and every trusted community-based organization in a truly all-hands-on-deck vaccination effort," he said. "The deep disparities revealed in the city's covid-19 vaccination database are not just unacceptable - they are potentially fatal." Local leaders said their community had been overlooked long before the pandemic. "A lot of times, people don't realize that so many of us are low-income and we are working-class - we're not a 'model minority,'" said Aminta Kilawan-Narine, founder of the South Queens Women's March, which gives away masks at its weekly food pantries. She and other leaders have been monitoring the rise in positivity rates since the Hindu festival of Diwali on Nov. 14 - the same day the testing site opened. But when the city did open it, neighborhood leaders said they were not notified in advance to spread the word. There were other disconnects. Kilawan-Narine said she urged the city to print cards that offered information on area testing locations and hours, something the volunteer organizations could not afford. David said the city could have better reached the Indo-Caribbean community by placing ads in its newspaper. Some faith leaders say they do not have updated information to share with their congregations. De Blasio spokeswoman Avery Cohen said 600 city staffers have partnered with organizations in the three neighborhoods to help hand out masks and hand sanitizer. The city will set aside vaccine appointments for residents of 33 priority neighborhoods, including Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park. "Equity is and will continue to be the backbone of this effort," she said. There are no localized statistics to explain why the Indo-Caribbean neighborhoods in south Queens have struggled to contain the virus. Many residents work outside the home in jobs considered "essential," including in security or maintenance at JFK. Others are home health-care aides or work in construction. Some are undocumented. Many residents live in multigenerational households. One family recently complained to their Hindu priest, Anand Maharaj, that their son was putting others in their house at risk. They told Maharaj that the young man had tested positive for the coronavirus but was asymptomatic; he was still going to work and not isolating. "It's a lot of carelessness, especially people under the age of 30, because they think they are strong, they think they can fight the sickness," Maharaj said. Maharaj, who is president of an international council of priests, has urged his affiliated temples to observe social distancing and mask rules when gathering for worship. But the unaffiliated, he said, do not always follow the rules. Outside the temple, he and others are worried that people are still holding house parties. "Covid fatigue is very much real. And folks want to gather," said Mohamed Q. Amin, director of the Caribbean Equality Project, a nonprofit that works with the LGBTQ Indo-Caribbean community. "We have to cancel fete culture to save lives," he said, using the Caribbean term for any celebration. Kilawan-Narine, who said she's disturbed by social media feeds showing maskless revelers, recorded a video with testimonials from covid-19 survivors for social media. "I know our people love to get together, we love to socialize. I know we're getting antsy and we want to get on with our lives, but it's not over yet," it said. Some on social media told Kilawan-Narine she was stoking fear or said the coronavirus was a hoax. People were also reluctant to get vaccinated. De Blasio said the city could handle up to 500,000 vaccinations a day once supply replenishes. The closest city site for those in South Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park now is at a high school on the other side of the Van Wyck Expressway. Supplies are limited. The state-run Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park has had limited to no appointments since it opened on Jan. 18. The city said Citi Field will open as a vaccination site for Queens residents within days. Signing up can be confusing, though, because the city and state are not coordinating their vaccination sites. Jatinder Boparai, president of the Sikh Cultural Society, said a representative from the office of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo toured its 84,000-square-foot gurdwara to potentially include it in the Vaccine Equity Task Force's pop-up program. Boparai said the city called him a day later. While it is unclear when vaccinations will start, he said he is thrilled because no matter "your skin color, how rich, how poor," anyone will be able to receive a shot once the site opens. "This is a big achievement for our gurdwara," he said. "We know where we're standing now." I recently read an article from studyfinds.org. It outlines a study from the University of Nicosia in Cyprus. The study seems to indicate that waves of COVID outbreaks might be predictable by studying weather patterns. The study claims that temperature, humidity, and wind can be used to predict peaks of COVID outbreaks. The study makes the claim that using weather to predict COVID waves can be more effective in slowing the outbreaks than face masks and social distancing. The study goes on to state that the medical and government community fails to factor in climate conditions when making decisions about public safety concerns like lockdowns and other restrictions. The authors of the study indicate that certain COVID restrictions might be avoided if the weather was considered when making the decisions. Their conclusions are based on a weather-dependent variable model called the Airborne Infection Rate index, or AIR. In simple terms, the study indicates that airborne droplets travel at different rates and distances in various climate settings. Therefore, climate variables play a role in the rate of transmission of the COVID virus. According to their research, New York might have to initiate a different set of safety guidelines compared to Arizona. The study emphasizes that masks and social distancing are still very important and I think its also important to remember this is only one study. Its probably not a good idea to base your COVID avoidance behavior on the weather. The two factions of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State have reconciled their differences and agreed to form a formidable force ahead of future elections. Mikailu Barau, a chieftain of the party, announced the reconciliation in an 11-point resolution at the end of a meeting on Sunday in Kaduna. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that supporters of the two camps, led by former Gov. Abdul-azeez Yari and Kabiru Marafa respectively, attended the reconciliation meeting. Mr Barau announced that part of the resolutions at the meeting was the nomination of Mr Yari as the new leader of the party in the state. The two camps earlier met on Saturday and agreed with the leadership and initiative of Gov Maimala Buni-led APC National Care Taker Committee to resolve the crisis in the state. The supporters of Marafa and Yari unanimously endorsed the reconciliation move and welcomed the development for repositioning the party, so that it would occupy its rightful leadership place in Zamfara state. Discussion points were divided into two those that are for public audience which comprises all the propositions in the present submission and; and confidential issues discussed in a closed-door session between the two leaders. The interim leadership of APC in Zamfara state from the faction of Yari was accepted in good spirit with high expectations for fair deal through the inclusion of Sen. Marafas supporters at all levels, Barau said. According to him, by this statement, all parallel party structures under Mr Marafa are considered dissolved. Hon. AbdulAzeez Yari is hereby recognised as the leader of the party in the spirit of reconciliation, unity and progress of Zamfara as a state and APC as a party, the party chieftain added. He noted that all court cases initiated by the Marafa-led faction in respect of party leadership would be withdrawn for the reconciliation to thrive. Notwithstanding the dissolution of parallel party structures, the two factions shall be maintained for six month with alignments evolving naturally until one party is achieved. After this, a review meeting will be convened to evaluate the progress made. For the sake of clarity, Marafa faction comprises interests from the erstwhile Wakkala, Abu Magaji and Dan Ali groups, Mr Barau stated. He said there would be an arbitration committee with representatives from each faction that would monitor the implementation of agreed terms of reference. The party chieftain advised the leadership of the two factions to caution their members, especially the social media team, against unguarded utterances that could affect the process of reconciliation. Distinguished members should be enlightened in form of training to facilitate the reconciliation of the two groups. Persistent violation of the agreement and inability to respect the terms by either faction amounts to automatic dissolution of the overall agreement and gives the aggrieved party the automatic right to go its way, Mr Barau cautioned. He said the terms spelt out in the resolution and those to be discussed in a closed-door meeting would be communicated to the leadership of APC at national level accordingly. ADVERTISEMENT Mr Barau said the factions also agreed and set a 13-member committee to resolve all issues and monitor events within the next six months to ensure each party adhered to the resolutions. The party in the state lost all offices to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 poll following the various disagreements among party chieftains. (NAN) UVF leader Stephen 'Mackers' Matthews was at the centre of a paramilitary mob that forced a dozen people to hide in a community centre while police looked on. Security sources identified the leading loyalist, who denies any criminal links, as the man in the bobble-hat among a crowd of 40 UVF members, many of whom were hooded and had their faces obscured with masks. They descended on the Pitt Park estate in east Belfast last Tuesday afternoon following a weekend of tit-for-tat attacks on homes in the area. The PSNI believes the gang's target was rival loyalist William McCaughey, who had no role in the earlier violence. His crime, say security sources, was to publicly criticise the East Belfast UVF last summer in an online video which went viral. In the recording McCaughey branded the organisation drug dealers and loan-sharks, before accusing it of "torturing the Protestant people". He manages the Ballymac Friendship Centre in the Pitt Park estate, which has closed following Tuesday's show of strength. As well as hosting a loyalist museum, the complex runs training schemes and delivers food parcels and cooked meals to the elderly and vulnerable. McCaughey sheltered in the complex under an armed PSNI guard while the 40-strong UVF gang gathered outside. A heavily pregnant relative was also forced to take refuge in the building. Chief Constable Simon Byrne (right) referenced this at a meeting of the Policing Board last Thursday. He revealed how officers received specific information relating to a threat against a person and went to find him. According to Mr Byrne, cops then put "themselves between the person sheltering in the centre and crowd" until back-up arrived. McCaughey, who lives in the Pitt Park area, has since left his home along with several other families including intimidated relatives of UVF murder victim Ian Ogle. The estate at the bottom of the Newtownards Road was the scene for a series of house attacks last weekend which were the catalyst for the loyalist mob taking to the streets. On January 29 the windows of a house were broken following a dispute between neighbours. The following evening the man responsible for smashing the windows clashed with two UVF members. This was after the home of an elderly relative of Glenn Rainey - who is on bail charged with the murder of Ian Ogle and cocaine dealing - was attacked. A third house was ransacked last Monday, with the windows broken and furniture destroyed. The following afternoon the UVF assembled 40 masked men who descended on Pitt Park in a sinister show of strength. A PSNI source said: "The first reports were of 200 UVF men arriving in the estate, but the numbers ended up much smaller. "The belief is that this was an attempt to intimidate William McCaughey and members of the Ogle family. The Ballymac Centre, which McCaughey runs, has been very supportive of the Ogles after Ian's murder. The tit-for-tat attacks on homes in Pitt Park last weekend was used as a cover to get at him." However, senior loyalist sources in east Belfast have dismissed this assessment and insisted the only reason its members gathered in the estate was in response to anti-social behaviour. One said: "There have been ongoing acts of intimidation by a number of agitators in Pitt Park. This has largely been low-level and the UVF allowed mediators to seek to address these issues. However, in recent weeks this has grown into more significant violent attacks on two family homes. This comes on the back of persistent aggravation and seeking to cause division in the local area." "Residents approached loyalists and expressed concerns for their safety," added the source. "In response to this loyalists went into the area in significant numbers last Tuesday as a show of solidarity with the residents in an effort to end attacks in the area. There is no threat to any property or individual." What UVF sources throughout Belfast do agree on is that there is zero risk of a feud between rival factions in the east of the city. The gang's Shankill Road leadership has no desire to get involved in any local dispute despite claims to the contrary. What the East Belfast UVF do have an issue with is a vocal group of 'old-timers' based in the Woodstock area, who are fiercely anti-drugs and are pushing for internal change. Ian Ogle was a member of this UVF unit and his murder in January 2019 wrecked the already poor relations between it and East Belfast UVF bosses based on the Newtownards Road. But while tensions are high there is no possibility of a feud - a fact acknowledged by Shankill UVF sources. One said: "The East Belfast UVF still attends brigade staff meetings and sends money up the (Shankill) road. There's no chance of it breaking off from the organisation, or the Shankill supporting a coup over there. Any thoughts of that are fanciful." Fearful of further violence politicians and police have appealed for calm. Both are very aware that with the Ian Ogle murder trial likely to begin later this year, there exists the potential for very serious trouble. Calling for an end to "bully-boy aggression", the DUP's East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson said: "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. 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." PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne said: "There is no place for thuggery and intimidation and we want to keep these people on the back foot while we remain on the front foot." cbarnes@sundaylife.co.uk Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 04:32:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close The UN-backed Libyan prime minister Fayez Serraj (L) casts his ballot at a polling station in Tripoli, Libya, Feb. 6, 2021. Libya's Central Committee for Municipal Council Elections (CCMCE) on Saturday announced concluding the municipal elections of the capital city of Tripoli. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua) TRIPOLI, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Libya's Central Committee for Municipal Council Elections (CCMCE) on Saturday announced concluding the municipal elections of the capital city of Tripoli. The UN-backed prime minister, Fayez Serraj, also voted in the elections, and reviewed the procedures taken to make the elections successful during a meeting with officials of the committee, according to the UN-backed government's information office. A number of Libyan cities and towns held municipal elections recently under the auspices of the CCMCE. In January, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) stressed the importance of holding municipal elections, and reiterated its call on the unification of the electoral authorities for municipal council elections in Libya. Enditem Members of the National Guard protect an Employment Development Department building near the State Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on Jan. 17, 2021. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images) California Legislators Request Help for EDD Fraud Victims California legislators warn that unsuspecting state residents will be further burdened by fraudulent unemployment claims if Gov. Gavin Newsom doesnt intervene to fix problems at the states Employment Development Department (EDD). The EDD has already paid $10.4 billion in benefits to claimants whose identities havent been verified, according to a Jan. 28 report from the state auditor. As a result, a number of victims of identity fraud might be held responsible for paying taxes on benefits they never received. Sen. Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) told The Epoch Times that the EDDs mismanagement is the biggest scandal thats ever taken place in a state government and called it just mind-boggling. This was something that has harmed so many people in so many horrible ways that yesterday isnt too soon to get this thing fixed, Bates said. A representative for the EDD, which is in the process of sending out a record 7.8 million 1099-G forms that summarize taxable income issued through unemployment benefits, told The Epoch Times that efforts are being made to solve the problem. We have increased staffing at our designated contact center to assist people who have received a Form 1099-G reporting taxable benefits paid in 2020, and either dont believe the amount is accurate or they suspect someone has filed a claim in their name or Social Security number, Loree Levy, deputy director of the EDDs public affairs branch, said in a statement. But California Senate Republicans say EDD efforts arent enough, and estimate that unverified benefit claims could rise to $30 billion. Without immediate action by the Governor and our federal representatives, innocent people will be left to fight the IRS over tax liabilities for benefits they never received, according to a Feb. 2 statement. Bates said that in her 36th District alone, which includes south Orange County and north San Diego County, there are at least 200 pending cases that her staff is working tirelessly to help resolve, some of which have remained unsettled since April 2020. Getting information from [the EDD] and to those individuals is a full-time job, Bates said. Families are going without food and housing. In some cases, they have used up all their savings. So thats horrific. Bates, along with eight other state senators, sent a letter to Newsom on Feb. 1, citing the auditors report and requesting implementation of a mid-February deadline promised by the EDD to resolve the fraud issues. As of Feb. 4, the governors office hadnt responded, according to Ronald Ongtoaboc, Bates communication director. EDD Efforts In the statement released to The Epoch Times, the EDD said its dedicated to helping California residents and outlined its outreach efforts. The EDD is committed to assisting Californians who may have been victims of identity theft as organized crime rings both domestically and internationally have assaulted unemployment benefit programs across the country, Levy said. As dedicated efforts continue to zero in on legitimate claimants and weed out scammers, the EDD developed further resources. The departments primary resource is a Help Fight Fraud webpage. The site includes links for reporting suspected fraud, identity theft information sheets, and national credit reporting agencies that offer no-cost monitoring services through April. According to Levy, any claims that are confirmed as imposter fraud will be removed from the corresponding Social Security number, and an amended 1099-G form will be issued. As of Jan. 28, the EDD had suspended 1.4 million claims that were deemed fraudulent after an additional identity screening was applied. A Beleaguered System Bates said she remains very skeptical about the efficacy of the EDD resources. Youve got a system that is so beleaguered that finding the string that you pull that makes it start to work is a very daunting task, she said. Unwinding thatbecause they dont know the identities of the people whose personal information has been breachedis the real problem. Thats why this portal theyre setting up is so very important. A January report from the state auditor said that EDDs poor planning and ineffective management left it unprepared to assist Californians unemployed by COVID-19 shutdowns. It cited a slew of systematic problems, including weakness in EDD claims processing, call center deficiencies, and failing to properly prepare for an economic crisis despite several warnings. In Bates view, a two-fold challenge remains to remedy the situation: The newly hired staff has to be trained quickly, on outdated systems in need of upgrading. When youre running on technology that is outdated, and youre trying to update it and solve problems at the same time, I think theres gonna have to be a lot of person-to-person [contact]. Thats how were resolving some of these issues, Bates said. She said personal interactions between her staff and needy constituents have yielded some positive resolutions over the last several months. We get many people calling and thanking us from their heart because we were the only ones that could solve the issue, and thats because we did person-to-person on the phone, Bates said. The EDDs designated phone number for Form 1099-G issues is 1-866-401-2849. The EDD indicated calls are answered on that line Mondays through Fridays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Badrinath temple in Uttarakhand opens portals after winter break, no pilgrims allowed due to Covid Deeply concerned about glacier burst in Uttarakhand: Prez India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Dehradun, Feb 07: President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said he was deeply worried about the massive glacier burst at Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district and prayed for the wellbeing and safety of people. In a tweet, Kovind also said he was confident that rescue and relief operations on ground are progressing well. 'Deeply worried about the glacier burst near Joshimath, Uttarakhand, that caused destruction in the region. Praying for wellbeing and safety of people. Am confident that rescue and relief operations on ground are progressing well,' he tweeted. Glacier Breaks: 10 dead bodies found, atleast 125 feared dead| Oneindia News A part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off at Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, leading to a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and causing large-scale devastation in the upper reaches of the ecologically fragile Himalayas. Healthcare delivery in India is poised to undergo a change at all stages: President Kovind Over 150 labourers working at a power project in Tapovan-Reni are feared dead, an Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) spokesperson said while quoting the project-in charge. Three bodies were recovered. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 14:36:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NANCHANG, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Ding Dan, 29, was a white-collar worker in Shanghai's central business district four years ago. Now, the graduate student from the University of Liverpool has picked up a new career -- farming. Ding's parents run a food-processing company with an annual output value of 200 million yuan (about 25.68 million U.S. dollars), but to his surprise, they have not been supportive of their son's decision. "In their view, being involved in agriculture is too laborious," said Ding. But Ding persevered. He learned from agronomists and veteran farmers and conducted numerous tests on soil nutrients, the optimum ratio of fertilizers, as well as the use of pesticides to raise yields and improve grain quality. In 2019, after two years of work in Shinao Township of Gao'an City, east China's Jiangxi Province, his 20-hectare land yielded 165,000 kg of rice. "It is the most beautiful rice I've seen this year," commended a grain expert. As China deepens rural vitalization, more young, high-skilled personnel like Ding have been playing a leading role in promoting modern agriculture. Xiao Wen resigned as chairman of a listed company two years ago, having invested nearly 3 billion yuan in the construction of an agricultural park in Gao'an. Aiming to make it a complex park comprising a demonstration zone for smart and circular agriculture, Xiao estimates its annual output value at 20 billion yuan. For the younger generations, high-end techniques and machinery remain the focus of agribusiness. Wang Xihua, a technical director of a vegetable industrial park in Jiangxi's Yudu County, said the park has introduced a soilless culture technology from the Netherlands that has raised output as much as threefold. "There are eight technical directors at the park, and they play leading roles in terms of introducing advanced technology and applying modern management," Wang said. "The future of modern agriculture lies in mechanization, otherwise labor costs alone could overwhelm the company," said Ding, who has built a nine-member tech team, whose "weapons" are rotavators, rice transplanters and harvesters. "The cost of rice transplanting was 2,400 yuan per hectare the first year we introduced rice transplanters. It then dropped to 1,950 yuan per hectare in the second year and 1,500 yuan in 2020," said Ding, who is attaching greater importance to fine, green agriculture and modern management. Enditem National Bluru Christians donate Rs 1 cr for Ayodhyas Ram temple BENGALURU, FEB 7 (IANS) | Publish Date: 2/7/2021 12:11:20 PM IST Prominent members of the Christians community in this tech city have collected Rs 1 crore as donation for the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayan said on Sunday. The members of the Christian community from all walks of life donated Rs 1 crore during the fund-raising drive, said Narayan. Christian entrepreneurs, businessmen, educationists, chief executives, marketing experts and social service activists contributed for the temple construction. The BJP believes in pro-people actions and sab ka saath, sab ka vikas as stated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As an inclusive party, the BJP incapsulates even minorities and its philosophy of governance is followed at the central and the state levels, said the Deputy CM. The communitys representative and businessman Ronald Colaso said Christians always respond to the cause of the nation and social harmony. In this context, the communitys leaders also thanked the BJP-ruled state government for granting Rs 200 crore for setting up Christian Development Corporation in the city. We are also grateful to the state government for legislating a Bill to set up Saint Joseph University in the city, said Colaso in the statement. Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Secretary General Champat Rai announced recently that the donation drive, which began on January 15, would be go on till February 27 across the country. One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment I have been forever marked by the years I identified with lesbianism not simply because of my sexuality, but because of the perspective I gained on human dignity and belonging. When I publicly came out, I entered into a world within a world. In day-to-day life, I looked and felt increasingly different from everyone else around me. I became more radical in appearance and affect. Without consciously perceiving it, I was separating from normal society while also feeling exasperated that I wasnt accepted. It felt painful to be noticed as different, yet I was butch. There was a perpetual tension of belonging and exclusion. My commitment to Christian faith heightened this conflict. I had been an ordained elder in my church for a few years when I chose to apply to seminary. I was admitted and awarded a full scholarship. I recall sitting at the boardroom table in my final elders meeting. For most, it would be a time of community celebration, but I was bracing for a response that I would receive multiple times from then on: You are not fit for ministry. Under the encouragement of my pastor, I chose to fully disclose my sexual orientation to the board that night and resigned because of immorality. It was 1999. My decision to go to seminary was radical and courageous and fraught with uncertainty. I went forward hoping to find clarity and direction. I had desired to study theology since in my teens and at various times had been granted scholarships to begin before coming out. But now was my season. Once there, I quickly found a handful of others like me: called to ministry yet barred from it because of our sexual orientation. I found solace among these other LGBT seminarians. My peers and the staff welcomed me. They celebrated my courage to pursue a life in ministry despite great odds. Together, we pressured our denomination to embrace the LGBT worldview so we could belong. We werent aiming to radically overthrow orthodox beliefs or reduce the Bible for the sake of cheap grace. We simply desired to fully become part of the regular fabric of the Body of Christ. The dilemma was that our identification with LGBT seemed to require that radical shift. There was no real comprehension of the ultimate impact of such changes, which today include devastating reinterpretations of family, marriage, parenthood, and promiscuity. I dont think I can highlight adequately the strain of feeling called to ministry while also experiencing same-sex attraction. And this is where I want to comment on human dignity. While in seminary, I was dramatically impacted by a few people particularly. One, a man who had attempted to pursue his postgraduate degree in theology at Oral Roberts University when someone outed him to the faculty. He was dismissed, his family was notified and he was horribly, publicly shamed. His family was devastated. Above all, he was deeply and painfully humiliated. Now, he was finding space to express his love for God. Each weekend he would don a clerical collar and walk the streets of our large metropolitan LGBT neighborhood praying with gay men. He would go into bars and sip a glass of cranberry juice listening to and praying with the men there. He established an outreach in that neighborhood to teens and I was privileged to see it begin to grow as gay kids joined us each Friday night for pizza and games until midnight. It was safe. It was family. No one was excluded and no topic was out of bounds. Gay friends stopped in and laughingly spoke of their sexual forays together, all while he patiently and compassionately listened. He used his life as a witness against the pain, torment, and rejection he had experienced, offering a lifeline to dozens of men on the streets. He died of AIDS shortly after I left the seminary. At various times in my journey since those days, I have responded to this part of my life with shame, disgust, anger, and outrage because of my own spiritual arrogance. How dare I attempt to change the face of Christianity with LGBT in mind? Of course, it is outrageous. Despite the popular mantra that love is love, there is nothing kind, gentle, or honorable about the gay bar scene in its objectification of sex. The strip where I spent hours congregating for community was full of debauchery, porn, BDSM, and sexual fetishism. I was blind to its reality. But that wasnt what my friend saw. He saw the dignity of the men caught up in that world and did what he could to highlight it. He was inadequate and perhaps misled. The message didnt call all men to repentance. Nor did it extinguish gay identity or desires. Nevertheless, today I believe I see more and more the beauty of Jesus in this mans life and work. Its common to hear these stories as a plea to fully embrace LGBT. That is not my aim. Im sharing my story here because I believe Christians need a new way forward that neither exalts LGBT nor condemns. I want you to consider this dilemma and recognize that a way forward requires accepting people who experience same-sex sexual feelings without victimizing or otherwise isolating them. With the founding of CHANGED (an international network of people who no longer identify as LGBT), I have done my best to share this part of my life openly in order to respond to LGBT in such a way that highlights human dignity. Jesus modeled an outlook that extended beyond the superficial in order to cherish those around Him. I have experienced His gaze, which treasures our soul (our reality) today while also cultivating our potential. Jesus is the factor that is most overlooked in the Christian debate around LGBT. Relationship with Him is the treasure that we are willing to sacrifice for. But, it turns out that His journey is abundant. His ways overcome theory, psychology, and philosophy. Typically, Jesus is the last to be offered LGBT identifying people. Instead, we are given a system of discipline to yield repentance. Jesus saved my life. He addressed my mental and emotional health rescuing me from suicidality. He redeemed my identity as a woman and ultimately my sexuality. As time goes on, He continues to reveal Himself to me in life-changing ways as I aspire to live as He lived and assume His heart within my own life. I am a woman, a daughter, a wife to my husband of 16 years all because of Jesus. I no longer identify as LGBT. What was my friend from seminary seeking? Wasnt it full communion with Jesus and His family? Because of his orientation, he had been cast out of the fellowship of his original family and community. Together we LGBT were creating a kind of parallel universe that had a shade of what we believed we were missing. Calling ourselves gay was an act of defiance, a response to ease the pain of rejection, but what we really wanted was to belong. The crevasse, however, between our worldview and the communities from which we came, seemed (still seems) irreconcilable. What should one do to follow Christ when they experience LGBT? For centuries the church has categorized homosexual practice as sin and demanded repentance without offering effective discipleship to address the experience. You see, LGBT identifying people are trapped within the dilemma of being treasured today versus the promises of sanctification. This conflict is common to the Christian experience, but relatively few LGBT identifying people are given the leadership and mercy to fully walk through discipleship within the Body of Christ to embrace their adoption as sons and daughters. In 2019, the results of a30-year study on genetics relating to same-sex sexuality were released. It concluded there are multiple genetic (biological) factors involved, but that they have only a small fraction of influence in the development of same-sex sexuality. Instead, it is environmental factors that play the largest role. Fundamentally, gay people are the same as everyone else at birth no determinative genetic factor was discovered. What happens as we mature inspires the development of sexual desires or gender confusion. That is, ones family, community, social status, ethnicity, even religion all play a role in the development of same-sex sexual behavior. These factors shape our personality and perceptions, and their impact is not easily reversed. And so, in my opinion, the best way to respond to same-sex sexuality is holistic. Simply embracing the desires as innate and determinative keeps many from adequately addressing relational dysfunction (such as codependency), issues relating to sexual abuse, abandonment or rejection wounds, and self-rejection. We tend to protect gay identity above resolution of these problems, which means that adequate wholeness never comes. Unfortunately, there is rarely a middle ground. One either fully embraces gay identity or hides. For Christians, the way forward requires acknowledgment that sanctification through a relationship with Jesus restores our common human identity. We must invite believers into a way of life that emphasizes our new identity in Christ. This involves accepting people authentically while pointing to (and having confidence in) the teachings and leadership of Christ. Unfortunately, this is not the message most with an LGBT background experience. Following Christ is not a gay to straight journey (both are false constructs.) Discipleship is a matter of changing ones mind and worldview to believe we are all simply human beings. Together. That path requires real repentance (a change of mind) and an environment that can facilitate life in Christ alongside self-knowledge, understanding of our past, perspective on our gifts or strengths, honor, dignity, transformation, hope essentially, it requires the kingdom of God. We need an environment where we can be cherished while being authentic as we lay down our LGBT identity. One that is undaunted by temptation. God can restore what has been lost to the worldview that our sexual desires are central to our self-understanding. For some, following Jesus in this way results in radical changes in sexual experience. For others, there is reconciliation to ones biological gender (sex). We experience freedom from life dominating and compelling sexual desires. Above all, we find we measure up as men and women, with shared passions and goals. We belong. My friend from seminary never heard a message like this. He was never given a chance to understand his life experiences more thoroughly, or to release the trauma of years of both self- and societal rejection among a life-giving Christian community. Above all, he was never allowed to experience life as a healthy man among other healthy men. It has never been more important to formulate language for ones new life in Jesus, which enables us to escape LGBT labels and cultural demands. Being born again is the doorway to the restoration of our identity as men and women. Through Christ, we may step into a new identity, defined by Jesus, that allows us to belong as sons and daughters within His family with no caveats. The time promised by God has come at last! he announced. The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News! Mark 1:15 NLT Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3 ESV He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are rebornnot with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. John 1:11-13 NLT So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NLT And so, I am praying for a way forward for Christian LGBT identifying people to step out of that worldview, which tells us we are different from others. That message is subtly dehumanizing, causing us to forever be excluded from the larger body of humanity because of our sexual experience. At the same time, churches also need to reframe their perspectives toward us by focusing on our common humanity. Clearly, our temptations do not define us and so congregations must become welcoming environments for spiritual maturation. We must all see the vision of restoration of our personhood that Christ offers. The goal isnt straight; the goal is human, redeemed. Then we will be free from every life-dominating behavior that draws us away from Christs vision for human identity, whether in singleness or marriage. Only then can we become the family and the body of Christ that brings healing to the nations together. 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. Fianna Fail Senator Erin McGreehan has welcomed the publishing of the Land Development Agency Bill 2021. The Bill establishes the LDA on a statutory basis and sets out the core goals of the LDA to undertake strategic land assembly and fully utilise state lands to build affordable homes and sustainable communities. Senator McGreehan commented, Building affordable and social homes is a key aim of this government. "This is another example of the many ways this government is working to improve housing supply. Housing will not be fixed with a singular act or funding scheme; its going to take many initiatives while also working closely with Local Authorities to find solutions. I am looking forward to this coming to the Seanad and passing it through the necessary stages. The Bill, which will be brought through the Oireachtas in this Dail session, will focus initially on public lands in towns of over 10,000 people. It provides that the LDA will periodically report to Government on public lands which could be suitable for housing or urban development and the Government may direct that such lands be transferred to the LDA. The Bill also provides that the LDA will have first refusal to purchase public lands being put up for sale. Under the Bill the Minister for Housing will specify an affordability requirement for the delivery of affordable homes for sale or rent on public lands. This affordability requirement can be varied on sites in different areas depending on local housing needs. The Agency can provide services to local authorities for the development of large scale multi-tenure sites for housing and urban development in urban centres over 30,000. This will assist with the construction of increased social housing on local authority owned sites. Paul Grisham's wallet was missing for so long at the bottom of the world he forgot all about it. Fifty-three years later, the 91-year-old San Diego man has the billfold back along with mementos of his 13-month assignment as a Navy meteorologist on Antarctica in the 1960s. 'I was just blown away,' Grisham told The San Diego Union-Tribune after the wallet was returned on Saturday. 'There was a long series of people involved who tracked me down and ran me to ground.' Paul Grisham and his wife Carole Salazar look over his wallet and the items that were inside when he lost the wallet back 1968 while stationed in Antarctica as a meteorologist Paul Grisham, as pictured on his Navy ID card at the age of 38 The wallet contained his Navy ID card, driver license, a pocket reference card on what to do during atomic, biological and chemical attack, a beer ration punch card, a tax withholding statement and receipts for money orders sent to his wife. Grisham, who was raised in Douglas, Arizona, enlisted in the Navy in 1948. He became a weather technician and then a weather forecaster. He was assigned to Antarctica as part of 'Operation Deep Freeze,' which supported civilian scientists, and shipped out to the frozen continent in October 1967. At the time, he was in his 30s and married with two toddlers. Paul Grisham holds his 1968 Navy ID card at his home in the San Carlos neighborhood of San Diego. Grisham's wallet was missing for so long at the bottom of the world he forgot about it Navy meteorologist Paul Grisham, left, during his promotion to the rank of lieutenant by commanding officer Jim McNeely at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, in 1968 'I went down there kicking and screaming,' he said. At some point while down on 'The Ice,' Grisham lost the wallet, something he later forgot about. It was found behind a locker in 2014 during demolition of a building at McMurdo Station on Antarctica's Ross Island. Finding its owner took emails, Facebook messages and letters exchanged among a group of amateur sleuths. Stephen Decato and his daughter Sarah Lindbergh, both of New Hampshire, and Bruce McKee of the Indiana Spirit of 45 nonprofit foundation had previously worked to return a Navy service ID bracelet to its owner. The wallet was found hidden behind a locker and contained his Navy identity card, driver's license, instructions for what to do in case of attack... and a ration card for beer Decato spotted the bracelet in a shop and bought it. His daughter then located McKees veterans tribute organization and his online notice about it led to the original owner. Decato had worked for an agency that does research in Antarctica. His former boss, George Blaisdell, heard about the bracelet episode and decided to send Decato two wallets that were found during the McMurdo demolition. Lindbergh again contacted McKee, who in turn contacted Gary Cox of the Naval Weather Service Association, a group that includes Grisham. Fifty-three years later, the 91-year-old has the billfold back along with mementos of his 13-month assignment as a Navy meteorologist on Antarctica. It contained a reference card for what to do in case of a biological or chemical weapons attack, pictured above The second wallet was returned to the family of a man who died in 2016. Grisham said of his time on the frozen continent that it was hard to grasp the vastness and remoteness of Antarctica. A daily luxury was an after-work martini, and once a week he contacted his wife, Wilma, by voice relay through shortwave radio operators. Grisham retired from the Navy in 1977 and lived in Monterey, California, where Wilma died in 2000. He remarried, to Carole Salazar of San Diego, in 2003. HC observed that the SEC does not have power to direct that the petitioner (minister) be confined to his residential premises. (Photo:DC) Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Sunday set aside the State Election Commissions order confining panchayat raj minister P. Ramachandra Reddy to his home. But the Court restrained the minister from interacting with the media till all phases of the gram panchayat polls are over on February 21. The HC came up with the via media solution to remedy a surcharged ground situation, with differences between and mutual accusations by the SEC and the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government between whom, the court pointed out, there is no love lost. Passing an interim order in a house motion, moved by the minister and state government, Justice D.V.S.S. Somayajulu brought to the fore the overstepping of their respective jurisdictions by both the minister and the SEC. The language used leaves much to be desired. Freedom of speech is not an absolute and a reasonable restriction can be imposed, the judge pointed, out referring to the ministers warning to returning officers of severe action if they do not announce unanimous elections. In the same breath, the HC observed that the SEC does not have power to direct that the petitioner (minister) be confined to his residential premises. Further Justice Somayajulu categorically said, The power of superintendence and control over elections and its process cannot extend to passing an order restraining the petitioner from leaving his house. Dealing with the delicate situation involving two constitutionally empowered bodies on an incessant collision course, the court said, The petitioner before this court is a minister, who has taken oath on the Constitution of India. The first respondent (SEC) is another Constitutional authority, with certain powers which are given to it for the smooth conduct of the elections in the state. They are the contesting parties. On the ministers contention that he was only propagating the governments policy of encouraging unanimous polls, Justice Somayajulu said the formers threat to officials is a clear interference in the election process. The HCs observations that no person can be deprived of life and liberty, except as per the procedure established by law, also exposed the chinks in the armour of N. Ramesh Kumar, the State Election Commissioner, whose actions in certain instances have drawn widespread criticism. The HC order, beyond any doubt, establishes that the SEC did not follow due process of law in the instant case. The resolution, which drew a sharp reaction from India, calls on Governor Andrew Cuomo to declare 5 February as Kashmir American Day New York: The New York State Assembly has passed a resolution calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to declare 5 February as Kashmir American Day, drawing a sharp reaction from India which noted with concern attempts by vested interests to misrepresent Jammu and Kashmirs rich cultural and social mosaic to divide the people. The resolution, sponsored by Assembly member Nader Sayegh and 12 other lawmakers, states that the Kashmiri community has overcome adversity, shown perseverance and established themselves as one of the pillars of the New York immigrant communities. It adds that the State of New York endeavours to champion human rights including the freedom of religion, movement and expression for all Kashmiri people, which are embedded within the US Constitution, through the recognition of diverse cultural, ethnic and religious identities. Commenting on the resolution, a spokesperson of Indias Embassy in Washington said: We have seen the New York Assembly Resolution regarding Kashmir American Day. Like the US, India is a vibrant democracy and the pluralistic ethos of 1.35 billion people are a matter of pride. India celebrates its diversity and rich cultural mosaic, including in Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral and inalienable part of India. We note with concern the attempt by vested interests to misrepresent the rich cultural and social mosaic of Jammu and Kashmir to divide the people. "We will engage with the elected representatives in the New York State on all matters concerning India-US partnership and the diverse Indian diaspora, the spokesperson said on Saturday in response to queries on the resolution. The legislative resolution, adopted in the New York State Assembly on 3 February, calls on Cuomo to proclaim 5 February, 2021 as Kashmir American Day in the State of New York. In a tweet, Pakistans Consulate General in New York acknowledged the role of Sayegh and The American Pakistani Advocacy Group towards the adoption of the resolution. Pakistan has been unsuccessfully trying to drum up international support against India for withdrawing Jammu and Kashmir's special status on 5 August, 2019 and bifurcating it into two union territories Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. India has firmly told Pakistan that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been, is, and shall continue to be an integral part of India. New Delhi has maintained that issues related to Jammu and Kashmir are internal matters to India. India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution was its internal matter. It also advised Pakistan to accept the reality and stop all anti-India propaganda. Opposition Accuses Greek Prime Minister of Attending Dinner Violating Coronavirus Rules Athens, Feb 7 (Sputnik) - The Greek "Coalition of the Radical Left Progressive Alliance" party (SYRIZA) has accused Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of violating coronavirus restrictions by attending a gathering of around 50 people. On Saturday, Mitsotakis visited a small group of islands in the eastern Aegeans Ikaria region. On his visit to the island of Ikaria, the prime minister had dinner with members of the New Democracy party. SYRIZA spokesperson Nasosa Iliopoulosa claimed that Mitsotakis dinner with a crowd of roughly 50 people on a balcony was a "provocative violation of all sanitary measures." A British woman who faced the death penalty in Malaysia after stabbing her husband to death is set to be freed within weeks, it has been reported. Samantha Jones, 55, was imprisoned in the Asian country after she killed her husband John Jones, 63, at their home on the island of Langkawi in 2018. In August, a judge spared her the mandatory penalty of death by hanging after ruling she was not guilty of John's murder. Instead Jones, who claimed to have stabbed John in self-defence after suffering years of physical abuse, was found guilty of 'culpable homicide without intent'. Jones was then ordered to serve three and a half more years behind bars. She had been facing up to 10 years. But now, according to the Sunday Mirror, Jones is 'thrilled to bits' after being told she will be free in a matter of weeks. British woman Samantha Jones, who faced the death penalty in Malaysia after stabbing her husband to death, is set to be freed within weeks, it has been reported. Samantha Jones, 51, was imprisoned in the Asian country after she killed her husband John Jones, 63, at their home on the island of Langkawi in 2018 In August, a judge spared her the mandatory penalty of death by hanging after ruling she was not guilty of John's murder. Instead Jones, who claimed to have stabbed John (pictured) in self-defence after suffering years of physical abuse, was found guilty of 'culpable homicide without intent' Jones has reportedly been told she will be released on February 18. The former insurance clerk and her husband, who was a retired fisherman, moved to Malaysia 13 years ago from Somerset after falling in love with the country on a holiday in 2002. But she claims their 'new life' quickly turned into 'hell in paradise' as John - a father-of-two and grandfather-of-four - drank heavily and physically abused her. She stabbed him in October 2018 after he returned drunk to their villa on the dream island of Langkawi. John, a retired fire service chief, suffered a deep stab wound to his chest, which fatally pierced his liver. Jones originally faced the death penalty and wept when she was found not guilty of murder and was instead jailed for 42 months. She insisted on the eve of her trial: 'I loved that man.' Her family are said to have been told they will need to fund her flights back to the UK, as well as her accommodation. Jones said she stabbed her husband (scene, pictured) after he returned from an all-day drinking session with friends and became abusive - hitting her in the face and stomach Jones says she grabbed a knife (pictured) to protect herself, then plunged it into her husband's chest as he goaded her to attack him In August, a judge spared her the mandatory penalty of death by hanging after ruling she was not guilty of John's murder She stabbed him in October 2018 after he returned drunk to their villa on the dream island of Langkawi She could also face weeks of quarantine at an immigration centre before being sent back to the UK. Before they moved to Malaysia, Jones said she reported John twice to the police in the UK for abusing her, but felt unable to go to police in Malaysia because the subject is 'taboo'. Her lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo said Jones had suffered a broken jaw during one beating, and feared that John would kill her one day. Before they moved to Malaysia, Jones said she reported John twice to the police in the UK for abusing her, but felt unable to go to police in Malaysia because the subject is 'taboo' Friends in the area have previously claimed that John banned her from talking to other men and even attacked her with a sword on one occasion. On the day of the killing - October 18, 2018 - John had been out all day drinking with his ex-pat friends when he returned home and an argument broke out. She claims she was punched in the face and kicked in the stomach before grabbing a knife in self defence, as John goaded her to stab him. Jones says she ran to the bathroom clutching the knife, before stabbing John in the chest as he renewed his attack on her - with the knife piercing his liver. She then ran to a neighbour to call for help, but by the time an ambulance arrived, John had bled to death. She was arrested and charged with murder before being found guilty of 'culpable homicide', which is better known as manslaughter - an unlawful killing which does not involve intent to harm or kill. Speaking ahead of the trial, Deo told The Mirror: 'The one thing she wants everyone to know is she really loved this man. 'He had a lot of problems and she was standing by him and working it through. 'She never imagined anything like this could ever happen. She's lost her husband and home. She is still grieving, it has been a traumatic experience. 'We are of the view the facts of the case do not support a murder charge.' There has been another confirmed case of the United Kingdom COVID-19 variant in New Jersey, this time in the north ward of Trenton, Mayor W. Reed Gusciora announced today. City officials were notified that a COVID-19 test from a North Trenton resident showed the presence of the United Kingdom COVID-19 variant (B.1.1.7), the mayor said. That resident has since tested negative, and the one other person in the household is undergoing testing now. The first two cases of the same variant were reported in New Jersey on Jan. 22. According to the CDC website, this variant spreads faster and more easily than other versions of the virus. With the emergence of this variant in Trenton, we cant think of a more important time to remind our residents to keep their guard up, said Gusciora. That means practicing social distancing, wearing your mask, and making sure to get tested if you have any symptoms. The city is offering COVID-19 testing at the MLK School on 401 Brunswick Ave on Feb. 9 and Feb. 12, 2021, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. No registration is needed, and tests will be administered on a first-come-first-served basis. While there is no charge for testing, residents are advised to bring their insurance cards if they have them, along with proof of Trenton residency. According to city health officials, the vaccines being administered in the Trenton area are still effective against this COVID-19 variant. Residents who need help registering for vaccines are advised to call the citys Department of Health at (609)-989-3242. To date, Trenton has had a total of 6,373 COVID-19 cases with 85 related deaths, Gusciora said. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jessica Remo may be reached at jremo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaRemoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Southern Pines, NC (28387) Today Cloudy. High 68F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. Low 47F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. The 11th edition of Jovella, Israels international jewelry and diamond exhibition, will host a very significant international exhibitor, Fiera di Vicenza, Italys primary company for jewelry trade shows and events. Jovella 2014 will be held on the first two days of July at Tel Avivs Trade Fairs and Convention Center, according to press release by IDI. Jovella, the leading event of the jewelry industry in Israel, offers both domestic and foreign buyers an opportunity to explore Israels diamond and jewelry industries, to meet some of the most innovative designers and manufacturers in the country and to visit the Israel Diamond Exchange. Israels jewelry is known for fresh designs and a dynamic spirit, based on a fusion of modern and traditional, east and west, conventional and futuristic. Jovella will showcase jewelry that features creative designs, up-to-the-minute fashion, excellent quality and a combination of the exotic and the cosmopolitan. The show will include approximately 250 exhibitors from Israel and abroad, showing loose diamonds, gold jewelry, gold set with diamonds or precious stones, silver jewelry, silver combined with gold and gemstones, as well as fashion jewelry. As in previous years the show will feature a special section of young Israeli jewelry designers showing original gold, silver and diamond jewelry. In 2013, Jovella attracted over 10,000 trade visitors, including buyers, retailers, journalists and distinguished guests from abroad. The U.S. is the Israeli jewelry industrys largest export market, followed by Europe and the Far East. Besides the U.S., Israels jewelry is exported to Russia, the U.K., Hong Kong, Canada, Belgium, Italy, Spain, France, Japan and other locations. The exhibition is being organized by the Stier Group, in collaboration with the Israel Jewelry Manufacturers Association (IJMA), the Israel Ministry of Economy, the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute, and the Israel Diamond Institute Group of Companies (IDI). A grandfather who became the oldest person to row 3,000 miles unassisted across the Atlantic Ocean has encouraged older people to keep active and challenge yourself. Frank Rothwell, 70, from Oldham, set off from Canary Island La Gomera on December 12 and crossed the finish line in Antigua in the Caribbean on Saturday reuniting with Judith, his wife of 50 years, with time to spare until Valentines Day. The achievement has also raised more than 720,000 for dementia research with Alzheimers Research UK. The adventurer has previously spent five weeks on a deserted island for a Bear Grylls TV programme, and rowed solo in a boat nicknamed Never Too Old. I think a lot of us older people dont use our skills to do things with hobbies, Mr Rothwell told the PA news agency. They should think of something thats difficult to do it may be theyre physically restricted, but do something that will challenge you. That will extend your life an interest, something to get up for in the morning. When I get home from here Im building a six-tonne steam traction engine from scratch in my garage I cant wait to get started. Judith is really happy because she said thatll keep you anchored at home for a while. Despite his age, Mr Rothwell came fourth out of eight solo boats that took part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. He said most participants boats worked on a basis of two hours of rowing and two hours sleeping, but he treated the task like a normal day. Id start in the morning as it came light, Mr Rothwell said. Because of the cramped conditions on the boat it would take me an hour and a half to actually get up brush my teeth, take my tablets, make my breakfast make sure I phoned everybody up. Part of my condition of going out here was that I would phone Judith every day. After breakfast, Mr Rothwell would generally then row in two or three-hour stints, with 10 or 20 minute breaks in between and breaks for meals finishing the days rowing when darkness fell. It was hard, I cant imagine anything being as difficult as this, he added. It is quite easy to die if you fall over the side and youre not hooked on youre dead theres no two ways about it. Mr Rothwell said that every week or so he would jump into the sea wearing a safety belt so he could scrape barnacles off the bottom of the boat to aid its speed. When he eventually arrived at the finish line two months after setting off, Mr Rothwell said the feeling was euphoric. Thats a really emotional bit that, its a special, special feeling, he said. The place was filled with mega superyachts and they all hooted their horns. That was for me, it was fantastic. Mr Rothwell added that he was proud his family allowed him to take part in the race, as he had wanted to cross the Atlantic in a sailboat six years ago but they would not let him. I then become an old codger and go can I row across the Atlantic single-handed? and they said oh yeah you can do that it isnt logical, he laughed. Mr Rothwell said the money raised for Alzheimers research was in tribute to his brother-in-law Roger Wheeldon, who died with the condition aged 62 during his row. Mr Wheeldon also had Downs syndrome and had been living in a care home for the last 30 years. It motivated me along and gave me time to reflect on Roger and his life, Mr Rothwell said. Mr Rothwell set out to raise 1 million for Alzheimers Research UK, and looks set to achieve this after Iceland Foods Charitable Foundation pledged to double the first 500,000 of his donations. If you would like to help Mr Rothwells cause, you can donate at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/frankrothwell The Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) is a flagship element of Project Ireland 2040, which is currently awaiting a government decision on funding. Under the stewardship of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Fund was established to support more compact and sustainable development, through the regeneration and rejuvenation of Irelands large towns. The key feature of this fund is continued collaboration, whether between Government Agencies, local authorities, communities and other stakeholders. In May 2020 Longford County Council applied under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund Second Call 2020. The Camlin Quarter Master Plan was prepared over the course of 2018/2019 with support from the URDF/DHPLG following a detailed public engagement process. The application submitted by Longford County Council is ambitious and exciting and this project looks to totally revitalise the long forgotten lower part of Longford Town and re-connect with the core of the town. The plan incorporates an area of over 55 acres, taking in the 18-acre barracks site, but with a new focus on the Camlin river. This project will coordinate the development of the northern area of Longford town. The project will showcase the heritage that exists within the Barracks complex which contains the site of the former Castle and Market House. It will also improve the connection within the town to our fantastic facility in the Mall and much more. If this project is fully realised it will transform Longford town. It will also become an attractive location for new business and investors and create a more attractive living environment within the town to encourage compact urban growth. The six elements contain a connect major residential, educational, recreational and amenity, public services and economic function centred on a major tourism investment project at Connolly Barracks, Little Water St/Bridge Street/Link Road, Albert Reynolds Peace Park/Abbeycarton, Great Water Street, The Providers Innovation Hub provide supporting connections and services as per the Camlin Quarter Master Plan. From 2018 Longford County Council have received in the region of 2.9 million euro in funding from the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund for the project titled Longford Connected. A decision will be made early this year and if Longford Co Co were to receive this funding which is estimated at 13m this would be a game changer for the town and county of Longford. Separated family members from South Korea hold the hands of their family members from North Korea on a bus at Mount Geumgang in the North in this Oct. 22, 2015 photo, after a reunion event for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. There have been no family reunion events for Korean Americans in the United States who have separated relatives in the North. Korea Times file By Jung Da-min Twenty-one members of the U.S. Congress have proposed a bill to call for a family reunion event for Korean Americans who have separated relatives in North Korea, according to the congressional website and a Washington-based V.O.A. report. Grace Meng, who has a Korean American husband, proposed the bill, called the Divided Families Reunification Act, last Thursday, together with other members of Congress, including four with Korean roots Young Kim, Michelle Park Steel, Andy Kim and Marilyn Strickland. "I rise today to announce the reintroduction of my Divided Families Reunification Act, and to raise the voices of families who have been separated for decades both across the DMZ [Demilitarized Zone] and across the Pacific Ocean," Meng said in a session of Congress, according to the website. "The division of the Korean Peninsula into South and North Korea separated millions of Koreans from their family members. Through the years, there have been some agreed upon reunions between South and North Koreans. For Korean Americans, however, there is no pathway for such reunions, as they have not been permitted to participate in these inter-Korean family reunions." This is the second time for Meng to propose the bill, about a month after the 117th Congress was inaugurated, following her first proposal in March 2019. During the 116th Congress, the bill was passed by the House of Representatives and had been waiting for the Senate's decision to get the U.S. President's final approval, but the Congress ended with discussions unfinished. According to Meng, the bill requires the U.S. secretary of state or a designee to consult with officials in South Korea on potential opportunities to reunite Korean American families with family members in North Korea, while also requiring a U.S. special envoy on North Korean human rights to submit a report on the opportunities for video reunions. The post of U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights has remained vacant since the past administration under former President Donald Trump, but the new Joe Biden government is expected to review a nomination for the post, according to the U.S. Department of State. "Many of these Americans are in their 70s through 90s, and time is of the essence to be reunited with their families," Meng said. Meanwhile, South Korean Unification Minister Lee In-young also said in a recent press conference here that he hopes that the Koreas might resume reunions for separated family members on the occasion of the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts Feb. 11. The acting director of the state Department of Health testified this week that creating one place online for Pennsylvanians to register for a COVID-19 vaccine isnt possible because its too hard to link computers at hospitals, clinics and pharmacies that dont talk to each other. Hospitals, federally qualified health centers, health departments all of their underlying information technology systems would have to feed into this new system, Allison Beam told members of a state House committee on Wednesday. But some government and corporate officials say single vaccine registries in West Virginia and Sarasota County, Fla., are working fine signing up and making appointments for thousands of people a week. Frustration is widespread over a situation in Pennsylvania that left hospitals, pharmacies, clinics and the Allegheny County Health Department to develop their own ways to register people for the COVID-19 vaccine and even their own separate criteria for eligibility. Jammed phone lines and computer servers pushed to the breaking point at medical centers and pharmacies have become the norm as Pennsylvanians rush to find a place to get in line. The Squirrel Hill Health Center added a phone line and hired someone just to oversee it to accept vaccine appointment inquiries, CEO Susan Friedberg Kalson testified at the committee hearing Wednesday. Creating a centralized registration system to replace Pennsylvanias balkanized approach would help get the vaccine to people who need it most not necessarily to those who are fastest on a keyboard, Ms. Kalson said. Im not a logistics expert, but I know this isnt working well, Ms. Kalson told members of the health committee. Our spare staff is completely inundated with these calls. We are seeing people who are desperate to get the vaccine. If people know they are in a line to get it, they will calm down. About the possibility of creating a central vaccine registry, she added: I have to believe there are ways to do that. Ms. Beam, who is less convinced that such a system could be put in place quickly, said the real problem is that there isnt enough vaccine for everyone. A registration system will not fix that limiting factor, she said. Vaccine supplies have been limited nationwide since they became available in December, but the slow rollout of Pennsylvanias vaccination program has made it difficult for people to figure out how to get in line. Rep. Dan Frankel of Squirrel Hill and Democratic chair of the House Health Committee, suggested that a single waiting list could help. If they knew they were a month out, six weeks out, but knew they were on the list to get a vaccine, it would go a long way to easing their anxiety, to give more certainty, he told Ms. Beam. Creating an online vaccine registration form that can communicate with a variety of computer systems would indeed be a heavy lift, said Andrew Pavlo, an associate professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. To get it to integrate with all other systems would be a major, major undertaking, he said. But we know how to do this for other things airline reservations, tickets for concerts. Its the same thing; its a discreet date and time. You could stand that up in a short period of time. Standing up a central online vaccine registration platform took just 22 days for the whole state of West Virginia, according to Andy Malinoski, spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Commerce in Charleston. The system enrolls people for the vaccines, then notifies them of their appointment when and where the shot is available. So far, 190,000 people have enrolled, he said. The server doesnt crash, he said. It can take the traffic, adding that 62,000 people signed up on the first day. It gives us a way to communicate directly with people and mitigate a public health problem. Burlington, Mass.-based Everbridge created the site as part of an $800,000 contract with West Virginia. Meanwhile, Butler Health System, which opens and closes its registration depending on vaccine availability, has been receiving about 1,800 doses a week to vaccinate some 46,000 people over age 65 who live in Butler, Clarion and Forest counties, chief nursing officer Karen Allen said. BHS software was quickly overwhelmed when online registration opened in January, forcing the health system to hire temporary help to handle the calls and switch to a new software program, said Ms. Allen, who did not participate in Wednesdays legislative hearing. Within two days of opening registration Monday at Washington Health System, 15,000 people had signed up, bogging down the centers website well into the afternoon of the first day. At a sign-up on Thursday, sponsored by the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Allegheny County Health Department, phone lines were swamped with thousands of calls for 750 vaccine appointment slots. Everbridge built an online vaccine registration site for Sarasota County, Fla., a county where about 150,000 people are over age 65 and where 3,000 to 4,000 COVID-19 vaccine shots are given weekly, said Sarasota County Emergency Services Director Rich Collins. Before the Everbridge system went live, the Sarasota County health department was experiencing many of the same caller overload issues that hospitals, pharmacies and clinics in the Pittsburgh area have been experiencing. Early on, we saw our health department struggling to get people in and also seniors trying to get in, Mr. Collins said, adding that most of those issues were resolved by the single-access site. For the first 30 minutes after Sarasotas site went live Jan. 20, the calls averaged 1,400 a minute, Mr. Collins said, but the system easily handled the load. No issues, no degradation, he said. Their system worked fabulously. A Pennsylvania Department of Health spokeswoman on Friday counseled patience. We always collaborate with our sister states to share best practices, health department special assistant Lindsey Mauldin said during a media briefing. The underlying message is for folks to be patient. A woman from North Carolina was arrested after firing a gun multiple times at the La Guardia Houses. She was charged with weapon and cocaine possession and reckless endangerment. Two other women were arrested for allegedly hiding evidence. [Daily News via Yahoo! News] The developers of a modular apartment building at 330 Grand St. secure a $12 million construction loan. Each unit will be built in Turkey and shipped to New York. [Real Estate Weekly] Federal data on nursing homes shows that there are have 7 Covid-related resident deaths at Gouverneur Health. There have been 74 confirmed Covid cases among the staff. [Patch] Chintan Pandya, one of the most celebrated Indian chefs in the United States is about to open his next restaurant, Dhamaka, in the Essex Street Market. [The New York Times] As the Lunar New Year approaches this coming week, Chinatown restaurants and other businesses grapple with a second year in a row of thinned out crowds due to the pandemic. [Channel 2] Adam Platt pays a pre-Lunar New Year visit to some of his favorite Chinatown spots. [Grub Street] An interesting tidbit in the Times review of Downtown 2021, the group show at the la MaMa Gallery: One of the galleries represented, the temporarily shattered bar/art space Beverlys, will reopen this spring as a performance and exhibition space. [The New York Times] Follow along as Lauren Beltrone and Max Coleman go in search for an apartment to buy on the Lower East Side for $600,000. [The New York Times] As farmers' protest against the three newly-enacted farm laws enters day 74, heavy security deployment continued at the Delhi borders today morning. A security personnel was seen standing in huge numbers near the barricades placed near the Tikri border, a day after the "chakka jam" call given by the farmer groups who were protesting against the farm laws for more than two months at the national capital's border. "The government should consider the fact that protesting farmers are dying and these laws should be repealed so that we can go back home. We have been protesting for nearly three months and till these laws are not withdrawn we'll keep protesting here peacefully," Chanranjeet Singh, a farmer from Punjab, told news agency ANI. Kuldeep Singh Danda, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) said, "Farmers held chakka jam very peacefully. We just want to tell the government that a lot of people are standing with us and supporting our cause while we are protesting. I would like to appeal to the farmers to stay firm and we will win." Farmers' agitation against the three agriculture laws at the Ghazipur border (Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border) entered Day 72 today. Tikait calls on farmers for 'tractor revolution' Meanwhile, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait has called on peasants across the country to join the "tractor revolution" as part of the ongoing protests at Delhi's borders. During a speech to supporters at the Ghazipur protest area, Tikait reached out to the farming community, many of whom especially in the Delhi-NCR region have been upset over the National Green Tribunal's ban on diesel vehicles, including tractors, that are over 10 years old. "The tractors, which run in the farms will now run at the NGT's office in Delhi also. Until recently, they had not asked which vehicles are 10 years old. What is their plan? Phase-out tractors older than 10 years and help the corporates? But the tractors older than 10 years will also run and the movement (for repeal of the new farm laws) will also be strengthened," the 51-year-old farmer leader has said. Farmers have announced a countrywide 'chakka jam' on 6 February. Due to that heavy police personnel deployed across Delhi-NCR including Shahjahanpur (Delhi-Rajasthan) border. Around 50,000 personnel of Delhi Police, Paramilitary, and Reserve Forces were deployed in the Delhi-NCR region to maintain the law and order situation here. At least 12 metro stations have also been put on alert, police said. Farmers have been protesting at 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. With agency inputs Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Thousands of protestors on Saturday in Myanmars Yangong hit the roads to express their dissent against the military takeover. The protestors expressed that they do not want military dictatorship and will keep moving forward to demand democracy India is one of the largest and most vibrant democracies of the world. As a champion of free and fair elections and active participation of people in electing their own representatives, India has time and again stood up for its friends and helped them restore the tenets of democracy. As Myanmar plunges into military control after witnessing 5 years of democratic rule under Aung Sung Suu Kyi, it becomes imperative for the government of India to clarify its position. On the second day of the military takeover, thousands of protestors in Myanmars Yangong hit the roads to express their dissent. All dressed in red, signature colour of Aung Sung Suu Kyis party National League Of Democracy, the protests expressed that they do not want military dictatorship and will keep moving forward to demand democracy. Calls were also raised that Myanmar has been under military dictatorship for far too long and they must stand against it now. The protests came after the military took over the administrative and political reign of Myanmar from the elected leader Aung Sung Suu Kyi and put her on house arrest under minor charges. With this, access to Facebook, twitter and other social media platforms has also been snubbed in order to prevent information dissemination. In response to the latest developments, US National security adviser Jake Sullivan has expressed that there was bipartisan support on Myanmar and the Biden administration is considering imposing a package of sanctions on individuals and entities controlled by the Myanmar military in response to the coup. St. Charles Avenue was eerily empty, and downtown hotels had vacancies. The year was 1979, and New Orleans' predominantly White police force was on strike, the result of an ugly labor dispute with the city's first Black mayor, Dutch Morial. The lack of police protection put Morial in a tight spot, as he tried to figure out how New Orleans could celebrate the Mardi Gras season with borrowed National Guard soldiers and Louisiana State Police troopers. But ultimately, it was the krewe captains who would yank their own parades, saying Carnival shouldn't be used as a pawn in the clash. That was the last time Carnival in New Orleans suffered a major disruption. Then came coronavirus. New Orleans Mardi Gras restrictions: Here's where you can't gather under new city rules Mardi Gras and the weekend leading up to it will look quite different in New Orleans this year amid the lingering coronavirus pandemic. First, elected officials and krewes across the New Orleans area canceled parades and balls. Then on Friday, after it became clear that crowds were still intent on partying in the French Quarter, Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced that all bars will be shuttered, liquor sales curtailed and major celebration spots barricaded for five days, from Feb. 12 through Fat Tuesday. Its a move aimed at preventing the further spread of a deadly virus that has ravaged the state and country for almost a year. But in 1979 it was politics, not contagion, that was throwing a wrench into the city's signature cultural celebration. And locals were determined to celebrate, whether it meant partying in the street or parading in the suburbs. It was one of the loveliest and most gentle scenes that I had ever encountered, said David Marcello, who lived in the French Quarter back then. It was the furthest thing from a confrontational Mardi Gras. Before that year, Carnival parades had been canceled only 13 times due to a mix of wars, plagues and political unrest. The police strike was no different. While many recall a joyful, locals only celebration in 1979, the runup to that sunny Tuesday involved plenty of confrontation, and Marcello had a front-row seat. He was executive counsel to Morial during the pitched labor battle that drew national attention. A carefully timed strike Nominally, the dispute hinged on officer pay and how City Hall would solve future disputes with the Police Association of New Orleans. But there was far more lingering beneath the surface. Voters had elected Morial as the citys first Black mayor in 1977. The real, primary thing was white supremacy, said Galen Brown, at the time a deputy city attorney. The cops did not want to work for a Black mayor. However, the president of the Police Association of New Orleans at the time, Vincent Bruno, said the officers resentment stemmed from Morials anti-police attitude and his pick of an outsider, James Parsons from Alabama, as chief. The police officers were very annoyed, and the chief just did things with the mayors approval to irritate the police officers. And finally they just had enough of it, Bruno said. +3 Mardi Gras For All Y'All online extravaganza to focus on the float house phenom 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 Orleania Officers first went on strike from Feb. 8 to 10. That action ended with a pledge from Morial to hammer out an agreement. Those negotiations went nowhere, prompting police to walk out again on Feb. 16, 11 days before Mardi Gras. The timing was intentional. The general opinion was thats when we would be most effective, Bruno said. Thats when youre most needed. The strike quickly took on a harsh edge. Striking officers picketed outside Police Department headquarters and held a mock funeral for the small fraction of officers who stayed on the job. Strikers also picketed garbage depots. They were threatening the sanitation workers, Brown said. They were saying, If you dont go out on strike, were going to get you when we go back in blue. Although Morial drew support from Gov. Edwin Edwards, who sent in the National Guard and state troopers to patrol the streets, officials conceded it would be difficult for parades to roll without more security. The threat of cancellation gave the union major leverage. Convening at the Howard Johnson hotel on Feb. 20, the krewe captains decided to eliminate the bargaining chip. They issued a statement that they were canceling any parades in New Orleans. It is wrong to use Mardi Gras as blackmail in this dispute, the captains said in a statement published on the front page of The Times-Picayune. The captains decision is remembered as a turning point. Public opinion soured on the unions. Morial skillfully directed anger at out-of-town Teamsters officials who had arrived to aid their local affiliate in contract negotiations. Carnival adapts While the parades wouldnt roll in New Orleans, officials in the burgeoning suburbs were happy to host the krewes. Kenner earned the nickname of the city that saved Mardi Gras for its willingness to welcome seven parades: Endymion, Mid-City, Freret, Pandora, Iris, Pegasus and Thoth. Kenner residents boasted of their triumph, but others were less impressed. I went to Endymion, or tried to, said Carnival historian Arthur Hardy, who publishes the annual Mardi Gras Guide. It was a five-mile traffic jam. I never actually got to the parade, and then it rained. It was a terrible night. Other parades rolled on Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Metairie, drawing unusually large crowds of New Orleanians. Inside the city, partiers found ways to make merry without parades. Some old-line krewes such as the Rex organization passed on the idea of parading in the outer parishes, but they still held their balls. National Guardsmen staffed New Orleans' Municipal Auditorium as the courts of Rex and Comus met in their annual ritual late on Fat Tuesday. There was plenty of merriment that day, although it was different from years past. St. Charles Avenue, where spectators typically fill the Uptown parade route on Mardi Gras, was virtually vacant. The Morial administration placed barricades to keep cars out of the French Quarter. Yet merry pranksters descended on downtown. One man whose crew joined in the festivities recalls filling a truck bed with boiled crawfish, pushing aside the barricades and romping through the Quarter with their edible throws. At first they would just be thrilled and happy that something was coming in their direction. And then they would see it was a crawfish, and this look would change to total amazement, said the man, who asked to be called by the name of his Carnival character that year, Faso LaThideaux. We basically drove all over the French Quarter doing whatever we wanted. Hardy said the French Quarter was packed. Wide-eyed guardsmen who were called in from rural corners of Louisiana, many experiencing their first Mardi Gras, posed for photos and gave revelers plenty of dancing room. Business owners big and small reported having a bad day, however. Hotel occupancy took a hit, bars were quieter than usual and even a Lucky Dog vendor complained of a downturn. Frank Brackens told The Times-Picayune he ordinarily sold about $280 worth of franks on Fat Tuesday. "This year, I'm making about half that," he said. "They broke my pocket." The cancellation of parades gave that years Mardi Gras a special place in the history of Carnival. And according to Hardy it set up an especially raucous celebration in 1980. By that time, the striking police officers had long since caved. Without the parades to hold over the mayor's head, and with the loss of their next batch of paychecks, the 1979 strike ended March 4. In 2021, Hardy worries that some smaller krewes might not survive the economic downturn of the pandemic. But hes hopeful that 2022 will be a big bounce back, similar to 1980. Next year, part of me says its going to be the biggest and most wonderful ever, 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. We appreciate this opportunity to introduce a newly-formed nonprofit, Midland Inspires, to the caring West Texans who inspired it. Midland Inspires is a community of women who seek to transform lives through high-impact and lifelong giving. The organization will award $100,000 grants each year to worthy nonprofits that address critical social needs in Midland County. Midland Inspires was founded in 2020 by Lisa Fielder and Brenda Harrison, long-time friends who found themselves living in the same city. Frustrated that many of our citizens struggle even during economic boom times, the two women discussed the need for meaningful, measurable, permanent solutions to Midlands social challenges. The petroleum industry downturn, followed by the novel coronavirus pandemic and shutdown, highlighted the urgency and immediate need for innovative philanthropy. Lisa Fielder first came to know about collective grantmaking when a nonprofit she led received a grant from a similar organization in Austin. Now a nine-year member of that Austin philanthropy, Fielder brings experience to Midland Inspires from all sides of the process: grant applicant, grant recipient, and participant in the grantmaking process. Brenda Harrison has generously supported Midlands nonprofit community for two decades as a fundraiser, volunteer, board member and philanthropist. She brings a wealth of community knowledge, relationships, philanthropic experience and personal credibility to the organization. Harrison works tirelessly to lead Midland Inspires as the organizations president. In the midst of the COVID-19 shutdown, Fielder and Harrison began recruiting members in July 2020. And, despite a serious risk of contagion, the Midland community responded: In just more than six months, more than 100 of the citys most caring and committed women joined the organization, each contributing $1,250 toward Midland Inspires pooled grant fund. Our members want to make a real difference in our community, Ms. Harrison said. They want to learn about Midland's greatest needs, to learn about the nonprofits that meet those needs, and to see real progress fixing the underlying problems. In fact, womens response to the idea of Midland Inspires was so enthusiastic that Fielder and Harrison coined a secret word to describe the quickly-growing cohort; they quietly refer to Midland Inspires members as #Philanthrobabes. In developing a grantmaking strategy, Midland Inspires worked to recognize and respond to the deepest needs of Midlands nonprofits. Similar collective philanthropies, for instance, limit funding to new programs proposed by individual nonprofits - but Midland Inspires will accept individual or collaborative proposals to fund a program and/or strengthen administrative capacity. Moreover, nonprofits may expend 20 percent ($20,000) of each grant award without restriction. A secondary goal of the organization is to lead women to become informed philanthropists. More than half of Midland Inspires members, participating in the 2021 grant review process, will be carefully trained to evaluate proposals for credibility, capability, commitment, feasibility and significance. Midland Inspires will award its first $100,000 grant in July 2021 to an outstanding local nonprofit that proposes to address a critical social need in one of three categories: Education (enhancing education and learning); Family (enhancing the lives of children and families) or Health and Well-being (positively impacting peoples physical or mental health). Applications will be solicited and evaluated from February through June 2021, and the $100,000 grantee will be selected in July 2021 by simple majority vote of Midland Inspires members. Midland Inspires welcomes inquiries from all women who seek to enhance lives in Midland County. Please visit the organizations website, www.midlandinspires.org, for more information about the organization and its grantmaking process. - Jonna Smoot is the vice president of marketing for West Texas National Bank and a board member of Midland Inspires. (Natural News) One of the main reasons why it was so important for Democrats to steal the 2020 election was because they knew their party would not survive if Donald Trump had been given another four years to drain the swamp, as he pledged to do during his 2016 campaign. It took him most of his four-year term, but Trump finally had in place a team loyal to him and the country, not the deep state elites and corporate titans who finance them in exchange for favorable legislation and looking the other way at their corruption. Plus, they knew Trump had the goods on scumbags like the corrupt Bidens especially son Hunter Biden, who reportedly exchanged his fathers high-profile contacts within the elitist political and corporate world for tens of millions in wealth, including with enemies of America like the Chinese. So its no wonder the elitist deep state chose to install Biden and not a wildcard independent like Bernie Sanders: Not only could they count on him to keep it all in the family, but it was a huge middle finger to the 45th president. They could beat him by cheating, yes, and do it with the guy whose family Trump most wanted to expose and make an example of. But beating Trump using Biden wasnt enough; Bidens handlers continue to flip off the ex-president by choosing people to serve in the administration who will cause Trump and his 75 million voters the most heartburn, anger and outrage. The Daily Wire reports: President Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden, hired a new criminal defense attorney late last year to defend him in the federal governments criminal investigation into his business dealings. Then, on the day that Joe Biden was sworn into office, Joe Biden tapped a close colleague of Hunter Bidens new lawyer to oversee that Department of Justices Criminal Division, which is reportedly investigating Hunter Biden. The news, first reported late last week by Fox News host Tucker Carlson, comes after Hunter Biden admitted late last year that he was under federal criminal investigation over his taxes, although subsequent reporting indicated that the investigation was also into foreign business dealings. In one of his very first acts as president, Joe Biden appointed someone called Nicholas McQuaid to run the DOJs Criminal Division, the all-important Criminal Division. Turns out thats the same Criminal Division thats currently investigating Bidens son, Hunter. So, who is this Nicholas McQuaid exactly? Well, this show can tell you that he is a former business partner of Hunter Bidens new criminal defense attorney, a man called Christopher Clark, Carlson reported. Hunter Biden apparently hired Clark in December to help him with a federal investigation into his business dealings, the criminal investigation that the DOJ is conducting, he added. Both McQuaid and Clark were law partners together at Latham and Watkins, they worked on the same cases right up until McQuaid took the job at the Department of Justice, Carlson continued. On January 21st of this year, the same day, Nicholas McQuaid was featured in a Justice Department press release, Latham and Watkins filed a motion in court to withdraw McQuade as an attorney he was working on with Christopher Clark. So that means Joe Biden put as the head of the Criminal Division, the partner of the guy his son had hired to defend him against the Criminal Division, Carlson noted further. Now, say what you will, but there is no way that was just a coincidence; nothing in D.C. that happens like this ever is. Axios, a left-leaning news outlet, went on to report that in fact, ethics guidelines really bar federal officials from becoming involved in matters that pertain to their former employers. Potential conflicts between lawyers entering government and their former clients or firms are quite common, Kedric Payne, the senior director for ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, told the outlet. This situation is one of the many initial tests of Bidens ethics pledge, which looks great on paper, but time will tell if it is effective in practice. Enforcement is essential. Lets be clear; this hire was a message to Trump and his supporters: We can do whatever we want and there isnt anything you can do about it. See more reporting like this at Corruption.news. Sources include: DailyWire.com Axios.com NaturalNews.com A large search has returned no leads after beachgoers sighted what they believed to be a dead baby in a plastic bag floating in the ocean in Sydneys south-east. Police are appealing for any information from the community which may assist in their inquiries after a search involving helicopters and divers at Yarra Bay was scaled down on Monday morning. Officers from Eastern Beaches Police Area Command were called to the La Perouse end of the bay about 5pm on Sunday after they received a report of a dead baby in the water from three men who were in the area with their families. The men, who were exploring rockpools at Yarra Bay Beach, told police they had seen an object wrapped in a plastic bag which they believed to be a dead baby. (Newser) Facing a backlash from Wyoming Republicans over her vote for impeachment, Rep. Liz Cheney said Sunday that her party should reconsider its support for former President Trump. "We should not be embracing the former president," she said. Cheney made the comments on Fox News Sunday. "We have to take a really hard look at who we are and what we stand for, what we believe in." She brought up Trump's actions before the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol and his impeachment, as well as the GOP losses of the presidency and Senate control in the November elections, NBC reports. Cheney was among 10 House Republicans who voted in support of the article of impeachment. "We have to be in a position where we can say we stand for principles, for ideals," she said. story continues below Cheney said she won't resign from the House, despite Republican pressure to do so, per Politico. I think people all across Wyoming understand and recognize that our most important duty is to the Constitution," she said, adding "the oath that I took to the Constitution compelled me to vote for impeachment." If Cheney were sitting in judgment on the Senate side, she said she'd weigh the evidence and arguments presented before deciding whether to vote for conviction. But she suggested enough is clear by this point. "What we already know does constitute the greatest violation of his oath of office by any president in the history of the country," Cheney said. "And this is not something that we can simply look past or pretend didn't happen or try and move on. We've got to make sure this never happens again." (Read more Liz Cheney stories.) Lower Glencairn: Another historic edifice bites the dust Ismeth Raheem recalls trailblazing photographer Julia Margaret Camerons life and work in then Ceylon, as the last home she lived in bordering Dickoya town is destroyed View(s): View(s): Julia Margaret Camerons last word was beautiful as she gazed out from her bedroom window in the Lower Glencairn bungalow, according to her son Henry Cameron who was at her bedside. The house, subsequently owned by the Bank of Ceylon, bordering Dickoya town on the Glencairn Estate was demolished last month. Julia Margaret Cameron who died on January 26, 1879 aged 69, was one of the great pictorial photographers of the 19th century. Being a woman, her success was all the more remarkable. She took to photography in the 1850s and in 1864 her daughter also named Julia gifted her with a camera, remarking It may amuse you to photograph and while away your time and in your solitude at Freshwater. The medium was at a nascent stage and largely dominated by men. Wet collodion photography was complex, messy and required skill. The manipulation of a brass bound wooden camera on an unwieldy timber tripod was a challenge. By Victorian standards it was unbecoming for a middle-class woman to engage in such drudgery that stained your fingers. Through trial and error despite the prejudices and discouraging reviews of her male counterparts she soldiered on. To her advantage throughout her career she had the advice and support of Sir John Herschel, the Astronomer Royal who pioneered the development of photography in the 19th century. Lacking facilities, she improvised, making her coal shed into a dark room and her living room her studio. Her cameras were very primitive, equipped with a large glass lens with a single focal length the sitter had to be as close as six feet-eight feet to achieve a full framed image. She chose to ignore the type of equipment common to professional studios such as head supports and screens, much to the discomfiture of her sitters who had to endure 8-10 minutes long poses without shifting their head or body as any movement would register as a blur. Many of her images were fuzzy and slightly out of focus that she claimed was intentional and became a hallmark of her photography. It produced a dramatic arresting softness to many of her portraits and what after all is good focus? she is reputed to have said. Although some derided her technique as being sloppy, she rose to emerge as one of the greatest portraitists of her time During the first few years of her practice she had exposed as many as 500 plates and produced some of the finest portraits of her career of famous men and fair women- eminent men and women of the artistic and scientific world such as Watts, Rossetti, Thackeray, Longfellow, Herschel, Darwin and others who came to pay homage to her immediate neighbour, the poet Laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson. The unsuspecting visitor was propelled into her living room and would be coerced into sitting for a portrait a tortuously long exercise. The majority of her prints were bound into albums and presented to her close friends and collaborators and when she couldnt make ends meet, she would often exhibit and market her prints at Colnaghis, a London gallery renowned for the works of Old Masters. Her well-known husband, the scholarly aesthete Charles Hay Cameron was 20 years her senior. They married in British Indias capital, Calcutta in 1838. An influential and powerful figure in the 19th century he succeeded Thomas Macaulay in the Supreme Council. He was appointed by the Government in London to formulate and report on the judicial and civil administration of the colony and was offered the post of Governor but turned it down. On March 26, 1830, Charles Cameron arrived at Galle on the Sesstoris to serve on the commission and after 11 months, on February 21, 1831, returned to England on the Athertoll. But he was besotted with the idea of living in Ceylon. I have long contemplated Ceylon as my final resting place and fixed the site of my tomb, he said. The reference was probably to St. Marys Church Bogawantalawa, 16 miles from Glencairn where he lies buried. Following the loss of her daughter who died at childbirth in 1873, and the long absence of her family husband and four sons settled in Ceylon, the fifth serving in the army in Egypt, Julia with her husband and son Hardinge decided to leave England for Ceylon in October 1875. After sailing to Galle, the couple moved into their son (he was Governor Gregorys Private Secretary and Assistant Government Agent) Herschel Henry Camerons coastal residence. Julia set to work and produced several close studies of the local workers and peasants of her sons estate in Kalutara. Contrary to all that has been written she was as busy at her photographic work as in England. The botanical painter Marianne North who made two visits and resided with the Camerons in Kalutara in 1877 captured her frenetic efforts to improve her portraiture work in her diary entries in great detail. Julias photographic efforts, she recorded, were everywhere -covering every inch of the walls, floors, settees, tables, chairs. Of her artist friend North, she made several portrait studies though only four have survived. In May 1878 both Julia and Charles Cameron returned to England with their son Hardinge to address medical issues as Charles was now nearing 80 and also to attend family reunions As for Julias health, the family felt it was better if she moved to the cooler climate of the hills surrounding Glencairn estate. During her last few days she had the comfort of having her family around her including Charles and her four sons Ewen, the planter who managed his fathers estates, Hardinge attached to the Civil Service, Henry who was temporarily attending to family affairs and Charles back from Cambridge. In her last journey to St. Marys churchyard, her coffin was drawn by a carriage of six white Brahmin bulls accompanied by Charles and her four sons. Charles died two years later at Nuwara Eliya and the cortege accompanied by his two sons on horseback through pelting monsoonal rain arrived at Glencairn. The next day, the cortege went to St. Marys Church where both Julia and Charles are buried side by side. Julia Margaret Cameron and her husbands lengthy obituaries were published both in the local newspapers as well as the Times in England. Until recently they remained the only husband and wife couple to have both their names included in the prestigious Dictionary of National Biography. Unfortunately, buildings linking the Camerons with Ceylon are extinct. Only the bungalow at Rahatungodde, Upper Hewaheta Charles Camerons favoured residence, (a 2000 acre property when he first purchased the forest land) remains but is at present altered beyond recognition. In 1990 on a visit to St. Marys Church Bogawantalawa I was saddened to see the parlous state of the building. On my return I relayed the report to the Julia Margaret Cameron Trust, Isle of Wight, on which I assisted the Committee on matters concerning the Camerons. Among those kindred spirits Sir Christopher Ondaatje undertook to fund a project for both restoring the church and building residential quarters for the parish priest. But on my next visit, I found the parish priests quarters abutting the church and the eaves had damaged one of the eight stained-glass windows. The stained-glass windows were manufactured by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake who delivered them in 1877. Lavers, Barraud and Westlake, an English firm that produced these stained-glass windows from 1844-1921, were an important part of the Gothic revival movement that impacted English church architecture in the 19th century. Now that Lower Glencairn where Julia Margaret Cameron lived is gone, it is imperative that the Anglican Church moves fast to save this last link with the Camerons. The history and beauty of this church demand attention. BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Simply creating a task force to study law enforcement training and misconduct issues amid a national discussion about racial bias in policing drew sharp tensions in the Louisiana House over the summer. Months later, lawmakers will wade into the thorny conversation again armed with that task forces suggestions for change. The 18 recommendations backed by the Police Training, Screening and De-escalation Task Force will lead to bills for lawmakers to consider in their regular session that begins in mid-April. The proposals include changes to the handling of complaints against police officers, new limits on chokeholds and no-knock warrants, requirements for anti-bias training and reduction of certain legal protections for law enforcement. They would require detailed policies for when body cameras and dash cameras must be turned on by officers who have them and stepped-up minority recruitment efforts for police departments. +5 State panel votes to trim police protections in cases alleging brutality A controversial law that shields police officers from lawsuits alleging brutality would be revamped under a plan endorsed Thursday by a state Hopefully, we can get something meaningful passed, said Sen. Cleo Fields, the Baton Rouge Democrat whose legislation set up the study group. Black lawmakers' push to form an outside advisory panel to hash out policing issues and make suggestions was aimed at getting buy-in from critical groups in advance, in the hopes of rallying support for change. The 25-member study group included people on different sides of the issues discussed: lawmakers, law enforcement representatives, university professors and other community organization leaders. Organizations representing the states sheriffs, police chiefs and district attorneys supported creation of the task force. Nobody in this room wants anything but best practices, Rep. Tony Bacala, a Republican retired sheriffs deputy from Prairieville and task force member, said during the group's final meeting. The task force was formed to propose ideas on training, screening, racial bias recognition, penalties for misconduct and other measures deemed necessary to restore the public's trust that the law enforcement community is serving and protecting all the citizens of Louisiana in a fair and unbiased manner. State lawmakers around the country are debating law enforcement tactics after recent high-profile cases involving the deaths of Black people at the hands of police. The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up More than 300 bills involving police oversight, discipline, standards, technology, training, use of force standards and other changes have been filed in statehouses across at least 25 states for consideration this year, according to a database from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Fields pushed for Louisiana's task force creation after George Floyd's death in Minnesota. Floyd, an African American man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into the handcuffed mans neck for several minutes even as he pleaded for air. That prompted protests around the nation, including in several Louisiana cities. +2 Police practices under scrutiny by state panel, including lawsuits, cameras and warrants A task force studying police practices Thursday will debate trimming police protection against lawsuits alleging abuse, requiring vehicles to Four years earlier, Baton Rouge saw weeks of protests over the shooting death of Alton Sterling, a Black man who was killed by a white police officer. Meanwhile, the Louisiana State Police is facing allegations of lies and cover-ups involving Ronald Greene, a Black man who died in State Police custody after a car chase near Monroe. And an Associated Press review of State Police records found at least a dozen instances over a three-year period in which employees forwarded racist emails on their official accounts or demeaned minority colleagues. Legislation setting up the task force on policing won unanimous support from the House and Senate in a June special session. But while the idea sailed through the Senate easily, it caused controversy and tense debates among lawmakers in the House. Passage in the House came only after white Republican lawmakers who repeatedly resisted suggestions of racial bias in policing removed language that mentioned Floyds death and that described Black men as more likely to be killed by police than white men. Several white lawmakers also objected to language in a different study group proposal by Democratic Rep. Ted James of Baton Rouge which was shelved in favor of Fields' legislation that suggested police brutality was more prevalent against people of color and that questioned the criminal justice systems treatment of minorities. Republican Rep. Dodie Horton of Haughton called that language racist. Debate over the task force's recommendations in the two-month legislative session will test whether the study group approach helps ease the path to make changes to policing policies in Louisiana or whether it just sets up another round of contentious arguments. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. ROCHESTER, Minn. - One of the Med-City's staple events with a pandemic twist. The Rochester Downtown Alliance says Social-Ice typically draws crowds of up to 64 thousand. The three day event would feature ice bars serving specialty cocktails and a live DJ. Now the days of winter fun are renamed Improv-Ice, spaced out over the course of a week to allow for more socially distanced activity. This year everyone can still enjoy the hand-carved ice sculptures. Ice carvers were delayed by the warmer start to the week, and finished sculpting in just over 24 hours. Katie Adelman, Director of Content and Communications for Rochester Downtown Alliance, says the colder temperatures were to their advantage. "Minnesotans are hardy people. We're used to bundling up in the winter and doing what we need to do and I think this is one way just to get outside -- it will be cold so I encourage people to bundle up and dress appropriately." Adelman says with the challenges brought on by the pandemic, this was a way to still provide a bit of normalcy. "It's still a safe thing to do, it's outside, most people are wearing masks anyway. So this is just a way that we could actually do something for the community who have really supported everybody throughout this." To enjoy the full night time effect, the music and lights will be turned on every night at 6pm until 10pm from now through February 14. Those attending can participate in a photo contest. All you have to do is post a picture of an ice sculpture to social media with the hashtag Improv-Ice for a chance to win a twenty-five dollar gift card to a downtown business. Buy a Meal, Give a Meal campaign through Improv-Ice is now on. For each dine in, take-out, or purchased gift card from participating Downtown Rochester restaurants through February 14th, a meal will be donated to Channel One Regional Food Bank. For a list of participating restaurants, visit https://www.downtownrochestermn.com/events/improv-ice. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. UN Secretary-General, Antonio Gutteres, has announced his decision to donate the prize of $500,000 received upon acceptance of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Zayed Award of Human Fraternity, named in honour of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, the late ruler of Abu Dhabi and founder of the United Arab Emirates, recognizes outstanding work by individuals or entities worldwide in creating breakthroughs and driving human progress. Hosted annually at the Founders Memorial in Abu Dhabi, the 2021 Zayed Award for Human Fraternity has also awarded this year Morrocan-French activist, Latifa Ibn Ziaten. UNHCRs Senior Advisor on Islamic Philanthropy and Representative to the GCC Countries, Khaled Khalifa said: We are immensely grateful for the UN secretary general for his generosity and unwavering commitment to supporting the worlds most marginalized populations. This generous gesture of solidarity with refugees and forcibly displaced people comes at a critical time as the world continues to face the Covid-19 and economic crisis, which has severely affected displaced communities." The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity is a message of hope and unity in this time of extreme hardship. I would like to take this opportunity to renew our pledge to the human fraternity bond that brings us together as we continue to honour the values of inclusion and solidarity with refugees and the forcibly displaced through our daily work. We are grateful for the United Arab Emirates for pioneering this award, which is a testament to its efforts and dedication towards building bridges and promoting mutual understanding to achieve peace and inclusivity for all, Khalifa added. TradeArabia News Service Addressing the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar listed out the efforts of the PM Narendra Modi-led government's efforts to double the income of farmers and emphasized on the benefits of the three farm laws recently introduced. Downplaying the two-month-long agitation by farmers against these laws, the Union Minister remarked that the protests are restricted to only one state and attacked the Congress for instigating farmers. He also claimed that the farm unions - with which the Centre has held 10 rounds of discussions - and the Opposition have 'failed' to point out even a 'single flaw' in the three agri laws. "Farmer unions, opposition parties have failed to point out a single flaw in three new farm laws. We are not standing on prestige. We have been asking what is black in this law and no one is forthcoming... Farmers are being misled that others would occupy their land if these laws are implemented. Let me know if there is a single provision in Contract Farming law which allows any trader to snatch away the land of any farmer," Narendra Tomar said in Rajya Sabha on Friday. READ | As Police Prep For 'Chakka Jam', BKU Leader Tikait Assures Farmers Won't Enter Delhi 'Proposals do not mean flaws in the law' Attacking the Opposition over allegedly misleading the farmers, the Union Minister said that only Congress can do 'khoon ki kheti' (blood farming) and the BJP can never do so. Referring to the proposed amendments by the Centre, which have been rejected by the farmers' unions, the Union Minister clarified that the proposals to amend the laws do not mean that there are any flaws in the said laws. "Government's offer to make amendments in the laws does not mean there are any flaws in them," Tomar said. READ | Gurnam Singh Chaduni Accuses Rakesh Tikait Of 'selling Out' Farmers' Agitation Movement In the previous meetings, the Centre had agreed to keep farmers out of the ambit of the penalty for stubble burning and has also conceded to the demand of not going ahead with the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020. In the discussions led by the Union Agriculture Minister along with Piyush goyal and Som Prakash, the Centre had also proposed to stay the implementation of the three farm laws for 1.5 years and form a committee to hold clauses discussions of the farm laws. However, the proposal has been rejected by the unions as well. READ | Farmers Protest: JuJu Smith-Schuster Donates $10,000 As Medical Assistance For Protestors Moreover, the Agriculture Minister in his address also pointed out the steps taken by the Narendra Modi government to ensure development and betterment of villages and the poor. Welcoming the 2021-22 Union Budget, he noted around Rs 43,000 crore has been sanctioned for healthcare in rural areas and highlighted that when Covid-19 hit the country, the government raised the fund allocation to MGNREGA from Rs 61,000 crores to Rs 1.115 lakh crores. The agriculture minister also took a dig at the Congress for not doing enough under the rural employment scheme. It is true that you started MGNREGA, but till your government was there it was only used to dig trenches. You started the scheme but we took it forward. We increased MGNREGAs efficacy," he said. READ | 'Govt To Give 1 Lakh Crore Additional Income To Farmers': Union Minister Pradhan The Louisiana Department of Health reported 1,330 more confirmed coronavirus cases and 40 more confirmed deaths in its noon update Sunday. The number of hospitalizations decreased by 106, and the number of patients in need of ventilators decreased by 24. There are also 54,960 total "probable" coronavirus cases in Louisiana, according to the agency's dashboard. +3 As coronavirus left Louisiana nursing homes short-staffed, some residents were left without care Andre Monceret remembers the horror he felt as he helplessly watched a camera feed that showed his mother squirming in her chair after soiling These are another few key statewide statistics as of Sunday: Total confirmed cases: 356,852 Total "probable" cases: 54,960 Total confirmed deaths: 8,522 Currently hospitalized: 1,166 Currently on ventilators: 143 Vaccine series initiated: 404,007 (updated twice weekly) Vaccine series completed: 130,978 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 Sunda report: Jefferson: 168 East Baton Rouge: 117 Caddo: 105 St. Tammany: 92 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. (Alliance News) - A survey of international hauliers has found the volume of exports travelling from British ports to the EU fell 68% last month compared with the same period last year. The research by the Road Haulage Association prompted it to write to Cabinet minister Michael Gove to call for assistance, particularly with increasing the number of customs agents from 10,000 to 50,000 to help firms with extra post-Brexit paperwork. Chief Executive Richard Burnett told The Observer the RHA had also found 65%-75% of vehicles arriving from the EU were returning to the bloc empty due to a lack of goods, hold-ups in the UK and because British companies had halted exports to the Continent. A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said they "do not recognise the figure provided on exports". "Thanks to the hard work of hauliers and traders to prepare for change, disruption at the border has so far been minimal and freight movements are now close to normal levels, despite the Covid-19 pandemic," she added. Burnett said he found it "deeply frustrating and annoying that ministers have chosen not to listen to the industry and experts", who have consistently called for greater consultation by government. He said Gove had not responded in writing "pretty much every time we have written over the last six months". "He tends to get officials to start working on things. But the responses are a complete waste of time because they don't listen to what the issues were that we raised in the first place," Burnett said. The government spokeswoman said the Cabinet Office has "had intensive engagement with the road haulage industry for many months and we are still facilitating regular calls with representative groups. "We will continue to work constructively with the RHA as we adjust to our new relationship with the EU and seize the opportunities of Brexit." The government offered a six-month grace period following Brexit, allowing the suspension of the full range of physical checks on imports until July. On Thursday, former Tory chancellor Lord Lamont warned red tape linked to the Brexit deal had rendered most business between Britain and Northern Ireland uneconomic. Two weeks earlier, the RHA said a 12-month grace period and urgent financial aid were needed to iron out problems with the post-Brexit Irish Sea trade border. The UK government insisted "goods are flowing effectively" between Britain and Northern Ireland. But Burnett said on January 20: "This is a financial precipice haemorrhaging money. "There needs to be financial intervention immediately." By PA Reporter source: PA Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. If the government was expected to placate the farmers agitating at the Delhi borders for over two months through a few agriculture-friendly announcements in the 2021-22 Budget, it has not come about. Barring the data showing progressive increase in grain procurement at minimum support prices, there isnt much in the Budget for the farmers to cheer about. Agriculture and rural development do not find a noticeable place in the six pillars of the Budget outlined by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the beginning of her speech. This sector forms only part of the third component ... Women are losing access to public toilets by stealth amid a boom in gender-neutral lavatories, experts say. The Government has now launched a consultation into the provision of loos after decades of service inequality. Women have long complained that they have had fewer stalls than men, but the issue has been ignored. In the meantime the number of council-maintained public conveniences has fallen by 13 per cent over the last decade, with cash-strapped local authorities turning facilities into gender-neutral spaces to save money. Campaigners say the result is an even greater reduction in options for women, longer queues and the embarrassment of having to walk past men at a urinal to get to their cubicle. Conservative MP Jackie Doyle-Price, co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on womens health, said it was astonishing that there was a fight to preserve womens toilets in the 21st Century. Gender-neutral toilets are a real retrograde step for women and should only be provided where it would be impractical to offer separate facilities' (file image) She said women are losing these facilities by stealth, adding: It is quite reasonable for women to want their own toilet facilities away from men. For a start, mens toilets smell worse than ours. Gender-neutral toilets are a real retrograde step for women and should only be provided where it would be impractical to offer separate facilities. At least 673 council-run sites across the UK were shut between 2010 and 2018, leaving just 4,486. Raymond Martin, of the British Toilet Association, said the rise in gender-neutral spaces has hit women. He added that in the past floor space was simply divided in two, so women had four stalls but the men get three stalls and four urinals. Women have long complained that they have had fewer stalls than men, but the issue has been ignored (file image) Lezlie Lowe, author of No Place To Go: How Public Toilets Fail Our Private Needs, added: We should not look for equality but equity, which takes into account that women take longer to use the toilet than men do. The Old Vic theatre in London faced a backlash in 2019 when it made its toilets unisex, leaving women with 24 facilities and men 42. Dr Clara Greed, professor of urban planning at the University of West England, said: Expecting women to mix with men increases the queuing and is also very off-putting. While there might be a need for gender-neutral toilets, this should be done in addition to, and not at the expense of, womens toilet provision. A consultation by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government runs until February 26. Tory peer Lord Lucas, who has campaigned on the issue, said without proper toilet provision access to the world is severely restricted. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. The two cars are removed from Dromdeer Woods, near Doneraile, Co. Cork Photo: Michael Mac Sweeney/Provision A MAN has been charged with the murder of widow Mary O'Keeffe (72) whose body was discovered in a blazing car at a remote Cork woodland. Michael Leonard (62) appeared before a special sitting of Fermoy District Court. He is charged with the murder of Mrs O'Keeffe at Dromdeer East, Doneraile, Co Cork on Thursday, February 4 contrary to Common Law. Judge Marie Keane was told by Detective Sergeant James O'Shea that when Leonard was arrested, cautioned and formally charged at Fermoy Garda Station, he made no reply. Leonard, who has an address at Hill Crest, Glenosheen, Kilmallock, Co Limerick, appeared in court wearing black trousers, black slip-on shoes and a wine coloured hoodie. He remained silent throughout the brief hearing. Two of his female relatives were in the public gallery of the court. Because the charge involved is murder, the issue of bail can only be dealt with by the High Court. Judge Keane remanded the forestry worker in custody to appear again before Cork District Court on Friday next, February 12 The appearance can be by video-link. She also confirmed free legal aid for the 62 year old. Judge Keane also directed that all medical and psychiatric treatment required be provided for the defendant. Leonard had been arrested on Friday taken for questioning to Fermoy Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. He was detained on his discharge from Cork University Hospital (CUH) where he had been treated for hypothermia since Thursday. Mrs O'Keeffe's body was discovered in a gutted Dacia Duster car at the remote Dromdeer woodland shortly before 4pm on Thursday. The widow's remains were removed to CUH where a full post mortem examination was conducted by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster. Following that examination, gardai arrested the defendant. The widow was found dead in the burning car after a person out walking spotted smoke coming from the isolated woodland shortly before 4pm last Thursday. Gardai were horrified to realise that a body was in the front passenger seat of the blazing car. Such was the severity of the fire and the intense heat that the vehicle was burned back to its steel chassis shell. The elderly woman had to be identified from dental records. Mrs O'Keeffe lived in Dromahane and was the mother of three adult sons. Her husband, Donal, died over 20 years ago. Tributes were paid to the widow in the north Cork village where she was hailed as a hard-working person who was totally devoted to her family and her community. She had worked as a chef in a north Cork sheltered housing project. Neighbours said she loved dancing, music and playing cards with friends. She lived alone in the family home just off Dromahane's main street. Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill will lead a party delegation to meet Chief Constable Simon Byrne on Monday to discuss what she describes as a crisis of confidence in policing. Ms O'Neill said she is not calling for Mr Byrne to stand down after he issued an apology to the families present at a memorial service for those killed in the Sean Graham bookmakers massacre on Friday. Speaking during a press conference on Saturday night, Mr Byrne also said one of the officers present has been suspended over the incident, which saw the arrest of a man wounded in the atrocity as he attended an event on the anniversary of the attack. Mark Sykes was shot multiple times in the 1992 gun attack which claimed the lives of five men. One of those killed - Peter Magee - was Mr Sykes's brother-in-law. Video of Friday's incident posted on social media showed heated exchanges between PSNI officers and relatives outside the Ormeau Road bookmakers. It shows Mr Sykes being handcuffed just yards from the memorial to those killed in the attack. Police said "between 30 and 40" people had gathered and a man was approached regarding Covid regulations. Mr Sykes was arrested on suspicion of disorderly behaviour and was taken to Musgrave Street police station. He was later released. Ms O'Neill had requested an urgent meeting with Mr Byrne, which will take place on Monday. "The PSNI's response to both victims and survivors of the Ormeau Road atrocity on Friday were crass, vulgar, insensitive and I would go as far as to say they were deliberate," she told the BBCs Sunday Politics programme. "That has been met with widespread anger and a crisis of confidence in policing. We also can't look at it as an isolated incident because this appears to be the latest in a long line of incidents." The PSNI have also faced criticism for not taking action when large crowds of mourners have gathered for funerals of former paramilitaries, while the Police Ombudsman found officers acted in a discriminatory way in handing out fines to Black Lives Matters protestors last summer. Last week, Mr Byrne was again facing scrutiny after officers did not move in to make arrests when a large crowd of masked men congregated in east Belfast in an apparent paramilitary show of strength. .@moneillsf : "There appears to be a double standard within the policing service. There appears to be an ethos or culture that turns a blind eye to UDA / UVF thugs on the street but a disproportionate attempt to target nationalist communities."@MarkCarruthers7 #SundayPolitics pic.twitter.com/Su0PZqo9BH bbctheview (@bbctheview) February 7, 2021 Ms O'Neill added: "I think that the direct contrast in policing is laid bare for all to see and I think anybody who considers all those things in the round would understand that there certainly is a crisis of confidence in policing among the nationalist community. "There appears to be a double standard within the policing service, there appears to be an ethos or culture that turns a blind eye to UDA, UVF thugs on the street, but at the same time a disproportionate attempt to target nationalist communities." TUV leader Jim Allister told the same programme that bereaved families of other Troubles atrocities had not gathered in numbers to mark anniversaries during lockdown. "Those grieving families didn't seek to do it, what was done on the Ormeau Road, they respected the Covid regulations and yet it would appear that (on the Ormeau Road) there was total disrespect for those regulations," he said. Mr Allister questioned why police were now facing criticism because they intervened and were met with a "disorderly response". "Suddenly, it is the police's fault? You know, I think we need to get perspective to this," he said. Mr Allister highlighted that Ms O'Neill had been interviewed by police amid claims she herself breached Covid regulations when she and other Sinn Fein leaders attended the funeral of republican Bobby Storey in west Belfast last June. "I think of all the people who should have the least to say about policing Covid regulations it is Michelle O'Neill," he said. "This is a lady who had to be interviewed by police about her own conduct in respect of the Storey funeral where there was the most gigantic breach of the Covid regulations." Mr Allister also claimed that Mr Byrne had "abdicated" policing on the day of the Storey funeral in June. "So he is a Chief Constable who from the unionist perspective has lost a great deal of credibility and to then see him what many will say as pandering, grovelling to Sinn Fein demands on Saturday night put him in an even worse light," he said. "I think the Chief Constable lost the confidence of many unionists on the day of the Storey funeral." Asked by host Mark Carruthers if Mr Byrne should go, Mr Allister replied: "I certainly have no confidence in him by virtue of his abdication of policing back in June." "Of all the people who should have the least to say about policing covid regulations, it is Michelle O'Neill." TUV leader @JimAllister @MarkCarruthers7 | #SundayPolitics pic.twitter.com/ckYMyZRj93 bbctheview (@bbctheview) February 7, 2021 The Ombudsman has commenced another investigation into Friday's events. Mr Byrne said that, after reviewing the footage from the officers' body cameras, a decision has been taken to suspend one officer and re-position another. He said that the two officers involved were relatively inexperienced, having only joined the PSNI in July last year. Mr Byrne was asked if he is considering his position over the matter and he replied: "I'm no quitter." DUP Policing Board members said Mr Byrne's apology, and the redeployment of one officer and the suspension of another, "raises many questions". NI Policing Board chair Doug Garrett met with Mr Byrne earlier on Saturday to discuss the actions of those officers present at Friday's incident. He said while Mr Byrne's apology and offer of a meeting to those present at Fridays commemoration was "a welcome first step", the Board will have further discussion with the chief constable and deputy chief constable at a meeting on Thursday. When British broadcaster Michael Parkinson asked entrepreneur Robert Maxwell, his guest on Desert Island Discs in 1987, what, at the end of the day was his achievement, Maxwell answered "the achievement... is that... I will have left the world a slightly better place by my having lived in it". Four years later, Maxwell's body was found in the water off the Canary Islands where his yacht Lady Ghislaine was sailing; no one knows whether his death was murder, suicide, or an accident and initially his demise was greeted as a great tragedy - the obituaries and plaudits did indeed suggest that he had left the world a better place by his having lived in it. However, it was soon revealed that his publishing and media empire was built on fraud, lies and swindling, that, among his many transgressions, he had taken the Mirror group pension pot and used it prop up his extravagant lifestyle and his other failing companies and, in fact, he owed 763m, an amount so large it qualified for the Guinness Book of Records. John Preston, author of A Very British Scandal and The Dig, has picked the perfect time to release his biography of the media baron - not only is this year the 30th anniversary of his death but in an extraordinary piece of serendipity for Preston, the world is obsessed by everything to do with Maxwell's youngest daughter Ghislaine Maxwell - currently in a Brooklyn prison awaiting trial for her alleged role in procuring underage girls for the late predator Jeffrey Epstein. In the credits at the back of the book, Preston doesn't list Ghislaine as one of his sources but, in addition to extensive archival research, he did have in-depth conversations with several of her siblings, as well as with dozens of movers and shakers who worked with Maxwell. The Maxwell that emerges is one of a person of gargantuan appetites who behaved as if he were invincible and perhaps he felt he was, given his extraordinary back story. Expand Close Fall / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fall Jan Hoch, as he was first known, was born in 1923 to an impoverished Jewish couple in a remote part of Czechoslovakia. Jan was the third of nine children, seven of whom survived infancy. Beaten by his father, Jan was doted on by his mother who gave him scraps from her plate - he later recalled having been always hungry. The Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1939, shortly after he left and went to Budapest. He never saw his mother, father or four of his siblings again, all were murdered, along with many other members of his extended family, by the Nazis - only two sisters survived. Jan was a survivor too. Over the following six years and by the end of the war, he had changed his name, become a captain in the British army, won the Military Cross for bravery and married the Sorbonne-educated Elisabeth Meynard. In that time, Maxwell, described as a double of Clark Gable, had learned to speak English, French and German but he also had bravery, neck and charisma in spades. The real turning point in his fortunes came in July 1946 when he was sent by the British Government to Germany and put in charge of a newspaper introducing democracy to Germany. The paper was owned by a large publisher of scientific books, Verlag Springer - Maxwell always dreamed of making money and he saw that this was his opportunity. He bought the worldwide distribution rights of these manuscripts. Preston notes that, according to a former intelligence officer, he got the money from MI6. That was the genesis of his publishing company, later named Pergamon. And Preston does give him credit for changing the face of scientific publishing in Britain by giving scientists a platform, paving the way for a number of key breakthroughs. His business dealings were always shady but he could have ended his life as a hugely successful entrepreneur if he hadn't had such overweening ambitions. One evening he announced to a neighbour that he wanted him to be the first to know that he was going to be prime minister. Maxwell did stand for Labour and became an MP in 1964. He served two terms, but achieved little, though he was always blowing his own trumpet. Throughout his career he continued to expand his publishing empire and soon decided to get into newspapers. He made an early enemy of Rupert Murdoch by trying to extricate money from him in a worthless business deal. Afterwards Murdoch trumped him in the purchase of the News of the World, the Sun and the Today newspaper. Maxwell did succeed in buying the Mirror Group which was, for a time, a cash cow, and he used its pages for his own self aggrandisement, and based charity campaigns around his personality. Alastair Campbell, at one time the paper's political editor, is quoted as saying, "If I read back my stuff today, I have to say I'm ashamed. It really was starving children were saved yesterday thanks to the intervention of Mirror publisher Robert Maxwell". He threw extravagant parties the one he held for his 65th birthday was a three-day affair for 3,000 guests at his stately home, Headington Hill Hall - and he loved to fraternise with world leaders. He became particularly close to the Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir; after denying his Jewish heritage for years, he embraced it towards the end, became an investor in a number of Israeli businesses and was buried, according to his wishes, at the Mount of Olives. He suffered tragedy; he and Betty had nine children but lost their five-year-old daughter Karine to leukaemia in 1957. Three days after Ghislaine was born in 1961, their eldest son Michael, then 15, was in a traffic accident and lay in a coma for seven years before his death. According to Betty in her memoir A Mind of my Own (written after Maxwell's death), he never went to visit Michael in hospital, though his chauffeur reported that he drove him there at night. (A telling detail in the narrative around Michael's years in hospital centres around Ghislaine, who at three threw herself in front of her mother and said, "Mummy, I exist".) The tragedies didn't seem to make him a more compassionate person. He was horrible to Betty and had many affairs; fortunately for her, she developed her own interests; after the trip to Israel in 1984, she immersed herself in studying the Holocaust and became respected in the field. He treated staffers, even top executives like former British Ambassador to Washington Peter Jay, with contempt; he mockingly called him "Mr Ambassador", ordered him to take notes and regularly called him late at night to ask him the time. He was paranoid and bugged the offices of his employees. Peter Mandelson is quoted as saying: "To be honest I was frightened of his company. He had that ability to make you feel small and inadequate and that just scrambled my head." He didn't treat his own children any better. His son Ian was in charge of the publishing company and he fired him in a fit of pique, though reinstated him some time later. When Ian heard of his father's death, he admitted to feeling exhilarated and scared - "exhilarated to be free of this extraordinary alpha male presence and scared what the future would look like without him". His daughter Christine said she attempted to visit him in New York two months before his death but he was too busy to see her. On reflection, she said she realised he had a disease called "megalomania, nothing was ever enough anymore and at the same time he couldn't stop". He was petty and greedy. On Christmas day, half the family turkey had to be given to him and he was known to order Chinese food for 14 when he and his valet sat down to eat together. One of his children explained to a dinner guest that he had an eating disorder and that locks were put on the larders in the house. He was an inveterate show-off - the call sign for his helicopter was VR Bob and he liked to say it stood for Very Rich Bob. He couldn't resist boasting to Murdoch that he had bought the Today newspaper but he hadn't actually signed and Murdoch was able to gazump him. The Maxwell story is dense - Preston has to unravel for the reader the complicated details of his war years and the intricacies of his business affairs. He succeeds in both and delivers an entertaining read by threading through the narrative an engaging mix of anecdotes told to him by his many sources. The picture that emerges is of a very large, very malevolent baby who threw tantrums and the toys out of the pram when his many demands were not satisfied. Egypts President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has given his support to a transitional government that would lead neighboring Libya through elections late this year. In rare televised comments late Saturday, el-Sissi said the appointment of the interim government Thursday, which includes a three-member Presidential Council and a prime minister, was a step in the right direction. The Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, which includes 75 U.N.-picked delegates from across the country, appointed Mohammad Younes Menfi, a Libyan diplomat from the countrys east, as chairman of the Presidential Council. The forum also chose Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, a powerful businessman from the western city of Misrata, as prime minister. The three council members each represent a region of old Libya: Tripolitania in the west, Cyrenaica in the east, and Fezzan in the southwest. The appointment caps months of U.N.-brokered talks that resulted in an agreement to hold elections Dec. 24. We are supportive of them. ... We are ready to cooperate with them for Libyas recovery and to prepare for the elections in Libya, el-Sissi said. The Egyptian leader said his threat last year to send troops to Libya helped start a genuine period for peace in the oil-rich country. We are keen that each move ... aims to build peace, prosperity and maintain stability in a region that has been suffered in the past 20 years a very great shock, he said. Egypt views the instability in neighboring Libya as a national security threat. In June, el-Sissi called Libyas strategic coastal city of Sirte a red line and warned that any attack by Turkey-backed Tripoli forces on the city would prompt Egypt to intervene to protect its western border. The move had it happened would have brought Egypt and Turkey, close U.S. allies that support rival sides in the conflict, into direct confrontation. Sirte, which sits near Libyas main oil-export terminals and fields, has been held by forces of military commander Khalifa Hifter, a close Egypt ally, who runs most of Libyas eastern and southern regions. Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The country has been divided since 2015 between two governments, one in the east and one in the west, with each backed by an array of militias and foreign governments. Egypt and the United Arab Emirates back Hifters forces. The Tripoli government primarily has backing from Turkey, whose military support helped cause the collapse this spring of Hifters year-long attempt to capture Tripoli. The appointment of an interim government has been seen as a major if uncertain step toward unifying the North African nation. ROCHESTER, Minn. - The Ronald McDonald House in Rochester holds an annual fundraising effort to support their mission of providing children a home away from home. This year the 18th annual Hearts And Diamonds Spectacular is being held virtually. Rochester Ronald McDonald House Executive Director, Peggy Elliot says the event usually draws nearly 270 participants. Elliot says with the challenges presented by the global pandemic, it was still important to celebrate the children and families they serve. She explains, It has certainly been a challenging year for all of us and all of our families. We believe it has been an exceptionally difficult year for the families who call Ronald McDonald House their home away from home." She tells KIMT the inspiration behind the event is to bring people together who believe in their mission to support the Ronald McDonald house's children and their families. We are connected through our shared support and belief that there's nothing more important than your child's health and well-being, and also keeping families together, she adds. The Hearts and Diamonds Spectacular has raised more than 2.3 million dollars over the last 18 years. If you were not able to participate in this year's event, the Ronald McDonald house has a list of other ways to support their mission in Rochester on their website, https://www.rmhmn.org/. The Luzerne County Board of Elections is seeking a new chairperson. Jeanette Tait, chairwoman of the five-member appointed board which certifies county election results, announced this week she will resign for personal reasons. Tait said her resignation would take effect March 1, but at Wednesdays election board meeting she said she would be willing to leave sooner once the board selects her replacement. The board will accept applications and letters of interest the next two weeks. Board members will conduct interviews and select a new chairperson at the Feb. 24 board meeting, which starts at 4:30 p.m. and will be conducted remotely. The chairperson must be registered to vote in Luzerne County but may be of any political affiliation, unlike the other four board members. The county charter stipulates that county council appoints four members to the election board two from each of the major political parties. Those four then appoint a fifth member to serve as chairperson. Anyone interested in applying for the position may submit a resume and letter of interest addressed to the county board of elections in care of the county bureau of elections: 20 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Suite 207, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701. For more information on county elections, visit www .luzernecounty.org/elections An Ohio woman is facing several charges after police say she refused to put on a face mask in a grocery store and then wouldnt leave. Police responded to a Marcs grocery store in Brook Park on Jan. 18 after they say Karen Turner, 55, refused to put on a face mask at the request of employees, WJW reported. Employees then asked Turner to leave the store but she refused, according to the outlet. Body-camera footage recently obtained by WOIO shows police arriving at the store and approaching Turner whos standing in a checkout line, cellphone in hand. She asks the officer to name the federal law that prevents (her) from wearing a face mask to which the officer replies that theres a state order in effect and that the store has a right to ask her to leave, the video shows. A state mandate went into effect in July requiring people in Ohio to wear face masks inside public buildings. The conversation continued and police eventually asked Turner for her I.D., but she refused to hand it over, Cleveland.com reported. Police were able to grab hold of Turner and escorted her from the store, the video obtained by WOIO shows. As officers take her from the building to a police vehicle, Turner says she cant wait to sue officers, adding that she hadnt committed any crimes before repeatedly demanding her cellphone. Police tried to handcuff the woman, but she pulled away and scratched the hands and arms of one officer, according to Cleveland.com. Turner is charged with resisting arrest, criminal trespass and failure to disclose information, according to court documents. She was released on $5,000 bond and is due back in court on Feb. 8, WOIO reported. Brook Park is just southwest of Cleveland. 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 Jan. 6, then-President Donald Trump spoke to a group of his supporters who had come to Washington, D.C., to protest the outcome of the 2020 election. In his speech, Trump implored his supporters to march down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol to express their outrage and fight for their cause. Following Trumps fiery speech, the protesters transformed into an angry mob of domestic terrorists, seditionists and insurrectionists. They stormed the Capitol, forcefully entering the House chamber, occupying offices, stealing and defacing property, and ultimately halting Congress from carrying out its constitutional obligation to count the Electoral College votes certifying Joe Biden as president of the United States. One week after this violent mob breached the Capitol, representatives returned to the House floor. What followed was an emotional at times vitriolic debate about recrimination for Trump, with many arguing he incited the riot that resulted in five dead. The House of Representatives then approved one article of impeachment against Trump for incitement of insurrection, with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats in a 232-197 vote. As the Senate trial commences, the question confronting senators and the public will be: Did Trumps rhetoric actually incite the insurrection? Answering this question in part depends on proving a cause-and-effect relationship between words and deeds. While many of the insurrectionists claimed they were simply carrying out what Trump asked them to do, these declarations may not be enough to make the case. I believe that the discipline of communication offers an additional way to bolster and more directly advance the cause-and-effect argument. Allow me to offer a rhetorical perspective, one anchored to research I conducted that introduced the concept of language-in-use. Commentary: In 2020, language reflected reality In a series of scholarly articles about language-in-use, I argued that ascertaining the effect of presidential discourse simply by observing behavior following that discourse may not always be the only or best metric of effect. Specifically, I documented that when speakers employ carefully chosen language, their words often are repeated and subsequently internalized by audiences. Much like the functioning of what Aristotle called an enthymeme a three-part argument where one of the premises is unstated the result is that audiences subconsciously take on the values and beliefs implied by the words of a speaker, fill in the unstated premise and behave in a manner consistent with those words. Language-in-use, therefore, may offer a more persuasive way to prove that Trumps rhetoric caused the insurrection. His carefully crafted words and phrases were repeated and then internalized by the crowd listening to Trumps speech. This is significant rhetorically because it not only allowed Trump to control the narrative but enabled him explicitly and implicitly to prescribe the future behavior of his audience. Consider the evidence. The following words and statements contained in Trumps Jan. 6 speech were repeated verbatim and chanted by those who stormed the Capitol: Stop the steal. Well lose everything. Thats treason. Protect the Constitution. This is our country. Whether this and other rhetorical evidence will be sufficient to convince senators and the public that Trump incited insurrection remains to be seen and as usual may be contaminated by a quest for power that places political party above principle. What is clear, however, is that comparing speakers language with the language of their audiences or language-in-use affords us a way to infer a causal connection between words and deeds. During Trumps presidency, political observers have continually said that words matter. Words do indeed matter. I hope, therefore, that pundits, media and the public in the future will pay closer attention to language-in-use. This could provide a strong check on political leaders, holding them more directly accountable and responsible for what they say. Perhaps that will result in less incendiary political rhetoric. Richard Cherwitz is the Ernest A. Sharpe Centennial professor emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin. International N.Korea to hold party plenary meeting this week Seoul, Feb 7 (IANS) | Publish Date: 2/7/2021 12:39:37 PM IST North Korea is scheduled to hold a plenary meeting of its ruling Workers Party this week to finalise plans for strategic tasks for this year, a state media report said on Sunday. The second plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea will be held within the first 10 days of February to examine and decide the 2021 working plans of all fields to thoroughly carry out the strategic tasks set forth during the eighth party congress, Pyongyangs official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in the report. Last month, the country held the party congress and put forth a wide range of policy goals, such as a new five-year economic development plan for self-reliance, and the development of a new weapons system and its nuclear arsenal, Yonhap News Agency reported. A plenary session of the party usually takes place at least once a year to decide its key policy line, organisation reshuffles and other major issues. The first plenary meeting of the party committee was held last month during the party congress. When the COVID-19 virus hit, South Carolina chose a wise approach, carefully targeted and factually based to be most effective. It worked. That is the same approach we are using on vaccinations. Because our priority must be to save lives, we must first protect those at greatest risk of dying and those who keep them and the rest of us alive. This includes hospital and health care workers, first responders, residents and staff of nursing homes and long-term-care facilities and our seniors ages 65 and up. The average age of South Carolinians dying from the virus is 75, with 88% of all deaths occurring in those 61 and older. Our moral and ethical duty is to keep them alive before we turn to less or minimally threatened groups in our population. Our supply of vaccine is increasing. New shot locations are opening every day. Our hospitals, pharmacies and health care providers are becoming more efficient at getting large numbers of our seniors registered and vaccinated. Within weeks, we expect to accommodate more people. Yet this past week, a measure was proposed by state senators to move teachers ahead of seniors in the vaccination line in the hopes that shuttered schools would be reopened. This is an uninformed, bad idea that would disrupt our steadily improving system and jeopardize lives. Placing a healthy, younger person between a senior and a potentially lifesaving shot is irresponsible and unconscionable. Experts agree that vaccinations are not a prerequisite for teachers to return to the classroom. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites extensive data showing there is little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission. Research conducted by pediatricians at the Medical University of South Carolina found no surge in COVID-19 cases in Charleston County public schools following the return of in-person classes. There was no evidence of students giving the virus to teachers. At a December media briefing, DHECs chief epidemiologist, Dr. Linda Bell, stated, We do not see significant evidence of transmission with schools. Our classrooms may be the safest place from the virus. For these reasons, I have asked the General Assembly to send me a bill requiring schools to offer all parents the option of in-person, five days a week instruction for their children. Im still waiting. Sign up for our opinion newsletter Get a weekly recap of South Carolina opinion and analysis from The Post and Courier in your inbox on Monday evenings. Email Sign Up! Today, only 34% of public-school students in just 27 school districts are receiving in-person classroom instruction five days a week. In stark contrast, almost every single private school has had its doors open every day, as do 92% of our states child care centers. School districts in our state have received more than $1.2 billion in COVID-19 relief from the federal government, and have all the personal protective equipment, testing equipment and other resources they need to operate full time. Hundreds of thousands of people in other occupations are going to work every day all across our state safely. In order for teachers to be vaccinated as quickly and efficiently as possible, we must know in advance how many want the vaccine, and whether the state has a sufficient supply of doses on hand or in the pipeline. Thats why I recently directed school districts to coordinate with local health care providers, finalize their vaccination plans and submit those plans to the Department of Education. In addition, I have directed school districts whose classrooms remain closed to immediately submit plans to reopen and operate schools in-person, five days a week to the Department of Education for approval. Students have lost significant learning progress due to simply being out of the classroom. Parents should not have to choose between their jobs and their children. They must have the option of sending their children to school five days a week. This is why they pay taxes. Our schools must be open five days a week. Our teachers will be vaccinated soon. But not for political expedience, and not at the expense of those who are so much more likely to die without the vaccine. Henry McMaster is the governor of South Carolina. 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. La Poste, the French post office, on Saturday issued two stamps to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year of Ox, which falls on Feb. 12 this year. One stamp shows a boy holding a plum blossom, riding on the back of a black-and-white bull wearing a big red flower, as if meditating. With a face value of 1.08 euro, it applies to domestic mail in France. The other, featuring a close profile of a yellow bull, head high, a big bright flower tied to the neck, has a face value of 1.50 euros (1.8 U.S. dollars) for international mail. "The design means to be an ode to Mother Nature, to show our love and respect," Paris-based Chinese artist Chen Jianghong told Xinhua. "I used many colors, trying to convey a sense of tranquility." "2020 was an uncommon year as many people lived through difficulties. I hope the Year of Ox will bring more happiness," the designer said. Since 2005, La Poste has been celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year each year by issuing stamps featuring the year's zodiac animal. This reflects the importance of openness and cultural exchanges, said Philippe Wahl, president and chief executive officer of La Poste, at the issuing ceremony. The Year of the Ox is the second zodiac sign in the Chinese zodiac cycle. It will start on Feb. 12, 2021 and last until Jan. 31, 2022. The Chinese Zodiac is represented by 12 animals to record the years and reflect people's attributes, including the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. New Delhi: Amid the growing Sikkim standoff, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi met Chinese and Bhutanese envoys, confirmed Congress. Defending his meeting Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said it was his duty to be informed about the critical issues such as border dispute with China. "It is my job to be informed on critical issues.I met Chinese ambassador, Ex-NSA, Cong leaders from NE & Bhutanese ambassador, said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. It is my job to be informed on critical issues. I met the Chinese Ambassador, Ex-NSA, Congress leaders from NE & the Bhutanese Ambassador Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) July 10, 2017 Earlier, the Congress party had denied reports that Rahul met Chinese ambassador amid the current border standoff in Sikkim sector. However, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala later confirmed the news and said that meeting took place between Rahul and Chinese envoy Luo Zhaohui. Envoys met Rahul Gandhi ji, not only Chinese envoy but also Bhutanese envoy and ex-NSA Shiv Shankar Menon, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala Said. Surjewala also said it was a regular meeting and should not be sensationalised. Various ambassadors and envoys keep meeting Congress President and Vice President time to time on (the) courtesy basis and nobody should attempt to sensationalise this, he said. In a now deleted post, the official website of the Chinese embassy referred to Rahul Gandhis meeting with Chinese envoy on Saturday last week and they discussed current India-China border standoff. Suggested Read: Ulterior motives prompted India to include tri-junction in Sikkim standoff, says China The entire border row started last month after the Chinese side started building a road at the tri-junction that Thimpu and New Delhi both claim is inside Bhutan but Beijing insists is in China. India govt has conveyed the message to China that India will not allow such construction that represents a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Parliament asked to handover list of MPs Assets Declarations SG says list with Speaker, he has no access to it View(s): View(s): The Right to Information Commission (RTIC) has directed the Secretary General of Parliament to release the names of MPs who have submitted Declarations of Assets and Liabilities during 2010-2018. This followed a journalist, Chamara Sampath filing a request for that information under the RTI law and the refusal by the Secretary General on the basis that Declarations of Assets are filed by MPs to the Speaker of Parliamentand that he does not have access to that confidential information and also, that the request infringed the privileges of Parliament. On appeal by the journalist to the RTIC, the refusal of the Secretary General was set aside on the basis that a list of names of MPs who have filed Declarations of Assets during a particular period, does not amount to personal information or information that infringes parliamentary privilege that may be withheld under the RTI Act The 27 page Order signed by Chair Mahinda Gammampila, Commissioners Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena, Justice Rohini Walgama and S.G. Punchihewa observed that if the Parliaments argument is to prevail, it would in essence be to deem the fact of whether or not an MP has adhered to the law, as information kept out of reach of the RTI Act. This would defeat the entire purpose of the Act, they said. That was also unacceptable as an MP, by taking on a public role, has accepted a higher level of public scrutiny. The requested information would provide crucial insight into compliance with existing law by MPs who hold elected office and are financed by public funds. As such there is overriding public interest in the disclosure of the information, the RTIC held. It was also ruled that, the Sri Lanka Parliament was the institutional entity named as the Public Authority under the RTI Act and that, internal administrative divisions within that entity, (between the Speaker and the Secretary General), had no relevance to the legal question as to the information being in the hands of the Parliament. In any event, the Secretary General, being the administrative arm of Parliament, had institutional possession of the lists of names of MPs who had complied with the statutory duty to file Declarations of Assets and Liabilities. The RTIC also observed that it was puzzling as to why such a high degree of secrecy needed to be maintained about this data. Following the handing down of this decision on Tuesday, either party has the right of appeal to the Court of Appeal within one month. The Namibia Red Cross Society and the City of Windhoek have launched a flood management and support pilot project in Windhoek. The project is aimed at supporting communities affected by floods, especially people living in informal settlements, with health, hygiene, food security and their livelihoods. The pilot project started last month in the Goreangab and Havana informal settlement areas of the Samora Machel constituency. About twenty households in the areas will benefit from the project with sandbags being provided to prevent rainwater from entering houses and barriers being built at riverbeds to direct water away from houses. The Icelandic Red Cross Society provided funding of N$143 000 for the project. Samora Machel constituency regional councillor Nestor Kalola says the first phase of the project consisted of several activities aimed at assessing the community's vulnerability and capacity to cope with and recover from floods. He notes that the community's participation is needed to identify priority actions and target groups. Namibia Red Cross Society national board chairperson Rosa Persendt says the project is designed to improve the community's understanding and awareness of the natural and social components of floods and aims at strengthening people's preparedness to deal with these events. She says the final objective is to bring about changes in communities' behaviour to reduce the vulnerability of residents and their homes. She also says floods are major causes of the loss of life and property, but death is caused more often through water-borne diseases than by drowning, with poor environmental conditions aggravated by floods causing suffering, disease and death. The danger of drowning is acute in flash floods, though. The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime. London, Feb 7 : Police in the UK have launched an investigation into a number of violent incidents involving knife attacks in south London and have also confirmed the death of at least one person. One man has been stabbed to death and 10 others were injured during a number of violent incidents in south London, Xinhua news agency quoted the Metropolitan Police as saying on Saturday. Officers were called five times in the Croydon area between 6.56 p.m. and 9.12 p.m. on Friday. A 22-year-old was stabbed to death in an altercation, the Evening Standard newspaper reported. The police said at this stage there was no known information to suggest all the incidents are linked, and they will be investigating the circumstances surrounding these incidents. "Sadly, tonight we have seen a number of needless and completely abhorrent violent altercations, including one that has tragically resulted in a loss of life," Detective Superintendent Nicky Arrowsmith said. "I urge anyone who has information that could assist the police as we work to investigate these incidents to speak to us as soon as you can via 101," Arrowsmith added. Last month, London police said that although the first coronavirus lockdown was partly behind a fall in violence last year, the restrictions have had a negative effect on mental health among children and were potentially behind a rise in youngsters being killed in their own homes in domestic abuse cases. 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. Advertisement Tens of thousands of anti-coup protesters have poured back onto the streets of Myanmar on Sunday, raising their hands in a three-fingered salute during the second day of mass demonstrations against the military takeover. The gesture is a symbol of resistance inspired by the Hunger Games film franchise, which takes place in a dystopian world whose characters live under a brutal totalitarian government that severely restricts their rights. The salute was first taken up by Thai protesters opposing a 2014 military coup and has been a noticeable feature of pro-democracy demonstrations in the country ever since, including mass rallies last year. Myanmarese protesters have now adopted the symbol of resistance at huge demonstrations against last Monday's arrest of de-facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top officials. Armed police clashed with a crowd in the southeastern town of Myawaddy, as live video published on Facebook showed shots were heard as police tried to break up the protest. Tens of thousands of anti-coup protesters have poured back onto the streets of Myanmar on Sunday, raising their hands in a three-fingered salute during the second day of mass demonstrations against the military takeover. The gesture is a symbol of resistance inspired by the Hunger Games film franchise, which takes place in a dystopian world whose characters live under a brutal totalitarian government that severely restricts their rights. Pictured: Protesters in Yangon on Sunday flash the salute The protests on Saturday and Sunday were the first mass demonstrations condemning the coup that brought a 10-year experiment with partial democracy to a crashing halt. Pictured: Protesters flash a three-fingered salute - a symbol of resistance - during a demonstration in the capital, Naypyidaw, on Sunday This weekend's demonstrations are the biggest protests in Myanmar since the 2007 Saffron Revolution that helped spur a transition to democracy. Pictured: A protester at a barricade hands a rose to a policeman during the demonstration in Yangon on Sunday Demonstrators chanted slogans like: 'We don't want military dictatorship! We want democracy!' Pictured: Protesters in Yangon on Sunday In the video, uniformed police armed with guns rush at a crowd of a couple of hundred demonstrators. Shots can be heard but it is unclear what kind of munitions were used or whether there are any casualties. The Myawaddy protest was just one taking place across Myanmar on Sunday following the first mass demonstrations a day earlier condemning the coup that brought a 10-year experiment with partial democracy to a crashing halt. Armed police (pictured) clashed with a crowd in the southeastern town of Myawaddy, as live video published on Facebook showed shots were heard as police tried to break up the protest In a Facebook live video, uniformed police armed with guns rush at a crowd of a couple of hundred demonstrators in the southeastern town of Myawaddy It is unclear what kind of munitions were used or whether there are any casualties at a protest in Myawaddy where gunshots were heard . Aside from this incident, the protests have been largely peaceful This weekend's demonstrations are the biggest protests in the country since the 2007 Saffron Revolution that helped spur a transition to democracy. Aside from the Myawaddy incident, the protests have been peaceful. Backed by a din of car horns, tens of thousands of changing protesters in Yangon, the largest city, held up banners reading 'Justice for Myanmar' and 'We do not want military dictatorship', while others waved the signature red flags of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party. Many of those present wore red t-shirts and carried red balloons in support of the NLD, chanting: 'We don't want military dictatorship! We want democracy!' Many protesters have flashed a three-fingered salute from the Hunger Games movie franchise. The salute was first adopted by pro-democracy demonstrators in Thailand in 2014. Pictured: Protesters in Naypyidaw flash the salute from their cars Protesters on scooters drive through the streets of Myanmar's capital, Naypyidaw, on Sunday as part of mass anti-coup protests across the country Protesters in Yangon demonstrate against last Monday's military coup and demand the release of Suu Kyi on Sunday Many protesters wore red or waved the signature red flags of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party to show support for the ousted leader. Pictured: Protesters march through the streets of Yangon on Sunday 'I completely despise the military coup and I am not afraid of a crackdown,' said Kyi Phyu Kyaw, a 20-year-old university student. 'I will join every day until Amay Suu (Mother Suu) is freed.' The Yangon protesters had started gathering at City Hall in the afternoon, after their paths to downtown Yangon were blocked at many points by riot police. 'We will fight until the end,' said Ye Kyaw, an 18-year-old economics student. 'The next generation can have democracy if we end this military dictatorship.' THAILAND: A Myanmarese woman living in Thailand holds up a sign denouncing military chief General Min Aung Hlaing during a demonstration in the Thai capital Bangkok on Sunday THAILAND: Protests against the coup in Myanmar have also taken place among diaspora communities in Thailand and Japan. Pictured: Demonstrators brandish the flag of Myanmar and pictures of Suu Kyi during a protest outside Myanmar's embassy in Bangkok on Sunday THAILAND: Riot police officers line up as Myanmar citizens in Thailand protest against the military coup outside a United Nations venue in Bangkok on Sunday THAILAND: Protesters take part in a demonstration against the coup in Myanmar outside the country's embassy in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday 'We don't want to live under military boots,' 29-year-old protester Ye Yint said. The surge in popular dissent over the weekend overrode a nationwide internet blackout, similar in magnitude to an earlier shutdown that coincided with the arrest of Suu Kyi and other senior leaders on Monday. Later on Sunday, Reuters news agency reported that the internet had been restored in Yangon, citing residents. There was no comment from the military in the capital Naypyitaw, more than 350 km (220 miles) north of Yangon. Backed by a din of car horns, tens of thousands of changing protesters in Yangon, the largest city, held up banners bearing pro-democracy messages. Pictured: A protester holds a saying reading: 'Give back our democracy' during a protest in Yangon on Sunday Demonstrators hold placards showing detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, which read: 'We want our leader free' during a protest in Yangon on Sunday The surge in popular dissent over the weekend overrode a nationwide internet blackout, similar in magnitude to an earlier shutdown that coincided with the arrest of Suu Kyi and other senior leaders on Monday. Pictured: A protester in Yangon on Sunday Online calls to protest have prompted bold displays of defiance in Myanmar. Pictured: Protesters during a demonstration in Yangon on Sunday Online calls to protest have prompted bold displays of defiance, including the nightly deafening clamour of people banging pots and pans - a practice traditionally associated in the country with driving out evil spirits. There was a smaller protest in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city while a crowd of hundreds spent the night outside a police station in the town of Payathonzu in Karen state in the southeast, where they believed local NLD lawmakers had been arrested. There were also protests in other Asian countries, with some 300 people gathering at the United Nations office in Bangkok and Sunday, prompting Thai authorities to deploy riot police though there were no reports of clashes. The coup last Monday took the international community by surprise. Pictured: A demonstrator chants while walking past riot police in Yangon on Sunday Myanmar watches were aware of fracturing between civilian leader Suu Kyi and the military but assumed officials would be too concerned with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and Myanmar's economic woes to stage a coup. Pictured: Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Yangon on Sunday Doctors, teachers, lawyers and other professionals have supported the protests in social media videos. Pictured: Medical staff in Yangon raise a three-fingered salute as protesters pass on Sunday A convoy of demonstrators on motorbikes parade in the capital Naypyitaw on Sunday holding signs that read: 'Give us back people's power' Protests were also held in the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Osaka over the weekend. In Tokyo, a crowd of more than 5,000 gathered outside Myanmar's embassy on Sunday to protest the coup. Those gathered in Bangkok and Japan also raised the three-fingered salute. '#Myanmar's military and police must ensure the right to peaceful assembly is fully respected and demonstrators are not subjected to reprisals,' the United Nations Human Rights office tweeted after Saturday's protests. One young protester has promised to join rallies 'every day' until Suu Kyi is freed. Pictured: Protesters in Yangon flash the three-fingered salute as they demand Suu Kyi's release Many young Myanmarese people are vocally opposed to the military takeover, having lived under partial democracy since 2007. Pictured: Protesters in Yangon carry a banner reading: 'You messed with the wrong generation' on Sunday As the protests gathered steam this week, the military junta ordered telecom networks to freeze access to Facebook. Pictured: Demonstrators wave Workers Union and Student Union flags in front of Yangon City Hall during Sunday's protest On Sunday, live Facebook video feeds showed the Yangon protesters as they marched through the streets. It was not immediately clear how they bypassed the government block. Pictured: Protesters march through the streets of Yangon on Sunday Also on Sunday, Pope Francis expressed his 'solidarity with the people' of Myanmar and urged leaders of the Buddhist-majority nation to seek 'democratic' harmony. 'I pray that those in positions of responsibility in the country show sincere willingness to serve the common good, promoting social justice and national stability for a harmonious and democratic co-existence,' Francis, who visited Myanmar in 2017, said in his Sunday address at St. Peter's Square. As the protests gathered steam this week, the military junta ordered telecom networks to freeze access to Facebook, an extremely popular service in the country and arguably its main mode of communication. Young Buddhist monks raise the three-fingered salute - a symbol of resistance inspired by the Hunger Games film franchise - during a protest in Yangon on Sunday Protesters shout slogans and sing songs during a demonstration in Yangon on Sunday. Many attending wore red, the colour of Suu Kyi's NLD party Yangon residents watch from their balconies as tens of thousands of protesters march through the city's streets on Sunday in the largest demonstration since the 2007 protests which helped kick off the country's transition to democracy Protesters carry a flag bearing the symbol of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party through the streets of Yangon on Sunday The platform had hosted a rapidly growing 'Civil Disobedience Movement' forum that had inspired civil servants, healthcare professionals and teachers to show their dissent by boycotting their jobs. On Sunday, live Facebook video feeds showed the Yangon protesters as they marched through the streets. It was not immediately clear how they bypassed the government block. The military had widened its efforts to quell organised dissent on Friday when it demanded new blocks on other social media services including Twitter. The military had widened its efforts to quell organised dissent on Friday when it demanded new blocks on other social media services including Twitter. Pictured: Riot police in Yangon on Sunday Dozens of people have been detained since last Monday's coup, in addition to Suu Kyi, 75, and her top aides. Pictured: Police stand guard on a Yangon street during Sunday's demonstration The precise number of arrests made since the coup is not yet known, but monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said on Saturday that more than 150 people were still in custody. Pictured: People offer flowers to police officers during a demonstration in Yangon on Sunday Tom Anders, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, has accused the military of attempting to 'keep the outside world in the dark' by cutting off the internet. Pictured: A policeman holds flowers given to him by a protester in Yangon Speaking on Sunday before reports of internet restrictions being lifted in Yangon, monitoring group Netblocks said that Myanmar 'remains in the midst of a nation-scale internet blackout', with connectivity at 14 percent of usual levels. Tom Anders, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar said: 'The generals are now attempting to paralyse the citizen movement of resistance - and keep the outside world in the dark - by cutting virtually all internet access.' Dozens have been detained so far, in addition to Suu Kyi, 75, and her top aides. The precise number of arrests is not yet known, but monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said on Saturday that more than 150 people were still in custody. Rumours that Suu Kyi had been released triggered brief but raucous street celebrations among her supporters on Saturday, before they were denied by her lawyer who said Suu Kyi remained in detention and he has not been able to see her. Aung San Suu Kyi (pictured) remains an immensely popular figure in Myanmar despite her tarnished reputation abroad over her defence of the military's brutal crackdown on the Rohingya ethnic minority [File photo] Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since the coup, but a party spokesman said on Friday that she was 'in good health'. Pictured: Protesters in Yangon hold portraits of Suu Kyi (right portrait) and her father, Myanmar's independence hero Aung San (centre portrait) JAPAN: Myanmarese residents living in Japan stage a rally against the military takeover in the city of Osaka on Sunday, demanding the release of Suu Kyi JAPAN: A protester holds a picture of Suu Kyi during a protest by Myanmar people living in Japan outside Myanmar's embassy in Tokyo on Sunday. The protest drew more than 5,000 people JAPAN: Protesters hold pictures of Suu Kyi during a huge demonstration outside Myanmar's embassy in Tokyo on Sunday A Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the daughter of Myanmar's independence hero, Suu Kyi spent nearly 15 years under house arrest during decades of struggling to end almost half a century of army rule before the start of a troubled transition to democracy in 2011. She remains an immensely popular figure at home despite a tarnished reputation abroad. Suu Kyi was sharply criticised for failing to condemn the military's brutal crackdown on the Rohingya ethnic minority. In 2019 she lost what remaining credibility she had among the international community when she defended the military at an International Criminal Court hearing into atrocities against the Rohingyas in 2017. Suu Kyi spent nearly 15 years under house arrest during decades of struggling to end almost half a century of army rule before the start of a troubled transition to democracy in 2011. Pictured: Riot police stand guard in front of the Sule Pagoda on Sunday during an anti-coup protest in Yangon The coup has been widely condemned by the international community, with US President Joe Biden leading calls for the generals to relinquish power and release those arrested in the post-coup crackdown. Pictured: Riot police stand guard in front of the Sule Pagoda on Sunday during an anti-coup protest in Yangon Two days after the coup, criminal charges were filed against Suu Kyi related to the illegal import of a set of walkie-talkies. Pictured: Riot police stand guard in front of the Sule Pagoda on Sunday during an anti-coup protest in Yangon The military had hinted at its coup intentions days in advance, with army commander Min Aung Hlaing insisting that the NLD's landslide victory in November elections was the result of voter fraud. Pictured: Riot police stand guard in front of the Sule Pagoda on Sunday during an anti-coup protest in Yangon Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since the coup, but a party spokesman said on Friday that she was 'in good health'. Two days after the coup, criminal charges were filed against her related to the illegal import of a set of walkie-talkies. The military had hinted at its coup intentions days in advance, with army commander Min Aung Hlaing insisting that the NLD's landslide victory in November elections was the result of voter fraud. Following the takeover, the junta proclaimed a one-year state of emergency after which it promised to hold fresh elections, without offering any precise timeframe. The coup took the international community by surprise, with Myanmar watchers expecting those in power to be too consumed with managing the coronavirus pandemic and the country's struggling economy to act on fractures with the NLD. Many countries were quick to condemn the power grab, with US President Joe Biden leading calls for the generals to relinquish power and release those arrested in the post-coup crackdown. Following the takeover, the junta proclaimed a one-year state of emergency after which it promised to hold fresh elections, without offering any precise timeframe. Pictured: Protesters in Yangon on Sunday JAPAN: More than 5,000 people gathered outside Myanmar's embassy in Tokyo, Japan, to protest the coup on Sunday. Protests also took place in Thailand and across Myanmar JAPAN: Protesters stamp on a sign bearing an image of Myanmar general Min Aung Hlaing that reads 'Shame on you, dictator' during a protest in Tokyo on Sunday British exports to the European Union plummeted by 68 per cent in January as post-Brexit paperwork and the coronavirus crisis wreaked havoc at UK ports, according to a new survey of international hauliers. Research conducted by the Road Haulage Association found the volume of exports heading from British ports to the continent suffered a major dip last month when compared to the same period last year. The findings have prompted the RHA to write to Michael Gove, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, to call for urgent action to reduce friction at the border. The RHA is demanding Mr Gove do more to rapidly increase the number of customs agents from 10,000 to 50,000 to help firms deal with new red tape. It came as Attorney General Suella Braverman said Boris Johnson will not let the EU 'push Northern Ireland around' amid an ongoing row over post-Brexit border checks. British exports to the EU fell by 68 per cent in January according to a new survey by the Road Haulage Association. A lorry is pictured at the Port of Dover on January 4 The numbers will pile the pressure on Boris Johnson as ministers try to reduce friction at the border Industry bosses complained throughout January that the new trading arrangements with Brussels, as well as the pandemic, were hitting exporters hard. Richard Burnett, the chief executive of the RHA, said the survey had also discovered 65 to 75 per cent of vehicles arriving from the EU were returning to the bloc empty due to a lack of goods, hold-ups in the UK and because British companies had halted exports to the continent. Mr Burnett said he found it 'deeply frustrating and annoying that ministers have chosen not to listen to the industry and experts', who have consistently called for greater urgency and action from the Government. He told The Observer that Mr Gove had not responded in writing 'pretty much every time we have written over the last six months'. He said: 'He tends to get officials to start working on things. But the responses are a complete waste of time because they don't listen to what the issues were that we raised in the first place.' The Government has implemented a six-month grace period following Brexit, allowing the suspension of the full range of physical checks on imports until July. Former Tory chancellor Lord Lamont warned last week that red tape linked to the Brexit deal had rendered most business between Britain and Northern Ireland unviable. Two weeks earlier, the RHA said a 12-month grace period and urgent financial aid were needed to iron out problems with the post-Brexit Irish Sea trade border. The UK Government insisted 'goods are flowing effectively' between Britain and Northern Ireland. But Mr Burnett said on January 20: 'This is a financial precipice haemorrhaging money. There needs to be financial intervention immediately.' The Brexit divorce deal means Northern Ireland must follow EU rules on customs, with checks on arriving goods now being carried out at ports. But the arrangements have caused disruption and prompted unionist and loyalist anger because they feel the checks have undermined the Union. Suella Braverman, the Attorney General, said the Prime Minister will do 'whatever it takes' to improve the border situation in Northern Ireland The Government has demanded the EU agree to urgent action to reduce friction at the border in Northern Ireland with the two sides in the process of trying to find solutions. Ms Braverman said in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph that she believes Mr Johnson will do 'whatever it takes' to ensure the situation improves. 'Boris stood up to the EU last year and we got a good deal,' she said. 'I am really confident we are not going to let the EU push Northern Ireland around. 'We will do whatever it takes to ensure we get a good settlement for the Union.' Nicholas Kristof is a seven-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and has won the award twice in 1990 for International Reporting and in 2006 for commentary. Kristof grew up in Yamhill, the son of two Portland State professors, and graduated from Yamill Carlton High School. Contact Kristof at Facebook.com/Kristof, Twitter.com/NickKristof or by mail at The New York Times, 620 Eighth Ave., New York, NY 10018. TD stated in the letter to SEC that the moment APSFL-IPTV is switched on, the television set displays the picture of CM Jagan by default which is against the model code of conduct. DC Image. VIJAYAWADA: Opposition Telugu Desam has lodged a complaint with State Election Commission against AP State FiberNet Limited (APSFL)-IPTV for overusing Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddys photo in its telecasts, alleging that this could make voters exercise their franchise in favour of the ruling party in gram panchayat elections. In its complaint to SEC, TD has demanded that it restrain the state government from misusing FiberNet. Telugu Desam leader Darapaneni Narendra and others pointed out that APSFL is an enterprise promoted and operated by government of Andhra Pradesh. APSFL currently provides internet, telephone and satellite TV channels. It has around 10 lakh subscribers across the state. TD stated in the letter to SEC that the moment APSFL-IPTV is switched on, the television set displays the picture of CM Jagan by default. This, the party maintained, is in direct violation of the model code of conduct. Seeking the removal of CMs image, the opposition party asked SEC to initiate immediate action and ensure that the government does not violate the code of conduct in the ensuing gram panchayat elections. 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 Donald Trump was the first person to become president who had not previously held public office or served in the military. Without that experience or any desire to learn, he proved to be a president who had no understanding of how democracy works or the public trust he held, or of the Constitution he swore an oath to uphold. Which is why Trump failed in the presidency. But he still had the merciless cunning to suck the blood out of his opponents son-in-law Jared Kushner said Trumps 2016 nomination was a successful hostile takeover of the Republican Party and the oxygen of every TV studio in which he found himself, and could still survive many foes. Until this election. Donald Trump addresses supporters at a rally in Washington on January 6, before the riot at the Capitol. Credit:AP It is also why he was impeached for actions that many historians believe were the most heinous of any president: encouragement of a murderous assault on Congress to disrupt the constitutional process for the peaceful transfer of power to president-elect Joe Biden. If Trump had not called for that rally, the Capitol would not have been attacked. The searing ABC Four Corners documentary on Trumps downfall illustrates in the most harrowing terms the horror and desecration of democracy Trump unleashed against members of Congress in the Capitol. And to reflect the impeachment trial brief documenting the charge of incitement to insurrection, it is the intent of the House prosecutors to project those terrifying images,to try to convince a sufficient number of Republicans to join with Democrats all sitting in the scene of the crime, at the very desks the mob violated just five weeks ago to convict Trump. A document created by the Pentagon to justify its decision to strip Colorado Springs of U.S. Space Command and send its 1,400 troops to Alabama has caused even more consternation among local leaders who say it proves the process was flawed and politics may have played a role. The Air Force found Colorado lacking in expected areas like housing prices, but also contended its utilities, hospital systems, schools, airport and ability to fight off terrorists were subpar compared to the other finalists, the document obtained by The Gazette shows. Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers said the findings are so flawed that he was wondering if the Air Force team of evaluators got their cities mixed up. It's comical, Suthers said. It is absolutely comical. The document, dated Feb. 3, was issued three weeks after a controversial decision in the final days of the Trump administration to award the command to Huntsville, Ala. Several sources familiar with the decision say the military picked Colorado Springs as its top choice to house the command, but was overruled by then President Donald Trump, who picked Alabama. Colorado Springs last year was named the provisional home through 2026 for the command, which oversees all military missions in orbit. That decision came amid a process to pick a city to house the command that was stopped and restarted amid political intrigue and a pledge by Trump that he would personally decide the matter. After the Pentagon named Huntsville as the commands new home, lawmakers from Colorado and across the country have called for the Biden administration to investigate how that decision was reached. The loudest criticism has come from Colorado where all nine members of the states congressional delegation have asked President Joe Biden to reverse the decision, and Gov. Jared Polis and state lawmakers last week asked new Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to investigate the process. Last week, Pentagon leaders attempted to quell the Colorado rebellion with a PowerPoint presentation that slammed Colorado Springs as subpar instead of showing why Huntsville won. One of the findings that most irked Suthers and others was the military's claim that Peterson Air Force base was in the bottom third of the six finalist cities for access to a commercial airfield. Peterson Air Force Base abuts the runway it shares with the Colorado Springs Airport. One of Americas longest runways capable of landing the militarys heaviest planes, Peterson was an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle. The measure that found Colorado Springs airport infrastructure at the bottom also considered its ability to handle distinguished visitors. Peterson is the Pentagons second busiest air terminal for distinguished visitors, coming in only behind Andrews Air Force Base in Washington. Reggie Ash, who oversees military issues for the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce and EDC slammed the analysis in an email. In addition to overlooking significant strengths in many areas, including our great medical systems, our first-rate airport and a utilities company in the top 1% in the country for reliability, they fail to properly explain that the secretary of the Air Force recommended Colorado, and President Trump overruled the strong advice of his senior military leaders in both 2019 and three weeks ago when he selected Alabama, Ash wrote. Another claim by the military that drew criticism found that Colorado Springs is in the middle of the pack for a relative measure of physical, electronic and site security to support all requirements. Colorado Springs faced Huntsville, Albuquerque, N.M., Omaha, Neb., San Antonio and Melbourne, Fla., as finalists for the command. Of those, only Colorado Springs has a combination of ground troops, airpower and a Cold War bunker in Cheyenne Mountain that was designed to survive a nuclear attack. The command was reestablished in 2019 to counter rising threats in orbit from rivals including Russia and China. Because of the commands key role in securing Americas constellation of military satellites, its headquarters could be a key target if war beaks out, Suthers pointed to Fort Carson, with the 4th Infantry Division and the 10th Special Forces Group, the underground Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center that was offered for the commands use and the 140th Fighter Wing at Buckley Air force Base in Aurora that could have its F-16s overhead in minutes as reasons the militarys analysis didnt make sense. Anti-terrorism and force protection security requirements? Suthers said. What do you think we are doing now for Space Command?" Another irksome finding for local leaders was the militarys claim that Colorado Springs was at the bottom of the finalists when it comes to infrastructure to provide robust and resilient prime power. Colorado Springs Utilities, owned by the city, regularly tops national reliability ratings, Suthers said, and Peterson is wired into the grid at several points so no single failure can turn the lights off. Every study I have ever seen about energy resilience rates Colorado Springs Utilities at the very top, Suthers said. The militarys findings baffled Vicky Lea, director of aerospace and aviation for Metro Denver EDC. Its difficult if not impossible to analyze the information in these slides, since this summary lacks context for how other states ranked, she said in an email. This report is dated Feb. 3, after the announcement was made, and given the lack of information on how data was weighted, it seems to raise more questions than answers. Despite a boom in new hospitals in the Pikes Peak region and the military health care available at the seven military installations along the Front Range, the military found Colorado Springs at the bottom of the finalists for medical capabilities. I just find it amazing, Suthers said. The Pikes Peak regions schools, which include the Air Force Academy, which last year graduated the first lieutenants for the new Space Force, came in below the leaders, too. Colorado Springs registered at the bottom for costs to accommodate the command, even though the command is already housed in Colorado Springs, most of the facilities to support it have already been built and the city offered 1,500 acres of free land for any new facilities as part of a $130 million incentives package. The only areas where the Pikes Peak region fared well were in support to troops, employment of military spouses and the availability of on-base housing. It is disappointing that in many cases the rankings dont appear to reflect many of the known existing strengths in the Colorado Springs region, and really underscores the need for the administration to suspend any further action on the decision to relocate U.S. Space Command and conduct a thorough investigation of the metrics and standards utilized in the decision-making process, Lea said. Suthers said he will continue his fight to have Biden reverse the decision until a fair analysis has been made. He said the militarys Feb. 3 document isnt worth the paper it was printed on. It's either a document that was meant to achieve a political end or its a very flawed analysis, he said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 21:52:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GAZA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The delegations of various Palestinian political factions headed to Egypt's capital Cairo on Sunday for the intra-Palestinian national dialogue. Witnesses said the delegations of the Palestinian factions, including Hamas, ruler of the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement (PIJM), crossed the Rafah Border Crossing which has been exceptionally opened for them. The delegations of 14 factions will arrive in Cairo from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and other locations for the dialogue, according to a Palestinian source who declined to be named. "The talks do not promise to be easy," the source said. "There are some controversial issues such as the role of the constitutional court and the mechanism that will form the election court, as well as the steps required to be taken to prepare for the elections," the source added. The dialogue, scheduled to start on Monday, is supposed to discuss the political and technical issues related to holding the legislative elections on May 22, the presidential elections on July 31, and elections for the Palestinian National Council on Aug. 31. The last presidential elections were held in March 2005 and the legislative elections in January 2006. Last month, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued decrees for holding legislative and presidential elections, while the elections law was amended to allow only proportional elections through political lists (district elections excluded). Hazem Qassem, a spokesman of Hamas, said in a press statement that the dialogue between the Palestinian factions aims at outlining strategic plans for the upcoming elections, adding Hamas will accept the results of the general elections. "This time around, the situation seems to be different due to the fact that the factions have agreed to neutralize any party that might have disrupted the election process," he noted, referring to previous failures to make a breakthrough in negotiation. Khaled al-Batsh, a senior leader of PIJM, told reporters in Gaza before departure that the dialogue will focus on how to take the first step to end the decade-long internal divisions. "We must adhere to achieving national partnership and agreeing on a unified political program as a comprehensive national reference, as well as rebuilding the Palestinian Liberation Organization," he said. Enditem EXCLUSIVE: Freddy, 71 died in Princess Alice Hospice in Esher, Surrey on May 20 after being admitted just four days earlier. He was diagnosed with cancer in January and told that he had only months to live. Mr Marks married Jane who married him in 2016 (left) after divorcing bandmate Rod Burton in 2019, part of the singing trio 'Rod, Jane and Freddy' (right) on the beloved children's TV show (inset), and Ms Tucker has said that her ex-husband is also bereft. Fighting back tears, Jane Tucker, who married Freddy only five years ago, told MailOnline: 'My final words to him were 'I love you.' 'But Freddy didn't say anything back, he just had a gentle smile on his face like he always did. It was incredibly beautiful. I'm totally devastated by his loss and it's going to take me and a lot of other people in the country a long time to get over this'. She added of her first husband, who comforted her at home yesterday, she said: ''Rod is feeling Freddy's loss very deeply. For a long time, the three of us were inseparable. We toured together, did Rainbow for a long time and were all very close'. Freddy married her five years ago, more than 30 years after they first met and became stars. Jane was first married to fellow Rainbow bandmate Rod, who she divorced in 1979 but they remained friends. 'Years later' she began dating Freddy, which when it emerged around 15 years ago led to rumours a secret love triangle between the singing trio. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 19:52:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN -- If the West wants Iran to return to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement, the United States must first lift all sanctions, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday, official Tasnim News Agency reported. "If they want Iran to return to the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) ... the United States must lift the sanctions altogether, not in words and on paper," Khamenei said in an event along with commanders of the Iranian Army's Air Forces. - - - - PHNOM PENH -- A special plane carrying the first batch of China-donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Cambodia on Sunday, which was welcomed by Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen at the capital's airport. Hun Sen has expressed his profound gratitude to China for the provision of the Sinopharm vaccines to Cambodia, saying that the donation truly reflected China's generosity and it would contribute further to the Sino-Cambodian ties. - - - - GENEVA -- In face of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, growing inequalities, and world economic revitalization, multilateralism and global cooperation will be key to post-pandemic recovery, said Pamela Coke-Hamilton, executive director of the International Trade Center. Echoing calls from global leaders at the World Economic Forum Davos Agenda last month for more multilateral and international cooperation, Coke-Hamilton stressed that multilateral action remains critical to the battle against COVID-19, sharing knowledge and the fair and equal distribution of vaccines. Enditem FARGO, N.D. (AP) Max Abmas had 25 points as Oral Roberts topped North Dakota State 80-74 on Saturday night. Kevin Obanor added 23 points for the Golden Eagles. Obanor also had 17 rebounds. RJ Glasper had 10 points for Oral Roberts (10-8, 7-3 Summit League). Rocky Kreuser had 20 points for the Bison (11-9, 11-4). Sam Griesel added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jarius Cook had 11 points. Maleeck Harden-Hayes had a career-high 12 rebounds plus 5 points. The Golden Eagles evened the season series against the Bison with the win. North Dakota State defeated Oral Roberts 61-54 on Friday. ___ For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25 ___ This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com Music is re-connecting people from the United States, China and beyond as Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations are gaining steam in an untraditional manner. Musicians from the United States and China are presenting a season of online performances as the ongoing pandemic makes it impossible to crowd a concert hall. New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) kicked off a weeklong festival featuring music performances from Feb. 1 to Feb. 5. The virtual festival would highlight community performers and cultural groups, traditional performances, cooking demonstrations and others, said NJSO. Moreover, a virtual concert will be held on Saturday evening to celebrate the year of the Ox, according to the website of NJSO. The Peking University Alumni Chorus and Starry Arts Group Children's Chorus will return to the virtual stage, said NJSO. The Philadelphia Orchestra unveiled its 11-day Lunar New Year Celebration Concert starting from Thursday, according to its website. "Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women," a symphony by Chinese composer Tan Dun and "The Butterfly Lovers," a concerto by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao, are featured on the digital stage. ICBC US Region, a financial service group comprising ICBC New York Branch, ICBC USA, ICBC Financial Service LLC and ICBC Standard New York, stuck to its tradition and presented a virtual ICBC Night in cooperation with Carnegie Hall on Thursday. Invitees could have free access to the online program for a period of 30 days, according to Niu Xiaoying, head of administration department with ICBC New York Branch. With a tribute to healthcare workers, the ICBC program features performances of many healthcare professionals, members of National Virtual Medical Orchestra as well as a dialogue between violinist Joshua Bell and Anthony Vine, assistant clinical professor at Mount Sinai Health System. Meanwhile, musicians from the United States and China also join hands in bringing out online performances or programs to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Qianci Liu, a cellist and producer, who lives in Jersey City, will unveil a program named "Little Reunion" in cooperation with Luo Wei, a pianist from China's business hub Shanghai. "Many people can't reunite with their family members due to the pandemic or other reasons and the piece of Little Reunion is meant to ease homesickness," said Liu. Young artists from Chinese conservatories of music and U.S. partners would jointly present a virtual concert with the theme of "Sounds of Spring" on Saturday evening, under the auspices of Chinese Embassy in the United States as well as Chinese consulate generals in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. The "Sounds of Spring -- China-U.S. Musicians Virtual Concert 2021" is scheduled to be live streamed on the website of Chinese Embassy in the United States, key social media platforms and will be broadcast live on China's leading TV channels. The U.S.-China Music Institute of the Bard College Conservatory of Music is also set to roll out its second annual concert of symphonic music to celebrate the Lunar New Year on Saturday evening. Bard's concert will be offered free online in a live stream from the Fisher Center at Bard and feature a new performance by The Orchestra Now, conducted by Cai Jindong, director of the U.S.-China Music Institute. "The Lunar New Year is celebrated by people all around the world. This is the year of the Ox, which symbolizes strength and determination. We created this year's program to give people some feelings of hope and of looking forward to the future. We hope through music we can give you inspiration," said Cai. The beginning of Bard's concert will feature Tan Dun's Internet symphony "Eroica" to honor the many heroes worldwide who are working to combat the pandemic, said a release by the U.S.-China Music Institute on Friday. The Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, is the most important holiday for Chinese around the world. This year's Spring Festival falls on Feb. 12. (Newser) In a normal year, Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome would preparing for its great moment of the year: the world's most famous Carnival parade. But a week before what should be the start of Carnival, the pandemic has replaced pageantry, the AP reports, with the great celebration put on hold until next year as Rio struggles to quash a rise in COVID-19 cases. The Rio mayor's office opened a drive-thru immunization station Saturday at the Sambadrome, where a line of cars queued up on a broad avenue built for floats. "This is usually a place of pleasure. Today it is too, because we are exercising an act of citizenship and we are opening the Sambadrome to vaccinate," said Paulo Roberto Machado, a 68-year-old nurse. Machado has taken part in 40 years of Carnival parades here, but on Saturday he was coordinating 20 volunteer nursing and medical students vaccinating people over 90 years old. "The vaccine represents the hope of better days, of returning to normality, to what we did before," Machado said. story continues below Rio's government officially suspended Carnival and warns it will have no tolerance for those who try to celebrate with open street parades or clandestine parties, saying it is monitoring social media to detect any. Mayor Eduardo Paes, who often participates in the parade at the Sambadrome, asked citizens not to be "idiots" by ignoring the rules and buying tickets to parties that will not be allowed. "It's a cat-and-mouse game looking to punish those who want party," the mayor said. The cancellation has created an economic hole for businesses that depend on the crowds. Hotel occupancy rate normally reaches about 80% in the hot summer months and 100% during Carnival. It's now at roughly 50%. Thousands of Cariocas, as the citys residents are called, have been idled at the samba schools where they build floats and sew costumes for the vast crowds. The pandemic has hit hard in Rio, which has counted more than 17,600 COVID-19 deathsthe most of any city in Brazil, topping even Sao Paulo, which has nearly twice its population. (Read more Rio de Janeiro stories.) NEW DELHI : Melting of Himalayan glaciers has doubled since the start of the 21st century due to rising temperatures, losing over a vertical foot and half of ice each year and potentially threatening water supply for hundreds of millions of people in countries, including India, according to a study published in 2019. The analysis, spanning 40 years of satellite observations across India, China, Nepal and Bhutan, indicates that climate change is eating the Himalayan glaciers, researchers said. The study, published in the journal Science Advances in June 2019, shows that glaciers have been losing the equivalent of more than a vertical foot and half of ice each year since 2000 -- double the amount of melting that took place from 1975 to 2000. "This is the clearest picture yet of how fast Himalayan glaciers are melting over this time interval, and why," said Joshua Maurer, a PhD candidate at Columbia University in the US. While not specifically calculated in the study, the glaciers may have lost as much as a quarter of their enormous mass over the last four decades, said Maurer, lead author of the study. The study synthesised data from across the region, stretching from early satellite observations to the present. The data indicates that the melting is consistent in time and space, and that rising temperatures are to blame, the researchers said. Temperatures vary from place to place, but from 2000 to 2016 they have averaged one degree Celsius higher than those from 1975 to 2000, they said. Researchers analysed repeat satellite images of some 650 glaciers spanning 2,000 kilometres from west to east. Many of the 20th-century observations came from declassified photographic images taken by US spy satellites. They created an automated system to turn these into three dimensional (3D) models that could show the changing elevations of glaciers over time. The researchers then compared these images with post-2000 optical data from more sophisticated satellites, which more directly convey elevation changes. They found that from 1975 to 2000, glaciers across the region lost an average of about 0.25 metres of ice each year in the face of slight warming. Following a more pronounced warming trend starting in the 1990s, starting in 2000 the loss accelerated to about half a metre annually. Researchers noted that Asian nations are burning ever-greater loads of fossil fuels and biomass, sending soot into the sky, adding much of it eventually lands on snowy glacier surfaces, where it absorbs solar energy and hastens melting. They compiled temperature data during the study period from ground stations and then calculated the amount of melting that observed temperature increases would be expected to produce. The team then compared those figures with what actually happened. "It looks just like what we would expect if warming were the dominant driver of ice loss," Maurer said. The Himalayas are generally not melting as fast as the Alps, but the general progression is similar, the researchers said. The study did not include the huge adjoining ranges of high-mountain Asia such as the Pamir, Hindu Kush or Tian Shan, but other studies suggest similar melting is underway there as well. The researchers noted that some 800 million people depend in part on seasonal runoff from Himalayan glaciers for irrigation, hydropower and drinking water. The accelerated melting appears so far to be swelling runoff during warm seasons, but scientists project that this will taper off within decades as the glaciers lose mass. This, the researchers said, will eventually lead to water shortages. The study shows that "even glaciers in the highest mountains of the world are responding to global air temperature increases driven by the combustion of fossil fuels," said Joseph Shea, a glacial geographer at the University of Northern British Columbia in Canada, who was not involved in the study. "In the long term, this will lead to changes in the timing and magnitude of streamflow in a heavily populated region," said Shea. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry convened a meeting with Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Charbel Wahba on Sunday to discuss the bilateral relations between the two countries and find ways to deal with the ongoing crisis in Lebanon. Shoukry stressed on Egypt's important role in resolving the crisis by helping the country form an independent government that holds Lebanons interest as a priority, said Ahmed Hafez, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The new government should work on garnering the support of the international community in a manner that is consistent with the countrys constitutional foundations, said Shoukry, albeit in a manner that avoids Lebanon falling under the influence of regional or internal powers. Lebanon's Prime Minister, Saad Al-Hariri, will have to contend with an increasingly dire situation involving a deep financial and political crisis, a coronavirus outbreak, and the massive August explosion at the Beirut port that killed 200 people, injured 6,000, and left 300,000 homeless. The people of Lebanon are more vulnerable than ever before, with more than 1 million people living below the poverty line and 1.5 million refugees, says the WHO. Egypt has already sent several aid shipments to Lebanon through an airlift as per President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisis directives to provide humanitarian aid to help in the reconstruction of the blast-hit country. Wahba expressed his countrys great appreciation for the important role Egypt is playing to help resolve the ongoing crisis, he also voiced his countrys readiness to cooperate with Egypt in the future. Short link: In a shocking incident, an Indian Navy sailor from Jharkhand, who was kidnapped in Chennai, was brought to Palghar where he was allegedly set afire for refusing to pay the ransom amount. According to the investigating officer at the Gholvad police station, Sarjerao Kumbhar, the victim was found early on Friday in a half-burnt, semi-nude condition from a forested area. He was rushed to the Cottage Hospital in Dahanu and then to the Naval Hospital in Mumbai, where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment on Friday. In his dying declaration, the victim -- identified as Surajkumar M. Dube (27) from Daltonganj in Jharkhand who was serving on INS Agrani -- said that he was kidnapped in Chennai on January 30 where he was held captive by three unknown persons. The deceased sailor said that after completing his leave, he took a flight from Ranchi to Chennai to join duty on the morning of January 30, but was waylaid at gunpoint from outside the airport from where he was whisked away to an unknown location where he was kept for three days. From Chennai, he was taken 1,500-km away into the forests near Gholvad in Palghar where the kidnappers asked him to arrange for a ransom of Rs 10 lakh. "Since he refused to pay the ransom, they poured petrol on him and set him on fire at gunpoint in the jungles before decamping from there. Some locals found Dube in a half-burnt condition and alerted us," said Kumbhar. Taking serious note of the ghastly incident, the police have registered a case of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping for ransom, robbery and sections of the Arms Act and launched manhunt to nab the culprits. The police are scanning the CCTV footages from Gholvad and surrounding areas, checking mobile call records besides pressing informers into service to get clues on the miscreants. "We are also trying to ascertain if the kidnappers are from this region as we don't know why the victim was brought from Tamil Nadu to Palghar, which is on the Gujarat border, and using what mode of transportation," said another official. Dube's body has been sent for an autopsy and his family in Jharkhand and the Indian Navy authorities in Mumbai have been informed of the tragedy. (With inputs from IANS) At least one civilian was killed in Somalia on Saturday and three others wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near an intersection in the capital Mogadishu, according to an official. The blast targeted a bulletproof vehicle near Afrik Hotel, police official Abdifatah Hassan, told Anadolu Agency by phone. Last week, 10 people were killed and 20 others wounded by another attack at the hotel carried out by the Al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militant group. The victims were rushed to the hospital for treatment by paramedics who reached the crime scene, added Hassan. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. The country's coal import rose by 15.1% to 23.63 million tonnes (MT) in December 2020 compared to 20.52 MT in the year-ago month. Non-coking coal imports were at 15.63 MT in December this fiscal against 14.21 MT in the same month last fiscal. Coking coal imports were at 5.36 MT against 4.47 MT in December 2019-20, according to provisional data compiled by mjunction services. However, the country's coal import dropped by 13.5% to 160.79 MT in the April-December period of the ongoing fiscal compared to 185.88 MT in the same period last fiscal. ''Indias coal and coke imports during April-December 2020 through major and non-major ports are estimated to have decreased by 13.5% over the same period last year, " mjunction services said. During the April-December period of FY2020-21, non-coking coal import was at 107.07 MT against 128.26 MT during the year-ago period. Coking coal imports were recorded at 33.54 MT during the period against 37.20 MT during the same period a year ago. Commenting on the coal import trend, Vinaya Varma, the MD and CEO of mjunction services, said, "Coal demand from utilities moved up due to higher generation in December. This coupled with a gradual recovery in industrial activities and expectations of further firming up of international prices led to increased volumes." mjunction, a joint venture between Tata Steel and SAIL, is a B2B e-commerce company and also publishes research reports on coal and steel verticals. 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. David Guetta was in Dubai this week, to perform on top of the Burj Al Arab. The concert streamed live all over the world and doubled as a charity function, raising money for those most impacted by the ongoing health crisis. While there, he also took time to bond with another influential and popular person in her own field, carfluencer Alex Hirschi, known as Supercar Blondie.Since Guetta tells Hirschi that he was still up for a new driving test to get his drivers license, we could imagine this was something she set up so he could enjoy a very rare car. That is to say, since he cant drive it, the next best thing is hitching a ride in the passenger seat.The car in question is the Star Trooper, a collaboration by Mansory and Philip Plein with a Mercedes-AMG G 63 as a base. Its actually a pickup truck, since the rear seats were removed and the car now features an open bed, which, Hirschi says, could actually work for Guetta to do a set. While she drove, she adds with humor.This is one of the seven vehicles of the kind made by Mansory, but its the only one to feature this Star Wars-inspired design. Hence the Star Trooper name. It boasts plenty of carbon fiber, a super pimped interior (Guettas words) with custom and branded Philip Plein work, exhaust controls that amplify the sound of the 4.0-liter V8, blinking blue lights on the grille and an accompanying siren. For musical emergencies, one assumes.Since he isnt allowed to drive, Guetta happily agreed to be chauffeured around by Hirschi, while they played his own music. In between gushing about the Star Trooper and discussing his music, Guetta admitted he was very much like James Bond when it came to car preferences. He was partial to Aston Martins and the Rolls-Royce Wraith, which, he said, was luxurious without being too flashy and had a decisive rockstar vibe.Check out the video below, if not for Guettas music insights, for the awesome Star Trooper. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Melbourne, Feb 7 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Feb, 2021 ) :Rafael Nadal admitted Sunday he had been "suffering" for 15 days with a sore back and could not guarantee he'll play the Australian Open, with the injury threatening to derail his bid for a record 21st Grand Slam. The world number two sat our Spain's ATP Cup campaign in warm-up week, and he hasn't played a competitive match since the ATP Finals in London in November. His only appearance since was an exhibition game against Dominic Thiem in Adelaide nine days ago, where he first experienced stiffness in his back. "Not great obviously," he said of the back injury on the eve of the first Grand Slam of the year. "It's true that for the last 15 days I have been suffering. "In the beginning, the muscle was just a little bit tired but I feel (now) a little bit more stiff than usual." The 34-year-old has been hitting the practice courts at Melbourne Park in a desperate bid to be fit and firing for the Australian Open, which starts Monday. Nadal insisted the injury was "not serious" but remained unsure whether he would take to the court for his first-round match against Laslo Djere of Serbia which is scheduled for Tuesday. "The muscle is still tight, so it is difficult to play with freedom of movement," he said. "We are doing everything. My physio is here, the doctors here, everybody is helping me in all possible ways. I hope to be ready, that's all. I know sometimes things change quick." Nadal, who has a history of back problems, refused to be drawn into whether the 14-day mandatary hotel quarantine players endured on arrival in Australia contributed to the injury. There has been a mounting injury toll ahead of the year's opening Grand Slam, with Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and defending champion Sofia Kenin among those carrying niggles. "I'm not a big fan of finding excuses," he said. "When things happen, you need to find a way to get through." Nadal is looking to edge ahead of Roger Federer who also has 20 Slam titles to his name, with the injured Swiss not playing in Melbourne. He plans to return to the ATP Tour at Doha next month. Nadal, the 2009 Australian Open champion, said being healthy was his top priority. "The only thing that I can do is stay positive, work on recovery and do all the things that I can," he said. "Then I hope the situation will improve. Let's see."If he does take his place in the draw, Nadal is on course to meet Greek rising star and fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals. 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 US-based Halliburton Company has been awarded a contract from Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to collaborate on their digital transformation journey through the maintenance and expansion of digital solutions for its 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 DecisionSpace365, 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. TradeArabia News Service Aurora Oberg is the Youth Services Librarian and Kris Wiley is the Director of the Roseburg Public Library. ST. PAUL, Minnesota -- Today, only a handful of companies hold the disruptive technologies needed to unleash the potential of electric vehicles. One of those companies has made investments in Ohio and should serve as a long-term economic and employment anchor for area workers, small businesses, and families. Global battery manufacturer LG Chems battery spinoff is known as LG Energy Solution. In partnership with General Motors, it has established a sizable footprint in Ohio. In 2019, LG announced plans to construct a facility in Northeast Ohio as part of a $2.3 billion investment that is expected to generate well over 1,000 new local jobs. GM is slated to produce 20,000 electric trucks in Ohio in 2021, and eventually 420,000 vehicles a year. As Lordstown Motors continues construction, it last week announced an agreement with LG Energy Solution for battery cells as it prepares to start production on its all-electric pickup, The Endurance, in September of this year. The key factor behind the technology that is driving these investments and jobs is intellectual property (IP). Unfortunately, in the case of LG, the intellectual property has been under assault under the actions of a more recent entrant into the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) sector: a South Korean company named SK Innovation. At the center of the dispute is that SK Innovation plans to build a plant in Georgia and manufacture a battery design that LG says is based on trade secrets and IP stolen from them. The dispute is currently before the U.S. International Trade Commission. An ITC administrative law judge issued a default judgment a year ago siding with LG after reviewing evidence that SK Innovation destroyed at least 34,000 files and emails to cover up the alleged theft. Furthermore, LG accuses SK Innovation, while attempting to recruit and hire former LG employees, of requiring candidates to provide core manufacturing technology that is, the exclusive intellectual property of LG Chem. Kent Kaiser is executive director of the Trade Alliance to Promote Prosperity. By the way, SK Innovation has also been found on multiple occasions to be using illegal labor at the plant under construction in Georgia. Last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection stopped several Korean nationals using fraudulent employment documents in an attempt to enter the United States illegally, and some without proper paperwork were found to be employed at the site and subsequently detained by immigration authorities, all while local officials reported more than 200 foreign workers were undergoing training at a farm several miles away. These were jobs that local leaders were led to believe would go to workers and communities in Georgia. Now, under a darkening cloud of allegations, SK Innovation is attempting to circumvent the courts in the hopes of finding a political solution in Washington, D.C. Doing so would come at the expense of good actors like LG that have made investments, lived up to their commitments, created union-based jobs, and played by the rules. We must make sure the investments made by committed technology-driven companies like LG are secured by ironclad IP protections. Any efforts by Washington politicians to allow SK Innovation off the hook would send exactly the wrong message. Lets hope Ohios elected officials in Congress agree. Kent Kaiser is executive director of the Trade Alliance to Promote Prosperity. Kaiser resides in St. Paul, Minnesota. Have something to say about this topic? * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com. When Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, it struck the author and illustrator John Jennings as so unprecedented, such a break from American history, that it was like an event from some far-flung future. Before then, the only time you would see a president who was Black was in a science-fiction movie, he said in a phone interview last month. Jennings compared it to the sorts of imaginative leaps one finds in the most forward-thinking works categorized as Afrofuturist. This year, fans of Afrofuturism will see a bumper crop of comics and graphic novels, including the first offerings of a new line devoted to Black speculative fiction and reissues of Afrofuturist titles from comic-book houses like DC and Dark Horse. Afrofuturism, whether in novels, films or music, imagines worlds and futures where the African diaspora and sci-fi intersect. The term was coined by the writer Mark Dery in 1993 and has since been applied to the novels of Octavia Butler (Kindred), the musical stylings of the jazz composer Sun Ra and more recently films such as Get Out and Black Panther, which presented a gorgeously rendered vision of the technologically advanced, vibranium-powered nation of Wakanda. As coronavirus vaccines started rolling out late last year, there was a palpable sense of excitement. People began browsing travel websites and airlines grew optimistic about flying again. Ryanair Holdings Plc even launched a Jab & Go campaign alongside images of 20-somethings on holiday, drinks in hand. Its not working out that way. For a start, it isnt clear the vaccines actually stop travelers spreading the disease, even if theyre less likely to catch it themselves. Neither are the shots proven against the more-infectious mutant strains that have startled governments from Australia to the U.K. into closing, rather than opening, borders. An ambitious push by carriers for digital health passports to replace the mandatory quarantines killing travel demand is also fraught with challenges and has yet to win over the World Health Organization. This bleak reality has pushed back expectations of any meaningful recovery in global travel to 2022. That may be too late to save the many airlines with only a few months of cash remaining. And the delay threatens to kill the careers of hundreds of thousands of pilots, flight crew and airport workers whove already been out of work for close to a year. Rather than a return to worldwide connectivity one of the economic miracles of the jet era prolonged international isolation appears unavoidable. Its very important for people to understand that at the moment, all we know about the vaccines is that they will very effectively reduce your risk of severe disease, said Margaret Harris, a WHO spokesperson in Geneva. We havent seen any evidence yet indicating whether or not they stop transmission. To be sure, its possible a travel rebound will happen on its own without the need for vaccine passports. Should jabs start to drive down infection and death rates, governments might gain enough confidence to roll back quarantines and other border curbs, and rely more on passengers pre-flight Covid-19 tests. The United Arab Emirates, for example, has largely done away with entry restrictions, other than the need for a negative test. While U.K. regulators banned Ryanairs Jab & Go ad as misleading, the discount airlines chief Michael OLeary still expects almost the entire population of Europe to be inoculated by the end of September. Thats the point where we are released from these restrictions, he said. Short-haul travel will recover strongly and quickly. For now though, governments broadly remain skittish about welcoming international visitors and rules change at the slightest hint of trouble. Witness Australia, which slammed shut its borders with New Zealand last month after New Zealand reported one COVID-19 case in the community. New Zealand and Australia, which have pursued a successful approach aimed at eliminating the virus, have both said their borders wont fully open this year. Travel bubbles, meanwhile, such as one proposed between the Asian financial hubs of Singapore and Hong Kong, have yet to take hold. France on Sunday tightened rules on international travel while Canada is preparing to impose tougher quarantine measures. Air traffic and aviation is really way down the priority list for governments, said Phil Seymour, president and head of advisory at U.K-based aviation services firm IBA Group Ltd. Its going to be a long haul out of this. The pace of vaccine rollouts is another sticking point. While the rate of vaccinations has improved in the U.S. the worlds largest air-travel market before the virus struck inoculation programs have been far from aviations panacea. In some places, theyre just one more thing for people to squabble about. Vaccine nationalism in Europe has dissolved into a rows over supply and who should be protected first. The region is also fractured over whether a jab should be a ticket to unrestricted travel. It all means a rebound in passenger air traffic is probably a 2022 thing, according to Joshua Ng, Singapore-based director at Alton Aviation Consultancy. Long-haul travel may not properly resume until 2023 or 2024, he predicts. The International Air Transport Association said this week that in a worst-case scenario, passenger traffic may only improve by 13% this year. Its official forecast for a 50% rebound was issued in December. American Airlines Group Inc. on Wednesday warned 13,000 employees they could be laid off, many of them for the second time in six months. At the end of 2020 we fully believed that we would be looking at a summer schedule where wed fly all of our airplanes and need the full strength of our team, Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker and President Robert Isom told workers. Regrettably, that is no longer the case. The lack of progress is clear in the skies. Commercial flights worldwide as of Feb. 1 wallowed at less than half pre-pandemic levels, according to OAG Aviation Worldwide Ltd. Scheduled services in major markets including the U.K., Brazil, Spain are still falling, the data show. Quarantines that lock up passengers upon arrival for weeks on end remain the great enemy of a real travel rebound. A better alternative, according to IATA, is a digital Travel Pass to store passengers vaccine and testing histories, allowing restrictions to be lifted. Many of the worlds largest airlines have rolled out apps from IATA and others, including Singapore Airlines Ltd., Emirates and British Airways. We need to be working on as many options as possible, said Richard Treeves, British Airways head of business resilience. Were hopeful for integration on those apps and common standards. But even IATA recognizes theres no guarantee every state will adopt its Travel Pass right away, if at all. Theres currently no consensus on vaccine passports within the 27-member European Union, with tourism-dependent countries like Greece and Portugal backing the idea and bigger members including France pushing back. Were going to have a lack of harmony at the beginning, Nick Careen, IATAs senior vice president for passenger matters, said at a briefing last month. None of it is ideal. The airline group has called on the WHO to determine that it is safe for inoculated people to fly without quarantining, in a bid to bolster the case for Travel Pass. But the global health body remains unmoved. At this point, all we can do is say, yes, you were vaccinated on this date with this vaccine and you had your booster if its a two-course vaccine on this date, the WHOs Harris said. Were working very hard to get a secure electronic system so people have that information. But at this point, thats all it is. Its a record. A vaccine passport wouldnt be able to demonstrate the quality or durability of any protective immunity gleaned from being inoculated, or from being infected with virus naturally, either, Harris said. The idea that your natural immunity should be protective and that you could somehow use this as a way of saying Im good to travel is out completely. Oksana Markarova is to travel to Washington, D.C., in the near future. The process of appointing ex-Finance Minister Oksana Markarova as Ukraine's ambassador to the United States is nearing completion. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced this in an interview for RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service. Read alsoU.S. State Dep. ready to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons MFA Ukraine "She is actually completing the entire formalization routine. It is always a long process. The appointment of an ambassador takes six months on the average from the announcement of the name to the departure of that person abroad. As far as I remember, we launched the process on Markarova in early December. It's early February, and we are already at the stage of issuing a presidential decree [on her appointment]. That is, this is the final step. Then she will receive American visas and travel," he said. Kuleba noted that Ukraine is interested in the U.S. Ambassador's arrival in Kyiv as soon as possible. As UNIAN reported earlier, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on November 20, 2020, that he had proposed President Volodymyr Zelensky appoint ex-Minister of Finance Oksana Markarova as new ambassador of Ukraine to the United States. Other related news reports Reporting by UNIAN New Delhi, Feb 7 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to reply on Monday on the motion of thanks on the President's address following the motion moved by BJP's Bhubaneswar Kalita on February 3. Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri will lay on the table, a statement explaining the circumstances which had necessitated immediate legislation by the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 and will move for leave to introduce a Bill further to amend the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second Act, 2011. Left MPs including E. Kareem have given notice to move a resolution "That this House disapproves the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 (No.1 of 2021) promulgated by the President of India on January 7, 2021." But Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy will move the Bill for consideration and passing to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. The reports of the Standing Committee on IT will also be tabled in the house. The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. Syracuse, N.Y. -- Across New York, 1.6 million people have received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomos office. Of those, about 461,000 are fully vaccinated, according to the state. Thats about 12% of the 7 million people currently eligible in New York to get the vaccine. Its just 2.4% of the states overall 19.4 million residents. Those vaccination numbers dont include the states nursing home residents, who are getting the vaccine through a separate, federal program. Instead, the stats include vaccine distributed at state centers, like at the New York State Fairgrounds, at county-run sites and at drug stores. In a 24-hour period late this week, the state vaccinated 111,000 people. That comes as Yankee Stadium opened Friday to vaccinate people living in the Bronx. Cuomo and other leaders have said they could vaccinate thousands more, but demand is far outstripping supply. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said he would likely learn on Sunday how many doses the county will get for the coming week. Typically, those appointments are made available on Wednesdays. Most state-run facilities have no appointments as of this afternoon. But its worth checking periodically. The state feeds cancellations back into the system. Click the get started button on the Am I Eligible website to see if any are available. MORE ON COVID-19 VACCINE Who is getting vaccine in Onondaga County? How to get vaccine in CNY? Keep checking these websites No vaccine yet for waiters, Uber drivers in Onondaga County. Heres why Got a story idea or news tip youd like to share with a Syracuse-area reporter? Please contact me through email, Twitter, Facebook or at 315-470-2274. With work in full swing at the country pavilion of Principality of Monaco, for Expo 2020 Dubai, the construction of the rock-inspired structure is nearing completion. For the first World Exhibition being organised in the Middle East from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, Monaco has chosen to present the many facets of its national identity inspired by the Rock a 62-m-tall monolith in the country in the Opportunity district of the Expo site, said senior Monaco officials. They will be connected to the city of Dubai's grid at the beginning of December, thus starting the process of self-supplying the pavilion with energy until the opening and throughout the duration of the event, they stated. Monaco is one of the first countries that will receive the Building Completion Certificate, they added. Announcing the project update, the senior authorities stated that the 14-m-high Rock is now fully equipped with photovoltaic panels. A French Riviera coloured Harlequin vinyl has covered the entire external lateral facades of the Pavilion. The Rampe Major, symbolizing the winding and narrow streets of Monaco and which leads to the first floor of the pavilion is also ready to welcome its first visitors, they explained. According to them, the landscaping around the pavilion was also nearing completion with 90% of the Mediterranean greenery installed. "Amongst them, an ancient olive tree was planted right by the entrance of the Pavilion, opening the doors of Monaco, the gem of the French Riviera!," said the officials. Inside the pavilion, the office and staff areas are ready. The air conditioning, irrigation and fire safety systems have also already been deployed. The scenography and all its modules in the exhibition area will be installed in April, they added.-TradeArabia News Service Nearly 100 Kashmiri youths, who travelled to Pakistan on valid visas for short durations, have either not come back or have disappeared after their return in last three years, raising an alarm within security agencies which fear that they could be possible sleeper cells of terror groups operating from across the border. Alarm bells rang in April last year when a group of five terrorists were killed in jungles of the border area of Handwara in North Kashmir. One of them was a local who went to Pakistan in 2018 and had not returned since, various officials from security agencies said. Between April one to six of last year, youths hailing from Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag districts of South Kashmir were seen as part of the infiltrating groups of terrorists and all of them had travelled to Pakistan on valid documents and never returned thereafter, they said. Security agencies, along with the immigration officials at Wagah border as well as at the New Delhi airport, have been collecting data of Kashmiri youths who travelled on valid visa for durations ranging more than seven days over the last three years, the officials said. The figures were astonishing and in some of the cases it was found that the youths never returned and in others they disappeared after their return, raising speculation that they could have become "sleeper cells", waiting for instructions from the masters in Pakistan's snooping agency, ISI, or handlers in terror groups located across the border. Kashmiri youths, who travelled to Pakistan even two years back, were called for questioning and a proper analysis of their activities after their return was being carried out by the security agencies, the officials said, adding some inconvenience was caused but precaution was always better than cure. Those questioned by the security agencies were asked a valid reason for their travel to Pakistan, the officials said, adding that the background history of all these people was checked and verified at the minutest level. While the security agencies believe that there was a six weeks' training course for new terror recruits, intelligence inputs suggest that some of the youths were provided a quick module of fabrication of improvised explosive devices using easily available explosive material within a week's time, they said. The recruitment of youths for various terror organisations is also being carried out discreetly and it is quite possible these youths could also be doubling as "recruiters" for brain-washing of vulnerable men in the militancy affected union territory. The missing youth are mainly from an average middle class and have been described as the new faces of terrorism in Kashmir. They could be waiting for delivery of arms and ammunition for all of them which has been substantially been choked due to heightened surveillance at the Line of Control, they said. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. The World Health Organization (WHO) has assured Nigeria that it will support the country to procure, distribute and administer Covid-19 vaccines. Walter Kazadi Mulomboo, WHO Country Representative in Nigeria, told a press briefing in Nigeria's capital Abuja on Saturday that Nigeria and other Africa countries were not disqualified from accessing Covid-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility, the WHO-led initiative for equitable global access to coronavirus vaccines, to meet the urgent vaccination needs of developing countries. The assurance was a response to rumours that the WHO disqualified Nigeria from Covid-19 vaccines based on the country's inability to meet the standard requirement of storing the vaccines at the required -70 degrees Celsius. Senior Nigerian officials said earlier that the country was hoping to get more than 40 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to cover one-fifth of its population through the global COVAX scheme in 2021. The WHO is supporting all countries to access the vaccines as quickly as possible, Mulomboo told reporters. According to him, all countries on the continent are expected to start accessing the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine by the end of February, noting that the vaccine is under WHO review for emergency use listing and the outcome is expected soon. "Of all the 88 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses allocated to African countries for the first phase, Nigeria has received by far the largest allocation, with 16 million doses," he said. Also at the press briefing, Faisal Shuaib, director-general of Nigeria's National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA), said that several factors were considered in allocating the small quantity of vaccines in the initial stage to COVAX countries. These include the mortality rates from Covid-19, the number of new cases, the trend in the number of cases, the population of countries and the availability of the appropriate cold chain equipment, Shuaib said. He said the country's national strategic cold store equipment is "ready for any type of vaccine that is allocated to us." According to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control, the most populous African country registered 1,588 new cases of Covid-19 on Saturday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 139,242 and total deaths to 1,647. 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. Officers were called to a residence on Timber Knoll Drive. A woman said she applied for a job for Juicy Crab on Indeed.com and, after a few conversations, she was hired. She said she received a check for $3,078 in the mail and the people told her to deposit the check. The woman said they told her to do other random things and she thinks it is a scam and wants to let police know. * * * Police responded to a theft at Ooltewah Discount Liquor, 9207 Lee Hwy. The store manager said two females came into the store and stole around 15 bottles of various liquors from the store, believed to total over $1,000. He said the two left the store, got into a gray Kia Soul and headed westbound on Lee Highway toward the highway. Police checked the area, but were unable to locate the suspect vehicle.* * *A woman reported a disorder and vandalism at an apartment on Maple Street Court. Police spoke with a woman who said her "ex" had come by her house yelling and screaming to let him in. She said she would not allow him in her house and she told him he needed to leave, as he is not to be in the Westside. She said at that time he began beating on the windows on the back of the apartment and the front. She said he broke out the front window of her bedroom that had just been replaced by Housing. Police checked and the "ex" is showing warrants for vandalism and criminal trespass. The woman said he was wearing dark pants, a maroon shirt with white stripes and dark shoes. Police will make contact with CHA Police to look at cameras to verify the woman's story.* * *Police were called to the La Quinta Inn & Suites, 7051 McCutcheon Road, on reports that a female wearing a camo jacket, black pants and a blue COVID mask was knocking on tenants' doors asking for money. Police searched the area but were unable to locate the woman.* * *A man called police to say there was a man pointing a gun at him near the Midnite Oil gas station, 3440 Wilcox Blvd. Police could not locate the reporting man or the man who was supposed to be armed with a gun.* * *A woman who is a delivery driver for Dominos Pizza told police she was making a delivery to an address on Water Street when a black male wearing a blue shirt and a large afro walked up, grabbed the pizza out of her hands and ran away. She said the pizza was worth $16. Police checked the area for the suspect, but did not locate him.* * *Police received a called from "Brad" about suspicious activity at a residence on S. Watkins Street. "Brad" said he believed there were individuals at the property potentially attempting to steal catalytic converters off of the company vehicles. Police did not locate anyone on the property. The underside of business vehicles were checked by responding officers, but they were unable to determine if anything was removed. "Brad" did not wish to respond on scene to check the vehicles himself and was satisfied with police response and findings.* * *A verbal disorder was reported at a residence on Highland Avenue. Police discovered a man was hollering at everyone to get out of his house. The man and four other men involved were all found to be extremely intoxicated. It was determined after piecing everything together that all the men either lived at the residence or were there on behalf of someone who did. The residence was found to be a multi-tenant residence and the yelling man did not have the right to kick anyone out. All of the men agreed to quit arguing and leave each other alone.* * *While on patrol, an officer observed a white sedan traveling north on Wheeler Avenue nearly cause a collision when it ran the stop sign at Wilder Street at a very high rate of speed. The officer attempted to stop the vehicle, however, it fled going back south on Taylor Street. The officer disengaged from the traffic stop attempt and gave a BOLO over the radio for the vehicle. The officer made a right turn on Wilder Street and then heard radio traffic about someone chasing their stolen white Nissan Sentra in the area. With the possibility of the white vehicle that ran from the officer being stolen, he responded to the area of Cheek Street near Taylor Street, which is a known area for dumping stolen vehicles. In that area, the officer located a white Nissan parked on Cheek Street and unoccupied. The officer could smell the overheated brakes. Upon running the tag through NCIC, he found the vehicle to be stolen. The officer made contact with the owner of the vehicle, who came and took ownership of the recovered vehicle. The vehicle was cleared from NCIC.* * *Police responded to a report of a noise violation at a residence on Cloverdale Circle. A woman said she was hearing loud thumps coming out of her attic. She said the noises get worse at night. She said the landlord has come out multiple times and the sounds just stop until the landlord leaves. The woman explained she had a court date coming up and would need another report to help her case. She was given a copy of the complaint number.* * *A woman on Cherokee Boulevard said that between 7:30-8:30 that morning someone broke out the right side rear window of her 2017 Toyota RAV4. She said the person stole her purse and the contents of it. Thirty minutes later, police received a call from another woman on Cherokee Boulevard who said that someone busted the rear passenger window to her vehicle to gain entry and take items. The items that were taken were a brown leather bag which contained her wallet, license, debit card, credit card, multiple gift cards and a sweater. Shortly thereafter, a third woman on Cherokee Boulevard called and said that between 7:30-8:30 that morning someone broke out the right side front window of her 2017 Infiniti Q60 and stole her purse and its contents.* * *A woman who works at the Waffle House, 102 Signal Mountain Road, told police that sometime the previous week, someone stole her medication out of her purse. She said that she believes it was stolen while at work at the Waffle House. She said she left her purse unattended in the back room of the restaurant.* * *Police were contacted by TBI regarding a firearm that was run showing possibly stolen at the U.S. Money Shop, 5952 Brainerd Road. An employee said the woman trying to pawn the firearm already left with the gun prior to police arrival. The employee said they were not notified that it was possibly stolen. She said they did not take the firearm due to it being defective. She also gave the name of the woman who tried to pawn the firearm, which was a revolver, .32 caliber Smith and Wesson. Due to not being able to verify the firearm or make contact with the party in possession of the firearm, police left.* * *A vehicle was reported stolen from the parking lot at Walmart, 501 Signal Mountain Road. Officers spoke with a man who said someone stole his Tacoma while he was inside Walmart. Officers transported the man to his home on Sunset Drive, where he had all the information for the truck. After transporting the man to his home and gathering vehicle information, officers went back to Walmart. Upon arriving at Walmart, officers located the man's vehicle. Officers informed the man where his vehicle was located.* * *A woman on Crutchfield Street told police she had lost her key chain that has her house keys, storage shed keys and the key to her safe, along with a pouch that holds her drivers license and Social Security card. She said she did not know when or where she lost them. She said she has searched everywhere. A watch lost was requested since the keys have her address.* * *Police were called to Mr. Zip, 1905 Gunbarrel Road. An employee said that someone had struck the building. Officers observed damage to an exterior wall of the business. Officers reviewed video footage of a white Kia Soul parked at a pump. Two white males walked up to the vehicle, one entering the passenger side front and the other entering the rear driver side. The vehicle then went into motion when the doors of the vehicle opened up and a black male exited the driver seat. The two white men also exited the vehicle and the vehicle then continued to roll into the store. The vehicle then came to a rest and the men that were in the vehicle got into an altercation. The two white men got into a white SUV and a red Chevy sedan. The black man then returned to the white Kia Soul after going to the bathroom inside the store and left. The employee said the black man did not state what occurred and she believed the tag on the white Kia Soul to be out of Tennessee. Officers were unable to locate anything for the provided tag number. The employee said they did not wish to prosecute in this matter due to believing that this was an accident. * * * There was a report of suspicious activity at a residence on Hansley Drive. Police spoke with a woman who said that her husband had come to her home and attempted to enter the residence, but the door was locked so he attempted to make entry through the rear bathroom window. The woman said she was in the bathroom at the time and instructed him to leave the property. The husband left the property before police arrived and did not make contact with his wife in the home. Police informed the woman that, being married to her, the husband has legal right to be on the property. Police were unable to make contact with the husband. Green-Schools, in partnership with Irish Water, are supporting students and their families during lockdown with a series of Stay Home resources aimed at helping them learn more about water, one of our most fascinating and precious resources. With students and their parents adapting to the challenges of home schooling, these online resources are designed to be fun, entertaining and easily accessible. From water-themed videos to quizzes, experiments and much more, there is a host of activities for students of all ages to enjoy doing at home. The programme includes 13 weeks of activities targeted to three different age categories of Junior Primary (Infants to 2nd Class), Senior Primary (3rd to 6th class) and Secondary School. So there is something for all age groups to enjoy and learn from. All the experiments are designed to be simple enough to carry out at home using easily available materials. For example, students can learn all about how evaporation works using just some empty jam jars, a saucer, paper, scissors and a marker. Or they can make their own water filter with an old plastic bottle, sand and gravel. Other activities include a chance to view chapters from The Story of Water, a documentary that focuses on the critical value of this precious natural resource and explores the ongoing threats to its future - both globally and in Ireland. Chapters included in the Stay Home resources cover topics such as water treatment, pollution and wastewater. Irish Waters sponsorship of the Green-Schools Water Theme is in its eighth year and in that time over 2,000 schools have attended interactive Water Workshops and Walk for Water Events. Last year alone, Green-Schools saved over 600 million litres of water. As well as running workshops and Water Ambassador training for students in participating schools, Green-Schools also runs an annual poster and video competition on a water theme. Due to Covid 19 restrictions and school closures, the Green-Schools programme has successfully moved much of its interaction online for the current school year, with new content and innovative virtual events. Cathy Baxter, Green-Schools Manager, said: With home schooling now the norm for the vast majority of students and their parents we are pleased to be able to do our bit to help by providing these free resources to help everyone learn more about water and how precious it is. Since making the Stay Home resources available via the Green-Schools website and on social media we have had an incredible response from all over the country. So far close to 10,000 people have engaged with the Stay Home water resources alone online. Toni Bourke, Irish Waters Business Stakeholder and Communications Manager, added: We are delighted to partner with the Green-Schools Water Programme in supporting students and their families at this time. Irish Water is proud to be sponsoring the Green-Schools Water Theme for the eighth year in a row a programme which has seen tens of thousands of Irish students learn more about the value of water and how we can all help to safeguard this precious resource for the future. The Green-Schools Stay Home activities are available on the Green-Schools website at https://greenschoolsireland.org/green-schools-stay-home-water/. They can also be found on the Green-Schools social media channels with the hashtag #GreenSchoolsStayHome. The Story of Water documentary is available to view in its entirety or as individual chapters on the Irish Water website at www.water.ie/storyofwater NEW ALBANY, Miss. (WTVA) -- The mother of Jessica Stacks, Cathy Paden, broke down in tears as she tried to talk about her only daughter during a vigil Saturday night. "We all love Jessica. We want Jessica home. we want justice for Jessica. She didnt just run off, she said. Stacks vanished on New Year's Day after she was on a boat with another person on the Tallahatchie River. Deputies found footprints of her getting out of the boat. More than 100 people lit candles at the vigil and prayed in hopes that investigators will find Stacks soon. Residents also served food to help raise money for Stacks family during this tough time. It means the world to me, it does. Im so glad everybody came out here and showed that they love Jessica, she said. Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards said he and his investigators have not given up on searching for her. Edwards said theyve found no evidence of foul play. Paden believes there is more to her daughter's disappearance than is being reported. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page 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. Boston police on Saturday identified a victim shot to death on Thursday as 32-year-old Brandon Williams of Dorchester. Around 10 p.m. Thursday, Williams was shot near Capen Street and Evans Street in Dorchester, Boston police said. Officers got to the scene and found Williams suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, police said. Williams was pronounced dead by Boston EMS at the scene. The shooting remains under investigation. Police ask anyone with information to call homicide detectives at 617-343-4470. Related Content: Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 12:44:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Misbah Saba Malik, Liu Tian ISLAMABAD, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The economic growth of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the population growth of the Uygur community belie the fiction peddled by a few Western politicians, a Pakistani senator said. China's Uygur ethnic group mainly resides in Xinjiang, a region also home to other ethnic groups such as the Kazakh and the Kyrgyz, with their population, especially the Uygurs, continuously expanding, Pakistani Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed told Xinhua on Friday. They are leading their lives in peace in Xinjiang, said the chairman of Pakistan's Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, who has visited Xinjiang for about 20 times in the past two decades and seen a vibrant community through his interaction with the locals. "I have been to mosques in Kashgar. I have been to the Grand Bazaar at Urumqi. We had music programs (events), dancing away with different communities who live in Xinjiang," involving Uygurs, Han Chinese, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, he said. "Xinjiang is a very pluralistic, dynamic, (and) fast growing region of China, which is the core of the Silk Road Economic Belt," Syed said. The senator has seen dramatic development in Xinjiang, as people in the region are getting more high-rise buildings and better houses, and enjoying an improved lifestyle and infrastructure over the years. "All this shows that there is an incremental rise in the living standards of the people of Xinjiang, including the Uygur community, with gainful employment, with new access to opportunities in education and employment," he said. "So I think like the rest of China, people in Xinjiang are building a new tomorrow for a better life for themselves with the passage of time." Xinjiang's economy expanded 3.4 percent year on year in 2020, 1.1 percentage points higher than the national economic growth, according to the local government work report. Noting Xinjiang's economic achievements last year despite the impact of COVID-19, the senator said that China has set an example with its progress in fighting the virus, as the world has been suffering from the pandemic. Additionally, in recent years, the Uygur population in Xinjiang has been growing steadily. From 2010 to 2018, the Uygur population in Xinjiang rose from 10.17 million to 12.72 million, up 25.07 percent. The growth rate of the Uygur population is not only higher than that of Xinjiang's total population, which is 13.99 percent in the same period, but also higher than that of all ethnic minority groups in the region, which is 22.14 percent, let alone the Han population's 2 percent. As for the misstatements by some Western politicians including former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Syed said that they were just politically motivated in attempts to spread false information about China. Pompeo's allegations of "genocide" and a "crime against humanity" were a parting shot to score brownie points for his political calculations and to appease his extreme right hawkish constituency, the senator said. He also said that some Western politicians are viewing China "as a new enemy and try to demonize, divide and destabilize China through any means possible, whether it's fake news, whether it's falsifications, whether it's demonization." Maligning China and interfering in its internal matters could be dangerous, the senator warned, cautioning against the risks of such moves and the pursuit of a "new Cold War." Enditem Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday sought an affidavit from a responsible officer of the Centre detailing the difficulties in replacing a part of the Central Armed Police Force deployed in the restive Darjeeling hills. A bench of acting Chief Justice Nishita Mhatre and Justice T Chakraborty also asked the West Bengal government to file another affidavit regarding deployment of its own forces in Darjeeling hills to quell the continuing unrest over separate statehood demand. The bench sought their affidavits by July 13 while expressing concern over the sufferings of people in stir-hit Darjeeling hills amid the ongoing tussle over replacement of forces, sought by the state for operational reasons. The division bench expressed concern at the continuous closure of most schools in the hills, including several boarding schools where pupils from all over the country and abroad study. An indefinite bandh called by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which is spearheading the violent agitation demanding a separate state for the hills people, entered the 27th day on Tuesday. The matter will come up for hearing again on July 14. The state has asked for replacement of three companies of SSB and three women companies of CRPF with six companies of male CRPF personnel, citing operational reasons. At present a total of 11 companies of CAPF are deployed in the hill districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Kaushik Chanda told the court that a high-level meeting was held yesterday in Delhi under the chairpersonship of the special secretary, (internal security) of the Union ministry of home affairs with the additional director general (law and order) of the West Bengal Police too attending it to discuss the issue. The high court had on Friday asked the Centre and the state to sit together and sort out the issue of replacement. Chanda submitted today that the Centre has principally not agreed to the request for replacement as that will bring down the morale of the forces. At this, the acting chief justice asked, Will you allow the situation to continue like this? Stating that there were adequate central forces, the ASG claimed there was lack of coordination between the state officials and the CAPF. Referring to the framing of charges in the Madan Tamang killing trial, Justice Mhatre asked as to why the CBI has not done anything to ensure the presence of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung and other accused in Kolkata. The acting chief justice asked the CBI to file an affidavit detailing the steps it has taken to ensure the presence of these accused in a Kolkata court as per the direction of another division bench. Gurung, his wife Asha and several other leaders of GJM are accused in the case of killing of All India Gorkha League leader Madan Tamang at Chowkbazar in the heart of Darjeeling town on May 21, 2010. They were directed to stay in Kolkata from the date of framing of charge in the case till completion of the trial. While granting bail to these accused on December 19, 2016, a division bench of Justice Asim Kumar Roy had directed them to stay in Kolkata police area during the said period. Hearing for framing of charges began in January before the court of chief judicial magistrate, Kolkata. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Postage stamp to honor female physicist who many say should have won the Nobel Prize A Chinese-American physicist whose name many people have never heard will soon share a rare honor typically bestowed on the fields mononymous greats: Einstein, Fermi, Feynman. On 11 February, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will issue a stamp commemorating Chien-Shiung Wu, the service announced this week. In 1956, Wu proved, essentially, that the universe knows its right hand from its left. Wu, who died in 1997 at age 84, never received a Nobel Prize for her demonstration of the effect called parity violation. Instead, she numbers among the women many scientists think were unfairly overlooked by the Nobel Committee. It was an incredibly important experiment and she was an amazing scientist, says Melissa Franklin, a particle physicist at Harvard University. The universe can be thought of as a huge assemblage of fundamental particles interacting through four forces: gravity, electromagnetism, the strong force that binds the atomic nucleus, and the weak force that produces a type of nuclear decay called beta decay. Physicists once assumed that if you inverted all the particles positionsswapping left and right, up and down, forward and backand reverse all their momenta, the universe should work just the same. If you performed such a parity transformation on a clock, for example, the weird mirror-image clock that would result would tick just like the original one. SIGN UP FOR OUR DAILY NEWSLETTER Get more great content like this delivered right to you! By the 1950s, however, physicists were producing exotic, fleeting subatomic particles by firing high-energy protons into targets, and certain particle decays seemed to defy parity symmetry. In June 1956, theorists Tsung-Dao Lee of Columbia University and Chen Ning Yang of Brookhaven National Laboratory suggested parity might not hold in weak interactions. Their paper proposed an experiment to find outalthough for that part, they consulted Wu. The trick was to study a nucleus that both spins and undergoes beta decay, in which it spits out an electron and a nearly undetectable neutrino. If parity holds, the electron should emerge with equal probability in all directions. If parity is violated, electrons would be more likely to emerge in one direction relative to the nucleus spin than in the other. Thats just what Wu and colleagues observed in experiments at the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology) in December 1956. They placed a sample of radioactive cobalt-60 in a strong magnetic field and cooled it to nearly absolute zero to make most of the nuclei spin in the same direction. They found a strong correlation between the spin and the directions of emitted electrons, proving the weak interaction has a handedness: Curl the fingers of your left hand in the sense the nuclei are spinning and the electrons emerge in the direction of your thumb. Lee and Yang shared the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of parity violation, but Wu did not. Some scholars have argued the Nobel Committee left her out because it wasnt clear that her group deserved priority for the experimental observation. Wu and colleagues were almost scooped by rivals led by Leon Lederman, also at Columbia, who measured the same effect in the decay of a particle called the muon. Ledermans team started later but had a manuscript ready first and it held off on submitting it for publication at Lees request, recounts Magdolna Hargittai, a chemist and historian of science at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in a 2012 essay. However, Lee and Yang had already sharpened their theoretical ideas in discussions with Wu, notes David Kaiser, a physicist and historian of science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. And she suggested a cryogenic cobalt-60 source would be the best way to achieve a spin-polarized beta source. In addition, Kaiser notes, the Nobel Committee could have given a second prize for experimental observations in a later year. I think we can make a very strong case that she was overlooked or at least eminently deserving of such an honor, he says. The Nobel controversy aside, the discovery of parity violation had a tremendous impact on particle theory. Particle physicists whole standard model of elementary particles and forces derives from various abstract symmetries and how interactions among the particles sometimes obscure or break those symmetries. The discovery of parity violation set the conceptual stage for that development, Kaiser says. A physicist has a much better chance of winning a Nobel Prize than appearing on a postage stamp. USPS officials say they havent tracked exactly how many physicists have been on stamps, but the list is short. In addition to Wu, Einstein, Fermi, and Feynman, others include rocket scientist Robert Goddard, experimentalist Robert Millikan, aerodynamicist Theodore von Karman, condensed matter theorist John Bardeen, and nuclear theorist Maria Goeppert Mayer. Regarding Wu, Franklin says, I dont think it matters about the Nobel Prize, the stamp is much more important. Wus name went through the standard selection process for commemorative stamps, says William Gicker, director of stamp services at USPS. Anyone can nominate a person for a stamp, Gicker says, and USPS receives roughly 30,000 nominations per year. Those that conform to the requirements then go to the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations to the postmaster general. USPS issues just a few dozen commemorative stamps each year. The committee was looking to issue more stamps involving the sciences and to diversify the figures on them, Gicker says. Its OK if Wu is not a household name, he says. We hope to engage a viewer through a little 1-inch-by-1-inch work of art to ask, Who is this and what did they do? He adds, You should be on the lookout for other prominent women in the sciences in future years. Addresses chronic shortage of trade finance to businesses globally with Fenergo's API-led CLM solutions DUBLIN, LONDON and DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The world's first digital trade finance bank, Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank (AGTB) Limited ("AGTB"), based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has chosen Fenergo, the leading provider of digital Client Lifecycle Management solutions (CLM) to deploy its CLM platform. Fenergo will enable AGTB to meet its strategic objective to disrupt the trade finance market with a cloud-based, digital-first and client-centric model leveraging emerging technologies such as data analytics and API connectivity. With the ability to assess and mitigate risk more effectively utililsing Fenergo's CLM solutions, AGTB can deliver a more integrated, real-time offering to its clients. AGTB aims to address the gap in the trade finance market by becoming the first digital bank servicing the sector, providing trade clients with unprecedented client experiences. Fenergo's API-first CLM solutions will provide AGTB with a single client view across all departments, jurisdictions and products, while expediting Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) processes and time to revenue. Amit Garg, CEO, AGTB, said: "We created our bank in the knowledge that the needs of global trade banking businesses weren't being addressed. To do this, we continue to work with vendors with product capabilities and configurability that help us achieve our goals. Fenergo ticks all the boxes." Marc Murphy, CEO, Fenergo said, "We are excited to partner with a forward-thinking, client-focused company like AGTB. We look forward to helping them meet their goals and service the requirements of their global trade banking clients. Our solution will allow AGTB to expediate onboarding while providing digital and frictionless client experiences." About Fenergo ( www.fenergo.com ) Fenergo is the leading provider of digital transformation, customer journey and client lifecycle management (CLM) solutions for financial institutions. Its software digitally transforms and streamlines end-to-end CLM processes - from regulatory onboarding, data integration, client and counterparty data management, client lifecycle reviews and remediation, all the way to client offboarding. Fenergo is recognised for its in-depth financial services and regulatory expertise (from a team of over 30 global regulatory specialists), community-based approach to product development and out-of-the-box rules engine which ensures financial institutions are future-proofed against evolving Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money-Laundering (AML), tax and OTC derivatives-based regulations across 100 jurisdictions. Fenergo recently expanded into new markets including asset and wealth management, private, retail, business and commercial banking and has over 80 global clients. The solution is underpinned by Artificial Intelligence, Robotics Process Automation and Machine Learning technologies, using advanced OCR and NLP capabilities to extract information, expedite compliance and improve operational efficiencies. About AGTB AGTB is the world's first digital trade bank to rethink and rebuild trade finance. The company uses a cloud native platform with agile digital solutions to offer clients simple, streamlined and highly automated processes, while leveraging data to manage risk effectively. www.agtb.com For media enquiries please contact: press@fenergo.com Sorry! This content is not available in your region opinion While I was walking down to Kazanchis a girl who rented a traditional coffee corner on the veranda of a restaurant round Meneharia Photo House loudly said " Hello Alex, we don't see much of you these days. Why don't you get in and have a cup of coffee?" "I'm in a hurry but I can spare five minutes if you can fix the coffee fast!" I looked my watch. "I will see to it," she projected a sunny face. I took a wooden stool beside another client with a hoary head. Soon this short and stout girl started fanning the charcoal stove still talking to me. She has a bent of explaining things with her hand. "Haven't you heard that the girl, whose bill you liked to foot, has passed away?" "Do you mean the tall and elegant one with aquiline nose?" "Right you are! She had also dimples on her cheeks." I nodded yes. "What happened? I remember she liked boozing." "As if she were a fish she often drank round the clock," she giggled and added "Yes. Sorrowfully one sad morning in her parent's house she was found dead in her bed." "What a tragedy! She did tell me she was a mother of two," I projected pity-stamped face. "I think she was either separated or divorced. Once, riding a car her mother and sister came to take her away reminding her she had a court appointment on the morrow. Presenting them coffee I overhead their talk about inheritance. You see she was from a well-to-do family." "How come she loved this house?" "It has a spare room for 'Chat' chewers, addicts and gamblers that chitchat day long." "Is that so?" "Yes!" " I have observed that when the addict trespass the limit they spiral out of the orbit that binds them to the community." "Those who are hardcore addicts of "Chat" end up half normal." The hoary-headed man cut in "A friend of mine that helped me a lot while I was assigned a teacher at Dolomena School in the then Bale province gradually became a chat addict. You see a diploma holder of school administration, this gentleman that used to neatly dress, was the director of the school. Fifteen years later after I settled in Addis I found him a shabby job-seeking loafer. Out of pity, I allowed him to stay with me till he got a job. For three months he stayed with me. But at last I had to browbeat him to leave of his accord." "Why?" The chubby girl asked. "He simply wants me to buy Chat at least twice a day. He couldn't tell whether it is sun up or sun down leave alone it is Monday or Sunday. He forgot he had to take a shower. Also, he was not washing his clothes and shocks. His nails turned filthy. He was inured to filthiness. Though I advised him to change the sad episode 'Okay! Sorry!' he used to say." "He became inured to his repellent condition. I have no alternative than being harsh for our own good! I forced him to leave." "Have you heard from him since then?" "No. He disappeared into a thin air." " I have observed addicts resort to thievery when they stop short of money for Chat and alcohol. Such a girl did steal me a cellphone I bought deducting money from my two-year saving," the stout girl poured coffee into two cups and handed it to us. "That is why some service giving government employees become corrupt. Also the girl addicts will willy-nilly resort to commercial sex work," the man added. "Sure,"I said. "On top of 'Chat' most of them smoke cigarettes. I often shudder when I reflect how the combined effect of 'Chat', cigarette and alcohol could change the aroma of their mouths. I wonder why men fail to shun such girls," the girl put her hand on her head. "Their likes could like them! As the Amharic adage goes 'Filthy with filthy trek together' (Birds of the same feather fly together.) A revolting thing! " the man laughed accompanied by us. "By the way how is my coffee?" the girl asked. "As usual excellent," said the man. "One Christmas morning when I went to a church for a prayer an emaciated man got up among a large circle of the destitute being fed by Sunday school students who were offering them special dishes killing sheep pooling resources from the faithful. First I didn't recognize him. But when he drew closer saying 'Alex' Oh Getahun is that you?" I proffered him my hand. "It was long since I saw you last he said." His unkempt hair and tattered clothes were telling that he is out of job as he can't hold down one gradually turning a 'Chat' addict. Around Piaza, he used to invest his salary on a roomful of chat chewers that do the same when they get money. Before he knows it this sought-for teacher of Commercial Mathematics in one of the High Schools of Addis tragically turned into a hard-core addict. He was missing classes and as such frequently receiving warning letters. He had almost lost all of his dark brown teeth practically fully chiseled down. "Via corrupt officials involved in the export and sale of 'Chat' the unreformed government had deliberately promoted 'Chat' addiction. Don't you remember the long line of gentlemen and cars by that shop? "he pointed his finger across the road. When my phone rang I stood up and said "It is from my friend waiting for me around Total Petroleum Station. I have to hurry up. Have a nice time! I handed the stout girl 15 birr saying "For three cups of coffee including you!" "Thank you!" Said the man. Of all addicts I know, I feel pity to Bethesda a tall attractive girl, a graduate of sociology from Addis Ababa University. Attracted I had put her under my radar. Once, in the same taxi from Arat Kilo to Kazanchis I did get a chance to talk to her. Stunned by the profound knowledge she has about socioeconomic and philosophical issues I asked her a favor to invite her a cup of tea under the pretext of continuing the discussion. Winning her consent over a cup of tea we deliberated for hours on end. "Men chauvinists' line of reasoning is embedded in the logo centrism which talks about the presence and absence of the reproductive organs in the three dimensional space. They relate it with the biblical saying 'There was light at the beginning!' " Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Ethiopia 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 see the presence of male's reproductive organ in the three dimensional space allows him the upper hand! What reasoning!" I said. "Sigmund Freud also asserts male's superiority claiming 'Males are active while females are passive in conjugal felicity,' "she unzipped her lips. "So funny!" I said. "But feminists slam the idea with women's power of giving birth capitalizing on the ability of bringing forth something new." "A better reasoning!" I said happily. "Are you supporter of feminism?" she laughed. "Yes I have translated the short stories of Maxim Gorky in Amharic. If you read his works you will be surprised how with word pictures he paints women." " Yes he uses brighter hues for women. I know Gorky, the figurehead of Socialist Realism," she said. Though unwilling to give me her cellphone number I managed to receive her e-mail address. Even if I wrote to her three letters she failed to respond. Once I met her pale. She could not identify me as she was imaginatively transported to another world. She was nonstop squeezing her nose with her fingers. When I told a girl collogue about Bethesada a she said "She might have sniffed a weed (a drug)!" I used to meet her at least once in a three month. Unfortunately, three years have elapsed since I saw her last. She was a girl of a well off family in Bole. I'm afraid we might have lost her to addiction. One year after his first impeachment, former president Donald Trump finds himself the subject of an unprecedented second trial beginning Tuesday in the Senate, whose members must determine whether he incited a deadly assault on the US Capitol. The 100 senators will also step into uncharted territory when they sit in judgment of a president who is no longer in office, a deeply damaged political figure who remains a potent force in his party even without the power of the White House. At the heart of the coming week's high-stakes proceedings is the January 6 melee, when several hundred pro-Trump rioters stormed Congress, fought police and sought to stop the ceremonial certification of Joe Biden's election victory. The uprising, which some Democratic lawmakers say was an attempted coup by domestic terrorists, has been described as the most dangerous attack on American democracy since the 1860s Civil War. It left members of Congress -- who were ruthlessly targeted by the insurrectionists -- so shaken, and the nation so enraged, that Democrats began the process of impeaching Trump just two weeks from the end of his term. On January 13, the House of Representatives indicted him for "incitement of insurrection," forever branding Trump a twice-impeached president. No other commander-in-chief has been so disgraced. Yet no US president has ever been convicted in a court of impeachment -- and the odds are that such a record will stand. A principal goal of Democrats driving the trial would be to ban Trump from holding federal office in the future, should they win an unlikely conviction. The mob riot itself is beyond dispute. US networks covered the mayhem live, and thousands of self-incriminating photographs and video clips -- including of some rioters insisting Trump "wants us here" storming the Capitol -- made their way into the world's news media. Critics aver that Trump's role was such that he violated his oath of office by inciting his supporters to launch the attack. The Republican billionaire and his allies, however, argue that the trial itself is unconstitutional, saying the Senate can convict and remove from office a current president but not a private citizen. "If it happened in the Soviet Union, you would have called it a show trial," Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said on NBC's "Meet the Press." The claim of unconstitutionality could allow the defense team and Republican senators to avoid having to defend the fiery tweets and diatribes by Trump in the run-up to the violence. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who put together a team of nine Democrats to serve as impeachment managers prosecuting Trump, insisted the trial should go on, and that failing to convict him would damage American democracy. "We'll see if it's going to be a Senate of courage or cowardice," Pelosi told reporters on Thursday. - 'Powder keg' - Convicting Trump would require the vote of more than two-thirds of the senators, meaning 17 Republicans would need to break ranks and join all 50 Democrats -- seen as near impossible. But the former real estate mogul has plenty to lose in the trial. Even though Trump retains a strong base of support, the riot has eroded his popularity -- not good for a 74-year-old who may eye a fresh presidential run in 2024. Public support for a Trump conviction is stronger now than during his first impeachment trial, according to a new Ipsos/ABC News poll. It found 56 percent of Americans favoring conviction to 43 percent who disagreed. Today's impeachment managers do not intend to stick merely to bland legal theorizing in the debate. In a pre-trial brief they set the tone, accusing Trump of "creating a powder keg, striking a match, and then seeking personal advantage from the ensuing havoc." They also signaled their intention to use many of Trump's own public statements against him, including his January 6 pre-riot speech to a crowd of followers near the White House urging them to "show strength." "You'll never take back our country with weakness," Trump said, urging them to "fight like hell" before his audience marched the short distance to the US Capitol. Defense lawyers focused on two points: that the trial is "moot" because Trump cannot be removed from an office he no longer holds, and that his rhetoric casting doubt on the election results and his combustible January 6 remarks amounted to constitutionally protected speech. The parameters of the trial have yet to be set. Democrats' invitation to have Trump testify was shot down by the ex-president's team. Republicans, whose ranks are divided about the party's future direction, do not want to dwell on the divisive episode. In the latest sign of division, the Republican Party's Wyoming branch voted Saturday to censure Liz Cheney -- the third-ranking Republican in the US House -- after she supported impeachment. Many Democrats too are eager to move on, so Congress can pass Biden's legislative priorities, starting with a massive coronavirus relief package. Short link: COVID-19 repatriation crisis takes romantic turn View(s): While Sri Lankas foreign missions are still struggling to repatriate Sri Lankans who are stuck in foreign capitals after the COVID-19 pandemic, in Cyprus the Consulate General had to make a strange request to Lankans in that country. The Consulate Office urged Lankans to stay away from calling up official hotlines to verify whether their girlfriends had already booked flights to return home or reached home in return flights. This came after it received a significant number of such calls in the past few days. Taking the matter to its official page on Facebook, the Consulate Office said that the Consulate General and the staff received a number of calls asking personal details of their partners. Boyfriends and girlfriends have to solve their own problems on a personal level. Please note that any information held by the Consulate General will not be passed on to strangers. I would also like to kindly inform the relevant parties not to request personal details, the Facebook post from the Consulate Generals office said. Digital vaccine politics silly and dangerous While the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is being given to front line medical and tri-forces personnel under the first phase of Sri Lankas vaccination programme, some professional organisations are also seeking priority. One of them is the Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS), which calls itself the apex body for the ICT industry in Sri Lanka. It raised eyebrows when it issued a statement calling on the Government to provide COVID-19 vaccines to ICT employees on a priority basis for at least 20% of the industrys front line staff. The statement came under severe criticism on social media. Many users pointed out that FITIS should not categorise the ICT industry as special and deserving priority for COVID vaccines, when the vast majority of those in the industry have been working from home for months. Even some industry heavyweights panned the statement. Software company WSO2 founder Sanjiva Weerawardana decried it on Twitter as vaccine politics lining up in the country. He called it silly and dangerous, and said if we go this way everyone will want to be first. FITIS should apologise for this request. I can think of more than 15 groups which should have higher priority than IT professionals, tweeted former Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) Chairman Rohan Samarajiva. Some wondered which industry body would be next to demand priority access to vaccines. Its wanted, but wasted International aid is sometimes left behind without reaching the beneficiaries for weeks, if not months. In one instance World Bank equipment to be distributed among children has been exposed to the weather in the compound of the Divisional Secretarys office in Beruwala. The donation came under the Early Childhood Development Project assisted by the World Bank and implemented under the Women and Child Development, pre-schools, Primary Education, School infrastructure and Education Services Ministry. Incidentally, Piyal Nishantha the Minister of State for the subject, is from the Kalutara district. Muslim parties join Tamil parties in black day march from East to North Declaring Sri Lankas Independence Day as a black day, Tamil political parties and civil society organisations held a protest march from Pottuvil-East to Polikandy in Point Pedro. They alleged that minorities were being suppressed and there was still no proper accountability for what they saw as wartime atrocities. In the march, the new players were Muslim political parties which joined in solidarity on forced cremation of Muslim COVID-19 victims. The Police secured court orders in Batticaloa to prevent the marchers. But organisers who apparently knew every part of the area changed their plans and used alternative shortcuts and routes which were not covered by the court orders. In Kaluwanchikudi, when the Police stopped the march with a court order, the protesters told the Police that the people, for whom the court order was issued were not among them and proceeded. Relatives of missing persons staged a protest in Jaffna town but the police learned that the people who organised the protest were not among the crowd. A few hundred metres away, the Jaffna district Sri Lanka Freedom party (SLFP) organised a rally under the theme of One Country, One Nation with the participation of its General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekara. For this march, people were also brought in from other districts. Police did not secure any court order to stop this march. When the Police read out the court order to the protesting relatives of missing persons, one mother asked the police officer very bluntly: You say one country, one law. How come you did not get a court order to stop that SLFP march and it is underway? The police officer did not have an answer. The black day protests came ahead of the United Nations Human Rights Councils (UNHRC) sessions which will be held later this month. President says his way not a media circus It was not his way to learn about peoples problems through Government officials, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said. He made the comments yesterday in Deraniyagala during his ongoing Gama Samaga Pilisandara (Dialogue with the Village) programme. I have seen some posts on social media ridiculing this programme saying that this is a political drama or a media circus. Those are things you do closer to elections. We are four years away from that, the President quipped. He added that some who criticise the programme question why the President needs to go to villages when the President can inquire into issues facing those villages from Government officials who were there, some questioned. That can be done too, but that is not my way, he added. Rawlins, Wyoming: The Wyoming Republican Party has voted overwhelmingly to censure US congresswoman Liz Cheney for voting to impeach President Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. Only eight of the 74-member state GOPs central committee stood to oppose censure in a vote that didnt proceed to a formal count. The censure document accused Cheney of voting to impeach even though the US House didnt offer Trump formal hearing or due process. Republican Liz Cheney Credit:AP We need to honour President Trump. All President Trump did was call for a peaceful assembly and protest for a fair and audited election, said Darin Smith, a Cheyenne attorney who lost to Cheney in the Republican US House primary in 2016. The Republican Party needs to put her on notice. Added Joey Correnti, Republican chairman in Carbon County where the censure vote was held: Does the voice of the people matter and if it does, does it only matter at the ballot box? In the age of stealth fighting planes, the B-2 Spirit is one of the most lethal weapon systems owned exclusively by the United States. The flying wing design is the most sophisticated technology that assures that adversaries always look at their backs. The design was first done by revolutionary engineer Jack Northrop; the flying wing shape was not chosen until 1949 by the air force. It was resurrected years later. First dedicated stealth bomber America's super-secret bomber made in the top-secret skunkworks is used in several missions. The insanely capable bomber is made to deliver both standard or nuclear weapons inside its weapons compartment. It is designated as a strategic nuclear bomber made by the U.S. bomber program. One of its main roles is to enter enemy airspace undetected and lob nuclear bombs or missiles, reported Military. Designed for high-end wars As a rule, the Spirit stealth bomber will exist as a deterrent to China or Russia; they can attack enemy targets with flexible performance associated with manned bombers. They are best used to escape detection by radar and destroy cities with conventional or nuclear arms. Anyone attacking the U.S. assured of retaliation by these shadowy bombers will most likely be the spear tip of any attack. Many U.S. adversaries fear the deployment of these nearly invisible bombers. Stealth bomber tech only owned by America No country comes close to producing the B-2 Spirit, except China is trying to make a second rate copy. So far, the technologies present in these planes employ a silhouette that fools radar; enemies will not be able to see it until the bombs or missiles are fired. Also read: U.S. Air Force B-2 Practice Bombing Runs in Case of an Indo-Pacific War Designed as a flying wing that is exceptionally aerodynamic, it flies with less drag, and it carries many weapons to blister enemy targets with nukes or regular bombs. When in flight, the stealthy shape of the Spirit that flies at higher altitudes gives it a more extended range, and sensors look down on targets better. If China wants to copy the Spirit Flying wing, it must have the same engine and a range of 6,000 nautical miles (9,600 kilometers). To this day, the CCP cannot produce a good jet engine; they need to steal the tech. The stealth bomber can refuel via aerial tankers to increase the range to attack further into enemy territory; China barely has them. The B-2 technology near-invisibility to conventional radar is from lessened infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic deadly tech. Trying to detect the Stealth bomber will be almost impossible. Its secrets are well kept by the American Military, which is something China would want to steal. It takes two pilots to fly the plane; one is the pilot in the left seat and the commander opposite. Proven combat performance The first combat missions of the Spirit were in the Operation Allied Force, which devasted about 33% of Serbian ground targets. Flying from Missouri to Kosovo and dropping bombs on the Serbian forces. Allegedly one of the bombs from a B-2 Spirit destroyed the Chinese consulate in Sarajevo. Other missions were Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom that released bombs aplenty on targets. Related article: The US has 21 'Stealth Bombers' In-Tandem With F-35 Jets If China Wants to Tango @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Bola Tinubu, says he can not oppose the criticism of the party by ex-Osun Governor, B... The All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Bola Tinubu, says he can not oppose the criticism of the party by ex-Osun Governor, Bisi Akande. The former interim APC national chairman had described the ongoing registration and revalidation exercise as wasteful. Akande also condemned the constitution of a party Caretaker and Convention Planning Committee. On Saturday, Tinubu said he could not fault his allys position. The former Lagos Governor spoke to reporters at his Ikoyi residence after revalidating his membership of the APC. I will not fault Baba Akandes position, I will not but endorse it, the politician said. Tinubu said he never heard a situation whereby the partys register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), at the time of APC registration, was invalidated. He, however, noted that the current exercise was a matter of addition and subtraction, free entry and free exit. You have joined a particular party; you have decided to leave that party. You have equal opportunity for new members to join and update the existing register of the party, Tinubu added. NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover concluded their spacewalk at 1:16 p.m. EST, after 5 hours and 20 minutes. In the second spacewalk of the year, the two NASA astronauts completed work to replace batteries that store power from the station's solar arrays and upgrade several of the station's external cameras. The duo finished their planned tasks ahead of schedule and also complete several get-ahead tasks in preparation for future spacewalks. This spacewalk completes a four-year effort to upgrade the batteries of the International Space Station's power system, replacing 48 aging nickel-hydrogen batteries with 24 new lithium-ion batteries and adapter plates. With the battery work complete, the focus turns to solar array augmentation. Two additional spacewalks are planned for the near future. During the next spacewalk, Glover and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins will work outside the station to prepare its power system for the installation of new solar arrays to increase the station's existing power supply. For a following spacewalk, Rubins and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi will continue upgrading station components. NASA will air a briefing and preview of the next two spacewalks after the dates are set. This was the fourth spacewalk in Hopkins' career, and the second for Glover. Hopkins has now spent a total of 25 hours and 14 minutes spacewalking. Glover now has spent a total of 12 hours and 16 minutes spacewalking. Space station crew members have conducted 234 spacewalks in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory. Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 61 days, 7 hours, and 7 minutes working outside the station. On-Orbit Status Report USOS Extravehicular Activity (EVA) #70 - ISS Upgrades II: EV1 Michael Hopkins and EV2 Victor Glover performed a 5 hour 20 minute EVA and completed the following tasks in support of ISS upgrades: P4 AP Relocate P4 Li-ION & DCSU Bolts P4 H-Fixture Removal CP3 Camera Group R&R JEMRMS WVE R&R CP13 HD Camera Installation The crew also completed five get ahead tasks: Starboard Truss (S4) H-Fixture Removal Worksite Interface Extender (WIFEX) & Articulating Portable Foot Restraint (APFR) Relocation Airlock On-Orbit Installable WIF (OIWIF) Relocation Airlock Thermal Cover Magnetic Plate R&R Imagery of Mini Pump Module worksite area Payloads Antimicrobial Coatings (Boeing Environment Responding Antimicrobial Coatings): The crew touched coupons A-G (uncoated), then touched H-N (coated), then took photos of each of the coupons. The experiment was set up in early January and is planned to remain deployed for a period of 6 months. Boeing Environment Responding Antimicrobial Coatings tests an antimicrobial coating on several different materials that represent high-touch surfaces. Some microbes change characteristics in microgravity, which could create new risks to crew health and spacecraft systems as well as creating the possibility of contaminating other planetary bodies. The samples remain in space approximately six months then return to Earth for analysis. ESA-EPO Videos: A crewmember recorded an EPO video message about the contribution of women in space. The video will feature Paxi, ESA's mascot for young children. The activities related to European Space Agency-Education Payload Operations Generic Videos are intended to encourage and strengthen the teaching of science curriculum, and stimulate the curiosity of students to motivate them towards further study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. Veg-03: The crew performed a check and watering of the VEG-03J plants Organisms grow differently in space, from single-celled bacteria to plants and humans. But future long-duration space missions will require crew members to grow their own food, so understanding how plants respond to microgravity is an important step toward that goal. Veg-03 uses the Veggie plant growth facility to cultivate Extra Dwarf Pak Choi, Amara Mustard and Red Romaine Lettuce using Seed Film which are harvested on-orbit with samples returned to Earth for testing. Systems Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Quarterly Maintenance: FE-13 inspected the X-rotation dashpots, cycled the main arm through full range of motion and greased the Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (VIS) rails and rollers. She also tightened and torqued set screws within the ARED cylinder flywheels and main arm fasteners. These tasks are scheduled every 90 days to maintain optimal functionality of the device. Columbus European Payload Module (EPM) Seat Track Inspection: FE-13 measured and took photos of the EPM seat track. This activity was to check where the future payload, Payload Data Router (PLDR) can be installed on the EPM. Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: The MSS remained Operational overnight, thus, Robotics Ground Controllers only had to power up the MSS cameras in preparation for today's EVA. The EV crew egressed the Airlock and went to the P4 worksite. When this first task was complete, EV2 set up the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) with the Articulated Portable Foot Restraint (APFR) and ingressed the APFR. The SSRMS was maneuvered successively to the CP3 and the CP13 worksites by IV Crew. After completing the CP3 and CP13 tasks, the SSRMS was maneuvered to the Crew egress position. EV2 egressed and then removed the APFR from the SSRMS. MSS operations were nominal. Completed Task List Activities: None Today's Ground Activities: All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. EVA support Payloads ops support MSS ops Look Ahead Plan Tuesday, February 2 (GMT 033) Payloads: CBEF Alt Reconfig part 5 (JAXA) VEG-03J harvest and taste test (NASA) APM relocate to Node 3 (NASA) Astrobee Dock repair (NASA) CIR/ACME hardware gather and MWA prep (NASA) Systems: Max CEVIS EVA EMU water recharge EVA debrief Crew-1 free-flight depress response refresher OBT Wednesday, February 3 (GMT 034) Payloads: CBEF ELT2 laptop setup (JAXA) HRF VEG questionnaire (NASA) ISS Experience ZCAM setup on MWA for download T/S (NASA) ACME H/W replace and CIR hardware return (NASA) Astrobee OBT review (NASA) 3DMM COL sample collect (NASA) EML Gas Vlv (Joint) Systems: ETVCG teardown EVA loop scrub EVA HUT gather Crew-1 emergency departure refresher OBT Thursday, February 4 (GMT 035) Payloads: CBEF ALT LED check (JAXA) SCEM (FLARE) Igniter R&R and Insert2 install (JAXA) JAXA Mission Data Recorder Laptop config (JAXA) CBEF-G Sample-tray insert (JAXA) MVP desiccant replace (JAXA) Food Acceptability (NASA) NanoRacks Platform-2 &3 relocate (NASA) Capillary Structures SRB 4Cell ops (NASA) HRF VEG POMS questionnaire (NASA) AstroRad Don (NASA) ISS Experience Stow (NASA) Astrobee Crew conf and Perching Arm install (NASA) Systems: EVA Airlock reconfig Crew-1 Deorbit entry and landing contingency refresher OBT Max CEVIS Today's Planned Activities: All activities are complete unless otherwise noted. EVA COTS UHF Communication Unit (CUCU) Verify off Extravehicular Activity (EVA) In-Suit Light Exercise (ISLE) Preparation USOS EVA Comm Config Note 13 Assist with ISLE EVA PREP activities Express Rack 1 Locker Removal. Glacier Desiccant Swap Glacier EXPRESS Rack Relocation Closing of a window 6,8,9,12,13,14 SM SM ventilation system cleaning (group ) Countermeasures System (CMS) Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Quarterly Maintenance Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Purge Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) In-Suit Light Exercise (ISLE) Prebreathe Record EPO Paxi script Crewlock Depress Delta file prep Columbus EPM Seat Track measurement and photo-documentation Crewlock Post Depress Crewlock Egress Plug-In Plan (PiP) AC Inverter Secure VEG-03 Plant Check/Water P4 Li-ION & DCSU BOLTS P4 ADAPTER RLCT & CLNUP P4/S4 H-FIXTURE Countermeasures System (CMS) Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Set Screw Tightening SSRMS EVA Support CP3 ETVCG R&R SSRMS TRANSLATE CP3 ETVCG R&R T2 Bungee Swap MERLIN 3 EXPRESS Rack Relocation MERLIN1 EXPRESS Rack Installation SSRMS TRANSLATE CP13 HD Camera Install JEMRMS WVE R&R SSRMS CLEANUP CP13 CLEANUP Antimicrobial Coatings Placard Touch GET-AHEADS Crewlock Ingress Exercise data D/L EVA Glove Photo Setup Crewlock Repress Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Crewlock Repress EVA PET end Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) Post-EVA Activities Photo/TV Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Camera Disassembly Photo/TV Extravehicular Activity (EVA) GoPro Downlink Return to nominal comm configuration after USOS EVA Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) Post-EVA Glove Photos EVA Glove Photo Downlink Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. The hunky geologist-turned-influencer failed to find love with Elly Miles on last year's season of The Bachelorette. But on Friday, Adam Todd looked anything but heartbroken as he stepped out with his new glamorous girlfriend, model Diana Hills. Adam, 24, was spotted arriving at his co-star Trent Cray's 32nd birthday celebrations in Sydney hand-in-hand with his new blonde beauty, 21. New couple alert! The Bachelorette's Adam Todd stepped out with his new model girlfriend Diana Hills on Friday in Sydney The buff reality TV star appears to have well and truly moved on from his time on the show, after also being linked to Bachelor runner-up Bella Varelis in romance rumours. While their relationship is still 'early days', Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Adam and Diana have been exclusive for just over one month. 'Adam and Diana are serious about each other and really hit it off,' a close friend revealed. Suddenly shy! The couple, who have been seeing each other for over a month were holding hands until they were spotted by photographers Rising star: Diana, who works as a model and is studying to become a journalist, was also a Miss Universe Australia finalist in 2019 'They want to keep their relationship under wraps and not bring too much attention to it because he is really starting to develop feelings for her.' The pair were joined by his fellow Bachelorette co-stars including Trent Cray and Shannon Karaka. Diana works as a model who is currently studying to become a journalist. She was also a Miss Universe Australia finalist in 2019. The Bondi bond: Adam and Diana have been spotted on several occasions walking around Bondi hotspots and on several dates together Adam and Diana have been spotted on several occasions walking around Bondi hotspots and on several dates together. The lovebirds first fueled rumours that they were seeing each other after they were spotted holding hands in Bondi last week. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Adam and Diana for comment. Two power projects NTPCs Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and the Rishi Ganga Hydel Project were extensively damaged with scores of labourers trapped in tunnels as the waters came rushing in. At least, seven bodies were recovered till late on Sunday night and 125 still missing after a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, triggering an avalanche and massive flooding along the Alaknanda, Dhauli Ganga and Rishi Ganga rivers. Two power projects NTPCs Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and the Rishi Ganga Hydel Project were extensively damaged with scores of labourers trapped in tunnels as the waters came rushing in. NDRF director SN Pradhan said that the teams of the Indo-Tibetan Border Patrol, Indian Army, SDRF, and Uttarakhand Police will continue rescue operations overnight. Rescue efforts are focussed on extricating 30 to 35 workers trapped in a tunnel of the Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project on the Dhauli Ganga river, an official said late Sunday night. Around 30 to 35 people including workers and employees of the 480 mw Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project on the Dhauli Ganga river are feared trapped inside one of the tunnels following the avalanche, project GM RP Ahirwar said. JCBs and Pokland machines are being used to cut into the debris clogging the tunnel to rescue the trapped workers, he said, adding that efforts are being made on priority to save as many lives as possible, he said. Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar IPS said on Twitter that the rescue work on the second tunnel was halted temporarily but had begun again. Rescue work on the second tunnel was stopped temporarily only due to some rise in water level..it has already started again. The machine clearing the slush again at the entry of tunnel..some agencies are misquoting ..@ANI @aajtak @ABPNews pic.twitter.com/PW3eigANKQ Ashok Kumar IPS (@Ashokkumarips) February 7, 2021 Earlier, news agency PTI had reported that sixteen men were rescued safely from a tunnel in the Tapovan project but at least 125 remain missing. Homes along the way were also swept away as the waters rushed down the mountainsides in a raging torrent. There were fears of damage in human settlements downstream, including in heavily-populated areas. Many villages were evacuated and people taken to safer areas. However, by evening, it became clear that downstream areas were safe. In the afternoon, News18 quoted Union Power Minister RK Singh as saying that 16 NTPC staff were caught in a tunnel while 45 others were trapped at a second location. Union Power Minister @RajKSinghIndia - 16 NTPC staffers were caught in a tunnel, contact established with them. At a second location 45 caught. Tunnels blocked by debris. @ITBP_official and Garhwal Rifle trying to open tunnel and rescue people Arunima (@Arunima24) February 7, 2021 As night fell in the ecologically-fragile Himalayas, rescue work in the already difficult-to-access areas became even more difficult, thus prompting fears that the toll would rise. Brave #Himveers of ITBP rescuing trapped persons from the tunnel near Tapovan, #Dhauliganga, #Uttarakhand this evening after 4 hrs of efforts. Total 12 persons were rescued from the tunnel out of which 3 were found unconscious. After first aid, carried on stretchers to road head. pic.twitter.com/iHsrFXjhDd ITBP (@ITBP_official) February 7, 2021 NCMC holds review meeting A 13.2 MW small hydro project on the Rishi Ganga was swept away in the glacier burst but there was no danger of floods in downstream areas as the water level had been contained, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, was informed at an emergency meeting in the National Capital. The NCMC was also told that people trapped in project tunnel were rescued by the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) while efforts were on to rescue those trapped in another tunnel. The operation was coordinated by the Army and the ITBP, an official spokesperson said. As per a report by the Indian Express, an ITBP spokesperson said that the Dhauli Ganga river was also flooded. The flood also affected the downstream hydro project of NTPC at Tapovan on the river Dhauli Ganga, a spokesperson told news agency PTI. There is also no threat to neighbouring villages, according to information provided by the Central Water Commission (CWC). Connectivity with some border posts was "totally restricted" due to a bridge collapsing near Reni village, close to the project site, an ITBP spokesperson said. At the NCMC meeting, concerned agencies of the central and the state governments were asked to keep a strict vigil on the situation. A team from the DRDO, which monitors avalanches, was being flown in for surveillance and reconnaissance. Besides, NTPC managing director was asked to reach the affected site immediately. Two teams of the NDRF were sent and three additional teams flown in from Hindon airport in Ghaziabad. The troops are expected to reach the affected region tonight. Indian Navy divers are also being flown in and aircraft and helicopters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) are on standby, the spokesperson said. Seven bodies recovered, says CM Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat told the media that seven bodies had been recovered and at least 125, including two policemen, were missing. According to The Hindu, Rawat said that five local persons are reported to have been swept away in the flash flood. "Missing persons are about 125 this figure could be more also [sic]," the report quotes him as saying. The chief minister also announced a compensation of Rs four lakh to the kin of the deceased. As per the Hindustan Times report, Rawat said he conducted an aerial survey of the area and later visited Reni village by road to take stock of the situation. One main bridge and four small other bridges were damaged, cutting off the right side of the Reni village and eleven other villages," he said. As per PTI, the disconnected villages includeGahar, Bhangyun, Raini Palli, Pang Lata, Suraithota, Tolma and Fagrasu. Arrangements have been made to continue uninterrupted supplies of essentials to these villages, Rawat said. Chamoli District Magistrate Swati S Bhadoriyaand Superintendent of Police P Yashwant Singh Chauhan are camping at the site, the chief minister said. There are 17 gram sabha areas affected by the avalanche, out of which 11 are inhabitedwhile the residents of the rest had moved to lower areas during the winter, Rawat said. As per the HT report, the chief minister added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind and Union Home Minister Amit Shah called and spoke about providing all possible co-operation. NDRF, ITBP SDRF , pic.twitter.com/U74OHzHSWL Amit Shah (@AmitShah) February 7, 2021 Team of glaciologists to study cause of flood Rawat also said the cause of the tragedy in Chamoli will be studied by experts and currently efforts are directed towards rescue operations. According to PTI, Kalachand Sain, director of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology which had conducted studies on the 2013 flash floods in Uttarakhand that killed nearly 5,000 people said two teams of glaciologists will head to Joshimath-Tapovan on Monday to study the causes of massive flood. "The teams will study the reasons behind the incident. Our teams will be looking into different aspects of glaciology," Sain said, adding that it is too early to comment on the development. Sain added that the Sunday's incident was quite "peculiar" as there was no rain or melting of snow. Earlier in the day, in a series of tweets, Rawat had said that a disaster had been reported in Chamoli around 10.45 am and the state was doing its best to deal with the disaster. "Flow from Tehri dam was stopped to facilitate smooth passage of rising waters on RishiGanga and Alaknanda. All the villages an low lying areas on the banks were vacated & water flow from Srinagar dam was increased to manage higher water flows due to disaster," he had said. A disaster was reported at Raini village at around 1045 am, affecting two dam sites in Chamoli. Immediate instructions were issued to take stock of the situation and take emergency measures. Simultaneously, states disaster response mechanism was activated. #Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) February 7, 2021 Modi okays two lakh ex-gratia from PMNRF Speaking at an event in West Bengal's Haldia, Modi said that he was in constant touch with the chief minister of Uttarakhand, and was keeping track of the situation. Rescue and relief efforts are underway and every attempt is being made to help the affected people, the prime minister said. Hailing the fighting spirit of the people of Uttarakhand, Modi said the entire nation is praying for them. According to the Prime Ministers Office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved Rs two lakh ex-gratiafrom the PMNRF each to the next of kin of those who lost their lives. Rs. 50,000 would be given to those seriously injured, the PMO said. The chief minister of states like Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, too extended help to the Uttarakhand chief minister while several other leaders expressed concern and condoled the loss of lives. , Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 7, 2021 I join the nation in praying for the safety of all those affected by the flash flood caused by a glacier burst in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. I am sure that the State and Central governments are trying their best to mitigate the crisis. #Uttarakhand Vice President of India (@VPSecretariat) February 7, 2021 Congress president Sonia Gandhi urged all party workers and volunteers to help the people hit by a massive glacier break-off in Uttarakhand's Joshimath in the relief and rescue efforts. Earlier in the day, the Uttar Pradesh government issued an alert to the authorities in all districts on the banks of the Ganga and asked them to continuously monitor the water levels in the river and shift people to safer places if required. Meanwhile, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani requested Rawat to ensure immediate help and rescue of pilgrims from the state stranded in Uttarakhand. Several pilgrims from Gujarat were reportedly stranded after the glacier broke off at Joshimath. A home ministry spokesperson said four NDRF teams (about 200 personnel) were airlifted to Dehradun and would head to Joshimath. One column of the Engineering Task Force (ETF) of the Army, with all rescue equipment, has been deployed. Officials told news agency PTI the Army deployed around 400 personnel in rescue operations besides sending two medical teams to affected areas. They said the Army has also pressed into service a number of its helicopters to assist the civil administration in rescuing people from flood-affected areas, the officials said. They said the Indian Air Force has operated C-130 and AN32 transport aircraft to airlift personnel from the NDRF to the affected areas. The officials said three Mi-17 helicopters of the IAF were positioned at Jolly Grant airport to airlift NDRF teams to Joshimath and added that field hospitals have been set up in affected areas. Marine Commandos teams of the Indian Navy are also being readied for deployment in rescue missions in the affected areas, the officials said. Latest on armed forces deployments for #Uttarakhand rescue & relief ops. Includes naval special forces on standby. pic.twitter.com/CHjE1fHu6K Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) February 7, 2021 Providing some good news, the India Meteorological Department informed that there is no rainfall warning in the region for the next two days. News that about 150 labourers were affected had come in the early in the day. Representatives of the power project have told me that they are not being able to contact around 150 of their workmen at the project site," State Disaster Response Force DIG Ridhim Aggarwal had said. With inputs from PTI When Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds travelled to Washington in July for Australia-United States Ministerial Consultation (AUSMIN) talks, it was perhaps to be expected that eight of the 10 points in Canberra and Washingtons joint statement would refer to the Peoples Republic of China. What was surprising was Senator Paynes pointed refusal to echo some of then secretary of state Mike Pompeos more bellicose rhetoric. We make our own decisions and we use our own language. The relationship with China is important and we have no intention of injuring it, she said. July 2021 will mark 50 years since Washington upended its China policy, moving to forge relations with the communist-ruled Peoples Republic and sending what it had called the Republic of China todays Taiwan into a form of diplomatic limbo. It was a decision that caught the Coalition government of the day on the hop. Having condemned opposition leader Gough Whitlam as a dupe for visiting Beijing, then prime minister Billy McMahon had little choice but to declare that his [Nixons] policy is ours. This left Australia and the United States in an ambiguous position that persists to this day. Officially, we do not recognise Taiwan as a sovereign state or even a separate entity, nor do we regard its elected officials as a national government. Yet practically we support it as an outpost of democracy, at a time when Beijing is becoming increasingly authoritarian, particularly in its approach to dissent and minorities. After receiving a delegation of Russian investors from St. Petersburg city at her office today this week State Minister Tsion Teklu has made meaningful discussion with them. According to MoFA, State Minister Tsion thanked the investors for making Ethiopia an investment destination and said this was a good gesture to cement the already strong relationship that exists between Ethiopia and Russia. While their speaking at length about the favorable conditions for investment in Ethiopia the State Minister underscored that the government would provide all necessary support to ensure that the Russian investors are successful in the sectors they decided to involve in. The head of the delegation, Mark Ruslan, on his part, said he was delighted with the warm welcome accorded to the Russian delegation by several government institutions in Ethiopia. He further said his delegation had fruitful discussions with the Minister of Mines and Petroleum, the Minister of Trade and Industry, the Minister of Urban Development and Construction, Ethiopia's Investment Commission, and the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectorial Associations. The delegation has decided to invest in three different projects, he said and has already agreed to work with sectors that work on Energy, Innovation, and Trade. According to Mr. Ruslan, the investment group will start operations in Ethiopia in the next three months. The group has business engagements in various countries, and it is actively involved in the tourism sector in Djibouti, it was learnt. One of Washingtons leading conservative constitutional lawyers publicly broke on Sunday with the main Republican argument against convicting former President Donald J. Trump in his impeachment trial, asserting that an ex-president can indeed be tried for high crimes and misdemeanors. In an opinion piece posted on The Wall Street Journals website, the lawyer, Charles J. Cooper, who is closely allied with top Republicans in Congress, dismissed as illogical the claim that it is unconstitutional to hold an impeachment trial for a former president. The piece came two days before the Senate was set to start the proceeding, in which Mr. Trump is charged with incitement of insurrection in connection with the deadly assault on the Capitol by his supporters on Jan. 6. Since the rampage, Republicans have made little effort to excuse Mr. Trumps conduct, but have coalesced behind the legal argument about constitutionality as their rationale for why he should not be tried, much less convicted. Their theory is that because the Constitutions penalty for an impeachment conviction is removal from office, it was never intended to apply to a former president, who is no longer in office. Many legal scholars disagree, and the Senate has previously held an impeachment trial of a former official though never a former president. But 45 Republican senators, including Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader who is said to believe that Mr. Trump committed impeachable offenses, voted last month to dismiss the trial as unconstitutional on those grounds. ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The personal injury law firm Trial Pro, P.A. welcomes eligible students to apply for its $5,000 Passion Scholarship, which is available annually. It will honor one successful and deserving recipient. Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic radically affected the lives of many, especially students. The virus has sparked a shift from in-classroom learning to online classes, caused an increase in unemployment rates and shut down masses of fundraising organizations. Several facilities that once granted awards and financial resources to their community no longer exist. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the financial burden of college continues to feel heavier on the shoulders of students and their families. Therefore, this year's Trial Pro, P.A. $5,000 scholarship honors one deserving student that is relentlessly pursuing their dreams and impacting the world with their craft, regardless of financial barriers. It recognizes one all-star that has gone above and beyond to express their drive, perseverance, and passion in achieving an academic degree. All students must meet the following eligibility requirements: Must be enrolled full time in high school, full-time college student pursuing an AA, Bachelor's, or Master's degree in an accredited university. Applicant must have a minimum 3.0 G.P.A. and maintain it throughout academic year. Student must be a US citizen or permanent resident. Students can read more about the scholarship and terms and conditions by visiting the Trial Pro, P.A. Scholarship page: https://www.trialpro.com/scholarships/ The law firm of Trial Pro, P.A. was founded in 2001 in Orlando, Florida. Today, the firm represents individuals who have been injured in personal injury accidents including car accidents, motorcycle accidents, truck accidents, slip and fall accidents, trip and fall accidents, and more from all over Florida. To submit a Trial Pro, P.A. 2021 scholarship application, please send your materials to 250 N Orange Ave 14th Floor, Orlando, FL 32801 or send an email to [email protected]. This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. SOURCE Trial Pro, P.A. Actor Ashton Kutcher croons in the new Cheetos commercial featuring Shaggys throwback hit It Wasnt Me. During a chat with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, the dancehall master joked about being ready to sign Kutcher as a new music artist. Shaggy | Photo courtesy of Cheetos Im ready to bust out and get Ashton a deal, he said, laughing. I gotta get a record deal to Ashton right now! Kutcher, along with wife Mila Kunis and Shaggy, star in a special Super Bowl ad that features Kutcher busting his wife for eating Cheetos Crunch Pop Mix. But, she claims, It wasnt me! And of course, Kutcher believes her. This leads Shaggy to deliver the ads punch line: Well, thats the first time thats ever worked, he says, looking shocked. You know you gotta have the Shaggy defense, he laughed. Shaggy could feel the love from Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher Shaggy said working with Kunis and Kutcher was delightful. He could feel their chemistry as a couple during the shoot. Its it was just so much fun on on on set with these guys, Shaggy said. You could tell that theyre like the poster child for, you know, being with your best friend. And thats why That 70s Show did so well and how the chemistry just rolled off. RELATED: Little Mermaid Live: How Shaggy Wrapped His Head Around Sebastian And there was so much joking around between both of them, he continued. They kept snapping at each other and just laughing. And they just brought me into the mix of all of that. I was just like a sponge. I was a student then. It was so good. Their timing was so good and it was kind of cool just being in the mix of all of that. And then when I saw the finished product, I was like, wow, OK. So this is how its done. Kutcher was just as thrilled to work with an icon like Shaggy. Mila and I both remember when It Wasnt Me came out 20 years ago when we were first working together on That 70s Show, so its really cool to come full circle with Cheetos, work together again and remix this song, Kutcher said in a statement. Weve rarely done projects together since then, but the concept was so fun and relatable. And we couldnt pass up the chance to be in this Super Bowl commercial. Shaggy reflects on how It Wasnt Me almost never saw the light of day Shaggy reflected on how he was at a low point in his career when It Wasnt Me was recorded. Producers claimed they couldnt find a single on the Hot Shot album. The groundbreaking tune only made it to the masses thanks to an anonymous music lover who uploaded the song to Napster. A disc jockey in Hawaii grabbed the song and played it on the airwaves. The rest is history. Music can take an entirely different path today. Its a different time now and its all about streaming, Shaggy said. Its all about getting on these playlists and the interaction with your fan base and how they could actually dictate your music. RELATED: Mila Kunis Revealed the Relatable Reason She and Ashton Kutcher Made a Super Bowl Commercial Together He says the streaming platform puts the power back into the hands of the artist. Shaggy recalled how his brand of music was still not in the mainstream at the time which made getting a song like It Wasnt Me tough for radio play. You know, were reggae and were dancehall, he said. And its you know, youre talking about a genre that is not was not popular in the mainstream. So theres no record company that was going to look at us as a priority. And so I had to make these really infectious records that would break through barriers because we werent going to get, it wasnt a level playing field. We werent going to have the same amount of privileges that all the genres had. And, you know, now was a different situation. The fans can really move things for an artist if an artist engages 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. 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 404 GOP Senator Urges Biden to Confirm That US Embassy Will Remain in Jerusalem Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Feb. 6 urging him to confirm that his administration will keep the U.S. Embassy in Israels capital city of Jerusalem. Hagertys letter comes after White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Feb. 5 failed to confirm whether the administration intends to maintain the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem or to move the main office back to Tel Aviv. Psaki informed reporters that she would confer with the national security team before answering the question. I am writing to express my serious concern after a senior administration official, on February 5, 2021, chose not to answer one of the most basic and crucial questions about U.S. foreign policy: whether we will keep the American Embassy in Israels capital city of Jerusalem, Hagerty wrote in his letter. This is not a difficult question and should not require any deliberation. Under the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act, which was passed in 1995, the United States was required to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by May 31, 1999. Since 1999, former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama had been using a waiver to suspend the relocation at six months intervals, as was allowed under the law. In 2018, former President Donald Trump moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, fulfilling a promise he made during his 2016 campaign. The Tennessee senator called on Biden to publicly commit to maintaining the U.S. Embassy in the Jewish countrys capital. It is important to note that our relocation of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem set the stage for the Abraham Accords, a wave of landmark U.S.-led peace agreements across the region. I applaud these Accords, and hope that your Administration will sustain and expand them. Doing so will require that you be clear that you will keep the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Hagerty wrote. The Senate on Feb. 5 voted 973 to pass an amendment to ensure that the U.S. Embassy remains located in Jerusalem. The measure was introduced by Hagerty and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.). Its an important message that we acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Inhofe said in a statement. The three senators who voted against the amendment were Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Tom Carper (D-Del.). Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during his Senate confirmation hearing that he would commit to keeping the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. Jessica Warch co-founded sustainable jewellery company Kimai with Sidney Neuhaus in November 2018. They are both 27, and live in London. Ive known Sidney for more than 20 years. We grew up in Antwerp, Belgium, where our parents worked as diamond traders. I dreamt of one day working in this business. However, at 18, Sidney and I moved to London. I studied business and finance at Cass Business School, and she trained to become a certified gemologist. During this time we started to become more aware of the murkier impact of this industry. There is often zero transparency around working environments, and child labour still goes on. Jessica Warch (pictured) co-founded sustainable jewellery company Kimai with Sidney Neuhaus in November 2018. They are both 27, and live in London. And thats not to mention the environmental impact: more than 1,750 tons of earth must be extracted in order to dig up as little as one carat of rough diamond. We were horrified. Yet we had no idea what the solution was. After graduating, I got a job at a start-up called Appear Here, and Sidney worked as a gemologist at Threads Styling. Then, in autumn 2017, we went to visit our families and happened to speak to a local jeweller, who was complaining about the rise in lab diamonds gems made using carbon exposed to high heat. At the time, this concept was still new. This was our lightbulb moment. We had been looking for a way to make the industry we loved more ethical and relevant for our generation, and wed found it. We got to work on our designs, then had one of each prototype made in a lab, using 10,000 of our savings. We quit our jobs and launched a website in November 2018. It felt like a huge risk. But only two months later, in January 2019, Meghan Markle was pictured wearing our Felicity earrings on a visit to Smart Works in London. They now have 40 designs on their website and a range of engagement rings. Pictured is one of the necklaces Our sales skyrocketed overnight and, in 2019, we won 920,000 funding, mainly from female angel investors including designer Diane von Furstenberg. Now we have more than 40 designs on our website. Plus, we launched a range of engagement rings, due to the rise in demand during lockdown. I remember my dad warning me that this is an incredibly male-dominated industry. But now here I am, running a diamond business with my best friend and on a mission to shake things up. Interview by FLORENCE SCORDOULIS Press Release February 6, 2021 Lacson: Without Certainty of Punishment, Napoles Conviction Won't Stop 'Pork' Menace More at: https://pinglacson.net/2021/02/06/lacson-without-certainty-of-punishment-napoles-conviction-wont-stop-pork-menace/ Without the certainty of punishment, the conviction of "pork barrel scam queen" Janet Lim-Napoles will not be enough to stop the menace of pork barrel and its iterations, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson said Saturday. Lacson, who had battled the pork barrel system since 2001, lamented that not even the Supreme Court's ruling outlawing pork in 2013 managed to stop the practice since those involved would merely find a way to circumvent it. "Have we solved the problem of ensuring public funds are used properly instead of going to the pockets of corrupt people? Can we be sure projects are free of bribery and other forms of corruption? These are questions that we must ask ourselves, and we can easily verify the answers - it takes two to tango," he said in an interview on DWIZ radio. "Pero ang hinihintay ng kababayan natin at siguro pinapakiramdaman ng matitigas ang ulo, ano ang konkretong magiging resulta (But what our people - and the hardheaded ones engaged in corruption - are waiting for is this: what will be the concrete results)?" he added. Lacson, who delivered a privilege speech seeking the abolition of the pork barrel system in 2003, noted that the "pork" system has continued to grow - from P500 million in Napoles' time to billions of pesos in the present. Lacson cited his experience as chief of the Philippine National Police, where he addressed the police force's woes by making sure erring policemen are punished. "Similarly, in the case of the bureaucracy, civilians will lose respect for the law when they see officials violate anti-corruption laws. But they will follow the law when they see it is being enforced properly," he said. Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries to entertain. Its been a long year for Rudy Rasmus, who co-pastors St. Johns United Methodist Church in downtown Houston along with his wife, Juanita. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the church pivoted to virtual worship in March, while simultaneously ramping up efforts to serve the needs of the community, distributing food to some 2,000 families each week through the nonprofit, Bread of Life, Inc. Harvey started subsiding once the sun came up, Rasmus told me Friday, recalling previous disaster relief initiatives he and Juanita have led since St. Johns was founded in 1992. The sun didnt come up on this. Were still in a very cloudy, dark situation. And that was true even before COVID-19, and helps explain why Rasmus was moved to edit a book, Im Black. Im Christian. Im Methodist, which brings together autobiographical essays from himself and nine other Black men and women. The one thing that has challenged me the most has been the silence of my white evangelical friends, said Rasmus, reflecting on the Trump era. When this great shift occurred, four years ago it was like, OK, well maybe we dont have to address that part of the American reality right now. Maybe we can just focus on raising money and creating programs. Maybe we dont have to stand up in the place where justice was needed. That attitude persisted, he continued, even after George Floyd was killed in the custody of Minneapolis police in May, during an encounter that lasted more than eight minutes and was captured on video by witnesses. In the midst of watching, in complete shock and horror, an unimaginable occurrence take place, the one thing I kept thinking was this is a moment for the church to speak, Rasmus said. This is a moment for the church to say something, for the church to address the evils of white supremacy from a Christian perspective. The church the white evangelical church, at least missed the moment completely. Indeed, in response to the Black Lives Matters protests that followed, President Donald Trump had law enforcement officers use tear gas to clear protesters from Lafayette Square, north of the White House, so that he could stroll to St. Johns Episcopal Church, where he posed for photos shaking a Bible. Those events, Rasmus explains, spurred him to reach out to friends who serve in the United Methodist Church, to ask for their reflections at this seminal moment in the history of the church and the country. The resulting collection is illuminating, and a clarion call, as Bishop Gregory Palmer puts it in a foreword. To be a member of any organized church is to be part of an institution run by fallible humans, as well as to share certain beliefs. To be a Methodist is to believe in a beautiful and powerful message about prevenient grace the grace that God extends to all his children, regardless of their backgrounds or status in society while also being part of a church whose leaders all too often fail to practice what they preach. The men and women who contributed to this collection approach the intersection of race and faith from different perspectives, but all of them describe the need for the UMC to confront systemic racism within the church itself as well as within the broader society in order to remain relevant to young Black Christians, in particular, but also as a matter of acting in accordance with their own beliefs. History will judge our works by examining what we did and said during these turbulent times, writes Rev. Jevonn A. Caldwell-Gross in his essay. The middle ground has been canceled as a viable option. Rasmus himself says he was skeptical of Christianity as a child. In his essay he describes seeing his Auntie MaeMae forgive a violent, maniacal husband, over and over in Jesus name. It was one of many encounters with power, he writes, that left me questioning the validity of religion and curious about the churchs inability to access power as an institution responsible for the liberation of oppressed people, and especially Black people in America. As a young man, he practiced Buddhism and explored Islam, but began attending church with Juanita as part of their newlywed agreement. The services she brought him to at Windsor Village United Methodist Church in southwest Houston resonated, he writes, and he became entangled by the love I received. Five years later, he rejoined the church, and soon after that he went into ministry as a pastor in the UMC. But, he told me, his affiliation is subject to change. As it stands, the United Methodist Church is on the verge of schism after a years-long debate about LBGTQ rights, which is as several contributors to the collection observe inseparable from the fight for racial justice and the pursuit of spiritual dignity more generally. At the end of the day I cant be part of a movement that denies the acceptance of a human being based on that human beings identity, Rasmus said. He noted that he held that stance during the debate over the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance in 2015, and that it was painful; he estimates that thousands of people left St. Johns during the course of the debate. That may, of course, be what white evangelical leaders fear, when it comes to asking their congregations to confront the emboldened forces of white supremacy. But its not an excuse for inaction, in Rasmus view. I believe Christianity as a faith tradition has merit in this world that we are currently in, Rasmus told me. One of the basic tenets Jesus spoke to was to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Rasmus paused, for a few moments. Thats kind of it, he said, with a laugh. erica.grieder@chron.com Twitter India's public policy head Mahima Kaul has resigned citing personal reasons. Kaul had stepped down in January and will continue to lead in her role as the Public Policy Director till March to help with the smooth transitioning. Kaul, who joined the social media firm in 2015, has resigned from her role to take some time off. The development came at a time when the microblogging site remained under the lens of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) for "violating Indian law" by not taking down tweets related to "farmers genocide". However, as per India Today report, the resignation has nothing to do with the recent incidents. "At the start of this year, Mahima Kaul decided to step down from her role as Twitter Public Policy Director for India and South Asia to take a well-deserved break. It's a loss for all of us at Twitter, but after more than five years in the role, we respect her desire to focus on the most important people and relationships in her personal life. Mahima will continue in her role till the end of March and will support the transition," Monique Meche, VP, Public Policy, Twitter said in a statement to India Today. Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) had directed Twitter to block around 250 Tweets or accounts which were spreading misformation and were using offensive hashtags. Law enforcement agencies had flagged these tweets and accounts to prevent the worsening of the law and order situation in lieu of the on-going farmer protests against the Centre's new farms laws. Complying with the ministry's order, Twitter has blocked the listed tweets and accounts. Also read: MEITY orders Twitter to block accounts using 'ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide' hashtag Also read: Farmers protests: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey likes tweets supporting Rihanna's stand You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close IT has been well established that the countrys most effective mobilisation system is the election machinery based on political affiliation. With this in mind, the current crisis in the country regarding the frightening spread of the coronavirus calls for a different kind of intervention. It is past time for the declaration of a political truce. We call on the countrys two major political machines, PNM and UNC, and all other existing political parties and groups, to come together in the national interest. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Santa Fes Jerome Rivera, eager to atone for a loss on Jan. 20, took a fight against Ode Osbourne on three days notice and at a weight 20 pounds above his normal division. Bad idea. In Las Vegas, Nevada, Rivera lost by first-round knockout to Osbourne Saturday in a featherweight (145-pound) fight on a UFC Fight Night card. Osbourne (9-3), of Waukesha, Wisconsin, floored Rivera (10-5) with a powerful straight left hand, then, with Rivera on his back, landed several hard shots to the head on the ground. Referee Chris Tognoni stopped the fight at the 26-second mark of the first. Rivera had lost by unanimous decision 17 days before to Francisco Figueiredo in a flyweight (125-pound) fight on a UFC card in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. When Osbournes scheduled Saturday opponent fell out, Rivera, whod expressed disappointment in his performance against Figueiredo, stepped in. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The 20-pound step up in weight seemed less than threatening to Rivera, perhaps, because Osbourne is a career bantamweight (135) who also was fighting above his normal weight class. Its not clear, in any case, that size difference really mattered. Seeing an opening, Osbourne simply landed a textbook left hand. Rivera, though conscious and wide-eyed, was defenseless on the ground and absorbed several shots without response before Tognoni stepped in. Rivera is now 0-3 in UFC competition, though it was a victory over Luis Rodriguez on the UFC-sponsored Dana Whites Tuesday Contender Series that led to his signing a UFC contract. That last bit was revealed, to his credit, by Health Minister Greg Hunt . None of this is sinister. But its useful context in which to read Fridays push by several Labor premiers for the federal government to take more responsibility for quarantine. The Prime Ministers blitz of television and radio did nothing to stop the government announcing, a few weeks later, a supply and production agreement for pretty much the same thing. There was an announcement last week about securing an extra 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine. But that wasnt really new, either: it was part of the original contract with Pfizer announced last November. You have probably lost track of vaccine announcements by now. There was the big one, back in August, when the government announced it had a letter of intent with AstraZeneca that was, with some encouragement from the government, widely reported as a guarantee and a deal that had been inked something of an exaggeration. Many years ago, I was told by a veteran spin doctor that any new project a new building, say should be announced 10 times. First, announce you are considering it. Then that you are calling for proposals. Then that the proposals have been received. You should publish the proposals, then announce the winner This goes on until after the building is up, and you celebrate its first anniversary. The point is to wring every ounce of positive publicity out of even the smallest announcement. Up until now, when things have gone wrong, the premiers have suffered. Quarantine has been their issue, as has the debate that always comes next, over lockdowns. Once everyone is vaccinated, lockdowns will be a thing of the past and the premiers will be free. But what about the intervening months, when vaccination has begun but not ended, and a quarantine breach sets the virus loose? What if the vaccination rollout is slow, or slower than it could have been? Who gets the blame if the virus spreads across a state? The premiers, by now, are hyper-aware of the Morrison governments ability to take credit for everything good, while dodging everything bad. By trying to force the Prime Minister to share more of the responsibility for quarantine or at least by putting the issue up in lights they are sending a message: if the vaccine rollout is slow, and something happens, we are going to make sure youre in the frame too. Illustration: Simon Bosch Credit: Vaccines werent the only example last week of the Prime Ministers talent for making 10 announcements when one might do. Scott Morrison has been Prime Minister for almost three years now. In that time, very, very little has been done on climate change. The result, one might think, would be scepticism towards the Prime Ministers commitment. Instead, it seems to have led to a situation in which he is repeatedly given credit, by much of the media, for the tiniest shifts towards a more reasonable position. And so he was widely praised for quietly shifting his party away from coal, towards a gas-led recovery, even though gas is also a huge contributor to global warming. He received attention for his announcement that he might not use a loophole (one that some experts call cheating) to deliver the emissions cuts to which Australia committed itself in Paris. But this was such a hollow boast: he was simply saying that he thought it was going to happen anyway, and in that case, he wouldnt use the loophole. Maybe. Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming is doubling down on her vote to impeach Donald Trump, telling Fox News Sunday her party should "not be embracing the former president" after he incited an insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January. "We are the party of Lincoln. We are not the party of QAnon or antisemitism or Holocaust deniers, or white supremacy or conspiracy theories. It's not who we are," Ms Cheney, the third highest-ranking Republican in the House, said in her interview on Sunday. "We believe in conservative principles and conservative values, and we believe in the Constitution," she said, two days before the impeachment trial commences in the Senate. Ms Cheney was censured by her own state party over the weekend by a vote of 56-8 for being one of 10 House Republicans to vote with Democrats to impeach Mr Trump for "incitement to insurrection" following the storming of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob last month as Congress was certifying Joe Biden's electoral victory. The censure resolution from the Wyoming GOP states that it will desist from raising money for her in the future, and asks that she return any donations from the state party from the previous cycle. Based on her interview on Sunday with Chris Wallace of Fox, Ms Cheney is not backing away from her opposition to the former president, even as House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy has rushed in recent weeks to repair ties with him. On Sunday, Ms Cheney openly questioned whether Mr Trump's tweet disowning Vice President Mike Pence during the Capitol riot was "a premeditated effort to provoke violence," and suggested Mr Trump could be liable for criminal penalties. "There are a lot of questions that have to be answered, and there will be many criminal investigations looking at every aspect," she said. Ms Cheney aligned as she has over the last month with the House Democratic position that Mr Trump's constant gaslighting of the public with post-election conspiracy theories about a "stolen" 2020 election directly fuelled the deadly violence at the Capitol on 6 January. The American people "have been lied to," the congresswoman said. We need to make sure that we as Republicans are the party of truth, that we are being honest about what really did happen in 2020 so we actually have a chance to win in 2022 and win the White House back in 2024, she said. The Senate impeachment trial will commence on Tuesday, the second such proceeding Mr Trump has faced. No other person in US history has been impeached twice. Mr Trump's lawyers and Republican senators have mostly fallen back on arguments of process and whether it is constitutional to convict a president on articles of impeachment who no longer holds office, indicating they will largely ignore the merits of the case. Ms Cheney did not say how she would vote on Mr Trump's conviction were she in the Senate. Later on Mr Wallace's programme, Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said he believed the conviction vote would be bipartisan. Seventeen Republicans must vote with all 50 Democrats and Democratic-caucusing Independents if the Senate is to convict Mr Trump and bar him from ever holding public office again. Kim Kardashians daughter Chicago, three, looked absolutely adorable as she expertly recreated her mother's signature pose on Saturday. In the 40-year-old reality star's latest Instagram post, her little girl could be seen smiling at the camera as she held up a peace sign. Just like her mom, the toddler looked every inch the budding fashionista in a pair of black oversized shades, a grey tank and matching shorts. Just like mom: Kim Kardashians daughter Chicago, three, looked absolutely adorable as she expertly recreated her mother's signature pose on Sunday morning The image also showed Chicago standing barefoot outside with a purple bucket in her other hand as she prepared for a fun-filled afternoon. While it's unclear exactly where or when the darling photo was taken, it is most likely from her family's most recent getaway to Turks and Caicos. While the KKW Beauty founder is known to flash a peace sign, Chicago's big sister North, seven, tasked herself with teaching her sibling the gesture late last year. Leaning from the best: In the 40-year-old reality star's latest Instagram post, her little girl could be seen smiling at the camera as she held up a peace sign Go-to pose: While the KKW Beauty founder is known to flash a peace sign, Chicago's big sister North, seven, tasked herself with teaching her sibling the gesture late last year In September, Kim shared a slideshow of North instructing her younger sister Chicago, two, how to 'make a peace sign.' After posing for a few shots with her sister tenderly holding onto her, the eldest of Kim and Kanye West's four children looked ready to pass down her wisdom. In a precious exchange, the doting big sister could be seen attempting to show little Chi how to mimic her and Kim's go-to pose. Progress: In September, Kim shared a slideshow of North instructing her younger sister Chicago, two, how to 'make a peace sign' 'My girls,' the SKIMS creator gushed of her darling daughters, who were playing in the grass. 'Swipe to see North trying to teach Chi to make a peace sign.' While Chicago hadn't quite mastered the peace sign, at one point she hilariously crossed her arms and looked stumped. Last week, Chicago and North were seen in a number of their mom's Instagram posts from Turks and Caicos on their 'girls trip.' Getting there: While Chicago didn't quite master North's go-to gesture, at one point she hilariously crossed her arms Their family, as well as Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian and sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner, appeared to be staying at Tranquility villa. 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. The trip comes amid a swirl of reports that Kim is on the verge of divorcing Kanye West whom she married in 2014. The estranged couple also share sons Saint, five, and Psalm, one. A victim of a serial paedophile has described the sick predator as "beyond reprehensible" as he sought to have his prison sentence reduced this week. Former scoutmaster David O'Brien (69), of Benburb St, Dublin is serving a total of 14 years with two suspended after being 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. He told gardai he abused dozens of victims in the 1970s and 1980s and can't remember most of their names. This week his defence barrister Padraig Dwyer, SC, was unsuccessful in having O'Brien's latest sentence reduced and also revealed he is currently before the Circuit Court in relation to another offence. Expand Close Abuse survivor Paul OToole / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Abuse survivor Paul OToole He also said his client wanted gardai to find the rest of his victims so he can "put an end to all of this". As O'Brien cannot remember most of his victims' names he cannot take advantage of 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. O'Brien is hoping to bunch all the cases together in the hope he will receive a concurrent sentence rather than have to go on trial again every time a new victim comes forward, and spend longer in prison. Paul O'Toole, from Artane in Dublin, who was abused by O'Brien numerous times in the 1970s while in the scouts, said O'Brien's attitude is sickening. "The cops said to me there were 60 people abused by him and he could only remember about 20 of their names. It just goes to show you how little he thought of anyone in the first place. Some kid who comes in 11 years of age with blue eyes and he puts a neckerchief on them and he can't wait to get him out into the woods and have a go at him and he doesn't even bother remembering his name." Read More Paul said parents signed their kids up to the scouts and entrusted their children to O'Brien, not realising he was sexually aroused by them. "The little kid is your pride and joy. You would give your organs away for this kid, you would die for this kid and you just trust this 22- or 23-year-old man with this kid and all he sees is a sexual object." He said O'Brien would be grooming children from as soon as they joined the scouts. "He was grooming them on the Wednesday or maybe a couple of Wednesdays or whatever at the meeting, and then it comes to a camping weekend he's straight down the pants or off with the pants and he has his sexual gratification and he doesn't even bother to know that kid's name. It's beyond reprehensible." He said it was outrageous O'Brien would seek to have his sentence reduced. "If anything, he should be given more time. The sentencing is horrifically lenient in this country, especially for sexual crimes that go back years." He said O'Brien cares more about himself than all the victims whose lives he changed forever after abusing them. "As human beings go he's one of the more useless ones. He's more than useless because of the damage he's done. Up to the time he got sentenced on my stuff, I had 40 years of struggle and it affected every single thing I did in my life. "They are people who have probably moved on and don't want to know anything about it and he wants the Guards to get them to relive their experiences and get re-triggered and re-traumatised. He wants all of that done to satisfy him, his needs and his needs only." Vaccination rates among Englands South Asian communities are lagging dramatically behind the rest of the population, worrying new figures show. They reveal that people of Pakistani and Bangladeshi descent are less than half as likely to have been vaccinated as white people. Among the 1.2 million people of Pakistani origin living in England, just 5.7 per cent of all ages had received their first jab by the end of last month. That compared with around 14 per cent of the population at large. The situation is even worse among the 500,000 people of Bangladeshi descent, with 4.7 per cent vaccinated by January 31. A paper presented by SAGE included the results of a survey which showed a shocking 71.8 per cent of black people said they were unlikely to get a Covid-19 vaccine if offered one By contrast, among the 1.5 million people describing themselves as ethnically Indian, vaccination rates are no different from the national average. Coverage is also poor among black Britons, with 6.7 per cent vaccinated as of last Sunday. Language problems and a distrust of officialdom has been blamed in some cases, while anti-vaxxers are peddling myths, such as the false claim that the jabs only work in white people. The low rates risk fuelling ongoing Covid-19 outbreaks in towns and cities with large and tightly knit South Asian communities such as Bradford, Blackburn, Luton and Slough, as well as parts of London, Birmingham and Manchester. The Mail on Sunday calculated coverage rates using official NHS England figures on the numbers vaccinated in each ethnic group up to January 31, and population estimates from the Office for National Statistics. Last week Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi and London Mayor Sadiq Khan joined forces to urge ethnic minorities to get vaccinated. They wrote: People of black African ethnicity in England are over twice as likely to die from this virus than white people... The same is also true of South Asian people. Axios Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Prominent friends of an Australian economist detained in Myanmar say the man has devoted his life to helping the developing country and should be immediately released by police. Sean Turnell, an associate professor at Sydneys Macquarie University and economic adviser to deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was detained following the military coup last Monday that has led to mass protests and a near-total internet blackout in the country. Sean Turnell, has long provided advice to Myanmars elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Over the weekend, Myanmars citizens and global diaspora have rallied to denounce the coup and demand the release of Suu Kyi and other political figures taken prisoner by the junta. Dr Turnell, a leading expert on Myanmars economy who has worked as an official adviser to Suu Kyi since 2017, appears to be the only foreigner detained in the upheaval so far and it is not clear what, if any, charges he is facing. Why should Doctors in 2030 have a Bio Medical Degree? View(s): Becoming a Medical Practitioner maybe the most popular career goal that many have. Future doctors nurture their passion for helping others before applying for a Medical school. Medicine is also a versatile field that can be studied anywhere in the world, so you have a variety of choices at your disposal. However, since its a decision that might change your life, it needs to be well planned in advance. What IMC wants to offer you is a qualification to evolve for 2030. A doctor should be able to differentiate their qualification and talents with 1000s of doctors who pass out every year. The plan for this is to create tomorrows doctors with a dual qualification. Your career story starts from here. Career from Pre-Medicine onwards A lot of Sri-Lankan students wish to graduate early to achieve their careers at a younger age and these students are more likely to take decisions right after completing O/Levels & A/Levels. Now what type of questions would an O/Level or A/Level student with fewer grades likely to have in mind? 1. I want to start my career in Medicine as soon as possible, If so, how exactly to achieve it. 2. I dont want to spend 2 years training for A-Levels, how do I register right after O/Levels? 3. I dont have CCS / CCD the minimum AL results; how do I study medicine with SSS or less grades? The dilemma of What options do I have? is often stagnated since a lot of Sri-Lankan parents and students arent aware on the solutions or alternatives for the above Trending Confusions. The solutions are convenient to understand. Students now have the chance of entering to worldwide recognized Medical Universities through the completion of a Pre-Medical or Foundation Programme. IMC Education, the leading medical education pathway provider and the Largest Medical University Placement Centre in Sri Lanka, offers an ideal program for students after their O/Levels and A/Levels to join with the, Foundation in Science (Pre-Medical Program) Vitebsk State Medical University, Republic of Belarus. (After O-Level Results or Low A-Level Results) What is FIS? Its 6-12months Pre-Medical Programme for students to progress successfully to undergraduate Medical studies at the medical school in the Republic of Belarus namely Vitebsk State Medical University (VSMU). Where can you obtain this? - IMC Education is the only approved and accredited International learning center in Sri Lanka of Vitebsk State Medical University (VSMU), Republic of Belarus to deliver the Foundation in Science (Pre-Medical) Program in Sri-Lanka (English Medium). Entrance Procedure? - The Programme has been specially designed for students who have completed their O/Ls (London/Local) or less A/Ls (London / Local) who have the eager and the drive to fulfill their dream of becoming a Medical Doctor at a younger age. Full time career overseas with the best pays for Medical doctors? The demand for Medical doctors in overseas is increasing at an exponentially high rate, thus through the completion of the foundation students can achieve to fill the demand. IMC is the exclusive partner in Sri Lanka representing Kaplan Medical which is the worlds largest and premier provider of USMLE test preparation that helps thousands aspiring Medical Doctors to become an ECFMG, USA Certified Internationally recognized Medical Doctor in the USA. IMC Education has created a unique system for VSMU students to be trained for the United States Medical licensing examination (USMLE) partnership with KAPLAN MEDICAL. IMC Education also offers the students the opportunity to be trained for the Australian Medical Council(AMC) Examination through our partner trainer in Australia on completion of the Medical degree. The only MEDICAL DEGREE with a TRIPLE QUALIFICATION to prepare you or your child for 2030 Vitebsk State Medical University, Republic of Belarus, for the first time in Medical Academia, students at VSMU placed by IMC Education (Official representative of VSMU in Sri Lanka) have the opportunity to obtain a Triple Qualification. IMC Education Sri Lanka in partnership with Vitebsk State Medical University drew its MOU Memorandum of Understanding with Lincoln University College, Malaysia to provide students with a Dual Qualification; BSc in Biomedical Sciences & Masters of Medical Sciences awarded by Lincoln University College & finally the Doctor of Medicine Degree awarded by VSMU. Summary of the Dual Qualification Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Hons) After the 4th year of studies Master of Medical Science (By research) After the 5th and half year of studies. Benefits of obtaining the Triple Qualification Three qualifications within 6 years As the Masters programme is a research-based program student will have comprehensive research under their name when they graduate from the university. Student will get the chance of publishing their own articles during the program with the help of the Lincoln University Malaysia Research orientation will present them a competitive edge over others during the postgraduate medicine program and when they attend interviews in the foreign hospitals for employment. More career scope in terms of variety of employment opportunities. IMC Education will guide students on choosing the best possible option to match students needs and achieve their career aspirations. Admissions for 2021 March/September intake is now open. We invite all students for the free Webinar on Study Medicine Abroad, careers in Australia, UK, USA, Canada on 13th February. Please call on the hotline to register for the free webinar and discover a world of opportunities awaiting to make your doctor dream a reality. IMC Education 076 826 8168 | 077 441 0782 No. 154, Havelock Road, Colombo 05. A demonstrator shows the three-finger salute as people rally in a protest against the military coup and to demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in Yangon, Myanmar, Sunday. REUTERS-Yonhap Tens of thousands of protesters poured on to the streets of Yangon Sunday in the biggest rally yet against the Myanmar coup, as an internet blackout failed to stifle growing outrage at the military's ouster of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Some estimates put the number of protesters in Yangon at 100,000 and there were reports of large demonstrations in other cities, with rallies condemning the coup that brought Myanmar's 10-year experiment with democracy to a crashing halt. Backed by a din of car horns, chanting protesters in Yangon held up banners saying "Justice for Myanmar", while others waved the signature red flags of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party as they marched to City Hall. "I completely despise the military coup and I am not afraid of a crackdown," said Kyi Phyu Kyaw, a 20-year-old university student. "I will join every day until Amay Suu (Mother Suu) is freed." Protesters announced that they would return to the streets at 10 am local time on Monday, defying the state of emergency imposed by the military and indicating no let-up in their resistance to the coup. They also called on civil servants and people employed in other industries to not go to work and join the protests. Many flashed the three-finger salute inspired by the "Hunger Games" films, which became a symbol of resistance during the pro-democracy protests in Thailand last year. "We will fight until the end," said Ye Kyaw, an 18-year-old economics student. "The next generation can have democracy if we end this military dictatorship." There was a large demonstration also in the capital Naypyidaw, despite the heavy military presence there, while tens of thousands rallied against the coup in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-biggest city. Both those protests included people on armadas of motorcycles, waving flags and banners as they rode through the cities. There were also demonstrations in Mawlamyine city and the Magway region. The surge in popular dissent over the weekend overcame a nationwide internet blockade, similar in magnitude to an earlier shutdown that coincided with the arrest of Suu Kyi and other senior leaders on Monday. Online calls to protest have prompted bold displays of defiance, including the nightly deafening clamor of people banging pots and pans a practice traditionally associated with driving out evil spirits. Monitoring service NetBlocks said internet access was partially restored on some mobile networks in Myanmar Sunday afternoon, but social media platforms remained blocked and it was unclear how long the connectivity would last. As protests gathered steam after the coup, the junta ordered telecom networks to freeze access to Facebook, an extremely popular service in the country and arguably its main mode of communication. The platform had hosted a rapidly growing "Civil Disobedience Movement" forum that had inspired civil servants, healthcare professionals and teachers to show their dissent by boycotting their jobs. On Sunday, live Facebook video feeds from multiple cities showed protesters marching through the streets. It was not immediately clear how they bypassed the internet block. The military had widened its efforts to quell organized dissent on Friday when it demanded new blocks on other social media services including Twitter. "The generals are now attempting to paralyze the citizen movement of resistance and keep the outside world in the dark by cutting virtually all internet access," said Tom Andrews, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, ahead of the Sunday protests. In addition to Suu Kyi and some of her top aides, dozens have been detained so far. The precise number of arrests is not yet known, but monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said Saturday that more than 150 people were still in custody. Rumors that Suu Kyi had been released triggered brief but raucous street celebrations among her supporters on Saturday, before they were denied by her lawyer who said she remained in detention. An immensely popular figure in Myanmar despite a tarnished reputation in the West, Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since the coup, but a party spokesman said Friday she was "in good health." Two days after the coup, criminal charges were filed against her related to the illegal import of a set of walkie-talkies. The military had hinted at its coup intentions days in advance, insisting that the NLD's landslide victory in the November elections was the result of voter fraud. Following the takeover, the junta proclaimed a one-year state of emergency after which it promised to hold fresh elections, without offering any precise timeframe. The coup has been widely condemned by the international community, with U.S. President Joe Biden leading calls for the generals to relinquish power and release those arrested in the post-coup crackdown. (Reuters) A hard rain destined to fall on Sri Lankas institutions of justice View(s): To mercilessly mangle Bob Dylans timeless words, a hard rain will fall on Sri Lanka if hammer blows continue to be aimed at judicial, prosecutorial and legal institutions by the countrys political leadership. In the end, this will not spare judges and the judiciary itself, in the manner of recent history as we have already seen. There is no immunity for this devastation; it will visit each and every one of us. Well founded grievances The Cabinets approval, in January 2021, of recommendations and findings of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) probing allegations pertaining to political victimization by the yahapalanaya regime is one more relentless step in this process. The Opposition has vigorously objected to the findings of this Commission, putting forward a plethora of complaints. Foremost is that the process of inquiry followed by the Commission was neither fair or just, that parties against whom adverse findings were made were not afforded natural justice and that the remit of this body was exceeded in the complaints that it entertained, some of which were complaints of political victimisation by private parties. Such grievances may be well founded. However complainants may best be advised to spend their time in preparing well thought out legal challenges to the findings of that Commission rather than holding press conferences with sound and fury, signifying very little. They may also abstain from rushing to court with defective papers, as has unfortunately been the case in recent times. Certainly, legal precedents on this exact point of unjust treatment, that is the source of their complaint, are several. The use of Commissions of Inquiry as tools to circumvent the ordinary legal process is of historical record. This is however, the first time that we are seeing such Commissions directly intervening into ongoing cases in trial before court, pressurising the Attorney General in regard to ongoing prosecutions or indeed, pronouncing on the validity of convictions entered into by a court of record and upheld by the apex court. To that extent, we are experiencing a new phenomenon and one that will gravely impact on the integrity of the judicial system. Limitations of Commissions of Inquiry But if we are looking at the limitations within which a Commission of Inquiry must operate and the safeguards that it must observe, case law is replete with warnings on the same. One notable instance concerns the findings of the Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry established under warrant dated 7th December 1994, to investigate and report into the assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali and connected events, (published as a Sessional Paper in the Parliament on 30th of January 1998). Its findings were successfully challenged in the Supreme Court by aggrieved parties on the basis that the process followed was biased and politically partial. For example, a senior police officer DIG A.S. Seneviratne complained against his punishment based on the recommendations of this Commission. DIG Seneviratne, along with other police officers, had been found by the Commission to have assisted in the (Athulathmudali) assassination and the plot to fabricate evidence. The Court used uncharacteristically severe language, observing that, (Seneviratne) was condemned by the Commission without being given an opportunity of refuting what was being urged against him Indeed, in all instances where this Report and other Commission Reports were challenged in the Supreme Court, several consistent principles emerge. Importantly, the Court declined to accept the Commissions defence that recommendations may be made by Commissioners against individuals on the basis of findings by investigators. Rather, each and every person against whom adverse recommendations have been made, should have been himself or herself questioned by the Commission. Handing over this responsibility to others to investigate and record the testimony of persons was not sufficient. Constitutional safeguards and due process The defence that it would have been impracticable for the Commission itself to hear and interrogate large numbers of persons being questioned was rejected. Implicated persons moreover had the right to adequate legal representation, which meant the opportunity to properly present the case in defence before the Commission. Not affording that opportunity meant that the procedural safeguards of natural justice had not been met, impacting adversely on the finding. Arguments to the contrary that such procedures were not possible due to administrative difficulties, the need for secrecy or to preserve the confidentiality of other individuals have been summarily dismissed. For example, when recommendations of the Batalanda Commission of Inquiry were impugned by affected persons who had been disciplinarily dealt with as a result, the Court observed that the manner in which the complainants had been treated was distressing and disturbing. It was contrary to basic constitutional safeguards and due process guarantees. Meanwhile, hard on the heels of the recent Cabinet approval of the recommendations of this Commission of Inquiry, President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa appointed a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry (SPCOI). Again, this is certainly the first time that a SPCOI has been established to implement the recommendations of a COI. Both bodies are different, the SPCOI under the 1978 Law and vested with draconian powers as opposed to the COI Act (1948) which is its softer cousin.Generally, the pattern has been to refer recommendations of a COI to the Attorney General to take steps under the penal law. Ghoulish ghosts of the past are recalled This was a measure that was specially facilitated by an Amendment Act (2008) to the 1948 COI Act. But all that was of little use here, one would assume, given that it was the Attorney General himself who sounded warning bells the loudest in the wake of his own officers being summoned to the Commission of Inquiry on political victimisation and questioned as to ongoing prosecutions. It was also the Attorney General who resisted such questioning on the basis (correctly) that a fact-finding Commission of Inquiry had no powers to interfere with ongoing court cases. The establishment of a SPCOI, as inevitable as it is, recalls ghosts of the past and particularly ghoulish ones at that. In principle, there is much irony in this Government resorting to a law that was born out of the desire of the United National Party (UNP) Government at the time, to unjustly deprive the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) matriarch Sirimavo Bandaranaike of her civic rights. But this is a nicety lost in turbulent political winds. Warnings that, as all roads lead to Rome, the path of this Governments push for justice for its loyalists will finally converge on a SPCOI, were made early on. Little more than a year ago, it was pointed out in these column spaces that the use of this Law as a political instrument of revenge by various Governments in our history has been legendary and frightening (The Real Risks of a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry, the Sunday Times, 08.12.2019). At that point, the proposal was for a SPCOI to be established at the outset itself to look into the purported victimisations of public servants by the yahapalanaya regime, its Anti-Corruption committee and its FCID (Financial Crimes Investigation Division). A complete collapse of the system Obviously, that idea was discarded for a softer approach as it were, by initially establishing a Commission of Inquiry to frame the recommendations which task has now been completed. It remains to be seen as to how this particular PCOI will conduct itself. Even so, judges, lawyers and those who have a modicum of interest in Sri Lankas institutions of justice must surely take cognizance of clear and present dangers, if the system is not to completely collapse on our heads. Certainly, that is now a distinct possibility. STAMFORD The quest continues to fill a marquee big-box property in the citys South End. Nearly six months after the closing of a Fairway Market at 699 Canal St., the propertys landlord is still looking for one or more newcomers to lease space in the approximately 80,000-square-foot complex. Since Fairways departure, many area residents have expressed hope that another supermarket chain might expand to the South End. No grocers have publicly declared interest so far, while landlord Building and Land Technology is considering a number of scenarios. 3 1 of 3 Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 3 BLT is also the developer of the Harbor Point neighborhood that includes 699 Canal, encompassing a large section of the South End that features several thousand apartments built in the past 10 years. We are marketing the property to quality tenants that are compatible with the needs of the residential and commercial communities of Harbor Point as well as the surrounding areas of Stamford, BLT said in a statement. Among them are grocers, restaurant(s), home furnishings, fitness, medical, wine shops. Our leasing efforts are geared toward identifying suitable replacement tenants as quickly as possible. The site has generated significant interest. However, no deals are in place at this time. Our efforts are ongoing. Some customers have surmised that Wegmans might be a contender. Last year, it opened a store just across the state line, in Harrison, N.Y. But Wegmans spokeswoman Deana Percassi said that we are not currently planning to expand into Stamford. Other shoppers have inquired about the possibility of a Stew Leonards expansion to the city. The nearest Stew Leonards location is 10 miles east in Norwalk. We did explore the possibility of opening a Stew Leonards in the former Fairway Market space in Stamford, but found that the rent was too high, said Stew Leonard Jr., CEO and president of the family-owned company. At this time, my family and I are not looking to expand into Stamford, but we love our Stamford shoppers and always look forward to seeing them in our stores in Norwalk and Yonkers, N.Y. Stop & Shop which runs the largest supermarket chain in Connecticut, including two stores in Stamford is not in the running either. A company spokesperson said that it currently has no plans to acquire the space previously operated by Fairway supermarkets in Stamford. ACME, whose locations includes a Greenwich establishment and a Stamford store on High Ridge Road near the Merritt Parkway, also ruled out an expansion to the South End. The company is constantly evaluating our portfolio of stores and looking for new opportunities, said Dana Ward, ACMEs communications and public affairs manager. At this time, we do not have any current plans to open a new location in Connecticut. Grade A ShopRite is another major player in the state, owning grocery stores across southwestern Connecticut, including several in Stamford. The nearest supermarket to the former Fairway site is a Super Grade A ShopRite that stands one mile east at 200 Shippan Ave. A message left for Grade A ShopRite was not returned. Trader Joes has a store on High Ridge Road, a couple blocks south of the Stamford ACME. Trader Joes officials could not be immediately reached for comment. Fairway, which closed the Stamford store after declaring bankruptcy for the second time in the five years, sold off most of its other locations. Among the buyers was Amazon, which acquired for $1.5 million the leases of two Fairway locations in New Jersey. Amazon owns Whole Foods Market, whose network includes stores in Darien and Greenwich. It does not have a presence in Stamford. A message left for Whole Foods inquiring about whether it was interested in Stamford was not returned. Other types of big-box stores might also be considered for 699 Canal, although existing ones in the city probably would affect the number of interested parties. There is a CVS/Pharmacy in the neighboring block at 537 Canal St. A large home-improvement store would also appear to an unlikely candidate given that a Home Depot operates on Stamfords West Side. pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott Shanghai (Gasgoo)- HOZON Auto, a Chinese startup owning the EV brand Nezha, will strive to hit the annual sales target of 40,000-50,000 units for 2021, Zhang Yong, co-founder and CEO of HOZON Auto, revealed at a press conference. For the year of 2020, the EV manufacturer saw its sales shoot up 51% year on year to 15,091 units. In the first month of 2021, the company sold 2,195 new vehicles, a precipitous rise of 119.3% from a year earlier. The upward movement in sales should be mainly credited to the startup's efforts in product, sales channels and charging networks. 2021 Nezha U; photo credit: Nezha In 2020, the company rolled out two mass-produced models, namely the Nezha U and the Nezha V. Under the plan named Sea of Clouds, HOZON Auto moved down their products and services to lower tier markets, so as to further facilitate consumers in buying cars. The automaker has to-date deployed direct-sale stores in 13 cities of China. Moreover, HOZON Auto has already launched 60 smart fast charging stations and 1,210 fast charging piles since its charging service was released in last September. Regarding the plans for 2021, HOZON Auto attempts to roll out the refreshed models of both the Nezha U and the Nezha V. It is noteworthy that the Nezha U will come with a variant boasting a range of up to 610km, and its version designed for ride-hailing services will be available for swappable battery pack. Eureka 03 concept; photo credit: Nezha In addition, the mass-produced version of the Eureka 03 will make its debut at the Auto China 2021. The production model will be armed with 3 LiDARs, 5 millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic sensor inputs and 18 cameras, and is able to perform Level 4 autonomous driving functions in some scenarios based on the next-generation domain controller. HOZON Auto said it plans to deploy 100 battery swapping stations in five cities this year, eyeing the capability of serving 10,000 vehicles per day. The narrative wrongfully portrays both Beijing and the developing countries it deals with China, we are told, inveigles poorer countries into taking out loan after loan to build expensive infrastructure that they cant afford and that will yield few benefits, all with the end goal of Beijing eventually taking control of these assets from its struggling borrowers. As states around the world pile on debt to combat the coronavirus pandemic and bolster flagging economies, fears of such possible seizures have only amplified. Seen this way, Chinas internationalizationas laid out in programs such as the Belt and Road Initiativeis not simply a pursuit of geopolitical influence but also, in some tellings, a weapon. Once a country is weighed down by Chinese loans, like a hapless gambler who borrows from the Mafia, it is Beijings puppet and in danger of losing a limb. The prime example of this is the Sri Lankan port of Hambantota. As the story goes, Beijing pushed Sri Lanka into borrowing money from Chinese banks to pay for the project, which had no prospect of commercial success. Onerous terms and feeble revenues eventually pushed Sri Lanka into default, at which point Beijing demanded the port as collateral, forcing the Sri Lankan government to surrender control to a Chinese firm. The Trump administration pointed to Hambantota to warn of Chinas strategic use of debt: In 2018, former Vice President Mike Pence called it debt-trap diplomacya phrase he used through the last days of the administrationand evidence of Chinas military ambitions. Last year, erstwhile Attorney General William Barr raised the case to argue that Beijing is loading poor countries up with debt, refusing to renegotiate terms, and then taking control of the infrastructure itself. As Michael Ondaatje, one of Sri Lankas greatest chroniclers, once said, In Sri Lanka a well-told lie is worth a thousand facts. And the debt-trap narrative is just that: a lie, and a powerful one. Our research shows that Chinese banks are willing to restructure the terms of existing loans and have never actually seized an asset from any country, much less the port of Hambantota. A Chinese companys acquisition of a majority stake in the port was a cautionary tale, but its not the one weve often heard. With a new administration in Washington, the truth about the widely, perhaps willfully, misunderstood case of Hambantota Port is long overdue. The city of Hambantota lies at the southern tip of Sri Lanka, a few nautical miles from the busy Indian Ocean shipping lane that accounts for nearly all of the ocean-borne trade between Asia and Europe, and more than 80 percent of ocean-borne global trade. When a Chinese firm snagged the contract to build the citys port, it was stepping into an ongoing Western competition, though one the United States had largely abandoned. It was the Canadian International Development Agencynot Chinathat financed Canadas leading engineering and construction firm, SNC-Lavalin, to carry out a feasibility study for the port. We obtained more than 1,000 pages of documents detailing this effort through a Freedom of Information Act request. The study, concluded in 2003, confirmed that building the port at Hambantota was feasible, and supporting documents show that the Canadians greatest fear was losing the project to European competitors. SNC-Lavalin recommended that it be undertaken through a joint-venture agreement between the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and a private consortium on a build-own-operate-transfer basis, a type of project in which a single company receives a contract to undertake all the steps required to get such a port up and running, and then gets to operate it when it is. The Canadian project failed to move forward, mostly because of the vicissitudes of Sri Lankan politics. But the plan to build a port in Hambantota gained traction during the rule of the RajapaksasMahinda Rajapaksa, who served as president from 2005 through 2015, and his brother Gotabaya, the current president and former minister of defensewho grew up in Hambantota. They promised to bring big ships to the region, a call that gained urgency after the devastating 2004 tsunami pulverized Sri Lankas coast and the local economy. Click Here To Read Full Report Published In Atlantic By Li Zhe On February 3, Russias Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that Moscow and Washington had agreed to extend the New START treaty by five years until February 5, 2026, with the contents unchanged. Especially during times of tension, verifiable limits on Russias intercontinental-range nuclear weapons are vitally important, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, adding that the US will make use of the five-year extension to reach an arms control treaty with the Kremlin covering Russias nuclear weapons. The New START arms control treaty is the last remaining nuclear arms control pact between the US and Russia. In the short term, renewing the pact is a wise move of pressing the pause button on nuclear arms race taken by both sides and a great boost to global strategic stability. However, the extension doesnt mean the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty is secure, and the pair can rest without worries. The two countries will have to carry out multiple rounds of dialogues and negotiations on further nuclear arms control. There remain many obstacles on the way to reaching a consensus on a new treaty. Factors unrelated to nuclear weapons may become the new bargaining chips between Moscow and Washington. In recent years, the two countries have both developed non-nuclear strategic weapons at a fast pace, and aggressive strategic options such as hypersonic weapons, advanced anti-missile systems, space forces, and cyberspace forces, which are equally capable of affecting the bilateral strategic stability, have become so striking that there is no way to circumvent them. The US wants to include hypersonic weapons in the new arms control treaty because Russia has obtained an edge in that field over recent years, while Russia hopes to limit anti-missile systems with the new treaty as its always been concerned about those systems that the US has deployed in East Europe. Tactical nuclear weapons are the focus of common concern. The US has made headway with the W76-2 "low yield" nuclear warhead and the B61-12 nuclear bomb since the Trump administration restarted the development of tactical nuclear weapons. Although Washington claimed that it only aimed to have more flexible and diverse means of deterrence, the deployment and use of tactical nuclear weapons have practically lowered the threshold of using nuclear weapons, and this aggressive strategic option has posed a severe challenge to global strategic stability. Therefore, tactical nuclear weapons may be included in the Russia-US negotiationson the new arms control treaty. Ever since it announced to quit the INF Treaty in early 2018, the US has been trying to bring China into the multilateral arms control negotiation, and it is very likely to bring this up again during the negotiations with Russia. By expanding the bilateral treaty into a trilateral one, Washington is aimed to limit other countries to guarantee its absolute nuclear superiority. In sum, the extension of the New START treaty is to a large extent a temporary "make-peace handshake" between the two nuclear powers to save the immense cost of an arms race and transform nuclear force structures. Americas agreement to the extension is considered by some experts as a shrewd move rather than a genuine concern for nuclear arms control and disarmament. From now on, the road of nuclear arms control remains thorny, and more sincerity and efforts are required to truly realize effective nuclear arms control, maintain the global nuclearnon-proliferation mechanism, and safeguard strategic stability in the world. (The author is with the Foreign Military Studies Department under the PLA's Academy of Military Sciences.) Colombo, Feb 7 : Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has inaugurated the construction of an irrigation tunnel to be undertaken by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd (CSCEC), local media reported. On Friday, President Rajapaksa laid the foundation stone at the groundbreaking ceremony for the 28 km-long irrigation tunnel which stretches from Elahera Konduruwewa to Palugaswewa Mahamigaswewa and passes through three wildlife sanctuaries, Xinhua news agency reported. The tunnel is part of the North Central Province Maha Ela Project to divert excess water from the Moragahakanda and Kalu Ganga reservoir. Construction is estimated to cost $244 million and is financed by the Sri Lankan government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). South Asia General Manager of CSCEC Wang Zhouya told Xinhua that the tunnel would be the longest irrigation tunnel in Sri Lanka and help mitigate droughts and floods while providing water for agriculture. Police are appealing for information to trace a man in connection with the attempted abduction of a seven-year-old girl. The youngster was grabbed by an unknown man in Mary Datchelor Close, Camberwell, south-east London at about 5pm on Thursday October 22, the Metropolitan Police said. He released her, uninjured, a short time later and made off on foot. Read More Police have released an image of a man they wish to speak with, and anyone who knows his name or has further information is asked to contact police on 101. It comes after Clifford Daley, 33, was charged over the crime last year but later eliminated as a suspect and released. Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries to entertain. 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. 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. Ministers are drawing up a 'jabs at work' blitz to vaccinate millions of under-50s in rapid time, it emerged last night. Plans to deploy roving teams of vaccinators to workplaces across the UK were revealed to be under consideration in government. Sources said it would help accelerate the rollout, which is currently taking place in hospitals, GPs, and makeshift vaccination hubs. The Government this week revealed its ambition to have offered all over-50s their first dose by May - although insiders suggested this could be sooner. It would mean the nine priority groups of the 33million who account for 99 per cent of Covid deaths would have been inoculated and start gaining some protection against the disease. Lance corporal Amy Portman administers a Covid-19 vaccine to Edinburgh resident Michael Maddocks at a temporary vaccination centre set up at the Royal Highland Showground near Edinburgh How to quickly administer injections to the UK's remaining adults - and who should go first - remains a live discussion in Whitehall. According to the Telegraph, key workers such as teachers, supermarket workers and delivery drivers would be first in line for the second wave of jabs. Cabinet sources told the paper that mobile vaccination units would tour workplaces inoculating these essential staff. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is tasked with breaking down the remaining under-50s into priority order. Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said last week: 'This could include first responders, the military, those involved in the justice system, teachers, transport workers, and public servants essential to the pandemic response.' Teachers in particular are expected to be at the front of the queue for the second phase of the rollout as schools are due to reopen on March 8. Worcestershire County Council has set up surge testing in the WR3 postcode after cases of the variant with no links to international travel were identified More than 11million people have now received their first dose of the vaccine, equating to around 16 per cent of the adult population. Boris Johnson is due to unveil his road map to lift lockdown on February 22 and is expected to take a cautious approach to gradually easing restrictions. Although the UK is past the peak of this second wave and cases and death rates are now falling, scientists have advised restraint to keep a tight hold on the virus. While the vaccine has long been heralded as the silver bullet to beat coronavirus and end lockdown, health bosses are concerned of the three highly transmissible variants. Global inoculation efforts were dealt a blow last night as early data showed the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South African variant. A small trial of just 2,026 people found the jab had 'limited efficacy' in protecting against mild and moderate disease caused by the mutant strain. The pharmaceutical giant said scientists will now start adapting the vaccine to kill the new variant, with hopes it will be ready by autumn. Nobody died or was hopitalised during the study by South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University, which has not yet been published but has been seen by the Financial Times. An AstraZeneca spokesman said: 'In this small phase I/II trial, early data has shown limited efficacy against mild disease primarily due to the B.1.351 South African variant. 'However, we have not been able to properly ascertain its effect against severe disease and hospitalisation given that subjects were predominantly young healthy adults.' Britain has bought 100million doses of the home-grown Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and is currently rolling it out to millions. At the same time a testing blitz is underway in parts of the country after 11 cases of the variant were identified in people who had no links to travel - suggesting it may be spreading in communities. Oxford Covid vaccine is less effective against South African mutant strain, claim scientists: Small study of just 2,000 patients found some patients got mild or moderate symptoms - but NONE died or were hospitalised The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South African variant, early data showed last night in a blow to global inoculation efforts. A small trial of just 2,026 people found the jab had 'limited efficacy' in protecting against mild and moderate disease caused by the mutant strain. The pharmaceutical giant said scientists will now start adapting the vaccine to kill the new variant, with hopes it will be ready by autumn. Nobody died or was hopitalised during the study by South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University, which has not yet been published but has been seen by the Financial Times. An AstraZeneca spokesman said: 'In this small phase I/II trial, early data has shown limited efficacy against mild disease primarily due to the B.1.351 South African variant. 'However, we have not been able to properly ascertain its effect against severe disease and hospitalisation given that subjects were predominantly young healthy adults.' A testing blitz is underway in parts of the country after 11 cases of the South African variant were identified in people who had no links to travel - suggesting it may be spreading in communities Staff instruct a person on how to carry out a Covid-19 test at a mobile testing unit during a testing blitz to track the South African variant The average age of the trial's participants was 31, an age at which one is very unlikely to fall seriously ill with Covid-19. Coronavirus has mutated thousands of times during the course of the pandemic which is normal behaviour for a virus. But scientists are concerned in particular about three variants which evidence suggests are highly transmissible; the ones first detected in Kent, South Africa and Brazil. The South African variant, which has been detected across the world including in the UK, appears to be proving the most immune to vaccines. American pharmaceutical firms Johnson and Johnson and Novavax have both reported their shots are less effective against the strain. Similarly, Moderna is manufacturing a booster shot to its vaccine regimen to tackle the variant, while the Pfizer-BioNTech jab was also reportedly less effective. Britain has bought 100million doses of the home-grown Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and is currently rolling it out to millions. At the same time a testing blitz is underway in parts of the country after 11 cases of the variant were identified in people who had no links to travel - suggesting it may be spreading in communities. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South African variant, early data showed last night in a blow to global inoculation efforts Worcestershire become the latest area to start surge testing after the South African coronavirus variant was detected locally. Worcestershire County Council has set up surge testing in the WR3 postcode after cases of the variant with no links to international travel were identified. A mobile testing unit has been set up at The White Hart pub in Fernhill Heath, near Worcester, for adults with no symptoms living within walking distance. A drive-through testing site is planned to open in the coming days, and door-to-door testing will also be made available. Worcestershire County Council said: 'Working in partnership with NHS Test and Trace, every person over the age of 18, living in the WR3 postcode and some WR9 postcodes, is strongly encouraged to take a Covid-19 test this week, even if they are not showing symptoms.' Dr Kathryn Cobain, director for public health in the county, said: 'I urge everyone offered a test to take it up to help us to monitor the virus in our communities and to help suppress and control the spread of this variant.' Door-to-door and mobile testing began at the start of the month as part of urgent efforts to swab 80,000 people. 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 Worcestershire County Council has set up surge testing in the WR3 postcode after cases of the variant with no links to international travel were identified Testing of around 10,000 people in Maidstone, Kent, was completed on Thursday night. In Surrey, testing in Woking was expected to finish on Friday with door-to-door deliveries in Egham and Thorpe due to begin on Saturday. Sefton Council said efforts to identify the variant in the Norwood area of Southport in Merseyside would continue into the weekend. Testing in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, is being rolled out for another week until February 12, the council said. Around 10,300 people in Walsall have been tested so far and some 560 tests had been conducted in the affected areas in Birmingham, the West Midlands Combined Authority was told. Mobile testing units and home testing kits were also deployed this week to Hanwell, west London and Mitcham, south London. Testing will also continue into next week in Tottenham, north London. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE SOUTH AFRICAN VARIANT? Real name: B.1.351 When was it discovered? Nelson Mandela Bay, in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, in mid-December. What mutations does it have? The South African variant carries 21 mutations, some of which change the shape of the spike protein on its outside. The two worrying alterations are known as E484K and N501Y. Why is it causing panic? N501Y appears to make it better able to stick to the cells inside the body and makes it more likely to cause infection and faster to spread. This is the same mutation found on the Kent variant, which is at least 50 per cent more infectious than regular Covid. The variant has mutations on its spike protein which scientists fear will make it difficult for the immune system to recognise, even in vaccinated people Scientists believe E484K may be associated with an ability to evade parts of the immune system called antibodies. Researchers suspect this is the case because strains with this mutation have been shown to reinfect people who caught and beat older versions of Covid. How many people have caught it in the UK? At least 143 Brits have been infected with this variant, though the number is likely to be far higher because PHE is only testing random positive samples. Will it affect vaccines? So far Pfizer and Moderna's jabs appear only slightly less effective against the South African variant. Researchers took blood samples from vaccinated patients and exposed them to an engineered virus with the worrying mutations found on the South African variant. They found there was a noticeable reduction in the production of antibodies, which are virus-fighting proteins made in the blood after vaccination or natural infection, but still enough to kill off the mutant strain. There are still concerns about how effective a single dose of vaccine will be against the strain. So far Pfizer and Moderna's studies have only looked at how people given two doses react to the South African variant, Studies into Oxford University/AstraZeneca's jab and the South African strain are still ongoing. Johnson & Johnson confirmed that its single shot jab blocked 57 per cent of coronavirus infections in South Africa, which meets the World Health Organization's 50 per cent efficacy threshold. Advertisement Real life data shows the vaccine IS saving lives in the UK: Real-world data shows inoculations ARE reducing infections and deaths, top advisor reveals By Anthony Thrower for MailOnline Data collected on the first rollout of the Covid vaccine justifies the Government's decision to delay the second dose, according to an expert. Professor Anthony Harnden, of the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation, says those already given the jab are experiencing high levels of protection from their first dose. And the data, set to be published next week by Public Health England, shows infection rates in those over the age of 80 have fallen in the past month. It comes as the number of people given the jab rises above 11million. Professor Harnden said in the Sunday Times: 'The Covid-19 vaccine rollout in the UK is nothing short of a triumph. 'The Government's strategy to extend the interval between the two doses means we have been able to protect more people and undoubtedly save more lives.' Last week Boris Johnson praised the NHS for its 'colossal' effort to vaccinate 10million Brits against Covid. Saluting 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 on track to hitting its goal of giving the first vaccine dose to the 14million most vulnerable Brits by February 15. And with cases and deaths easing and the rollout of jabs surging ahead of schedule, Boris Johnson is said to have ordered a ramping up of preparations for children to get back in classrooms from March 8. 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 Samsung Gulf Electronics has announced the availability of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Series 5G in Bahrain, the all-new flagship suite featuring pro-grade camera and video capabilities, premium viewing, and connectivity experiences. With a bold and iconic design, the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra have been introduced to change everything and ensure everyday moments are even more epic. The next-generation devices are now available for outright purchase following the successful pre-order phase and can be acquired in brand stores and across major retail outlets. The Galaxy S21 Series 5G has finally arrived, and we are excited that the wait among Samsung enthusiasts to buy our latest devices is over, said Osman Albora, Senior Director Mobile Division, Samsung Gulf Electronics. In the coming weeks and months, the impact and influence of these next-generation devices will become apparent across Bahrain as they collectively showcase why innovative technology and a well-connected ecosystem are so important. Backed by cutting-edge features and technology, the Galaxy S21 Series 5G is tailor-made for the way we live, right here and now. Each model fits todays lifestyle requirements, accommodating individual needs and surpassing expectations through a smartphone experience yet to be discovered. As we embark on this new chapter, the coming period promises to set new standards and benchmarks in the smartphone world and we look forward to witnessing the response and reception unfold in due course, he added. Backed by the power of the Galaxy ecosystem, the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra each boast several features that will become immediately synonymous with the Galaxy S21 Series 5G. For starters, the striking, all-new design is apparent from the get-go, with a bold and sophisticated appearance. The iconic Contour Camera Design has been seamlessly integrated into the frame of all three models, add to their irresistible appeal. At the same time, Samsung's proprietary chipset level (SoC) security platform Samsung Knox Vault - ensures market-leading security and offers every user with peace of mind. The Galaxy S21 Series 5G comes equipped with a whole new protective layer, with both tamper-resistant secure memory and a secure processor. What's more, 33MP resolution transforms every moment captured when recording 8K videos, and photos and content can be captured simultaneously backed with AI processing. To reduce eye fatigue, the new Eye Comfort Shied automatically adjusts the blue light filter based on the time of day, content youre viewing, and your bedtime. Galaxy S21 Series 5G is also designed to be used with other Galaxy devices and with SmartThings Find, it can help you quickly and easily locate your compatible Galaxy devices even when theyre offline. Whether you left your device in another room, under the seat of your car or in a completely different city, SmartThings Find will send you in the right direction. You can now locate non-connected devices, with Samsungs new Galaxy SmartTag. Simply attach a SmartTag to your keys, a bag or even your pets collar and you can use SmartThings Find to quickly pinpoint the item or your pet. Samsung Galaxy S21 Series 5G is available for purchase across Samsung brand stores and major retailers in Bahrain. In addition, customers purchasing the devices via the Samsung e-store will also be able to choose from exclusive colours. TradeArabia News Service Should newspapers let people apply to have old stories about themselves altered or hidden from search engines? (Bob Galbraith / Associated Press) About 10 years ago, a woman called me from the San Fernando Valley with a request I could not accommodate. She had been arrested many years earlier for prostitution, when she was barely out of her teens. Her name and the charges against her had been published in The Times and now, in the internet era, the article was one of the first things that popped up when you googled her name. She began to cry on the phone. Shed done something wrong a long, long time ago, she said, and now she couldnt escape it. Potential employers had seen the story. She was worried her daughter would stumble across it. Couldnt we just take the article down? Make it impossible to find on search? Take her name out of it? The answer was no. I felt terrible. The crime she was accused of didnt seem to me like something that should haunt a person forever. In the old days, a story like that would appear in the print editions, but a few days later all those papers would be lining birdcages or wrapping fish, and the article would only be findable in archives, often on microfilm or microfiche. But now, nothing goes away. Everything can be found online, instantly. That technological reality and an increasing push from criminal justice reformers who believe that long ago, low-level crimes ought to be forgotten is leading some news organizations around the country to rethink their policies. In late January, the Boston Globe became the latest to roll out a change. The paper announced a new Fresh Start initiative, under which it will allow people to apply to have stories about their past embarrassments, mistakes or minor crimes updated, anonymized or in some cases delisted from Google search results. The newspaper explained that the value of giving someone a new chance in life often outweighs the historic value of keeping a story widely accessible long after an incident occurred. I think thats the wrong solution. Its not that I dont sympathize with the subjects of these stories. It is long past time for society to change the way it views people who have had run-ins with the criminal justice system. A person convicted of selling a small amount of drugs, for instance, should not be considered beyond redemption or denied jobs or apartments for the rest of his or her life. This has been a problem especially for people of color. Story continues Newspapers absolutely should play a part in ameliorating the situation by reconsidering, going forward, what they report in the paper, how they play and contextualize crime stories, what language they use and how they evaluate facts they get from police. But they shouldnt muck around with history. Trying to rewrite the past, or even trying to hide from view what has already been reported, is almost always a mistake. It may sound self-important, but what appears in the newspaper really is the first draft of history. Of course it is sometimes flawed, sometimes incomplete, sometimes even unfair, but its the best record we have. Were opening a dangerous door if we agree to go back and alter an old article because we no longer think its newsworthy or we wish we hadnt said what we said or we have a different sense now of whats right or wrong. Unpublishing is a violation of our obligation to readers, and to transparency. And it doesnt solve the underlying problem, which is societys unforgiving attitude. It merely makes information in the public record less accessible. And where does such revisionism end? Once youre changing old stories, surely there will be a temptation to go beyond crime stories, to protect people from other negative coverage they find embarrassing. Therell even be internal pressure: Why shouldnt the L.A. Times delete from its archives, say, the racist editorials it wrote in support of incarcerating Japanese Americans during World War II? But the answer is simple: Those editorials are part of the historical record, and we cant scrub ourselves clean of them now. Remember Winston Smith in George Orwells 1984? His job at the Ministry of Truth was to bring old newspaper accounts into line with whatever Big Brother said was the truth today. That meant rewriting old articles that it was thought necessary to alter, or as the official phrase had it, to rectify. There is no current discussion at the L.A. Times of adopting a policy that would allow the paper to change or hide already-published stories. But other papers are moving forward. There have been lawsuits in several states seeking to force newspapers to take down old stories in cases where a conviction was expunged. But courts have generally ruled that newspapers are under no obligation to do so. Im not saying there could never be a case where, on balance, it might be justified a life or death situation, for instance, or a legal order to do so. But in the vast majority of cases there are other steps newspapers can take to help people who feel an old story is unfairly affecting them. Newspapers can, for instance, correct inaccuracies, even in an old story. And they can go further (although they have no legal obligation to do so) and update stories with additional relevant information. For instance, if an article cites an arrest but then charges were later dropped or the suspect was acquitted or subsequently exonerated, editors could append a note to the original article explaining the outcome. In other cases, a note could be added offering greater context, if merited. Would that have helped the woman who called me? Perhaps, but perhaps not. And it is certainly unsettling to reflect that stories might be causing unfair harm or pain to people we write about. But erasing history by rectifying past stories sets a dangerous precedent. @Nick_Goldberg This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Still, Democratic political consultant Garry South, who led the effort to fend off the 2003 Davis recall, has a warning: Neither Newsom nor Democrats should ignore the recall, neglect to prepare for it or assume it will not make the ballot. So is Newsoms support eroding? Newsoms popularity skyrocketed early in the pandemic, with 63% of likely voters telling the Public Policy Institute of California that they approved of his job performance in May. Though his ratings have dropped a little since then, Newsom remains far more popular than Gray Davis was at the same point in his recall campaign. What Newsom has to worry about are voters like Jennifer Harris, who lives in Encinitas. She said she registered as a Democrat at age 18 and voted for Newsom in 2018, the same year she ran for school board as an endorsed Democrat. She supported Newsoms actions early in the pandemic, including his first stay-at-home order. But as the pandemic dragged on, she saw little logic in the governments rules to ban playgrounds and outdoor dining. And shes grown unbearably frustrated with the closure of her kids public school while many private schools (including the one Newsoms children attend) remain open. ADVERTISEMENT A mobile police officer has been shot dead by some gunmen in Warri, Delta State. The sad incident happened two days ago, the police spokesperson in Delta State, Onome Onovwakpoyeya said on Sunday evening, while confirming the killing to PREMIUM TIMES. Ms Onovwakpoyeya, a deputy superintendent of police, said the officer was walking with someone along the road close to the Nigeria Port Authority, Warri, when his assailants opened fire at him, took his rifle and fled. The spokesperson said the incident was being investigated. Two police stations, one in Abia State, and the other in Ebonyi State, were recently razed down by hoodlums. A police inspector was killed in the Abia incident which occurred in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area. The hoodlums burnt down cars parked at the premises and also looted the station armoury. A police officer sustained machete cuts in the Ebonyi attack which occurred at the police divisional headquarters in Isu, Onicha Local Government Area of the state. Four patrol vehicles were burnt down during the attack, according to a statement from the police spokesperson in Ebonyi State, Loveth Odah. Several states in Nigeria are currently experiencing various forms of security challenges, including high rates of kidnapping and armed robbery. Retail giant Walmart's decision to build a $220 million import distribution center off Interstate 26 in Dorchester County was by far the biggest economic development announcement in the Charleston region in 2020, according to a new report from the S.C. Commerce Department. The 3-million-square-foot facility, announced in July, will take goods imported through the Port of Charleston and distribute them to 850 stores throughout the Southeast. It will be the anchor tenant in the State Ports Authority's retail-focused Ridgeville Commerce Park and is expected to start operations by April 2022 with about 1,000 employees. Walmart's capital investment ranks No. 3 on Commerce's list of top projects announced statewide last year. It follows a $400 million Mark Anthony Brewing facility that will make White Claw hard seltzer in Richland County and a $314 million agricultural technology campus to be built in rural Hampton County. The agriculture center was the state's top job creator in 2020, with an estimated workforce of 1,500 when it opens in 2025. Billed as the nation's largest Opportunity Zone investment, the project is a joint venture between a trio of food and packaging firms that will grow pesticide-free produce in greenhouses, package the food and then distribute it to grocery stores. The 1,000-acre campus was announced in September. The Walmart distribution center was the state's second-biggest job announcement last year. Technology firm Vigilent Labs was the only other Charleston-area announcement to make both the investment and job creation top 10 lists. The company recently started production of an instant-view COVID-19 antigen test at its campus on the former Navy base in North Charleston. The $104.6 million investment will create 400 jobs, the company has said. Industrial investment in the state totaled $4 billion in 2020 up from $2.4 billion in 2019. Since taking office in 2011, Commerce Department chief and former BMW executive Bobby Hitt has helped to attract $43 billion worth of projects, including Lowcountry vehicle manufacturers Mercedes-Benz Vans and Volvo Cars. It's the eight year that Hitt's office has recruited at least $4 billion in investments. "To increase our recruitment to $4 billion in capital investment particularly during an unprecedented year takes a remarkable amount of collaboration and unwavering commitment from many partners across the state," Hitt said in a statement. New businesses made up 54 percent of the number of new jobs announced in 2020 while expansions accounted for the remaining 46 percent. Companies based in the United States accounted for 64 percent of the investments in 2020, followed by Canada at 10 percent, China at 6 percent and Germany at 4 percent. Businesses from a variety of other countries made up the remaining 16 percent of investments. All told, the 126 economic development projects announced in 2020 are expected to create 11,147 new jobs. During Hitt's 10-year tenure, more than 150,000 jobs have been created. Sign up for our new business newsletter We're starting a weekly newsletter about the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina. Get ahead with us - it's free. Email Sign Up! Nurdle exports Petrochemical firm Braskem Americas has started exporting plastic pellets to foreign markets from its North Charleston warehouse as part of a deal with the State Ports Authority. The company's global export hub on the former Navy base accepts plastic pellets shipped by rail from production facilities in Texas, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It then packages those pea-sized pellets, also known as polymer resins or nurdles, to be shipped overseas through the Port of Charleston. The export facility, located in part of a warehouse built by plastics exporter Frontier Logistics, can handle up to 450 million pounds of pellets annually. The North Charleston site will employ 60 workers. Plastic pellets are the raw material for products like plastic bottles, automobile parts and medical supplies. Braskem, headquartered in Brazil, joins a handful of plastic pellet export operations that have set up shop in the Charleston region in recent years. Over time, they are expected to ship a combined 50,000 cargo containers full of pellets to foreign markets. Natural gas deal Charleston-based GreenGas USA has signed an agreement with Carolina Gas Transmission to supply renewable natural gas to wholesale and direct industrial customers through a hub in Georgetown. GreenGas takes waste from hog and dairy farms and converts the methane produced by that waste into renewable natural gas. The gas is then injected into an interstate pipeline operated by Carolina Gas Transmission, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway's natural gas transmission and storage business. The hub will be in service by 2022 and is expected to create nine jobs. "The GreenGas USA team is incredibly pleased to help our customer Carolina Gas Transmission achieve operational carbon neutrality, play a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and build a better, more sustainable future for our children," GreenGas founder Marc Fetten said in a statement. The methane that's captured during the natural gas conversion process reduces greenhouse gas emissions. The Georgetown project will offset the carbon dioxide equivalent of more than 77,300 metric tons of emissions annually, the equivalent of eliminating emissions from more than 16,700 motor vehicles per year. Syracuse, N.Y. Covid-19 deaths among nursing home residents in Onondaga County were actually 34% higher than New York state previously reported, according to data the state released today. As of Feb. 4, the state put the death toll for Onondaga County nursing homes at 244. But that didnt include 82 more nursing home residents who died from the coronavirus outside of their facilities. Thats an increase of 34%. That means a total of 326 nursing home residents in the county have died from Covid-19, the state now says. The new numbers are the most detailed look, so far, at the true devastation that the coronavirus wrought on nursing home residents. Statewide, 13,163 nursing home residents died related to Covid-19, according to state data compiled today by the Empire Center, a conservative think tank. Of those, 4,067, or 31%, died outside of those nursing facilities. The new revelations dont change the states overall death count. As of today, the state has reported 36,079 deaths. But details about the people who died are now much clearer. In New York, about 1 out of every 3 coronavirus deaths involved a nursing home resident. Locally, the new numbers show just how deadly the virus can be for nursing home residents. Previously, the state said 39 residents of St. Camillus Residential Health Care Facility had died. The new data shows a total of 68 St. Camillus residents died from Covid-19. Similarly, the state said 31 Bishop Rehabilitation and Nursing Center residents had died. That didnt include another 20 who died outside of the care center. The chart above shows Covid-19 nursing home deaths in Onondaga County through Feb. 5. The middle column of numbers shows the previously unknown deaths among nursing home residents. The states most recent data did not include information about Onondaga Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing or The Nottingham. Earlier this week, syracuse.com reported neither facility had any coronavirus deaths reported by the state. The state released the data after the Empire Center sued the state to force the Department of Health to release detailed information about the Covid-19 death toll at nursing homes. A judge this week sided with the Empire Center and ordered the state to issue more comprehensive nursing home death statistics. In late January, syracuse.com | The Post-Standard used local county and hospital data to show that the true number of nursing home deaths was undercounted. Hours later, Attorney General Letitia James released a report mirroring syracuse.coms report, saying the undercount could be as high as 50%. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has faced mounting criticism for the states handling of nursing home patients, both in early stages of the pandemic and more recently about withholding the data. Got a story idea or news tip youd like to share with a Syracuse-area reporter? Please contact me through email, Twitter, Facebook or at 315-470-2274. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday said the ongoing farmers' protest against the Centre's three new farm laws is limited to a certain area, and expressed hope to break the deadlock over the issue soon. Talking to reporters in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior city, Tomar also accused the opposition Congress of playing politics over the farmers' agitation. "The farmers' agitation is limited to a certain area. The government is ready for talks with the protesting farmers, and I hope we will be able to break the deadlock very soon, Tomar said. Asked about the Congress's demand for a repeal of three new farm laws and other allegations of the opposition, he said the Congress has no right to speak on farmers' issues. "Why the Congress did not do anything for farmers when it was in power? The Congress's manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections had also promised similar reforms, but it (party) has now taken a turnaround," he said. The Congress will not be successful in doing politics in the name of farmers, Tomar asserted. Asked about senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's allegation that Tomar doesn't know anything about farming, the minister said, "Don't take him seriously. Even the Congress doesn't take him seriously." Thousands of farmers, mainly from Haryana, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at Delhi's border points, demanding a rollback of three new farm laws. The Centre in September last year enacted 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. Tomar reached his hometown Gwalior on Sunday morning to take part in a meeting on Gwalior's 'vision document', pertaining to the city's development. (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 Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Community Perspective Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer. Letters to the editor Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer. 7 day print subscribers enjoy unlimited access to yakimaherald.com Enter the LAST NAME and the 7 DIGIT phone number on your print subscription account to connect your print subscription to your yakimaherald.com account. The Defence Forces could play a key role in surmounting the logistical problems facing the health service over the roll-out of time-sensitive vaccines to older people living in remote areas. A senior army operations officer said the Defence Forces are capable of deploying troops to remote locations to transport older people to vaccination centres and transporting the time-sensitive vaccines to isolated regions rapidly and at short notice. In an interview with the Sunday Independent, Commandant Martin Ryan said the Defence Forces are helping the Health Service Executive (HSE) by transporting people who otherwise cannot travel to Covid-19 test centres. "We are performing an operation in Cork and Kerry and also in Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare where we transport people to testing sites. "They are vulnerable people with no other means of transport," he said. "That is something that could also be done at vaccination level if the HSE requests it." Commandant Ryan, who is joint operation centre director of the Joint Covid-19 Task Force, revealed the Air Corps has already flown fragile supplies of Pfizer- BioNTech vaccine to Donegal at short notice. He said the National Ambulance Service requested supplies of vaccine in Donegal which delivered to Falcarragh airport within an hour's notice. "Once these vaccines are defrosted, you are against the clock and proper planning is vital. Until the vaccines become more plentiful, managing the throughput is the challenge. We would like to see ourselves being able to assist there, but again it is at the request of the HSE," said Commandant Ryan. The vaccine requires ultracool storage and once removed must be transported within 12 hours and will last up to five days in a regular fridge, and five to six hours at room temperature The HSE is understood to be considering the deployment of army personnel to surmount the logistical challenges facing the next stage of the revised vaccine roll-out. The chief complication facing the health authorities is how to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to older people in remote and isolated areas. The storage requirements of the vaccine, coupled with its short shelf-life, and the necessity to use all six shots contained in each vial, means it is not suitable for GPs to administer in house calls. Colm Henry, chief clinical officer of the HSE, said this weekend that transporting the vaccine to people in remote areas remains the key logistical challenge facing the next stage of the vaccine roll-out. "We will get to everybody. I can't underestimate the difficulties this presents because this vaccine is a precious vaccine in every sense of the word," he said. The HSE's original plan for GPs to administer the more robust AstraZeneca vaccine to over 70-year-olds was thrown into disarray when chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan advised that the mRNA vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, should be used for people over 70. The decision followed concerns over the lack of data in AstraZeneca trials for the older age groups, even though the EU's European Medicines Agency had authorised them for use. Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are more complicated to store and administer than AstraZeneca. The HSE and GPs agreed a revised plan which involves large scale vaccination clinics to be set up in Dublin, Cork and Galway and a "buddy" system where smaller GP practices come together. Paul Reid, the chief executive of the Health Service Executive, said vaccines for the over-85 age group will start on February 15. A HSE liaison officer is "embedded" in military headquarters to facilitate information sharing, said Commandant Martin Ryan. Medical officers with the Defence Forces have also been deployed as vaccinators to 10 vaccination centres. He said the Defence Forces could also be involved in any mass vaccination centres proceed. The Defence Forces has been closely involved in supporting the HSE since the start of the pandemic. Commandant Ryan said the number of deployments to residential care home facilities and 62,045 personnel have been deployed to the Covid-19 effort. The new variant of the F-15 is according to Boeing the most advanced to date, being equipped with the Eagle Passive/Active Warning and Survivability System. It can carry up to 22 air-to-air missiles and a host of searching and tracking technologies.The first test flight for the aircraft, with Boeing F-15 Chief Test Pilot Matt Giese at the helm for the duration, was meant to highlight how the planes avionics and software are performing during a flight that included, among other things, a vertical departure. According to the ones monitoring the test, all went as expected and the airplane proved to be operating as it should.Todays successful flight proves the jets safety and readiness to join our nations fighter fleet, said in a statement on February 2 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.As per the National Defense Strategy, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) is bound to buy 72 combat aircraft each year. The list of purchases includes the F-15EX, of which Boeing will have to make eight in 2021. More are planned in the year ahead, as the USAF is expecting 144 such machines to be sent their way.Boeing says the first batch of two improved fighters will be delivered starting later this quarter. Manchester United defender Axel Tuanzebe suffered racist abuse once again after the Red Devils let two leads slip to draw 3-3 with Everton on Saturday. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side led 2-0 and later 3-2 at Old Trafford but the Toffees recovered to salvage a point to dent United's title hopes ahead of Manchester City's trip to Liverpool on Sunday. Tuanzebe was substituted onto the pitch late on with United leading Everton 3-2 but Dominic Calvert-Lewin's last-gasp equaliser denied the home side victory. Manchester Untied defender Axel Tuanzebe received racial abuse on social media for the second time in 10 days on Saturday night after his side's 3-3 draw with Everton Racist messages flooded in on Saturday night after United gave away two leads at Old Trafford Racists comments flooded onto Tuanzebe's Instagram account and it is the second time the defender has received abuse of this type in the last 10 days. The 23-year-old was the victim of similar comments after United's 2-1 defeat to Premier League bottom side Sheffield United last week, with the Blades' late winner coming via a Tuanzebe deflection. United team-mates Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial also reported racist abuse following that game. Greater Manchester Police revealed they will be launching an investigation into the posts sent to the trio, while the Premier League club has offered its support. Tuanzebe, 23, also received abuse after United's 2-1 home loss to Sheffield United last week United's Anthony Martial (left) and Marcus Rashford (right) also reported abuse last week Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger also revealed on Saturday that he is the latest player to receive racist abuse and claimed that social media companies are profiting from racist messages. The German defender claims the websites do not care about players or individuals receiving abuse and has called on people to 'make a change' on the issue. Rudiger said: 'To be very honest, I don't know about all these social media things. Because at the end of the day, if more people are making accounts, I think they make money off it. 'So, me personally, I don't think these people care. For, as you know, this money has power. And the rest doesn't matter. Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger also reported racist abuse directed at him in recent weeks 'It's hard to tell if people will make a change on that. I feel sorry for that. But I feel more sorry for people who are not strong enough, it really affects them this type of stuff. 'Of course it affects me in a way too but for me, it's just to think people are not normal. People are, sorry to say, stupid.' Sportsmail revealed on Thursday that Premier League clubs flagged several tweets containing the monkey emoji to Twitter this week, only to be told that the symbol does not violate the company's rules. The top-flight clubs were horrified to hear this stance and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi joined the Premier League sides in expressing anger at this view. Rudiger's Chelsea team-mate Callum Hudson-Odoi hit out at social media companies after Sportsmail revealed they did not consider aggressive use of the monkey emoji to breach rules The winger told beIN Sports: 'How can that make sense? If somebody puts for example, a monkey emoji towards a player - why is that? How is a player a monkey? What does that mean to a player? 'So for us seeing stuff like that it always makes us angry. Are you saying that because of our skin colour? Because of the colour that we are? 'Or are you just saying that because you just want to be, you think that you're funny or you want to get a laugh out of people? 'No one laughs at that sort of situation. All of us take that personally as a team and as players. We have to do something about it.' Other top-flight players to receive abuse recently include Southampton teenager Alexandre Jankewitz (left) and West Brom midfielder Romaine Sawyers (right) Hudson-Odoi's Chelsea and England team-mate Reece James also recently reported racial abuse directed at him, prompting Blues owner Roman Abramovich to send a letter to every player at the club condemning the messages and offering support. Southampton teenager Alexandre Jankewitz, 19, received torrent abuse online after being sent off on his Premier League debut - a 9-0 defeat to Manchester United. Hampshire Police launched an investigation earlier this week into the posts. Furthermore, one man was arrested last week for the racial abuse of West Bromwich Albion midfielder Romaine Sawyers after his side's recent 5-0 loss to Manchester City. Prime Minister on Sunday reviewed the situation in Uttarakhand following caused by a glacier burst at Joshimath in Chamoli district, and took stock of the rescue and relief work underway. "Am constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation in Uttarakhand. India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyone's safety there. Have been continuously speaking to senior authorities and getting updates on NDRF deployment, rescue work and relief operations," Modi tweeted. The PMO said in another tweet that Modi, who is in Assam to launch several development projects, reviewed the situation in Uttarakhand and spoke to the state chief minister. "Authorities are working to provide all possible support to the affected," the PMO said. Modi is on a tour to Assam and West Bengal on Sunday. A glacier broke off in Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, causing a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and endangering the lives of people living along its banks. Massive destruction is feared. More than 150 labourers working at the Rishi Ganga power project may have been directly affected, said State Disaster Response Force DIG Ridhim Aggarwal. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor A farmer from Jind in Haryana who was supporting the agitation against the Centre's farm laws allegedly hanged himself from a tree merely two kilometres from the Tikri border protest site on Sunday, police said. The 52-year-old farmer left a suicide note, which is being verified, they said. "The farmer, Karamveer Singh, hailed from a village in Jind. He was found hanging from a tree in a park, which is around two kilometres away from the Tikri border," Bahadurgarh City police station SHO Vijay Kumar said. His body was found in the morning, he said. According to the police, the hand-written suicide note purportedly left behind by the deceased said, "Dear farmer brethren, Modi government is giving date after date... No one knows when these black farm laws will be rolled back." Over a fortnight ago, another farmer from Haryana had allegedly consumed a poisonous substance at the Tikri border. He died during treatment at a Delhi hospital later. In December, a lawyer from Punjab had allegedly killed himself by consuming poison a few kilometres away from the protest site at the Tikri border. Earlier, a Sikh preacher, Sant Ram Singh, had also allegedly ended his life near the Singhu border protest site, claiming that he was "unable to bear the pain of the farmers". Thousands of farmers have been protesting since late November 2020 at Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of 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. The protesting farmers have expressed 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. This news piece may be triggering. If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata) Recently I read with foreboding but also a distinct sense of relief because the Biden administration has discredited it of a 45-page report issued on Martin Luther King Day. The report is from the 1776 Commission, a panel created in October by former President Donald Trump and tasked with correcting what he called the twisted web of lies being taught in our schools concerning systemic racism. Central to this charge, this commission was to craft a framework for promoting a patriotic education. I read with foreboding because a government concerned with a correct political education immediately recalls Stalins Russia, the Tiananmen Square massacre, and the burning of the Reichstag in soon-to-be Nazi Germany, to name some of the more outstanding coups. My distinct sense of relief prevailed for knowing Trumps unsuccessful attempt to uproot two centuries of free thought and constitutional governance had left the Oval Office in the company of its promulgator. Trumps establishing this 1776 Commission tasked with realigning our past, as well as discouraging present efforts to remedy past sins in the future, casts an even more threatening light on the recent turmoil at our Capitol. Any effort to deny or mitigate our history of slavery and lynching, which was one of the commission dictates, is dangerous. Thus, at news of the commissions death, relief flooded me. With Trumps loss, and banishment, we have dodged a bullet. But narrowly. In the early 1980s, not long after Maos Cultural Revolution, I taught at a Chinese university. Not too long before my arrival Chinese students, teachers, writers and political dissidents had been sent to the countryside for re-education. Working the fields among the pigs and mosquitoes, unskilled in rural husbandry, resented by the farmers as another useless mouth to feed, they were debased and abandoned. Promising careers were destroyed, established careers were shattered. Anyone with a potential for independent thought or progressive action was hounded, arrested, imprisoned, abused, reviled and publicly humiliated. Shortly after my arrival, an elderly professor pointed out to me the stairs of the building where the Red Guard had beaten him. Since then, my learning of any sort of official need, patriotic or no, for my public re-education fills me with grave reservations. Danger and dread surface unsummoned when I hear of this, and my propaganda alert antenna switches to hogwash frequency. Hogwash and worse. In spite of great gains in China economically since the 1980s, there remains strict thought control to this day. Since 1980, standards of living have increased in China, freedom of individual thought and action not at all. During my time teaching there, my graduate students, many of them recently returned from their exile in the countryside those fortunate enough to achieve permission to do so never did relax. With a pall of fear still hovering, they were unable to take full advantage of the good news from the outside world Id come to offer them. They were afraid. For who knew when this association with Americans would suddenly switch from innovation to a dangerous deficit for them in the near future? In authoritarian regimes like Chinas, government dictates of permissible thought can turn on a dime. One wakes each morning to learn what we are to believe today. Even seeing the word patriotic coupled with education fills me with anxiety. Most of all there is the chilling thought that if Trump had succeeded in overthrowing the legal election, if he had managed to restore himself to power for another four years, our country would have been barraged with more serious, and possibly successful, thought control efforts and more masses of lies and deliberate misinformation. The instructions to Trumps ad hoc commission of 18 were essentially to rewrite the story of our countrys legacy of slavery and racial discrimination. Within this attempt at revisionist history lie whiffs of North Koreas hungry, dutiful citizens massed for one of their dictators endless parades. It resurrects the heat from the furnaces of Auschwitz and emits the acrid scent of burning bodies. Those of us privileged to exist within our American bubble with its assumptions of free speech, action and reasonable behavior are clueless of the life without. In that realm,patriotic is a frightening, ominous word. For words plant ideas. And those ideas become molded into hard little icons not easily banished. Much as the ever-present masses of American flags accompanying the turmoil of the demonstrators as they vandalized the Capitol did. This country is unique in that it was founded on the right to individual thought and action. And individual thought and action, guided by examples of duty in the service of responsibility and the general welfare, is a sufficient education. The freedom and the strength of this nation thrive upon it. It is our lifeblood. Barbara DeMille is an author living in Rensselaerville. Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries to entertain. Editor's Note: The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy is scheduled to participate in the Multinational Exercise AMAN-2021 hosted by Pakistan in February as dozens of navies around the world are about to gather in Karachi. Global Times reporters Liu Xuanzun and Guo Yuandan (GT) recently had an exclusive interview with Chief of the Naval Staff of the Pakistan Navy (PN) Admiral M Amjad Khan Niazi (Adm. Niazi), during which the Admiral shared his visions on topics including the PN's role in promoting regional maritime security, naval cooperation between the PN and PLA Navy, and the upcoming multinational exercise. Prior to the interview, Admiral Niazi introduced the PN as a strong, agile and resolute navy that defends sea frontiers and protects maritime interests of the country. He said that in cognizance of Pakistan's geostrategic location in the Indian Ocean, at the doorstep of the Arabian Gulf, the PN has been playing an important role in promoting regional maritime security and good order at sea. "With the changing geostrategic realities in the region and operationalization of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the role and responsibilities of the PN are growing exponentially. The PN is steadily undertaking capability enhancement and capacity development to optimally deal with added responsibilities and evolving challenges." GT: How do you visualize the changing maritime security environment in the Indian Ocean region and how does it affect Pakistan? In another sense, what are Pakistan's maritime imperatives and the significant threat being faced in the maritime domain? Adm. Niazi: Pakistan is blessed with an important geostrategic location on the northern shores of the Indian Ocean and at the confluence of three regions namely the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia. This gives us proximity to the Gulf of Oman which is an important global energy highway as nearly 33% of the world's oil shipments pass through this area. Pakistan's 90% trade is sea borne and most of our energy requirements are also met through the sea. Pakistan's maritime advantage stems from our over 1,000 kilometers long coastline and the potential offered by our exclusive economic zone of 240,000 square kilometers and continental shelf of 50,000 square kilometers, which is increasingly adding to the national economy. In my assessment, the global geopolitical environment is undergoing an unprecedented transition, remaining highly volatile and is characterized by new alignments of interests and partnerships. Pakistan finds itself in the midst of a complex geopolitical and geo-economic competition prevailing in the region. Pakistan's maritime security is intertwined with the maritime environment in the Indian Ocean region which is rapidly transforming. In our immediate neighborhood, long drawn instability in Afghanistan simmers and continues to impinge upon regional security. On our eastern side, India, with an expansionist mindset, is destabilizing the region by actions that could imperil regional security. On our Western flank, the US-Iran standoff has vacillated, posing risks to ships plying along the international Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs). The ongoing conflicts in Yemen and Syria are also impacting regional maritime security. The warring groups' access to shore-based missiles and remotely operated vehicles is a serious threat to SLOCs transiting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In the nontraditional domain and across the wider region, maritime terrorism, piracy, drugs trafficking and human smuggling are some of the major challenges being faced today. In short, the challenge to our regional maritime security is an ominous hybrid mix of traditional and nontraditional threats. GT: Could you dilate on Pakistan's initiative of Regional Maritime Security Patrol and its objectives? Adm. Niazi: Commensurate with the changing geostrategic realities, the PN launched the initiative of Regional Maritime Security Patrol (RMSP) in 2018 to fulfil its international obligations, enhance maritime security and protect its interests in the Indian Ocean region with strategic autonomy. RMSP is aimed at making seas safer for human use, augment maritime security and contribute to freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean region. RMSP seeks to create a stable maritime order through "integration rather than alienation." Another important objective of RMSP is to foster partnerships with other regional countries and enhance interoperability. GT: How do you see the PLA Navy's development and its role to security in the Indian Ocean region? Adm. Niazi: The PLA Navy has shown phenomenal progress during the last two decades. Today, the PLA Navy has one of the largest standing fleet in the world and is operating state-of-the-art platforms. The PLA Navy has been sending its flotilla to the Gulf of Aden since 2009, which has contributed significantly toward maritime security in Indian Ocean region. The PLA Navy's participation in various multinational exercises, port visits and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions is reflective of its support for collaborative efforts to enhance stability in the Indian Ocean region. The PLA Navy's consistent participation in Multinational Exercise AMAN since 2007 and conducting of bilateral exercises have been conducive to the overall maritime security environment in the Indian Ocean region. Emerging new challenges to maritime security, especially the asymmetric dimension of maritime terrorism, are daunting, which need a collaborative approach. The PN and PLA Navy with their longstanding and expanding cooperation can play an important role in maintaining good order at sea. The PLA Navy's presence in the Indian Ocean region is thus an important element in maintaining the regional balance of power and promoting maritime security. GT: What are the recent major procurement and modernization programs of Pakistan, particularly from China? Could you share with us the latest development on the Type 054A/P Frigate Program, and the latest development on the submarine program with China? Adm. Niazi: The PN development strategy is based on "progressive capability enhancement" to create a balanced, potent and combat-ready force to meet evolving threats. As part of this modernization, PN is replacing its existing ageing platforms with acquisitions from friendly countries along with transfer of technology for their in-country construction. In this regard, the PN and PLA Navy's historic and deep-rooted relations constitute a key element. The PN has been operating Chinese-origin platforms since the early 1970s. Cooperation between the PN and PLA Navy in various domains ranges from construction of naval platforms to bilateral exercises, training and high-level exchange visits. Naval collaboration between the two countries has been strengthened with the procurement of F-22P frigates, fast attack craft (missile), helicopters and state-of-the-art survey ship. The PN has also contracted construction of eight Hangor-class submarines, four Type 054A/P ships and medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned combat aerial vehicles from China. With the changing threat dynamics and enhanced maritime security requirements, induction of modern and potent surface platforms like frigates, corvettes and offshore patrol vessels has assumed greater urgency. In this regard, Type 054A/P frigates are being acquired from China. These will be one of the most technologically advanced platforms of the PN Surface Fleet, equipped with modern surface, subsurface and anti-air weapons, sensors and combat management systems. These ships will boost potency of our fleet and significantly contribute in maintaining peace and security in the region. The contract for acquisition of eight Hangor-class submarines was signed with China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co Ltd. Of these, four submarines will be constructed in China while the other four will be built in Pakistan. These submarines, once inducted, would substantially add to the offensive capability of the PN Fleet. Besides these, other major programs include enhancing our long-range anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare capability through induction of long-range maritime patrol jets, unmanned combat aerial vehicles and modernizing our existing fleet with state-of-the-art weapons and surveillance systems. We are also looking at acquisition of modern helicopters, corvettes and shallow-water attack submarines. GT: PLA Southern Theater Command participated in the Exercise SEA GUARDIANS-2020 in Pakistan. Please give us an insight on its objectives and conduct. Adm. Niazi: Exercise SEA GUARDIANS-2020 was conducted in the North Arabian Sea from January 4 to 14, 2020. This was the first instance that PN-PLA Navy bilateral exercise was conducted under the ambit of PLA Southern Theater Command. SEA GUARDIAN series of exercises is aimed at fostering interoperability and sharing professional experiences to deal with contemporary traditional and nontraditional threats in the Indian Ocean region. The Exercise included joint maneuvers, anti-surface, anti-air and anti-submarine drills. The Exercise provided a useful opportunity to strengthen bilateral naval cooperation and promote safe and secure maritime environment in the region. GT: Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe recently visited Pakistan. In which aspects will China and Pakistan navies cooperate in 2021? Adm. Niazi: PN and PLA Navy enjoy long-standing, broad-ranging and strengthening bilateral relationship. Close collaboration between the two navies exists across multiple domains including acquisition of platforms, equipment, bilateral exercises, technical cooperation, navy-to-navy expert level staff talks, training collaboration, exchange visits and port calls. Both navies remain committed to expanding and consolidating this relationship for regional peace and good order at sea. GT: There have been reports claiming that the PLA is mulling to build a naval base in Pakistan. What are your comments on these reports? Adm. Niazi: The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an economic integration initiative of China which will improve interconnectivity and usher massive growth across regions. The ongoing CPEC, a flagship project of the BRI, would contribute significantly toward economic prosperity for all stakeholders. Infrastructure development under the CPEC will create job opportunities and economic development for the people of Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan and along the Makran belt. The CPEC is a manifestation of strong and fortifying ties between China and Pakistan, that will play a key role in the economic uplift and betterment of the entire region. Gwadar is a commercial port that will serve as the lynchpin of the CPEC project. As the port gets fully operational, like any other commercial port, it may also receive port calls by ships of different navies. Karachi Port, for example, receives ships of different navies quite often. Visit of a commercial port by naval ships does not alter the commercial nature of the project. Moreover, the PN is taking all possible measures to ensure protection of Gwadar Port and its seaward approaches through sustained presence in and around the adjoining waters off Gwadar. GT: China now operates two aircraft carriers. Will Pakistan invite them to visit Pakistan? Adm. Niazi: Pakistan maintains close and ever-growing ties with China which has been one of the most steadfast and reliable partners for peace in the region. Chinese Navy hosts a number of modern and technologically advanced platforms in their inventory. Operating with these modern and high-tech platforms affords us an opportunity to refine our tactics and procedures. The PN and PLA Navy hold regular bilateral (Exercise SEA GUARDIAN) and multilateral (Exercise AMAN) exercises. It is heartening to know that the PLA Navy now operates two aircraft carriers. The PN would like to conduct an exercise with these carriers whenever an opportunity arises. Moreover, the PLA Navy and PN ships regularly visit each other's ports. In the same stride, the PN would continue to welcome further visits by PLA Navy ships, including aircraft carriers. GT: What initiatives are being taken by Pakistan in terms of defense diplomacy with neighboring countries and major naval forces? Adm. Niazi: We are a peace-loving nation and strive to maintain peaceful and cordial relations with all our neighbors and regional countries. In line with this national policy, the PN has been playing its role by actively engaging with the navies of all littoral states in the Indian Ocean region and beyond. The PN, through naval diplomacy, contributes to the nation's foreign policy objectives by showing Pakistan's flag in countries far and wide; through key leadership engagements; navy-to-navy expert level talks; overseas deployments; and participation in bilateral/multilateral exercises on a regular basis. In 2019-20, PN ships proceeded on deployment around Africa in line with the government's "Engage Africa Policy." A PN ship is currently on a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and goodwill mission to extend support and deliver food aid to African countries hit by floods and droughts. The PN also projects Pakistan's maritime perspective at international fora and is a member of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium and an observer in the Western Pacific Naval Symposium. GT: What is the vision behind Pakistan's initiative of organizing a unique kind of Multinational Exercise AMAN in the region? What is the importance and relevance of the exercises for other countries in the region and international partners? Adm. Niazi: Pakistan as a responsible maritime state has consistently contributed to advancing peace and stability in the region. Pakistan's commitment to the principle of "peaceful coexistence" and desire for greater regional harmony and cooperation is reflected through Pakistan's Armed Forces participation in UN Peacekeeping Missions, as well as various bilateral and multilateral engagements. Taking the lead, the PN took an initiative of holding biennial Multinational Exercise AMAN in 2007, to demonstrate Pakistan's commitment to peace, reinforce regional maritime security and enhance interoperability between regional and extra regional navies. Since then, this Exercise has become a major multinational maritime event, which is evident from the growing number of participating countries. AMAN in Urdu means "Peace," and the motto of the Exercise, "Together for Peace," clearly reflects the importance and united resolve of all participating countries for collaborative maritime security. The AMAN series of exercises are significant in fostering regional cooperation for maintaining good order at sea, improving interoperability and exhibiting a common resolve against crimes and illicit activities in the maritime domain. All littoral states in the region and international stakeholders are today increasingly alive to the challenges afflicting the Indian Ocean region, such as maritime terrorism, piracy, drugs smuggling, arms trafficking besides natural calamities. The vastness of oceans and easy availability of newer technologies have made the maritime arena an attractive avenue for illegal activities. Therefore, a consensus is growing that the myriad maritime security challenges of the present era require collaborative approach at regional and international levels. This can be achieved by enhancing cooperation, pooling resources and establishing common practices to tackle these challenges by all the participating navies. Exercise AMAN is, therefore, Pakistan's humble but focused initiative in this direction. It is encouraging to see that the participation in the AMAN series of exercises has been steadily growing. The increased participation reflects growing trust in the value of the exercise and the PN's credibility in bringing navies of the East and West under a common platform, for good of the global commons. GT: It is rare that Russia and NATO member states including the US are participating in the same Exercise. What subjects will be included in AMAN-2021? Adm. Niazi: The AMAN series of exercises were initiated on the basis of a common cause, "Together for Peace," which in my view, is the principal motivation for all the participating navies to come together in pursuit of a secure and stable maritime environment in the region. The Exercise will involve various activities including maneuvers, weapon firing drills, maritime interdiction ops, flying ops, search and rescue exercises and international fleet review. Participation by a number of navies is indicative of Pakistan's standing in the international community, its strong multilateral ties and desire amongst all the participating countries to join hands in advancing peace and stability in the region, for our collective good. GT: Some 42 countries are participating in Exercise AMAN-2021. How will Pakistan manage the risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic? Will face-to-face discussions including tabletop exercises be reduced? Will the Exercise achieve its originally intended goals despite COVID-19? Adm. Niazi: The PN is well cognizant of the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, harbor events have been tailored to ensure the safety of participants in accordance with government policies. Major events will be conducted in open air with scaled down audiences. Since COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon, I reckon, there is a need to adapt to the COVID-19 reality and learn to live in these changed circumstances. By adhering to COVID-19 standard operating procedures and necessary precautions, we plan to conduct Exercise AMAN-2021 activities since it offers us a unique opportunity to further our collaboration and achieve common goals in the face of a global health challenge. (Natural News) New evidence has emerged that shows the so-called insurrection that took place at the United States Capitol on Jan. 6 was a contrived false flag event spearheaded at least in part by an undercover FBI informant. Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who helped usher protesters into the Capitol to take photos and stuff, is a top opposition leader and prolific informant for both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies, a court transcript obtained by Reuters reveals. After being arrested in 2012, Tarrio began his work for the three-letter agency, which involved infiltrating protest groups in order to entrap them. Tarrios work for the FBI helped authorities prosecute more than a dozen people in various cases involving drugs, gambling, and human smuggling. In an interview with Reuters, Tarrio denied working undercover for the Feds, claiming that he does not recall any of this. Tarrio did, in fact, do all of this, and the court documents prove it. Law-enforcement officials and the court transcript contradict Tarrios denial, reports indicate. In a statement to Reuters, the former federal prosecutor in Tarrios case, Vanessa Singh Johannes, confirmed that he cooperated with local and federal law enforcement, to aid in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana grow houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes. So even as the media continues to claim that the Proud Boys is a far-right extremist group, these latest revelations show that one of its top leaders was a deep state infiltrator who was merely posing as a conservative as part of his undercover work. The FBI has been plotting false flag events for many years As it turns out, the FBI also sent infiltrators into a group known as The Base, which is described as a white supremacist neo-nazi domestic terrorist group. Rinaldo Nazzaro, 46, the head of this group, was a federal agent who went by the aliases of Norman Spear and Roman Wolf, though nobody within the group seemed to know his true identity. Born in the U.S., Nazarro has a long history of advertising his services as an intelligence, military and security contractor. Under his aliases, Nazarro claimed to have served military stints both in Russia and Afghanistan. Nazarro played a crucial role in leading the feds to The Bases members, some of whom are now facing charges of federal hate crimes, murder plots and firearms offenses. Some of them are also accused of harboring international fugitives. Back in August, an Oregon-based anti-fascist group known as Eugene Antifa issued a warning that The Base was planning a hate camp in neighboring Washington. Nazarro, they said, had purchased land in Stevens County for training purposes (more on that story at this link). Two days before the Capitol riot, Nazarro was arrested and charged with possessing two high-capacity rifle magazines, as well as burning a Black Lives Matter (BLM) banner during a demonstration back in December. Nazarro was ordered by the D.C. Superior Court to leave the city and supposedly did not directly take part in the events of Jan. 6. At least five other Proud Boys members who followed his lead, however, have been charged. It is now believed that Nazarros arrest was a ploy by the FBI to protect one of its assets. This would make sense, seeing as how the FBI has done this type of thing many times before and gotten away with it. Enrique Tarrio is screwed, his informant career is over, and no group will ever trust him again, wrote one Information Liberation commenter. More related news can be found at FalseFlag.news. Sources for this article include: InformationLiberation.com InformationLiberation.com NaturalNews.com Prime Minister Scott Morrison being shown the CSL Lab where a COVID-19 Vaccine is being produced in Melbourne, Australia on November 16, 2020. (Darrian Traynor/Getty Images) Vaccine Transparency Critical: TGA Chief The man who will give the final tick of approval to COVID-19 vaccines in Australia says transparency during the rollout is critical, while the federal government has announced certificates will be provided to those having the jab. It came as Australia reported another day of zero locally acquired cases. The head of the Therapeutic Goods Administration John Skerritt says his greatest fear is a low take-up of the vaccination. He says once Australians start getting vaccinated the TGA intends to put out weekly reports of adverse events involving the vaccine, both here and overseas. Some people have said thats a bit risky, people will jump on one person who may have acquired a nervous system condition out of 20 million vaccinated in the US, Skerritt told Sky News Sunday Agenda program. But the alternative of not being transparent I think is a lot worse. Sky reported a new Newsgate survey which showed around a quarter of Australians need convincing about having the vaccine and 13 percent totally disagree with it. People are alway sceptics, people are worried, people are nervous, I understand that, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack told Sky News. I would sooner have the jab than be lying two weeks later in an ICU care unit and worried why I didnt. Government Services Minister Stuart Robert said every Australian taking the vaccination will get a certificate should confirmation be needed for travelling or work. They will have a record, a digital and paper certificate, Robert told reporters on the Gold Coast. Australians need to have that record, especially for state public health orders, but also when travelling and borders open up again. The TGA has already approved the Pfizer vaccine and is expected to give a final decision on the AstraZeneca vaccine this month. Australia has secured more than 150 million doses of various vaccines and Skerritt said there are talks with around a dozen companies about potential vaccines in the future. Hotel quarantine workers, frontline staff and border officials are first in line for the Pfizer jab, along with the elderly and most vulnerable. The government hopes most Australians will be vaccinated by late October. Meanwhile, NSW and Queensland both reported no locally acquired cases, but one infection in a returned overseas traveller. NSW, now in its 21st day of no local cases, has introduced a day-16 COVID-19 test for overseas travellers after they have completed their 14-day quarantine as an additional precautionary measure. South Australia Premier Steven Marshal, who reported no new virus cases, is also considering the day-16 test. Well look at that very carefully. If we need to do that in South Australia, thats what well do, the premier told reporters. There were no new cases in Victoria for a third straight day, but authorities there admit they may never get to the bottom of exactly how a hotel quarantine worker recently picked up the virus. They are undertaking a ventilation review of all Victorian quarantine hotels and face shields have been made mandatory among workers. Deputy federal Labor leader Richard Marles believes there is a need to look at other quarantine options beyond Australias major cities If you could wave a magic wand, obviously it would be better if people were outside of our biggest population centres, Marles told ABCs Insiders program. He said thousands of Australians are still seeking to come home from overseas. That right there equals a need for which we need to have further capacity. Colin Brinsden in Canberra New Delhi: Two men were arrested on Sunday (February 7) for the murder of an elderly couple who was related to former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath. Narendra Nath, 70, and his wife Suman, 65, were found murdered in an apartment building in Alpha-II Sector in Greater Noida on Friday. According to police officials, four people were allegedly involved in the killing of the elderly couple. "Two of the accused have been arrested while two others, who have also been identified, are absconding," a senior Greater Noida police official was quoted as saying by PTI. The arrested duo has been recognized as Dev Sharma and Bishan Singh Bhadauriya, both natives of Madhya Pradesh, whereas, Rohit Balmiki and Subhash Ahirwar, both from Uttar Pradesh, are absconding, the official said. On Saturday, a team of the UP police had conducted raids in Govardhan Colony and Sainik Colony areas in Gole Ka Mandir police station area at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. The police revealed one of the accused was injured during the encounter. Meanwhile, they recovered a passbook, chequebook, ID, Rs 13,000 cash and illegal arms in the raid. Narendra Nath had loaned around Rs two lakh on interest to Rohit Balmiki, who had no intention of returning the amount. Hence, he allegedly concocted a plan to eliminate the elderly couple with the help of his friends. He had also kept his motorcycle at Nath's home in Sector Alpha 1 as collateral against the loan, the police added. Narendra Nath was strangled to death and his body was found in the basement, while his wife was shot dead and her body was found on the upper floor of the house. Liquor bottles, glasses, snacks like chow mein and momos were found from the house the next morning when police teams had reached there, as the accused had been partying with Nath on Thursday night. (With inputs from PTI) Live TV Politico has established a statistical overview of the vaccination rates across EU countries, measuring them against the target of reaching 70% at the end of summer. According to Politico, Luxembourg has vaccinated 1.82% of its population. The UK has meanwhile reached 13.95%, Israel even 54.71%. The EU announced its goal of having 70% of adults vaccinated by the end of summer on 19 January. However, at the time of the announcement, the union as a whole was only administering one fifth of the necessary daily doses to reach said target. Politico has now created an overview of the individual rates, which is updated on a daily basis. The website details how long each state would need to reach the target with the current vaccination rate of its population. However, the charts do not yet include the arrival of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the potential for acceleration of procedures, or potential disruptions in delivery. This means that Politico's current model has been established with data from January 2021. Luxembourg in the bottom 10 of the EU If there is no increase in pace, the Grand Duchy will only be at 16% by the end of summer. In the same amount of time, the UK could be at 94%, Malta at 35%, and Romania and Hungary at 28%. The final three places would go to the Netherlands (4%), and Latvia and Bulgaria (5%). However, Luxembourg has significantly increased its rate over the past couple of days. While 351 daily doses were administered on 14 January, this number had more than doubled by 20 January, and is now set between 900 and 1,000 daily injections since 24 January. Tripling the rate to reach the target date If the Grand Duchy wants to be in line with the EU plan, the country will need to triple its current rate to 2,882 daily doses. If Luxembourg were to continue with the January rate, the goal would only be reached in 2024. In comparison, the Netherlands' current rate would see them achieve the 70% rate in September 2033. If compared to the global stage, Europe's leading country (UK: 14%) only ranks fourth behind Israel (55%), the United Arab Emirates (34%), and the Seychelles (31%). Rev Bruce Holland VK2ZAD The Central Coast Amateur Radio Club has been made aware that long term club member Rev Bruce Holland VK2ZAD has become Silent Key on the 27th of January 2021, Aged 93 years. Vale Bruce. VK2ZAD. SK. The CCARC held their first monthly general business meeting for 2021 yesterday where many topics were discussed and most importantly the 2021 Wyong Field Day. The Clubs Executive team and field day committee has been monitoring the local health situation closely across Australia. The executive team would also like to thank members who participated in the recent survey distributed to members and provided their thoughts and insights into the operations of the day. In light of the recent events across Australia, The executive team, with support of the club's membership has decided to postpone the Wyong Field Day scheduled for Sunday the 28th of February 2021. This was a decision that has not been taken lightly and the safety of both the clubs members and those who attend the day is our number one priority. With the health situation still unstable and changing every day, it is in the best interests of all to postpone this event. However, in light of this, The club wishes to announce the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club Mayham event will be held on Sunday the 30th of May 2021 at Wyong Race Course. For the latest news and information regarding this event, please check out the clubs website and social media. Next Friday the 12th of February at 7:30 PM, Club member Adrian VK2ABS will be holding a Slow Scan Television net on the club's VK2RAG 70-centimeter 438.075 MHz repeater. This will be the second net that Adrian will be hosting and support from both listeners and contributors would be greatly appreciated. The Clubs Newsletter Smoke Signals continues to deliver with some great content, Henrick VK2FTDR has been fantastic with taking on the role and the club encourages all members to give it a read each month and provide feedback to the club. Henrick is also on the prowl for content, big or small, the club would love to hear what you have been up to radio/electronics related or even just so inclined. Even just a few sentences and a photo. The Club wishes to advise of some temporary changes to repeater availability for a short period of time whilst maintenance is carried out. The P25 439.950 MHz mixed mode repeater, the 2 Meter 146.6375 MHz, and 70cm 438.325 MHz D-Star system is currently off the air. In the interim P25 & D-Star services will be available via the 438.875 MHz MMDVM repeater. Speaking of Repeaters, A VK-DMR based repeater in conjunction with the ARNSW Radio Network Group is available on the Central Coast! The repeater is accessible on 438.850 MHz with a negative 7.0mhz offset with VK-DMR based talk groups. The Clubs Thursday evening net this week was hosted by Brad VK2NMZ. The evening's hot topic this week was the recent ACMA Consultation and your thoughts? A number of views were briefly spoken about, however, with many, they required more time to completely read all documents and suggestions surrounding the proposals. Bob VK2AOR and Dave VK2KFU continue to mix it up during the week with the club's Morning Tea net. Bob will be hosting the net on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with Dave VK2KFU hosting on Tuesdays and Thursdays. with Daves experience facilitating nets along with his own spin on This Day in History it is a very enjoyable net to be involved with, A huge thanks go out to Bob and Dave for running the nets, its greatly appreciated. Both nets are held on the VK2RAG 2 Metre repeater, 146.725Mhz with a 91.5hz sub-audible tone. Echolink & IRLP is currently unavailable due to a hardware failure but the repeater team is working on it. You can find out more about the CCARC on the web at ccarc.org.au; or Search for Central Coast Amateur Radio Club on social media platforms to find us. Remember to give the club a like to follow for any updates. Brad VK2NMZ Vice-President & Publicity, Central Coast Amateur Radio Club. Won't you take me to, Funkytown? Won't you take me to, Funkytown? Sadly, I don't mean anywhere half as fun as the place Lipps Inc sang about. I think it's fair to say a lot of us have reached the toughest days of lockdown so far. It's easy to feel lethargic and generally deflated. I hear you! Some of the things that help me get out of a lockdown funk are pretty normal, whether it's getting fully made-up or bingeing on a great Netflix series like Bridgerton. And here's a little poem by Kitty O'Meara, And The People Stayed Home, which also gets me through the day. I hope it helps you, too. And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently. And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal. And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed. The talk: Skinimalism One thing I love about the beauty industry is how it reacts to current environments and world trends. And I think 2020 has a lot to answer for when it comes to how we've been wearing make-up. Of course it has, we hardly left the house! I've viewed this time as a chance to give my skin a break and let it breathe. Well, I'm not alone and there's a word for it now: 'skinimalism'. Just as minimalists enjoy living with less, our skin can enjoy wearing less, too. I love it, because it means when I do eventually head to events again, my make-up will be sitting on a super healthy, prepped and primed base. Expand Close Bobbi Brown Extra Lip Tint in Bare Raspberry / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Bobbi Brown Extra Lip Tint in Bare Raspberry This is also an opportunity to focus on other features like our lips, while embracing the natural pigments, freckles and moles on our skin. We're a big bunch of rides, make-up or no make-up, aren't we? First up is Bobbi Brown Extra Lip Tint, in Bare Raspberry, above, 33. I love this rosy shade because it works with my natural lip colour for the perfect make-up/no make-up look. It keeps my lips soft, nourished and moisturised and blends really well for an effortlessly gorgeous-looking pout. Expand Close Nars Euphoria Face Dew / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nars Euphoria Face Dew In our bid to wear less these days, it's no surprise that tinted moisturisers and highlighters have really taken off. Yep, maybe builders are the only ones using foundation these days. So, say hello to Nars Euphoria Face Dew, above, 32, which is launching soon. This liquid luminiser will boost your skin's natural glow and provide lightweight coverage. It contains the 'Euphoric Colour Complex', which is a blend of light-reflecting pearls and pure colour pigments to help keep the skin fresh, hydrated and vibrant. It looks great over a tinted moisturiser or, for a perfectly minimal look, wear it alone, on bare skin. Staying connected with loved ones has been more important than ever but all of this screen time is often not so kind to our skin. Not great when we're already working hard to embrace skinimalism. Expand Close bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Defense / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Defense Well, bareMinerals knows this and has just launched its Power of Good Ideas series. So all of this blue light has met its match with bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Defense, above, 37. This is a mineral-based all-in-one moisturiser. There's cacao extract in there to help protect against blue light's damaging effects. The cream is also formulated with sugar molecules to help block pollution particles and other nasty chemicals. And it has an SPF 30 to protect us against the sun's rays when we're out and about on our daily walks. The treatment: Show you care Expand Close Amy Huberman / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Amy Huberman Possibly as a result of multiple lockdowns, care packages have really taken off lately. They are a fab way to let someone know you're thinking of them. And who doesn't love sending and receiving physical post in such a digital world? Irish business, Meaghers Pharmacy, is offering a bespoke service that lets you put together tailored care packages to send to loved ones. All you have to do is answer a set of questions so they can best match the products to the receiver - with your help too, of course. You can select specific products from a whole heap of top Irish brands like Skingredients - Amy Huberman, pictured, is a fan. Then there's Kinvara Skincare, Seavite, Spotlight Oral Care, Sculpted by Aimee Connolly, TanOrganic and much, much more. Your package will be wrapped delightfully in a Meaghers gift box along with your personalised note and a few extra goodies - including a Mars bar - geddit? - for the receiver to try. Such a brilliant idea! Best of all, they deliver nationwide next day and now deliver internationally, too. So if you think you know some one who would love such a lockdown-blues-breaking gift email: help@meagherspharmacy.ie, or tel: (01) 485-3098, with your request and phone number so the team can contact you. The trick This surprising beauty hack will tint your brows in three minutes flat! Just For Men beard dye isn't just for men...or beards. Hello, eyebrow tinting! Make sure you do a patch test first, too. You're more than welcome! PM level intervention will solve farmer issue: Pawar India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 07: The highest level of intervention by the government could solve the farmer issue, NCP chief, Sharad Pawar said. Pawar said that either Prime Minister, Narendra Modi or Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh should intervene in order to solve the issue, which has been on the boil since the past 70 days. SC heard the most number of cases through video conferencing during COVID: PM Modi Pawar said that the Centre should take an initiative and a senior level minister should intervene. I do not want to disrespect Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, but the Prime Minister or Defence Minister should intervene, Pawar said. He also alleged that the BJP is defaming the ongoing agitation by calling them Khalistanis or terrorists. The ruling party has taken a stand to defame the farmers. These farmers have made the country set-sufficient in food production and calling them names is not the quality of a civilised culture, Pawar also said. On the comments by foreign celebrities, Pawar said that the farmers have withstood all odds for over two months and people were sympathetic towards them. Now these views by foreign personalities are not good for the country. The government must take this seriously, he also said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, February 7, 2021, 9:07 [IST] Former Labour and Social Welfare Minister Petronella Kagonye has been arrested on allegations of fraud. Zimbabwe Republic Police Spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the arrest saying Kagonye is in police custody on charges related to illegal parcelling out of state land. Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi added that she was arrested by members of the ZRP working together with the Special Anti-Corruption Unit. Kagonye made headlines in 2015 after her Glorious Properties was fingered in suspicious land sales in Goromonzi. Also in 2019, the High Court issued an order barring Kagonye from constructing a wedding venue at Stand Number 19594 Harare Township. The High Court order followed a court application by Hillside residents seeking to protect the wetland from destruction. Kagonye is expected to appear in court soon. The former cabinet ministers arrest comes at a time when government is tightening screws on culprits bent on swindling unsuspecting home seekers through illegal sale of state land, including wetlands. ZBC ADVERTISEMENT A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ebonyi State, Eze Nwachukwu, has refuted media report about leadership crisis in the state chapter of the party. Mr Nwachukwu, who is the commissioner for Inter-Governmental Affairs in the state, is the immediate past chairman of APC in the state. It has become expedient that I react to the publication alleging leadership crisis in our great party over the appointment of Okoro-Emegha as chairman, Caretaker Committee of APC in Ebonyi. I am the immediate past chairman of APC and the emergence of Okoro-Emegha as the current chairman, caretaker committee is a welcome development and it followed laid down legal and constitutional provisions of our party, Mr Nwachukwu said on Saturday at a press briefing in Abakaliki. Continuing, the former APC chairman said, As the leader of the State Working Committee (SWC) I and other members stepped aside when the national leadership of the party led by Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe came here and inaugurated the committee which we all accepted. We know it in principle as enshrined in our party constitution in 2013 that if a governor joins the party, he automatically takes over the party structure. This provision made it possible for Saraki and Mr Rotimi Amaechi as then governors of Kwara and Rivers respectively to take over the APC structure in their states during their defection from the New PDP. He said it was wrong for some persons to insist that former SWC members which were removed in accordance with the party constitution be reinstated. I am a founding member of APC and have held several positions in the party, the group calling for the dissolution of the Okoro-Emegha-led caretaker committee are not members of our party, they are faceless individuals, he added. Mr Nwachukwu extolled the Umahi-led administration for promoting infrastructure development in the state, transparency and fiscal accountability in governance. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that a group led by Sylvester Oketa, Linus Nweze and Joseph Nweke had described the Okoro-Emegha-led committee as illegal and unconstitutional and called on the national leadership to restore the former NWC. The Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the APC. (NAN) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (File image: Reuters) Disinvestment is a very responsible, transparent and open process, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated on February 7. The statement comes six days after tabling the Union Budget 2021-22 in Lok Sabha. "Disinvestment is a very responsible, transparent and open process; not a random list. It involves a huge process of consultation before a call is taken about disinvesting. Even then, the way it has to be disinvested is layered and at every stage it is vetted," the FM said while addressing the media at Yogi Sabhagruh at Mumbai's Dadar. The Union Finance Minister while reacting to opposition's allegation of 'selling family silver', stated that the government for the first time has devised a clear strategy on divestment so that taxpayers' money is spent wisely, adding it wants few public sector enterprises in specified sectors to do well. "It is not what the Opposition says about selling family silver, it's not at all. Family silver should be strengthened, it should be our takat (strength)... Because you've spread it so thinly, there are many of them (PSUs) that are not able to survive; and the few that can perform do not get the due attention," she added. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman extends cash benefit to Assam tea workers Sitharaman also said that the government had come out with a 'Banks-driven' solution and not a government-driven solution to deal with bad assets or disposal of bad assets. The Union Minister noted that at this moment banks can't be blamed as they are not equipped to deal with bad assets. She added that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was working with the banks on the issue. The FM even cited that banks had started appointing risk-assessment managers while speaking about professionalisation of banks. "Banks need to run with a lot more sense of business, with more understanding of credit requirements and professional decision making," she said. On the issue of GST compensation, Sitharaman said that the government was releasing GST compensation to respective states promptly every Monday and she personally took note of the data, as of which state had to be given compensation and the amount of GST compensation. Asked on the issue of Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC), brought in the Budget 2021, Sitharaman replied that it had been done as customs duty was reduced to some extent. She mentioned that following this an importer would probably pay less than before, when there was no cess at all. "With this cess, the government will have some money for funding agricultural infrastructure activities. Since such infrastructures are built at the state level, the money collected will go back to states," she said. Earlier in the day, Congress workers showed black flags to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to protest against the 2021-22 Union Budget and the increasing fuel prices. Though the police stopped the protesters from reaching near the venue of her visit, around 400 to 500 Congress workers around 400 to 500 Congress workers started shouting slogans against her. She began her address stating that as it was necessary corollary for a Budget to get discussed in Mumbai. So, she arrived to do that duty. Tragic story of two suspected homicides in the middle of Kansas is sending shockwaves across the nation and the level of American violence continues to escalate. Here's an important roundup: An officer located 18-year-old Kaylah Blackmon in her vehicle two days after police said she "may be in danger," but they did not reveal how she died A Kansas teen has been found dead two days after Wichita police warned she "may be in danger" following the murder of her boyfriend. China & Russia throw protective arms around Myanmar By Thalif Deen View(s): View(s): UNITED NATIONS (IPS) When million-dollar arms sales knock on the door, human rights violations and war crimes fly out of the window. As the United Nations grapples for a reaction to the military coup in Myanmar, both China and Russia, two veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC), refused to support a statement condemning the army takeovera collective statement that warrants consensus from all 15 members. The two big powers have long thrown their protective arms around Myanmar because of longstanding political, economic and military relationships with the troubled Southeast Asian Nation. Russia and China have often provided support for each other (you scratch my back, Ill scratch yours). But they dont always vote in sync, says one UN watcher. Perhaps what is most significant is the fact that Russia and China are two of the major arms suppliers to Myanmar and will, therefore, protect the country from any form of UN military or economic sanctions. Although it does not officially release figures for its annual military budget or provide a breakdown of its expenditures on arms purchase, Myanmar purchased over $2.4 billion worth of arms between 2010-2019, according to a database of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). China accounted for about $1.3 billion in arms; Russia $807 million; India $145 million; and South Korea $90 million. Siemon Wezeman, Senior Researcher, Arms and Military Expenditure Programme at SIPRI told IPS these arms purchases included warships, combat aircraft, armed drones (UAVs), armoured vehicles and air defence systems from China while Russia supplied fighter aircraft and combat helicopters. India, currently a non-permanent member of the UNSC, provided a second-hand submarine, the first large submarine for Myanmar, plus equipment and missiles for warships built in Myanmar. India is a rather new arms supplier and seems to aim to reduce Myanmars links to China and it has, in the past, expressed concerns about Chinese influence in Myanmar and in (potential) Chinese military installations and bases in Myanmar, said Wezeman. India and China, both nuclear powers, have had several military confrontations in their ongoing border disputes along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Himalayas. Among other arms suppliers to Myanmar, Wezeman pointed out, are South Korea, Belarus and Israel. Several members of the European Union (EU), he said, have also supplied equipment considered major arms by SIPRI despite EU sanctions which include a seemingly strong ban on supplying equipment or support to Myanmars military. Dr. Natalie Goldring, who represents the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy at the UN and is a Senior Research Fellow with the Security Studies Programme in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, told IPS any attempts to impose sanctions through the UN Security Council would have to overcome the objections of Myanmars top two weapons suppliers, both of whom have vetoes on the Security Council. China has already blocked a UN Security Council statement that would have condemned the recent military coup. That action suggests that they would also block any attempts to impose economic or military sanctions. Before the coup would have been the right time for countries to stop supplying Myanmar with advanced military weaponry, she said, adding that stopping arms transfers now is still better than waiting until later. Its long past time for weapons suppliers to come to terms with the fact that the useful lifetime of these weapons can easily extend beyond the rule of the governments the weapons have been sold or given to. As five of the worlds six top weapons suppliers, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (US, Russia, France, China and the UK) have a special responsibility in this regard, Dr Goldring declared. In a statement condemning the coup, US President Joe Biden said the United States removed sanctions on Burma (the US has long refused to recognize the name change to Myanmar) 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, he said The United States will stand up for democracy wherever it is under attack. A State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters February 3 the United States provided nearly $135 million in bilateral assistance to Burma in FY2020. I should mention that only a portion of that, a very small portion, is assistance to the government. But were undertaking that review. Again, were going to work expeditiously to determine the implications for Burmas military leaders for their actions here. But there is a small sliver of that foreign assistance that would actually be implicated. Its the vast, vast majority that actually goes to Rohingya, to civil society, and not to the Burmese military, said Price. Louis Charbonneau, UN director for Human Rights Watch, said the Security Councils abysmal failure to address Myanmars past appalling human rights abuses assured the military they could do as they please without serious consequences. That approach should end now, he added. The Security Council, he said, should demand the immediate release of all detained political leaders and activists, and the restoration of civilian democratic rule. Targeted sanctions should be imposed on those military leaders responsible. Meanwhile, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US, along with the High Representative of the European Union, have unanimously condemned 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. Speaking of militarisation, Wezeman told IPS that Myanmar has started, in recent years, to modernise its armed forces in a more serious way, acquiring advanced combat aircraft (MiG-29, SDu-30MK and JF-17), advanced and basic trainer aircraft (K-8, Yak-130 and G-120TP) and various armoured vehicles to replace or add to those in service. Myanmar has also acquired several types of air defence systems (which it did not really have before) and its first submarine. It has acquired new warships and has started building its warships of local design (but suspected to lean heavily on Chinese help in design and using imported weapons, sensors and engines). In general, he said, it seems Myanmar has embarked on building more capable armed forces more capable against the various rebel forces in Myanmar but also more capable against other states. Compared to its neighbours China and India, and even Thailand the Myanmar armed forces operate with less major arms and less advanced weapons systems, Wezeman said. (The writer is a former Director, Foreign Military Markets at Defense Marketing Services (DMS), a Senior Military Analyst at Forecast International and Military Editor, Middle East/Africa at Janes Information Group in the US.) Enemy troops used proscribed 120mm mortars, grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns, and rifles. Escalation of the war in Donbas has been reported as Russia-led forces mounted 13 attacks on Ukrainian positions on February 6, having wounded three Ukrainian soldiers. One more was injured and another two were killed in a booby-trap blast on that day. Enemy troops used proscribed 120mm mortars, grenade launchers, including anti-tank ones, as well as large-caliber machine guns, and rifles, the press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Headquarters said in a morning update on Facebook on February 7. Hot spots in the Skhid (East) sector were the town of Krasnohorivka, the village of Vodiane in the Pryazovia area (the north coast of the Sea of Azov), the village of Pisky, and the town of Maryinka (all are in Donetsk region). One member of Ukraine's JFO was wounded near Pisky. Another three casualties were reported near Maryinka where two were killed and one was injured in an explosion of an improvised explosive device. Read alsoTwo Ukrainian soldiers killed, one injured in booby-trap blast in Donbas Hot spots in the Pivnich (North) sector were the villages of Novozvanivka and Pivdenne. Two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded amid shooting with the use of rifles. The wounded were hospitalized, their condition is satisfactory. What is more, Russia-led troops used a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher to remotely plant POM-2 mines (Soviet-developed anti-personnel fragmentation mines) near Ukrainian positions close to the village of Luhanske, Since midnight on February 7, the situation in the JFO zone is under control by the Ukrainian military, the JFO HQ said. No violations of the ceasefire by Russia-led formation were recorded from 00:00 to 07:00 a.m. Kyiv time on February 7. Other related news reports Reporting by UNIAN New Delhi: The Karnataka health and family welfare department as part of its latest initiative to promote health welfare measures for the state citizens is thinking of partnering with a tobacco major to build super speciality government hospitals. This has ignited a debate, with public health activists calling it a case of conflict of interest. In an e-mail dated April 18, 2017, Shalini Rajneesh, principal secretary, health and family welfare department, wrote to Anil Rajput, senior vice president, corporate affairs, ITC Limited, elucidating the Karnataka's government's proposal to construct five super specialty hospitals and the chance for private companies to collaborate with the government in the project. A copy of the communication, available with TOI says, "As discussed, we are planning to set up five super specialty hospitals in five districts of Karnataka. We plan to build the hospital and invite PPP partners to come with doctors and equipment to run the hospital. The government will pay for the patients as per package costs pre-decided with a group of doctors both from the government and private sector... May I request you to put up this proposal before the ITC board, as early as possible?" Public health activists have called the attempt a case of conflict of interest. "Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control FCTC (UN Treaty fully signed and ratified by India) discourages any partnerships or interactions of government officials (involved in tobacco-related issues) and the tobacco industry, unless strictly for regulatory purposes," said an activist, on the condition of anonymity. Anti-corruption activist Ravi Krishna Reddy said, "Such partnerships allow the tobacco industry to make inroads into the health sector and influence government decisions. The Karnataka government itself, recognizing WHO guidelines, issued a circular in the past that government and elected officers shall not participate in tobacco industry related events. The recent move by the Karnataka health department to partner a tobacco firm now is a breach of public trust and a case of conflict of interest - as the tobacco firm gains close access to decision making authorities dealing with tobacco control." Supreme Court advocate KV Dhananjay said that over 10 lakh people in India die because of smoking. "There cannot be a more shameful act on the part of the Karnataka government. It is beyond my comprehension how the state government could ask a tobacco firm to build hospitals in partnership with the government to treat people stricken with cancer. Also, the enforcement of various tobacco control measures would be defeated if the very tobacco companies that should be strictly regulated also become financial partners with the government. There are other problematic aspects to such communications partnerships. The state government is mandated to do things to reduce tobacco use in society. In fact, the principal secretary herself is the chair of the state anti-tobacco cell."Health activists also say that CSR by the tobacco industry is another problematic feature. "WHO clearly denounces CSR by the tobacco industry. How can any activities be termed `socially responsible' when the core operations of the industry are against the social outcome - production of lethal products known to kill lakhs of Indians every year," said an activist. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 13:55:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HAVANA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Cuban government has approved the expansion of private sector employment, the official newspaper Granma reported on Saturday after a meeting of the Council of Ministers. Minister of Labor and Social Security Marta Elena Feito announced the modification of a list of activities approved for "self-employment," or the non-state sector. Of the more than 2,000 activities in which self-employment is allowed, "only 124 of them are limited, totally or partially," he said. The Council of Ministers decided that the limits of an activity will be determined on a case-by-case basis. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Planning Alejandro Gil called the measure a very important step to increase employment opportunities outside the state sector. More than 600,000 Cubans, or about 13 percent of the workforce, work outside the state sector. The expansion of private employment came after Cuba underwent a profound economic transformation earlier this year, which included monetary and exchange unification, elimination of excessive subsidies, and wage modifications. The approved expansion was announced in July last year as part of the government's Economic and Social Strategy to cope with the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Enditem Vietnam leaps on carbon credit craze The south-central province of Quang Nam has been waiting for the government to approve a pilot project on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and on selling carbon credits to the international market. Quang Nam has 628,000 hectares of natural forest, which has the capacity to absorb one million tonnes of CO2 per year. The province is expected to sell CO2 credits for $30 million by 2025, said Le Minh Hung, director of Quang Nam Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Hung is also director of the Management Board of the Truong Son Xanh forest-planting project. Although five groups from the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United States wish to purchase carbon credits from the Truong Son Xanh project, we have to wait for government approval. I think the prime ministers instruction to build a policy is convenient. However, it will still take a long time from building the policy to implementing the project. So, we still expect to receive the governments special mechanism, Hung said. This year is the first that Vietnam will receive payment under the Emission Reductions Payment Agreement (ERPA) signed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the World Banks Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) in late October last year. According to the agreement, Vietnam is expected to reduce 10.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from the six central provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue to receive $51.5 million from the FCPF. The fund to serve for emission reduction payment worldwide is estimated at $1.3 billion. Vietnam is the first country in Asia-Pacific and fifth globally to reach such a milestone agreement with the FCPF. Nguyen Dinh Dai, chief of the Medical Committee Netherlands-Vietnam in Central Vietnam, told VIR that it has facilitated smallholder forest owners of log-wood acacia plantations and community natural forest owners in preparing the dossier to access ERPA payments. This is being carried out through the PROSPER sustainable forest management initiative in Quang Tri, funded by the Medical Committee Netherlands-Vietnam and the European Union. If the payment mechanism is successful, I hope it will be extended nationwide, leading to encouraging sustainable forest management and development, Dai said. The programme marks the beginning of a new chapter for the country to continue to apply new and significant policies for forest protection and improved management. The Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre kicked off a campaign to plant 10 million new trees by 2025 at a ceremony held earlier this month, marking the first province in the country to launch the campaign in response to the prime ministers call for planting one billion trees in the next five years and Resolution No.120/NQ-CP on climate-resilient and sustainable development of the Mekong Delta region. Through the programme, the province will plant 10 million trees before 2025 with the desire to build Ben Tre as a green, clean, and beautiful industrial province. The execution is estimated to cost at VND50 billion ($2.17 million), which will be mobilised from the social sphere, including the business community. At the launch ceremony, the province received VND100 million ($4,350) donated by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh and an additional VND23.8 billion ($1.03 million) in cash donations from individuals, enterprises, and organisations to support Ben Tre in implementing the campaign. Among which, Dong Khoi Development and Investment JSC sponsored VND1 billion ($43,500) to the campaign. Tran Ngoc Tam, Chairman of Ben Tre Peoples Committee, called on the business community and others inside and outside the province to support the campaign in both human power and finance so that the goals can be attained. Along with Ben Tre, the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, through the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the support of BaoViet Life, kicked off the Vietnam Green Journey campaign to plant 2,500 indigenous trees on five hectares of land at Phong Dien Nature Reserve in Phong Dien district. According to Vice Chairman of Thua Thien-Hue Peoples Committee Nguyen Thanh Binh, the campaign is significant for afforestation and biodiversity conservation. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued an instruction on the tree planting campaign for the Lunar New Year and forest development and protection for the year. Similar tree-planting campaigns were first launched by President Ho Chi Minh in 1959, and it has since become an annual festival at the beginning of each Lunar New Year. Along with the significance, the call occurs in the context of natural disasters and climate change which have greatly affected residents, showing the importance of tree planting and forest protection. The country currently has 14.6 million hectares of forest, of which 4.3 million are grown forest and the rest natural. The nations forest coverage makes up more than 41 per cent of its total area, which is lower compared to 58 per cent in Cambodia and 68 per cent in Laos. Around 700,000ha of land in Vietnam is still available for afforestation purposes. Exploring carbon credit trade According to the calculations of the Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VAF) under the MARD, the country could reduce total carbon dioxide emissions by 24.6 million tonnes by 2025. After reducing 10.3 million tonnes committed with the FCPF, Vietnam can acquire additional tens of millions in US dollars from selling carbon credits of the remainder to partners for the global average of $5 per tonne of CO2. The purchase should become easier after Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in December assigned the MARD, in collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and relevant agencies, to build a policy to apply the forest environment and CO2 indexes in accordance with regulations. A survey by the Department of Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development under the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that in order to manufacture 10 million tonnes of steel, factories will emit 21 million tonnes of CO2. The CO2 emissions in the industry are forecast to reach 122.5 million tonnes by 2025 and increase to 133 million tonnes by 2030, accounting for 17 per cent of the whole countrys total. The major reason is the use of fossil fuels for production. A report from the MoNRE also showed that total solid waste discharged to the environment is on average 12 million tonnes per year, 90 per cent of which is treated. Meanwhile, total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated from the landfill of solid waste increased from 6.5 million tonnes of CO2 in 2014 to 8.1 million tonnes in 2017. It was estimated to hit around 10 million tonnes in 2020. According to Pham Van Dien, deputy director general of the VAF, the potential in carbon credits is within reach, but it is necessary to have an official specific guide from the government to determine emissions reduction quotas. In addition, policy is also required so that localities with low emissions can receive financial support from localities with large volumes. Potential land Under the Kyoto Protocols definitions, the clean development mechanism (CDM) allows a country with a GHG-reduction or emission-limitation commitment to implement an emission-reduction project in developing countries like Vietnam. Such projects can earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one tonne of CO2, which can be counted towards meeting Kyoto targets. According to the MARD, Vietnams forests can help lessen GHG emissions and cope with climate change via their big CO2-absorbing capacity. A number of local and foreign enterprises have already sniffed out CER opportunities in Vietnam, through forest plantation in particular. Many other CDM projects can be seen in Vietnam in various sectors such as renewable energy, waste management, chemicals, construction, transport, and agriculture. For instance, Hanoi has a project to recover and use discharged gas at the Nam Son waste treatment complex, which was Vietnams CDM-related environment project, was constructed in 2009 by PIJ-LFGC Vietnam, a Malaysian-Canadian joint venture company. This $7.5 million project, producing electricity from discharged gas, particularly methane, was implemented within 2009-2016, with a collected volume of about 2.3 million tonnes of CO2. Hanoi received 10 per cent of total revenues gained from the projects CERs and electricity sales. As Vietnam has yet to be obliged to reduce GHG emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, the CDM opens new opportunities for local companies and agencies to sell credits earned from actively cutting down emissions to potential buyers coming from developed economies. According to the MoNREs Agency for Meteorology Hydrology and Climate Change (AMHCC), Vietnams CDM project types include dumping ground gas recovery (7 per cent), methane recovery (27 per cent), afforestation and reforestation (4 per cent), wind power (4 per cent), hydroelectricity (54 per cent), and others (4 per cent). Vietnam ranks 11th and eighth in the world in terms of registered CDM projects and CERs, respectively. However, foreign investors also face with some difficulties when seeking local partners with sturdy capital contributions. Most local companies are small- and medium-sized ones, with limited understanding about CDM projects. Meanwhile, foreign companies want to cooperate with major local ones so that they can reap big profits and many credits, said an AMHCC expert. Why vaccinated people still need to wear a mask Many vaccines that were made in record time racing against the pandemic are now being successfully rolled out across the world. Those from Pfizer and Moderna have shown to trigger robust immune response, while the Astrazeneca shot, made in parternship with Oxford University, is reasonably effective as well. These vaccines have successfully proven effective in trials and now, after the roll-out, that they are safe and help people from getting sick. However, there is little information or proof that these shots will stop the transmission -- that is, people spreading the virus even after vaccination. It is completely possible that some of those inoculated will get infected without developing symptoms, and could then silently transmit the virus especially if they come in close contact with others or stop wearing masks. Read here Let's look at global statistics Global infections: 105,774,932 Global deaths: 2,309,567 Nations with most cases: US (26,917,790), India (10,826,363), Brazil (9,447,165), United Kingdom (3,941,273), Russia (3,907,653). Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center Complete strangers in Hong Kong helping ease pandemic pain of others When the pandemic hit Hong Kong late March last year, a group of complete strangers came together to create a facebook community called Hong Kong quarantine support group, that seeks to look after the physical and mental needs of those in grueling quarantine periods. No one knew how long this experiment would last in the initial phase as none predicted that the virus would drag on. Now, with over 30,000 members, the group has become a refuge of positivity and compassion. The community members will drop off the saliva samples of those in quarantine, bringing people groceries, walk their dogs, celebrate birthdays of the kids and most importantly listen to the pain and hardships of people in quarantine. Read here WHO plans vaccine approvals for global rollout With rich nations already securing millions of doses through billion-dollar deals with vaccine makers, poor nations were left with no option but to rely on WHO for the shots. COVAX, a WHO initiative set up to facilitate vaccines for the poor, has so far not been able to do so on the scale that it had aimed to due to the shortage of funds. But now the WHO is planning to expedite approvals for several western and chinese vaccines, in line with the global rollout plans. The Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) could be authorised by the WHO in next few months, according to an internal document of the Covax seen by Reuters. Read here How effective is the Oxford vaccine for the over-65s? The United Kingdom and European medical agencies have cleared Astrazeneca vaccine made with Oxford University a while ago and the countries have rolled out the vaccine successfully. However, Germany, France and six other European nations have recommended it only for those under 65, Belgium and Italy for people under 55 and Switzerland for nobody at all. The reason partly for such varied regulatory decisions is because of the serious under representation of over 65 age group in trials. Just 665 people were aged 65 in trials or about 6 per cent of participants. The story suggests one cannot estimate efficacy from this data alone. Many regulatory agencies concluded there was insufficient evidence on older people. Having said that, lack of data doesn't mean that there is lack of protection. If the available scientific evidence is anything to go by, as with other mRNA vaccines, the AstraZeneca shot has similar levels of neutralising antibodies across age. It is reasonable to assume protection in older people will be like that in younger adults. Read here In a recent study, scientists have revealed that Mars is experiencing Marsquakes which is keeping the planet seismically active. A team of ten scientists in recent research published in Science Advances say the planet also has mysterious Recurring Slope Lineae (RSL) which gained attention and curiosity from various scientists over the years. These RSL are similar to landslides on Mars but the cause of these landslides is unknown even now. Reuters "We see them from orbit by the dark streaks they produce on the ground and they tend to always occur on sun-facing slopes, which led geologists to think they were related to melting ice early on," Bishop, a senior research scientist at the SETI Institute in California said. Also Read: Humans Will Be On Mars In Just Over Five Years, Says Elon Musk In ClubHouse It has also been observed that these mainly take place in areas with little ice. "The interesting thing is that they increase over months following dust storms and then fade away, and they appear to form repeatedly in the same regions. Also, a large number of these are forming in the equatorial part of Mars, where there is very little ice," Bishop explained. Reuters The current study widens this observation with a near-surface cryosalt activity model based on field observations and lab experiments. Also Read: You Can Spot Uranus In The Sky Tonight, Between Mars and Moon: Here's How Earth, too, has seen some similar happenings in areas such as the Atacama desert in Chile, parts of Antarctica and the Dead Sea. Scientists have observed that landslides and surface collapse have occurred in these regions when salt interacts with water or sulfates. summarizer.co "Antarctica and the Atacama are excellent analogs for Mars because they are ultra dry environments," Bishop explained. "Antarctica has the added benefit that it is super cold. Parts of Antarctica including Beacon Valley are actually on par with Mars for temperature and aridity." Applying the same logic, the study suggests that the RSL means that the red planet contains natural salts and ice underneath its surface. The team also ran experiments replicating the behaviour of chlorine salts and sulfates, including gypsum, under low temperatures just like in Mars to demonstrate how interrelated these salts are. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday (local time) announced that President Joe Biden's administration has begun the process to terminate migration agreements from former President Donald Trump's administration with El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. According to CNN, the US signed agreements with Guatemala in July 2019 and with El Salvador and Honduras in September 2019 that would have limited the ability of some asylum seekers from those countries to claim asylum in the US and would instead have had them seek protection in their countries of origin. In his statement, Blinken mentioned that "transfers under the US-Guatemala Asylum Cooperative Agreement had been paused since mid-March 2020 due to COVID-19, and the Agreements with El Salvador and Honduras were never implemented." The top US diplomat called the move to suspend the Asylum Cooperative Agreements with the three Northern Triangle nations as the "first concrete steps" on the path to greater partnership and collaboration in the region laid out by Biden, reported CNN. "In line with the President's vision, we have notified the Governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras that the United States is taking this action as efforts to establish a cooperative, mutually respectful approach to managing migration across the region begin," Blinken said. "The Biden administration believes there are more suitable ways to work with our partner governments to manage migration across the region... The United States will build on our strong relationships and support these governments' efforts to address forced displacement without placing undue burden on them, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our approach will continue to provide support for their national action plans under the Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework through international humanitarian partners," he added. 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 Democratic Republic of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi has now taken over the helm of affairs at the African Union to serve as chairman for one year. He replaces his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, following the AU's 34th summit on Saturday. But Tshisekedi faces big challenges this year with the coronavirus pandemic hitting health service and economies hard. The continent has so far been hit less hard than other regions, recording 3.5 percent of global virus cases and 4 percent of global deaths, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). But many African countries are battling damaging second waves while straining to procure sufficient vaccine doses. African leaders are speaking out against hoarding by rich countries at the expense of poorer ones. "There is a vaccine nationalism on the rise, with other rich countries jumping the queue, some even pre-ordering more than they require," said Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the AU's executive body, the African Union Commission, in a recent interview, the AU posted online. Vaccine financing is also expected to be discussed at the summit. Other issues facing the continent are the Nile Dam dispute and conflicts in Ethiopia's Tigray, the Sahel, and the Central African Republic. Source: africanews.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 By Michelle C. Salon Graduate Student, Master in Development Communication University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) IT WAS a bleak Tuesday afternoon that warned of another rainy sky in this part of Cebu City when I got the confirmation of a phone interview appointment with our barangay captain, Hon. Ronilo Ronie M. Sab-a. Part of a dutiful requirement for my graduate studies, conducting this interview through the phone was the only choice due to the Covid-19 crisis. The appointment set was at 4:30 p.m. After a series of text messages and confirmation from his secretary that he has arrived at the office, I called. I introduced myself and told him I was very grateful for being granted the interview at very short notice. His friend, the school director of the technical-vocational school I am a mentor of and my main connection to his office, arranged this with his secretary, Ms. Mila, only that morning. But in less than two minutes through the phone conversation, Kap Ronie suddenly said that he prefers a personal meeting in his office, explaining that he finds it hard to listen and talk over the phone. Avoiding a lump of dead air, I simply said, rather hesitant, Okay, Kap. Ill be there in a while. Goodbye, phone interview, and sorry, my sisters --- I need to do this interview face-to-face. So I hung up, got my mask and face shield, and headed off to Barangay Luzs barangay hall. In less than a hundred strides, I was there. His office is actually just right beside our residences complex. We are only a high wall apart. Covid-19 has changed the way we do things and look at people and events. What used to be so near now seemed so far. It made us enter something like a warp zone where you must be conditioned to follow some new rules ... Distance yourself from the people you meet or talk to. Why isnt this person wearing a mask? Is this person coughing before me infected? Do I spray alcohol first on the metal doorknob before entering? What is the protocol again on physical distancing? 1 or 2 meters? ... And perhaps a thousand questions more keep nagging in our heads. What has become of us during this so-called global health emergency crisis? Are you and I better or worse? Story continues I have visited the barangay hall before the pandemic struck, to report about a lady who was lying naked on the street on my way home. There are usually many bystanders outside the main door on the ground floor, with a few vendors still trying to sell their foodstuff to the barangay employees who lounge in the open area. But this afternoon was different. No vendors were insight. Only one staff greeted me by the main door as I entered. She said Kap Ronies office was on the second floor. Going up, I met three ladies, possibly barangay office workers, on their way home. When I reached the second-floor landing, I was greeted by a male staff who said that Kap was waiting inside the conference room. I saw him right away since the room had glass walls. And then, I saw Ms. Mila, his secretary, coming out. She was very cordial and greeted me, then led me inside the conference room. Kap Ronie was waiting. I greeted him in Cebuano, and he greeted me back. Without any warm handshakes, he asked me to sit down, and we restarted the interview. In the late 1950s, Barangay Luz was originally a relocation site for victims of the fire in the city. Named after Mrs. Luz Magsaysay, the wife of the late President Ramon Magsaysay who helped in the relocation, Barangay Luz started housing thousands of Cebuanos and quickly became a slum area at the heart of Cebu City. Kap Ronie grew up in this neighborhood. He told me that if he were to be asked how he would describe this barangay he had grown to love, he would reply: Ours is a history of struggle: the struggle to own their respective individual home lots. From being dubbed as the dirtiest barangay in the city to being touted as a model barangay because of its best practices and commitment to sustainability and entrepreneurial management, Barangay Luz has risen to be the home of resilient Cebuanos: men and women who know where they want to go and who they want to be. However, before all these, the hurdles to surpass were issues that seemed insurmountable: drug addiction, robbery, garbage management, frequent community fires, and unemployment, among others. So, how did Barangay Luz do it? What made this big turnaround possible? Kap Ronie attributed it to what he calls participatory government and transparency. With proactive and supportive guides in the political arena, the barangay officials went to work. They made partnerships with private organizations that are committed to education, transfer technology, and sustainability. This resulted in various projects for women and the youth, one of which is dubbed as Mano-Mano: Handcrafted Art Made From Waste. The International Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IPI) became one of the barangays staunch supporters. Providing waste materials like plastic, paper, and straw, the female constituents of the barangay were taught how to turn these into woven, handcrafted items like bags, purses, fashion accessories, and office file organizers. This project generated jobs and uplifted the economic condition of Barangay Luzs families. Currently, these products are being showcased on the second floor of the barangay hall. Aside from the Mano-Mano project, the Rotary Club of Guadalupe also provided sewing machines and leftover cloth materials for these to be turned into rags. Again, this provided livelihood opportunities to mostly women constituents of the barangay. When the pandemic struck in March of last year, operations for livelihood had to be halted. But the good news is the demand for the products the women started making continued somehow. While practicing physical distancing and other health protocols, sewing leftover cloth materials continued in their respective homes. Another livelihood project for women came about because of the barangays partnership with the Banilad Center for Professional Development (BCPD), a technical-vocational school that taught women constituents how to cook and bake, sell their products, and become entrepreneurs in the process. This was dubbed as The Megamoms Project. With or without the Covid-19 crisis, the food business of the Megamoms group continued to generate income for the families of the barangays ladies who joined forces with them. The Megamoms currently own an eatery space along Archbishop Reyes Avenue. For programs empowering the youth, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) partnered with the barangay by providing full scholarship opportunities for those interested to learn short courses in Automotive, Driving, Cosmetology and Tailoring. With only 15 interested applicants, a vocational course can start running in the nearby Tesda training facility. The search for Tesda scholars among the youth of the barangay is an ongoing project. You may call it miraculous, but yes, the barangay and its people have found a way to survive during this crisis. Hitting the headlines in March 2020 with one of its sitios, Zapatera, under strict lockdown due to more than a hundred infected individuals, the number of Covid-19 recoveries has increased considerably. Even with the continuing challenges, Barangay Luz residents have taken on the reins of their lives and learned to be steadfast in fighting for what can make them survive. Kap Ronie says, We are officially counted as a tourist destination now, recommended by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to be visited by foreigners who wish to know about sustainable practices adopted by the urban poor in the city. You may or may not believe it, but before the pandemic, there had been tourist buses parked outside the barangay hall. Foreigners were being toured inside the small halls of the barangay just to see the handcrafted products of the Mano-Mano project. The road to success may still be far off before this barangay can fully rise as a strong and respected constituency in the city. However, one thing is for sure. With the proactive and persistent attitude of its people, embracing success --- as we know it, may just be waiting around the bend. As I wrapped up the interview, I thanked Kap Ronie for sharing his time and stories with me. What I heard from him that afternoon served as an eye-opener for me. I realized that I do not know my barangay that much. I have never walked its inner streets long enough. I did not mingle with enough Barangay Luz people to say that I know what their aspirations are, the difficulties they are going through and what they are capable of doing to help themselves rise out of poverty. Strangely, I felt I needed to know more. All of a sudden, it seemed the pandemic has lost its power. Walking back home, wearing my face shield and mask, I muttered to myself ... perhaps, another visit will not hurt. Postscript: Barangay Luz is currently on lockdown since January 26, 2021, following a spate of Covid-19 infections reported from several sitios. In spite of this, Barangay Luz is hopeful that its constituents shall recover from this fresh adversity, as we continue to wage this battle against the Covid-19 virus. Ahead of Sasikala's return to Tamil Nadu, T T V Dhinakaran earlier said that, a grand welcome awaited Sasikala in the state. The ruling AIADMK party lodged a police complaint against Sasikala and her aides alleging a conspiracy to unleash violence and sought action to ensure peace in the state. VK Sasikala, close aide of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, is likely to return to Chennai on Monday. The expelled AIADMK leader was freed from the Parappana Agrahara Prison in Bengaluru on January 27, after she completed her four-year jail term in a corruption case. She was imprisoned on February 15, 2017. While her nephew and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary, T T V Dhinakaran earlier said that, a grand welcome awaited Sasikala in Tamil Nadu, the ruling-AIADMK party lodged a police complaint against Sasikala and her aides alleging a conspiracy to unleash violence and sought action to ensure peace in the state. As Dhinakaran declared the AIADMKs claims as false and defamatory, the police department warned of action against activities contrary to law. A high level AIADMK meet, chaired by Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam was also held in Chennai on Saturday. Party spokesperson and former Minister Vaigaichelvan told reporters that there was no discussion on Sasikala factor at all. To a question, he said if anyone from the AIADMK met her they would be dismissed from the party. Law Minister C V Shanmugam said a complaint has been submitted with police seeking to, Thwart a conspiracy to unleash violence and protect the lives of Tamil Nadu people and properties from Sasikala and Dhinakaran and ensure peace. Flanked by his Cabinet colleagues and party veteran E Madhusudhanan, Shanmugam alleged the conspiracy has been hatched to create violence by using AIADMKs name and flag. Also read: Myanmar coup: As US considers imposing sanctions, all eyes on India to clarify its position Intimidatory remarks, tantamount to creating violence in the state have been made by Dhinakaran and his supporters, he alleged. The Minister said that Dhinakaran had claimed that they could not be prevented from using the AIADMKs flag even if they went to the state police chief or the armed forces. Dhinakaran and Sasikalas supporters have also warned of turning into human bombs, which may put Tamil Nadu, its people and peace at risk, he alleged. Meanwhile, Dhinakaran dismissed the allegation as distortion, lies and defamation. In a statement, the AMMK leader claimed that police department has accorded sanction to the partys plan to accord reception to Sasikala at several places in Tamil Nadu on Monday. The AMMK has already announced a grand reception for Sasikala right from the start of Tamil Nadu border near Hosur. The police department, without naming anyone, in a statement said it has got information that some were planning to take law into their own hands and cause a breach of public tranquility and disrupt traffic movement. The state police warned of action against those who involved in such unlawful activities and this is seen as a warning to the AMMK following the AIADMKs complaint. Also read: NY State Assembly passes resolution declaring Feb 5 as Kashmir American Day The Libyan National Army (LNA) has welcomed the election of a transitional executive authority in the country. LNA spokesman Maj. Gen. Ahmad al-Mismari said that LNA led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar welcomed the election of a transitional executive authority in the country. Mismari expressed his congratulations in a video saying that "Libyans hope that the activities of the new executive leaders of Libya will prepare all the conditions for holding national elections on December 24, 2021." Turkey welcomed the election of the transitional executive authority in Libya. Advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Yassin Aktai, told saod that the election will not have an impact on the Turkish military presence in Libya. The LNA also hailed the peace efforts of UN Acting Special Envoy and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Stephanie Williams. Earlier, Prime Minister of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez Sarraj welcomed the election of the transitional executive authority in Libya. The Swiss-hosted Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) On Friday elected an interim unity government that will be in charge until a national general election scheduled for December 24. The LPDF elected Mohammad Younes Menfi, former GNA ambassador in Greece, as the new head of the Presidency Council. Also Read: Bomb attack on security outpost in Afghan's Nangarhar, 1 cop killed Earthquake tremors felt once again in Japan India reports fresh 12,059 coroa cases, India's tally reaches 1,08,26,363 As the recall effort against California Gov. Gavin Newsom heats up, former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer is hoping to accomplish what no Republican has since 2003: become governor of one of the bluest states in the country. I believe Californians want a change, Faulconer said. As we look at the reality, we all love our state, but what were seeing is jobs are fleeing. Our state cant do the basics. Faulconer, who served as mayor from 2014 to 2020, announced his candidacy this week following months of attacks against Newsom over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. In an online video released Monday, the 54-year-old moderate depicted California as a failed state fraught with scandal and a worsening quality of life. He said he is running to make a difference, not to make promises. Hes failed us, Faulconer said of Newsom in the video. I know we can clean up California. As of this week, volunteers have collected more than 1.4 million signatures statewide in support of recalling Newsom. The campaign must gather 1.5 million signatures by mid-March to force an election, and it will need a surplus of signatures because some are likely to be disqualified during the certification process. State officials had verified 410,000 as of early January. Fueled by an economic downturn during the coronavirus pandemic, Newsom critics say the governor has kept public schools closed too long and failed to fix the states unemployment benefits system, its record homelessness and an affordable housing shortage. According to a poll released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, 54 percent of Californians approve of Newsoms job performance, down from 65 percent in May. What started as a conservative-led recall effort has gained bipartisan support in recent months with Democrats also criticizing Newsom over his shifting Covid-19 vaccine strategy and for allowing schools to stay closed. Now, Faulconer is promising a "California comeback" if voters chose him over Newsom. Story continues The recall will happen, said Thad Kousser, political science professor at the University of California, San Diego. Clearly Republicans smell blood, and this is the best shot of flipping a blue state. Still, Kousser described Faulconers chances of beating Newsom as a long shot. The Republican party [in California] has been declining steadily, and really became politically irrelevant, he said. You had a Republican party that was clearly putting itself at odds with the diverse electorate of California. Faulconer considers himself a different kind of conservative. Raised in Oxnard, a coastal city northwest of Los Angeles, Faulconer learned Spanish at an early age and has stayed away from the anti-immigrant rhetoric that ultimately doomed another Republican, former Gov. Pete Wilson. Faulconer won two terms in a majority Democratic city with a majority Democratic council. As mayor of California's second-largest city, with a population of 1.4 million, he helped to curb homelessness in San Diego, relocating people living on the streets to the citys convention center after a hepatitis A outbreak swept through the population. Afterward, his office's efforts helped hundreds of people without homes to find housing solutions, NBC San Diego reported. We have to say that it is unacceptable to allow people to live and die on our sidewalks, Faulconer said. I believe individuals have a right to shelter. Despite some achievements in alleviating the citys homelessness problem, Faulconer has been criticized for relying too heavily on law enforcement to sweep people off the streets. Police teams cleaned up sidewalks and cleared encampments, and a new law banned sleeping in cars. People experiencing homelessness were swept into temporary shelters, but housing costs remain high throughout the city. Under his watch, the Chargers football team relocated to Los Angeles after 55 years. Faulconer said the decision was made by the team: "It was a done deal." Another likely challenge for Faulconer is his support for former President Donald Trump. He voted for Trump in 2020 after saying four years earlier that his divisive rhetoric is unacceptable, the Los Angeles Times reported. Since November, Faulconer has brushed aside any potential handicap his voting record could pose in a state that voted overwhelmingly for President Joe Biden. We have our own unique brand, he said of conservatives in California. I consider myself a California Republican who is fiscally sound, cares about the environment, builds bridges and gets results. Faulconer is one of several Republicans who have signaled interest in unseating Newsom. Businessman John Cox is considering a run against the governor if the recall effort is successful. It would be the second time Cox takes on Newsom - he lost to the current governor in 2018. Faulconer said that even if he does not succeed in beating Newsom during a special election, he will run for governor again in 2022. For the neighbors in Venice Beach, California, Hunter Biden has his uses. The president's son, famous for his skeezy business dealings, multiple hookups, dissolute personal history, and new a career as an "artist" and "author," now has the Secret Service following him around. According to the Daily Mail, which did the full papparazzi photo spread here: Hunter has some fresh cash to help pay for the pricey rental. On Thursday it was revealed he has written a memoir titled Beautiful Things, that will be published April 6. The advance for the book is said to be as much as $2million. Before his father took office, Hunter and his family had been keeping a low profile during the pandemic and had been cooped up in their former home, a rented luxury $3.8million three-bed pad perched on the Hollywood Hills. It's understood Hunter was paying $12,000 a month for the mid-century modern 2,000 sq ft house with stunning views and a swimming pool. But it's likely he and his wife wanted more space to raise their son Beau and sought out something bigger. The Hollywood Hills house was also located in a secluded community tucked away in a private lower hillside area. The outgoing pair may have wanted to be closer to the action and the Venice pad, which is just a block from the beach and a short walk to trendy Abbot Kinney Blvd which is bustling with shops and cafes, fits the bill. Which is kind of a goofy analysis because 'space' isn't what Venice, population 28,000, is famous for. It's a rich (income per capita $94,000) tightly packed neighborhood, where parking, if you know the place, is pretty well non-existent. I don't even know how the Secret Service could follow anyone around in a place like that, they sure as heck would block alleys in their big black cars. They also would have a hell of a time surveilling Hunter's new palace owing to all the other buildings in the vicinity, and no matter how they did it, there's no way they couldn't be conspicuous. It's a cute hipster area, though, full of Los Angeles's rich and freewheeling artsy hippies and many Hollywood types. I used to go see performance art and street art shows there, visit cutting-edge restaurants, and buy textiles or beads there, which kind of gives you the idea. It's sort of an Encinitas for people who like density. Here's a Pixabay picture of a residential street: As you may expect, the place is lefty, with about 90% all the precincts in Venice zip code 90291 in 2020 voting for old Joe. Which is where this story gets interesting. Hunter Biden's neighbors are happy to see him there, not because of his politics, which is a nothingburger over there, but because of his security. They like him there because of the quasi police he has tagging around with him as he makes his rounds. Here's the buried lede from the Daily Mail, taken from pure street reporting. Here are what three of the locals are saying, emphasis mine: Ricky Otterstrom, senior vice president of Ryker Flint, a commercial real estate brokerage, has lived in Venice Beach for 15 years, tells DailyMail.com: 'I see Hunter Biden's secret service parked out front of his house every morning when I walk to the beach to surf. 'They are there 24/7 which is a plus for us here on the Venice Canals. We need the extra security considering the amount of crime we have. Interestingly the homeless people who were living up along the street he now lives on are gone. 'It could be a coincidence or the city had them removed because of Hunter. I think his presence will help clean up the area and I hope he gets involved with the community. It's a tight community with great people.' ...and... Long-time Venice Beach resident Mark tells DailyMail.com, 'Having him as a neighbor can only be a good thing and hopefully he will get involved with this homeless crisis that needs to be addressed. The extra security around here is a big bonus.' ...and... Darin Grant who lives a few houses away from Hunter tells DailyMail.com, 'l welcome him and his family. Having secret service in the area will keep us all safer. I appreciate anyone who is open about their story of recovery. The unspoken story here is that like nearby Santa Monica, the crime is out of control. The enclave coddles homessless as a lifestyle, and the homeless industrial complex has grown powerful. That's drawn very large amounts of homelessness and with it, property crime. And now that these Democrats have elected George Gascon as district attorney, a Soros-financed far-leftist whose agenda is to let them all out; refusing to prosecute quality of life crimes, or for that matter, almost any crimes, somehow, despite their voting patterns, they're happy to see some cops. Nice privilege if you can get it. The place as it happens is 66% white, and now with Secret Service protection, they're basically saying let the poorer neighborhoods, the ones Hunter won't live in, deal with criminals and bums now roaming free in the zero-prosecution set-up. They've got federal Secret Service, now. They've got theirs. Because the hard fact is, everyone can live a crime-free lifestyle. There's no reason a place like Venice, or any enclave within Los Angeles County, should have to put up with assaults, robberies, property crimes and pandhandling. The way it's done is not by having Hunter and his Secret Service move in, but by electing decent, rule-of-law, prosecutors, and fully funding the police. Rule of law has its benefits, for everyone, not just the privileged few. Yet that's not the leftist orthodoxy and in Venice, and the rest of them, they don't elect those kinds of people. In Venice, it's pretty obvious that the locals like living crime-free, which is actually perfectly natural. Yet it's puzzling as heck to see that they make no connection to the crime that's there and the result of their own voting choices. For them, there are no consequences at all now, because they've got a federal bailout, known as the Secret Service. Too bad about the others stuck with increasing crime. Life with dissolute Hunter, has its privileges. Image: Pixabay, Pixabay / both Pixabay License Photo: The Canadian Press Diane Van Keulen, shown in a handout photo, a lung cancer patient from Ontario, has been battling the disease since 2019. She says she delayed her potential recovery and treatment out of fear of COVID-19. While the prospect of mass vaccination has raised hopes of the COVID-19 crisis soon waning, oncologists and cancer researchers say one of its grim legacies may be a lingering increase in cancer mortality rates. The pandemic caused a "dramatic" drop in cancer screenings such as mammograms and colonoscopies, leading to fewer diagnoses, according to Dr. Gerald Batist, the head of the Segal Cancer Centre at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital. "It just looks like less people were diagnosed, and they were, but there weren't fewer people with that diagnosis," Batist said in a phone interview. "They simply weren't found." According to a report released last month, the Quebec government estimates that some 4,119 people with cancer went undiagnosed due to a drop in screening programs. At the Cedars Cancer Centre of the MUHC, new patients were down 22 per cent compared with the previous year, while the number of cancer surgeries declined 11 per cent. The trend was similar in other provinces. In Alberta, for example, the number of new invasive cancer diagnoses reported to the provincial cancer registry declined 10 per cent relative to 2019 after the pandemic hit, according to Alberta Health Services, which noted that those numbers would be expected to increase due to a growing and aging population. Even Nova Scotia, which has comparatively few COVID-19 cases, saw a 15 per cent reduction in the number of cancer surgeries booked over the summer, likely due to a shutdown in screening services and people having trouble accessing their primary care physicians, according to the senior director of the province's Cancer Care program. Dr. Helmut Hollenhorst said it is possible that the temporary suspension of cancer screening programs and other services during the first wave may result in more patients being diagnosed at a later stage in the future, but there is no data yet to confirm this. Batist said that in Montreal during the first wave, doctors were forced to triage cancer patients, deciding which ones could wait longer for surgeries without affecting their prognosis an anxiety-inducing prospect for patients and physicians alike. "We felt for the most part that our judgments were right," he said. "And for some cases, it was detrimental to the patients." Batist said it will take a couple of years to know whether the interruptions will have a negative impact on survival rates. But he says that, anecdotally, he and other doctors are seeing newly diagnosed patients come in with more advanced cancers, perhaps reflecting a delay in screening. Diane Van Keulen, a 60-year-old lung cancer patient from Beaverton, about an hour north of Toronto, knows the impact the pandemic can have on patients. At the beginning of August, after a recent bout of chemotherapy, she resisted going to the emergency room for three weeks out of fear of catching the virus, despite severe gastrointestinal and heart issues. When her husband finally insisted on taking her into the hospital on Aug. 22, she learned that her symptoms were due to one of her tumours having tripled in size within weeks. "I delayed my own potential recovery and treatment because I was too terrified to go into the waiting room," she said in a phone interview. Van Keulen is now on a new drug that is helping. But she wonders what might have happened had she gone to hospital earlier. "Rather than the tumours growing as big as they did, they would have been a bit smaller when I started this treatment, and maybe the treatment would have been more effective," she said. Cancer advocates say the pandemic has affected patients in countless ways, from the stress of delayed treatments to the difficult logistics of hotel stays for multi-day treatments. For many, one of the hardest parts has been having to face life-altering appointments alone due to restrictions on visitors and travel bans, according to Jackie Manthorne, the president and CEO of the Canadian Cancer Survivor Network. "One woman from P.E.I. (told me) her family's on the Prairies, and she can't go there and they can't go to P.E.I.," Manthorne said. "She's afraid she won't see them again." Van Keulen says that her cancer is advanced enough that none of her treatments were delayed. But she says her care still suffered, partly because most doctors' appointments shifted online, depriving her physician of the ability to observe her condition. During the pandemic's second wave, Batist says, hospitals have started to catch up on delayed procedures. In recent weeks, the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has dropped, freeing up resources. Cancer research has also suffered during the pandemic due to the cancellation of major fundraisers, lab closures and the shift of some resources toward the COVID-19 effort. Last year, the Canadian Cancer Society's research budget was slashed due to a drop in fundraising, even though government funding was maintained, according to the group's vice-president for research. "It does have an immediate and very strong effect on the charitable sector, and their ability to continue with their research funding at the same level," Dr. Judith Bray said in a phone interview. While the group managed to shift to online fundraising, and labs are getting back to work, she says it will be a while until they're at full pace. But Batiste and Bray maintain that the pandemic's impact on cancer research has not been all negative. Both noted that COVID-19 has increased global research collaboration, sped up processes, created a push for open-access publications and highlighted the crucial role of scientists all of which can help cancer research in the future. Bray notes that some of the therapies studied to fight the pandemic could potentially help cancer patients as well, noting that the mRNA technology used in the COVID-19 vaccines was originally developed in the oncology field. "I do think that in the end, research overall, scientific research and particularly health research will benefit from some of the things we've had to do," she said. New Delhi, Feb 7 : They are not technical enough to siphon off money from your account as cyber criminals sitting at a distant location in Jamtara in Jharkhand do, yet they are smart enough to uproot an entire ATM machine in localities in populated neighborhoods in the heart of the capital. However, there is a difference - the cyber fraud depends on you falling in the trap and they cannot harm you physically whereas the ATM looting gangs can even open fire once confronted or challenged. In recent times, the Delhi Police has launched a major offensive against the ATM busting gangs in the capital with the specialised units like Special Cell and Crime Branch also engaged in neutralising these gangs and the gang members. The gang members spray black paint on CCTV cameras after entering ATM booths. They open the ATMs with the help of gas cutters and remove the cash cabins. After removing cash, they used to throw parts of the ATMs to avoid being caught. The accused use various vehicles including SUVs in the commission of these crimes in Delhi. Sometimes, they even uproot the machine by tying it to their vehicle and flee with the machines. Last year in March, a gang tried to uproot an ATM from Jamia Nagar's Okhla Vihar but faced stiff resistance from the residents after which the gang members had to flee, leaving the ATM machine behind but not before firing rounds at the residents. Luckily, no one was injured. On February 3, the Delhi Police Special Cell arrested a gang member who was involved in multiple cases of ATM loot. The accused Liyakat had 12 cases of breaking into ATMs and taking cash in Delhi. "Members of this gang siphoned off cash amounting to Rs 1.35 lakh from these 12 ATMs. They used to spray black paint on CCTV cameras after entering ATM booths. They used to open the ATMs with the help of gas cutters and remove the cash cabins," said P.S. Kushwah, DCP Special Cell. Further interrogation of the accused revealed that Liyakat is no ordinary criminal but is involved in about two dozen cases including cases of attempt to murder, assault on police, hurt, criminal intimidation, Arms Act, cattle smuggling, theft etc in Delhi and Haryana. He has been committing crimes for the last 7 years. On February 4, the Special Cell arrested a criminal identified as Shahid after exchange of fire near Kalindi Kunj-Sarita Vihar road near railway line in southeast Delhi. Shahid received a bullet injury in his leg. Shahid is a notorious robber of Mewat area and he has been regularly committing crimes in Delhi-NCR and other states for more than 20 years. He is wanted in more than 10 new cases (unsolved) of breaking into ATMs in these states. In Delhi, he is involved in 10 cases and is wanted in two cases of looting ATMs and taking away cash amounting to Rs 60 lakh. The increasing number of cases of ATM theft has set the Delhi Police in action and the cops are now developing intelligence inputs over the functioning of these gangs and the active and dormant gang members in Delhi and NCR. Senior police officers are also regularly holding meetings with bank officials and encouraging them to take preventive measures like installing hidden cameras, strengthening ATM base and deploying armed security guards at the ATMs. (Zafar Abbas can be reached at zafar.a@ians.in) Loading The shift could be seen in the release of the governments technology road map in September. To the dismay of many climate scientists the document championed the use of gas, but tellingly it barely mentioned coal. In keeping with Coalition climate doctrine it included no reductions targets and no price on carbon. Emissions would be achieved by backing new technologies rather than penalising old industries. If it cut emissions by the amount the international community was increasingly demanding, that would be almost incidental, Morrison seemed to suggest when flagging the plan in Parliament. Were putting together the technology plan, and a technology road map ... which may well exceed a zero net carbon outcome in 2050, he said. It may well exceed that. But those opposite came up with a target, they had no clue what it would cost, no clue how they would get there. Due to the pandemic the UN climate talks in Glasgow set for last November were delayed by a year but diplomatic pressure was mounting on Australia to take more climate action nonetheless. For host Boris Johnson, a successful summit had become a legacy issue and the UK Prime Minister kept ramping up his own goals. The UK, he said, would not only hit net-zero by 2050, but reduce emissions by 68 per cent on 1990 levels by the end of the decade. This pressure grew with Joe Bidens victory in the United States in November. When it became clear Morrison would not be offered a speaking slot at an interim climate meeting in December, the PM instead announced to a meeting of Pacific island leaders that Australia would not use controversial Kyoto credits the government claimed to have earned by beating reductions targets set under a previous treaty in meeting its Paris goals. Were committed to achieving net-zero emissions as soon as possible, he said. Our long-term emissions reduction strategy, to be lodged ahead of COP26 [United Nations Climate talks], will provide the necessary detail on our plan, but much has already been released. In January Morrison took another rhetorical step, telling The Australian that the shift towards a net-zero economy was inevitable. It is now about the how, not the if That is what Im saying in G20; that is what Im saying in G7, he said. They are the conversations that I have, whether it is with the Europeans, or with the Japanese or whoever else We all want to get there. It is not about the politics any more, it is about the technology. None of these statements, nor the drift that they chart, have been accidental, Liberal MPs have told the Herald and the Age. In the words of one, Morrison has long been aware he cannot attend the Glasgow talks and be isolated alongside a small handful of climate recalcitrants in the face of Australias allies and trading partners. Loading Nor can he risk firm declarations of reductions goals that are anathema to those in the Coalition who oppose any action. Morrison is inoculating himself with language that signals the change to them without forcing their hand to action, one of his MPs says. His shift has not gone unnoticed in climate science circles either. Professor Lesley Hughes, a counsellor with the Climate Council says it is clear the PMs progression is real. I think he is boiling the frog, getting opponents, mainly in the National party, used to the idea of action. He knows in the general community there is a political advantage in acting, she says. Rome, Feb 7 : Juventus have moved to the third place on the Serie A table after securing a comfortable 2-0 home victory over Roma in their latest encounter. Cristiano Ronaldo scored one and forced a Roger Ibanez's own goal. The Bianconeri had won five games on the bounce before Saturday's game and were fresh from a Coppa Italia win over Inter Milan in midweek, reports Xinhua news agency. Ronaldo, who just turned 36 one day before, marked his birthday with an opening goal in the 12th minute as the talisman collected from Alvaro Morata on the edge of the box before finishing with a left-footed strike. The home side should have doubled the lead 10 minutes later, but Ronaldo saw his shot bounce off the woodwork. As Roma was pinning Juventus back, the Old Lady made it 2-0 in the 68th minute when Dejan Kulusevski burst down the right and squared for a well-positioned Ronaldo, but Ibanez accidentally slid it into his own net under the pressure. Juventus leapfrogs Roma into third place with 42 points, two ahead of the Giallorossi. Elsewhere, Genoa stunned Napoli as veteran Goran Pandev's brace helped the Grifone earn a 2-1 shock victory, while Atalanta fumbled a 3-0 lead and only settled for a 3-3 tie against Torino. Also on Saturday, Sassuolo suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Spezia. Here is The Oregonians weekly look at the numbers behind the states economy. View past installments here. The number of new building permits filed in Portland last year plunged by 27%, falling even below the trough of the Great Recession. A slowdown was already underway before the coronavirus pandemic hit, following a boom in new hotel and office construction in downtown Portland and new regulations on apartment builders. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit and protests rocked the downtown core, accelerating the falloff. Theres three or four different things that all kind of happened in quick succession as the market was winding down, said Michael Wilkerson, senior economist with the Portland consulting firm ECONorthwest. Portlands Bureau of Development Services has notified 13 employees they will lose their jobs March 1 because of declining permitting revenue. The bureau says its holding off on further cuts until spring while it evaluates the market outlook. A cyclical decline in commercial building permits isnt a great surprise given the number of new offices and hotels that went up across the city over the last several years, according to Wilkerson. It may take a few years for demand to catch up with the construction boom at the end of the last decade, and the outlook is particularly uncertain as employers evaluate how much remote work will continue after the pandemic. There was a rush for multifamily construction permits before new affordable housing rules kicked in four years ago. Portlands inclusionary zoning policy requires developers to set aside apartments in large developments for low-income tenants. Developers raced to get ahead of those rules and that may have created a slowdown in subsequent permitting. Since then, Wilkerson said, the city has adopted limits on rent increases and other tenant protections that could reduce investors return on new projects and their incentive to build new housing. Multifamily housing permit activity has been in decline for three straight years, but the 43% falloff in 2020 was astonishing. Developers filed to build just 2,000 new units in Portland, the slowest pace in a decade. If people continue moving to Portland, but new construction remains anemic, increased housing demand will push rents back up. Wilkerson said that could put the city back where it was in the middle of the last decade, with tenants squeezed by sharp rent increases. Meanwhile, commercial developers are still reacting to last summers upheaval downtown. Portland led the national news for weeks as protesters clashed with federal law enforcement dispatched by former President Donald Trump. The spectacle probably didnt have a major impact on last years permitting slide, according to Wilkerson projects filing for permits last year were, for the most part, already in the pipeline but it has added to the uncertainty around for Portlands recovery. As Willamette Week reported last month, Portland plunged from one of the most desirable cities for real estate investors to 66th among 80 cities on an index compiled by the Urban Land Institute. The reputational damage is whats going to exacerbate or prolong what we saw unfold in 2020, effectively, Wilkerson said. -- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway The Outlook is today's look ahead at the week's weather, its impact on the Berkshires and beyond. Clarence Fanto can be reached at cfanto@yahoo.com. Kolkata, Feb 7 : Real Kashmir FC will look to build on their emphatic victory and displace table-toppers Churchill Brothers in the I-League when the two sides meet at the Salt Lake Stadium. Real Kashmir are three points behind Churchill with a game in hand and a win on Monday will help them take the top spot. They come to the match on the back of an emphatic 6-0 win over Indian Arrows. Meanwhile, Churchill have experienced a blip in their last two games, drawing to TRAU, and then Aizawl. Despite that, they still sit on the top of the I-League table. Monday's clash with Real Kashmir, who are the only team apart from Churchill to have not lost a match yet in the league, will be a test of their title credentials. Churchill Brothers lost their star striker Clayvin Zuniga to injury in their match against TRAU. The Honduran's absence was keenly felt in their 0-0 draw against Aizawl as they lacked a clinical edge in the opposition's box. The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. A gift even sweeter than his wine By Kumudini Hettiarachchi View(s): View(s): Wanting to help Sri Lankans in these times of COVID-19, 72-year-old Italian businessman and wine-maker, Renzo Montanari who considers Sri Lanka his second home makes a heartfelt gesture from across the seas Weaned off the ventilator after undergoing surgery for the removal of an esophageal carcinoma at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL), on Wednesday, a patient is breathing comfortably with the support of an Optiflow Nasal Oxygen Therapy delivering machine. This patient is getting nice, humidified (warm) oxygen through this machine, says Critical Care Consultant Dr. Anthony Mendis of the NHSLs Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU), explaining that he underwent surgery for a cancer in the tube which links the throat to the stomach. While on the path to recovery after surgery, this patient is oblivious to the fact that he is the first to benefit from this Optiflow Nasal Oxygen Therapy delivering machine after it was donated to the NHSL on January 29. As the simple donation ceremony took place on January 29, the Italian donors thoughts would certainly have been on Sri Lanka which he considers his second home, even though he could not be present here physically. The day of the ceremony was momentous for the country, for while a small but eminent group gathered without much fanfare to handover this machine vital for critically-ill patients, whether COVID-19 affected or not, the vaccine rollout for frontline workers battling the pandemic was also taking place. The heartfelt gesture from across the seas in support of Sri Lankans the donation of the Optiflow Nasal Oxygen Therapy delivering machine valued at over Rs. 1.2 million came from 72-year-old Italian businessman and wine-maker, Renzo Montanari, based in Ravenna, north of Italy. Falling in love with Sri Lanka when he first visited this country many decades ago, Mr. Montanari had made tangible efforts to support the people here by setting up a wine factory in Kalutara, importing the grape juice from Italy, for fermentation and bottling here. The wine is mostly marketed to tourist hotels. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world bringing about stringent movement restrictions and put paid to Mr. Montanaris regular visits to Sri Lanka, at least four times a year, he had wanted to show that he cares and has not forgotten the people here. Looking into the possibility of donating a ventilator or an ICU bed, very early on in the pandemic, Mr. Montanaris efforts had been unsuccessful as at that time the United States of America was buying up all the ventilators available in the world and China was using up all the ventilators that it was producing. It was then that he had picked the Optiflow Nasal Oxygen Therapy delivering machine and made arrangements to import it from New Zealand. And so, this vital machine was handed over to the SICU. It is here that patients who undergo surgery are looked after, while two isolation units of the SICU are home to patients who test positive for COVID-19 and managed here until transferred to a COVID-19 Treatment Centre. With this donation, the SICU has four machines which are invaluable, said Dr. Mendis, detailing how these machines work they can deliver up to 100% oxygen, depending on the patients need, with a wide flow range from 2-60 Litres/min., when compared to other oxygen systems. He reiterates that they prefer to put patients who need 100% oxygen on these recently-designed Optiflow Nasal Oxygen Therapy machines rather than ventilators. It is the machine of choice, as a ventilator requires the insertion of an endotracheal tube which makes the patient more vulnerable to ventilator-associated pneumonia. Therefore, this machine is a value addition to the ICU or a ward. Explaining that she is humbled to represent Mr. Montanari at the function, the Italian Embassys Deputy Head of Mission, Allegra Baistrocchi, said how everyone thought he was crazy when he wanted to set up a wine factory in Kalutara. Nothing deterred him. He was also the first promoter of Sri Lanka to me before I took up my posting here, she said, adding that from the time the pandemic began Mr. Montanari has been wanting to help Sri Lanka because even though he is physcially there, his heart is here. Pointing out that in a pandemic like this no one can say that there are adequate stocks in hospitals, the Deputy Director-General of the 3,431-bed NHSL, Dr. Kumara Wickramasinghe said that this donation is important and timely. Those present at the ceremony included the Director of Montanari Wine in Sri Lanka, A.S.I. Arsekularatne; the Italian Embassys doctor Dr. A.M. Sebastiampillai who had been the coordinator of the donation; and NHSLs Senior Consultant Anaesthetist Dr. Marie Fernando and Consultant Anaesthetist Dr. Hemantha Rajapakse. Hundreds of British passengers returning from Dubai have been using Dublin as a back door to avoid strict UK travel restrictions and quarantine in recent days in a development that has sparked serious concern among airport staff. Flights to and from the Middle East, as well as onward connecting flights from Dublin to the UK, have been extremely busy since the British government banned direct passenger flights from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) a week ago in a bid to stop the spread of the highly transmissible South African variant of Covid-19. Evidence has also emerged of an increase in the numbers of Irish passengers who are willing to accept 500 fines before travelling to holiday destinations. After a considerable fall-off in non-essential travel at Dublin Airport in the first half of last week, an Garda Siochana fined around 60 passengers 500 last Thursday alone for breaching non-essential travel regulations before the majority of them flew to destinations, including Dubai, Tenerife and Turkey. Read More Gardai are powerless to stop holidaymakers from continuing to travel even if they hit them with fixed penalty notices. Hundreds of people have chosen to pay the fines and continue on to their destination over the last fortnight. The fine for non-essential travel was increased from 100 per person to 500 from last Monday. The UK travel ban, introduced on January 29, included the four Emirates' Airbus A380 'superjumbo' flights that can carry over 2,000 people a day between London Heathrow and Dubai. Dublin is now being used as a way home for many stranded UK holidaymakers and others stuck in the Middle East. Extra passenger capacity was added to Dublin routes from the UAE on at least one day last week, it is understood. Staff at the airport have taken to describing the route as "the Dublin dodge", while arriving English passengers jokingly refer to Dublin as "Canada" due to the ability to easily enter a bigger neighbour by the back door, said a source. The 6.30pm Aer Lingus flight to London that connects with Emirates' flight from Dubai has been particularly popular with UK holidaymakers, many of them dressed for the desert sun, according to sources. On Thursday evening a 174-seater Airbus departed for London with just 25 free seats, a far higher load than it has had for most of the past year. More than half the passengers on the flight had arrived in from Dubai earlier in the day, according to well placed sources. A bigger 317-seater aircraft was used on Friday evening with 250 travelling, many of them connecting from Dubai - as well as from Portugal, which has also been hit with a strict flight ban by the UK, said sources. By Friday evening there were already 210 booked for this evening's connecting flight. One witness said the British exodus from Dubai was "like something out of the fall of Saigon" and that the first arrivals last week had expressed surprise that they were not taken from the aircraft at Dublin directly to specific holding areas to wait for transfers. Many airline and airport staff are believed to be very unhappy because they feel they are being put at risk by passengers, some with little regard for social distancing, but are reluctant to complain at a time when the sector is severely struggling. In one incident, cleaning staff at Dublin were left to mop up after boisterous passengers urinated on a number of seats on one aircraft, according to a source. The airside transfer desk, which had been closed because of the lack of connecting traffic, was reopened late last week to cope with the influx, it is understood. Prior to that, many Dubai holidaymakers were collecting their bags and passing through immigration to queue up for check-in in the landside public areas of the airport. British citizens who do manage to return from the UAE are obliged to self-isolate for 10 days but can dodge difficult questions at UK immigration by arriving in from Dublin on a separate booking. This has meant that while a proportion of these passengers are transferring directly on to UK-bound flights, many others are waiting until they arrive in Dublin to book their onward journeys, with a significant number staying overnight in Dublin first. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Trump does not need intel briefings: Biden International oi-Vicky Nanjappa Washington, Feb 07: President Joe Biden said on Friday that Donald Trump should not be allowed to receive classified intelligence briefings, a courtesy that historically has been granted to outgoing presidents. Asked in an interview with CBS News what he feared if Trump continued to receive the briefings, Biden said he did not want to "speculate out loud" but made clear he did not want Trump to continue getting them. "I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings," Biden said. "What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something?" White House press secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this week that the issue of granting Trump intelligence briefings was "something that is under review." Joe Biden admin delays implementation of Trump era rule on H-1B, says lottery system to continue for now Some Democratic lawmakers, and even some former Trump administration officials, have questioned the wisdom of allowing Trump to continue to briefed. Susan Gordon, who served as the principal deputy director of national intelligence during the Trump administration from 2017 to 2019, in a Washington Post op-ed last month urged Biden to cut off Trump. "His post-White House security profile,' as the professionals like to call it, is daunting," Gordon wrote days after a pro-Trump mob laid siege to the US Capitol as lawmakers sought to certify his defeat in last November's election. "Any former president is by definition a target and presents some risks. But a former president Trump, even before the events of last week, might be unusually vulnerable to bad actors with ill intent." Whether to give a past president intelligence briefings is solely the current officeholder's prerogative. Biden voiced his opposition to giving Trump access to briefings as the former Republican president's second impeachment trial is set to begin next week. Gordon also raised concerns about Trump's business entanglements. The real estate tycoon saw his business founder during his four years in Washington and is weighed down by significant debt, reportedly about USD 400 million. Trump during the campaign called his debt load a "peanut" and said he did not owe any money to Russia. "Trump has significant business entanglements that involve foreign entities," Gordon wrote. "Many of these current business relationships are in parts of the world that are vulnerable to intelligence services from other nation-states." Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, also urged Biden to cut off briefings for Trump. "There's no circumstance in which this president should get another intelligence briefing," Schiff said shortly before Trump ended his term last month. "I don't think he can be trusted with it now, and in the future." For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Sunday, February 7, 2021, 9:14 [IST] EXCLUSIVE: Freddy, 71 died in Princess Alice Hospice in Esher, Surrey on May 20 after being admitted just four days earlier. He was diagnosed with cancer in January and told that he had only months to live. Mr Marks married Jane who married him in 2016 (left) after divorcing bandmate Rod Burton in 2019, part of the singing trio 'Rod, Jane and Freddy' (right) on the beloved children's TV show (inset), and Ms Tucker has said that her ex-husband is also bereft. Fighting back tears, Jane Tucker, who married Freddy only five years ago, told MailOnline: 'My final words to him were 'I love you.' 'But Freddy didn't say anything back, he just had a gentle smile on his face like he always did. It was incredibly beautiful. I'm totally devastated by his loss and it's going to take me and a lot of other people in the country a long time to get over this'. She added of her first husband, who comforted her at home yesterday, she said: ''Rod is feeling Freddy's loss very deeply. For a long time, the three of us were inseparable. We toured together, did Rainbow for a long time and were all very close'. Freddy married her five years ago, more than 30 years after they first met and became stars. Jane was first married to fellow Rainbow bandmate Rod, who she divorced in 1979 but they remained friends. 'Years later' she began dating Freddy, which when it emerged around 15 years ago led to rumours a secret love triangle between the singing trio. The issue of Northern Ireland played a central role in the prolonged Brexit talks, but the EU and UK finally agreed on their divorce settlement in December 2020. A month later, Brussels made a brief push to introduce a hard border on the island of Ireland over a COVID vaccine export row, adding a new element to the difficult EU-UK divorce. The UK wants the European Union to know that it isn't one to be pushed around over the Northern Ireland issue, according to Attorney General for England and Wales Suella Braverman. The AG, who also holds the position of advocate general for Northern Ireland, told The Sunday Telegraph that the UK will do whatever it takes to ensure we get a good settlement for the Union. The official also cited remarks made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who during a Q&A session in the Parliament this week said that the UK will do everything it needs to do to ensure that there is no barrier down the Irish Sea even if it means triggering Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol. The clause is specifically designed to allow the EU or the UK to override the agreement in relation to the Irish issue if the protocol starts causing economic, societal or environmental difficulties. Johnsons comments came as a response to Brussels' call at the end of January to introduce export controls and effectively checks along the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland amid attempts to prevent COVID vaccines from being shipped to the UK from the EU over disagreements regarding AstraZeneca supplies. The decision was not made in consultation with either London, Dublin, or Belfast, and unsurprisingly caused outrage among British and Irish officials, who pointed out that Brussels had been the one that repeatedly told the UK about the impossibility of having a hard border between the countries due to their troubled history. The proposal was quickly reversed. But the UK is still not happy about some parts of the agreement, namely new paperwork and checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain under the protocol an issue that left Belfast with empty supermarket shelves in January, shortly after the Brexit deal came into force. Johnson said that if no resolution is found to the issue, Britain could respond in the same manner the EU did when making its call to trigger Article 16. The leader of Northern Irelands Democratic Unionist Party Arlene Foster said this week that the Irish clause has not worked, cannot work, and called on the prime minister to replace it. According to a report by the Daily Mail, physical inspections of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland have been suspended at ports amid intimidation of staff as the row over the Northern Ireland Protocol continues. (SPUTNIK) Railway Minister on Sunday said the Union government was ready to resume talks with the farmers' unions if they (farmers) came out with some new proposals. Addressing a press conference in the capital, Goyal, who is part of the government team of negotiators with farmer unions along with others, said the Modi government is sensitive towards the farmers' concerns and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the whole government was ready to resolve the issue through dialogue. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the government is a phone call away but someone has to call to talk or move ahead. If farmers have any objection to the laws then let us know and the government is willing to address it," he said. Goyal pointed out that farmers are misled on some issues and few people succeeded in misleading them in certain areas by creating doubts. "Farmers have been confused and the government has proposed to clear the confusion. We have given 'proposal after proposal' to address farmers' concerns. But when I heard in media reports, 'tarikh pe tarikh' which is actually wrong, instead it must be said that the union government has given 'proposal after proposal'," he said. Condemning the violent clash at the Red Fort on January 26, Goyal said that despite the unfortunate incident we believe that it must be resolved by dialogue and the government has offered to suspend the laws for 18 months but we have not received any concrete proposal from farmers till date. "The government brings Bills to benefit people. These new farm laws have been introduced to increase the income of crores of farmers, especially small farmers of the country, and it has been welcomed by the farmers across the country. The laws that have been brought for the benefit of the farmers of the country, they should not be deprived of its benefits," said the minister. The Centre has so far held 11 rounds of talks with the representatives of the farmer unions from December last year to January this year. --IANS sbh/dpb (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.) Egypts Supreme State Security Prosecution has ordered a 15-day detention of Seif Safwan Sabet for similar charges of his already-detained father, who is the Chairman of the countrys biggest dairy and juice producer Juhayna Food Industries, a statement said on Saturday. According to sources familiar with the investigations, the statement said, Sabet is accused of participating in financing terrorism and supporting terrorist entities, and that he was transferred to Tora prison to serve in pre-trial detention pending investigations. Saturdays statement said that Seif was arrested on Saturday from inside his house in a compound in 6th of October City and, was referred to the investigation authorities on the same day, which took over the investigation with him on accusations of financing the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood Organisation within the framework of a scheme aimed at harming the country's national economy. Egypt designated the Brotherhood a terrorist organisation in 2013, months after the ouster of Islamist Ex-President Mohamed Morsy following mass protests. In December, the Egyptian prosecution ordered the 15-day detention of Safwat Sabet -- the father -- for joining a terrorist group. While last Thursday, the investigative judge decided to renew Sabets detention for 45 days pending investigations on the background of the same accusation. Earlier in 2015, a judicial committee formed by the justice ministry had seized Sabets funds on allegations that he had ties to the banned Muslim Brotherhood group. 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It should be an inexpensive ad space with competitive pay-per-click or pay-per-view. Usually do not invest in traffic in haste The website owner will have to make sure in regards to the suitability of purchasing traffic for his business. Due to the distinct line of business, the website can be unable to acquire targeted guests. In such cases, the businessman should really abstain from wasting his time and money for purchasing website traffic. CONTACT: Pamela D. Wilson 303-810-1816 Email: Inquiry_For_Pamela@pameladwilson.com Golden, Colorado February 6, 2021 The Caring Generation Podcast: Why Are Old People Stubborn? Golden CO- Caregiving expert Pamela D. Wilson hosts The Caring Generation podcast show for caregivers and aging adults. This coming Wednesday, February 10, 2021, the topic is Why Are Old People Stubborn: Dealing with Loss Why Are Old People Stubborn? Dealing with Loss When elderly parents disagree or refuse help, children express concerns about dealing with stubborn elderly parents. Children with limited life experience who have not experienced losses have difficulty empathizing with the losses experienced by aging parents that may result in behaviors perceived to be stubborn. With age and time, all adults will experience losses. On this caregiving podcast, Wilson offers insights to help adult children caregivers gain a different perspective about dealing with stubborn parents. Caregivers, in many aspects, can be rigid and stubborn in their approach to offering help to parents. Some caregivers feel the urge to step in and take over the life of a parentunintentionally restricting the ability of a parent to make decisions and live independently. These disagreements about the help offered by caregivers and the help desired by an elderly parent can lead to significant conflict in family relationships. A lack of discussion about caregiving in general leads to these ongoing tug of war battles between adult children caregivers and elderly parents. It's Not What You Like It's What You Do On this podcast, caregiving expert Pamela D Wilson interviews an older adult, Jose, who shares the experience of living with his children, being unable to manage his health, and making the decision to live in a nursing home. The practicalities of being alone at home all day and attempting to manage multiple medications led Jose to thoughts of worry about his children returning home after a workday to find him dead. While Jose admits that living in a nursing home is better for his health when asked if he likes living in a nursing home, he tells Wilson, "it's not what you likeit's what you do" to adjust to the changes that life brings. Adjusting to and Grieving Losses As dealing with loss becomes part of life for all adults including losing elderly parents, Wilson talks about her experience of losing both parents and shares an interview with Dr. William Worden. Worden shares insights about the relationships between children and parents specific to death. Insight is offered into the importance of having positive relationships with elderly parents during life so that adult children do not experience grief or anger after the passing of a parent. Wilson releases a new podcast in The Caring Generation series every Wednesday sharing conversations about aging, caregiving, and family relationships. The podcasts are available on Wilson's website and all major podcast sites. More about Wilson's online courses for elderly care: How to Get Guardianship of a Parent and Taking Care of Elderly Parents, caregiver support, webinars, and speaking engagements is on her website at www.pameladwilson.com. Pamela may also be contacted at 303-810-1816 or through the Contact Me page on her website. # A member of the Appointment Committee of Parliament, Mahama Ayariga, has served notice to ministerial nominees that they will have to convince the committee of their competence and readiness to serve the nation before they are approved. He cautioned that the committee would not be a rubber-stamp committee as it was the case previously and would be doing the citizenry a disservice if they do not demand the best from the nominees. Mr. Ayariga, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central in the Upper East Region, explained that the nominees must prove that they are up for the task assigned to them by the president and you will have to justify your nomination by the president, and I think that is good for our country. We will be failing citizens if you come and you are not up to standard and we just pass you, I dont think that the tax payers money, or with the kind of monies that are used to pay us to run the affairs of the public, it will be fair to the taxpayer that we lined up mediocre people to run public affairs. The make-up of the committee and Parliament is an opportunity for the MPs to advance the interest of Ghanaians, this current structure of Parliament provides an opportunity to screen people properly and if really they dont meet the standards it will raise the red flags, Mr Ayariga noted. He assured that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs would not use the platform to settle personal scores or antagonize any appointee but rather would do a professional job and if they are able to prove that they are not capable for the job, they would vote according to their conscience. If we are able to prove that you are not capable of the job, I think that we will vote according to our conscience, no MP is just going to go out there, massacring people out of personal or perceived antagonism towards particular nominees, Mr. Ayariga intimated. The committee will from February 10, 2021, begin the vetting of the first batch of ministerial appointments made by President Nana Akufo-Addo. 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 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. A police officer on Saturday morning shot dead- his civilian neighbor arriving from suspicion that the deceased has been straying with the latter's wife. Police constable George Omara who is attached to Lira Central Police station is alleged to have shot Muhammad Hassan Ogwal, 38, on the head killing him instantly inside his house, and also shot his wife Betty Akao, 28, (Mr Omara's) on the waist leaving her with injuries. The incident happened at around midnight on at Tekulu cell, Teso A ward, Lira City West Division. The police officer later asked a 'boda-boda' rider to take the Akao for treatment at Lira Regional Referral Hospital where she is admitted. He later abandoned his gun at the scene and escaped and was still at large by press time. Ogwal's body was taken to Lira Regional Referral Hospital for postmortem. According to police spokesperson for North Kyoga Mr James Ekaju, the policeman had all along been suspecting Mr Ogwal of having a love affair with his wife and he had refused to heed to several warnings to leave the wife alone. "At around midnight last night, Mr Omara- a police officer attached to Lira CPS, picked a quarrel with his wife Betty Akao whom he accused of having a love affair their neighbor Mr Ogwal. When they started fighting inside their house, she ran to Mr Ogwal's house," Mr Ekaju told Daily Monitor on Saturday afternoon. He said Mr Omara picked a knife and followed his wife who had entered inside Mr Ogwal's house where fighting ensued between the trio. 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. "When Mr Omara was overpowered, he went back to his house and returned with his gun and shot Mr Ogwal three bullets on the head killing him instantly before shooting his wife on the waist," Mr Ekaju explained. He said police recovered a gun at the scene and a murder charge has been preferred against the suspect. Meanwhile, police in Kole district has arrested a 30 year old man on allegation of killing his father. Kirino Okello is alleged to have killed his father Christopher Onyinge three years ago then he went into hiding. It is said that the suspect poisoned his father with food following a family dispute over land. Police spokesman Mr Ekaju said Okello was arrested on Friday and is being held at Kole CPS. "After his father's death he took off and ran away. Police kept on searching for him for over three years. He was spotted by locals who identified him and alerted police," he said. The National Guards deployment of thousands of troops to protect the inauguration of a new president was prompted by the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing radicals. But its removal of 12 of its own soldiers from that duty underscored a rising concern: how far has radicalization permeated the armed forces? None of the guardsmen had ties to extremists, but two of them made inappropriate comments and texts, the National Guard Bureau said. It was enough to chill those already worried about domestic terrorism. The armed forces have rules to weed out extremism in the ranks. The question now is whether commanders will be paying closer attention, some observers said. Military leaders at every level are supposed to remain alert for signs of future prohibited activities, and are encouraged to quickly intervene, preferably through counseling. All military personnel, including members of the National Guard, have undergone a background investigation, are subject to continuous evaluation, and are enrolled in an insider threat program, said Gary Reid, the Pentagons director for defense intelligence. Simply put, we will not tolerate extremism of any sort. The crowd that attacked the Capitol, though holding a common belief that President Donald Trump, not Joe Biden, was the rightful winner of the Nov. 3 election, came from a variety of right-wing tendencies and groups, including white supremacist and anti-government paramilitaries and Q-Anon conspiracy adherents. Some were affiliated with no group at all. Almost one out of five of those facing charges stemming from the riot are military veterans, news organizations have found. But actual data on how far extremist ideology has permeated the armed forces is in short supply. The FBI investigated 68 cases of domestic extremism in all branches of the military last year, but beyond that, the Pentagon is unable to say how many have been disciplined or kicked out for that reason in any recent year. The vast majority of those in the military serve with honor and dont espouse these sorts of dangerous beliefs, said Pentagon press secretary John Kirby when asked about it Thursday. But that doesnt mean that we dont think that there might be a problem. The problem is, we dont understand the full scope of it. The Air Force pointed to a decision in August in which Master Sgt. Corey Reeves was reduced to technical sergeant and administratively discharged for activity in a supremacist organization. The 17-year veteran was assigned to Shriever AFB near Colorado Springs, Colo.. I think its been an open secret for a while that theres a lot of white power stuff in the cops and the military, said war correspondent, author and documentary filmmaker Sebastian Junger. Obviously its hard to know how deliberately Trump tapped into that. The armed rally at the Michigan statehouse (on April 30) did seem like a trial run for January 6, though. People have always used violence to achieve ends that they couldnt otherwise. None of it surprises me except how disorganized and inept the whole thing was. An unscientific Military Times poll of readers last year found more than one-third of all active-duty troops and more than half of minority service members said they had recently witnessed white nationalism or ideologically-driven racism among other service members. Mark Pitcavage, a specialist on far-right groups with the Anti-Defamation League and a 1988 Trinity University graduate who has studied extremism since the mid-1990s, cautioned against reading too much into the poll because the magazine didnt define the term white nationalist. The new National Defense Authorization Act has ordered a survey on the issue, he said. But theres no question that extremists can be found in uniform, said Pitcavage, who testified about the subject last year before a House Armed Services Committee panel on military personnel. This is nothing new, either, he said. It does exist. Its been going on for decades. Were not talking about a large number of people total, but its well documented that it doesnt take very many people either outside the military or inside the military with those extreme views to cause serious problems. How to respond Tasos Katopodis /Getty Images The FBI scrutiny of National Guard soldiers came amid concerns that Trumps supporters would attack President Joe Bidens inauguration Jan. 20 in a repeat of their attempt to stop the certification of his election at the Capitol. But it sparked a backlash, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott expressing outrage on Twitter. This is the most offensive thing Ive ever heard. No one should ever question the loyalty or professionalism of the Texas National Guard, he wrote Jan. 18. I authorized more than 1,000 to go to DC. Ill never do it again if they are disrespected like this. The FBI provided the names of suspect guardsmen to the Guard Bureau, which sent the troops back to their home states but would not say which states. It also wasnt clear how the FBI was able to vet 25,000 troops in a matter of a week or less. It all seemed reasonable enough, and legal, to Geoffrey Corn, a professor at South Texas College of Law in Houston. I dont know how they did it, but the suggestion there is something improper or illegal about a federal agency responsible for ensuring security at the inauguration harvesting information from social media accounts that are in the public domain, I think it would be unreasonable not to do that, said Corn, a retired Army lawyer. My response to the governor would be, why would you be upset about learning this? he added. You should be thanking the FBI. Texas Take: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday Troops can join political parties, participate in rallies and protests (but not in uniform), sign petitions and contribute to candidates campaigns. They cant join criminal gangs or wear gang clothing and prohibited insignias. And they cant actively advocate racial supremacist, extremist or criminal gang doctrine, ideology or causes. The Defense Department policy says those in the military cant support causes that encourage or advocate illegal discrimination based on race, creed, color, sex, religion, ethnicity, or national origin or those that advance, encourage, or advocate the use of force, violence, or criminal activity or otherwise advance efforts to deprive individuals of their civil rights. The Army updated its guidance in September with a lengthy chapter on extremism. It forbids soldiers from participating in activities advocating or teaching the overthrow of the government by force or violence, or seeking to alter the form of government by unconstitutional means, which it defines as sedition. The most prominent example of domestic terrorism committed by a U.S. military veteran was former Army Sgt. Timothy McVeighs 1995 bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people, including children in a day-care center, and wounded more than 680. His motivation: an anti-government desire to avenge federal law enforcement action at Ruby Ridge in Idaho and the Branch Davidian compound near Waco. The bombing came on the second anniversary of the fire that ended the Davidian siege, killing 76 people, 25 of them children, as officers closed in. A decorated Gulf War veteran, McVeigh had been honorably discharged after psychological testing deemed him unfit for Green Beret training. The active duty service members who committed insider attacks on fellow soldiers in more recent decades were motivated by personal grudges and in some cases Muslim religious fanaticism, the deadliest being Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who killed 13 and wounded 31 at Fort Hood in 2009. Hasan and two others, Sgt. Hasan Akbar and Sgt. William Kreutzer Jr., are on death row. Akbar killed two men in a Kuwait camp in 2003 while Kreutzer killed one GI and wounded 18 others in 1995 at Fort Bragg, N.C. Spc. Ivan Lopez killed himself after gunning down three others and wounding 14 at Fort Hood in 2014. On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas GOP fires staffer who posted video from Capitol riot, spread false conspiracy theories Some argue that rigorous vetting of service members, including the surveillance of social media posts as the FBI did with the guardsmen in Washington, is overdue. One of them, retired Army Col. Mike Jason, a veteran of Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Kuwait, said those in active duty that he talks to, with few exceptions, have tried harder to stay apolitical even as America has gotten so polarized and so partisan. Ive watched social media, Im in contact with former soldiers that are now NCOs, a lot of officers, and most of them that are still in, really seem to have embraced the professionalism of being apolitical. In private conversations, especially with peers, they were very disturbed by a lot of things they were seeing, very frustrated, but they kind of kept their head down and tried to maintain the shared values in the formations they had control over. I have not been able to see an increase in radicalization but, again, Im not there. The kids that are in the formations, they go back home if their peer group, their parents, are into this stuff, some of it could bleed over. Weve seen enough incidents. Those incidents, which have included racist posts from Marines and soldiers, and an Army lieutenant who made jokes on social media about the Nazis killing Jews, were dealt with severely, Jason said. Diversity a firewall? J. Scott Applewhite /Associated Press Even if radical politics follows soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines from their hometowns into the service, the militarys diversity remains a hedge against the problem, some say. Those joining the armed forces come from too many places to be unified in their beliefs or identities while serving, said Ross Ritchell, an author and Army special operations veteran. The difference these days, he said, is the nations supercharged politics. People may be scared or angry or misinformed and manipulated, so agitators might latch on to anyone vulnerable to persuasion or incitement/persecution, Ritchell said in an email. What is unique to the (presidential election and its aftermath) was the nature of trying to weaponize service and patriotism with delusion, partisan politics and conspiracies. Concern over the potential that radicalized troops could strike at Bidens inauguration was so strong, the Joint Chiefs of Staff signed a letter reminding troops of their duty. Some of the veterans interviewed for this story called that extraordinary. As service members, we must embody the values and ideals of the nation, the chiefs wrote. We support and defend the Constitution. Any act to disrupt the constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values and oath, it is against the law. Enforcing that isnt so simple. Retired Army Col. David Maxwell, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said countering extremism and insider attacks is probably one of the most complex and difficult issues the military must address. On the one hand, extremism in the ranks absolutely cannot be tolerated. On the other hand, the appearance of witch hunts and purges and unfounded and mistaken allegations will undermine good order and discipline of military units, he said in an email. This issue is a leadership issue, a law enforcement investigation issue, and even a counterintelligence issue. Leaders must be able to identify and deal with extremists while recognizing legitimate political views that might be distasteful to some, Maxwell said. Theres a balance between McCarthyist behavior and letting Nidal Hasan get to the point where he executes a mass shooting, agreed Texas National Guard Maj. Travis Pendleton, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think it was pretty well documented that there were multiple red flags with Hasans interactions with other personnel public statements, written statements, email traffic, things like that. He was on everybodys radar. Corn, the law professor, said the military doesnt have to justify scrutinizing social media because those posting on platforms like Facebook and Twitter have no privacy protections. But unlike social media, email messages are protected by the Fourth Amendment unless its an official government account. Troops with security clearances submit to background investigations, he said, so theres no legal impediment to screening them. Charges filed: Bakery owner is third Houston-area man arrested in connection with Capitol riot Theres no rampant extremism in the military, but the military is like the rest of our society where youre inevitably going to have a small percentage of individuals to either covertly sympathize with these groups or more directly become involved with them, Corm said. But its complicated because theres a fine line between constitutionally protected freedom of expression and association, even in the military, and conduct that compromises your fitness to continue to serve in the armed forces. Maxwell, a 30-year Army veteran, said ideology and beliefs cant be blocked by gates and checkpoints, especially in the information age. If the Pentagon tries to actively monitor online activity, he argued, it would play into extremist propaganda and offer a way for enemies overseas to tap into domestic discontent. If I was advising a foreign intelligence organization, I would start creating and providing false information about service members beliefs, Maxwell said. I would create deep fakes to implicate service members in extremist activity to cause overreactions by unit chains of command. This would be one of the most subversive actions that could be taken against modern military organizations in western democracies. sigc@express-news.net Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 23:10:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MUSCAT, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Omani health ministry on Sunday announced 633 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number in the sultanate to 135,674, official Oman News Agency reported. Meanwhile, 432 people recovered during the past 72 hours, taking the overall recoveries to 127,698, while two more died from the virus, pushing up the death toll to 1,534, according to a ministry statement quoted by ONA. The ministry urged everyone to adhere to social distancing instructions by the supreme COVID-19 committee. Enditem One Chicago is really blessing us these days. A new week finally means a brand new episode of Chicago PD. Hiatus? We don't know her. Previously on Chicago PD, Intelligence worked to retrace the steps of a murdered veteran cop after the circumstances surrounding his death proved to be quite complicated. Upstead started a new chapter in their relationship. And Hailey struggled with the pain of her past when her dad ends up in the hospital. Burzek We pick things up with Kim and Adam who are deep in their routine of going out, spending their days off with each other, doing all of the cute, domestic things with one another. Even occasionally sleeping together like they happened to fall into at the beginning of this episode. It all feels very comfortable and warm when they're together! The next morning, Adam tells Kim that they don't have to keep things casual and they could try dating again. But Kim tells him that she knows what she wants now; marriage, babies, the job and the mess that comes along with it. When she questions whether he still wants to talk about dating, he gives a resounding yes. *cue collective Burzek sigh* It's difficult for me to separate my own feelings and what I want for Burzek from where they actually are at this moment. But the fact is, there wasn't any real progression for them as a couple during this episode. We've only established what Kim wants, and reiterated that Adam still wants to be with her. I love Burzek, but watching them straddle this line in their relationship is excruciating. It seemed like Kim may also hold the belief that Adam isn't ready to take the same steps that she's ready to take. As if she's holding out her hand, waiting for him to walk with her, but he's not ready to move beyond the status quo. When she told Adam about taking Makayla in, there was a moment where it felt like she was disappointed. She wanted him to take the step with her, but she viewed his concerns about her decision to mean he wasn't ready for it. I personally don't believe that's where Adam is. Adam's concern for her and the place they're in, relationship-wise, doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. But from her perspective, maybe she needs something more from him. It all feels very complicated. The Case Everything about this case was weird from the moment Burgess and Ruzek landed on the scene. We've got a man involved in a car accident who appeared to be brutally beaten with no indication of what may have happened or who else was involved. Intelligence starts with the theory that this was a failed carjacking and that the offenders were teenagers based on their witness' statement. But as with most of their cases, there's not a lot to connect the dots right out of the gate. After catching the teenagers in action and then quickly slipping through their fingers, the team is left with some clues about their victims and the sketchy places they frequent. It seems that the teens are young prostitutes robbing johns to survive. At this point, it's a matter of who the teens are and where they are staying. When they finally track down one teen, Miguel Reyes, he holds a strong position. He doesn't want to flip on his friends and the only people he considers to be his family. It's not until the four kids get desperate that the case gets blown wide open. One of the teens, Lily ends up badly beaten by a john after trying to take a normal job. And Miguel is forced to turn to Ruzek and Burgess for help. The other two teens, Sammie and Michael, escape the building they were squatting in when Miguel tips them off before help arrives for Lily. Despite all of this, Miguel refuses to give up Sammie and Michael's whereabouts believing that he can still give them a chance. Intelligence is unable to successfully track them but as Burgess flips through Lily's journal she finds a collection of dream homes all over the Atlanta area. It's clear the boys are headed to Georgia. She confronts Miguel about tipping off Sammie and Michael by showing him the journal and asks him if they had planned to meet up and build a home together. Kim then opens the journal to reveal a note that instructs Miguel to tell her that the boys are in Iowa. That is, far from their intended destination of Atlanta. After realizing that Kim genuinely wants to help them, he tells her the boys are in Iowa. This case hit Burgess hard; mirroring the personal investment she has in Makayla's well being. It also ties back to the message Voight was sending last episode about the methods and lengths that are taken to do good things for people. "Just You and Me" We're about to see Kim Burgess take on motherhood with Makayla. This is such a welcome development for her character! Even though there was some trepidation at first, I believe Kim has been ready for this change for quite some time. Makayla awakened her instincts and to some degree probably played a part in deciding what she wants over the last few episodes. It was obvious that Kim wants to protect Makayla from the same fate that fell upon Miguel and his friends, which means keeping her out of a system that would fail her. And who better to take on that responsibility than Burgess. When Kim asks Kevin for his opinion, he agrees that taking care of Makayla is not going to be easy. There are going to be a lot of challenges that she'll face along the way, but it would change Makayla's life for the better. It's not about what kind of support that Kim will inevitably need; it's about what Makayla needs. Seeing Burgess come to the realization that she could actually do this for Makayla was incredibly powerful to me. It's going to be the two of them against the world. What did you think of In Your Care? Let me know in the comments below! I had a personal interest in telling the Shakespearean story of Lava Thomas and the San Francisco Arts Commission: I run a design studio, and she was one of my clients. I had followed the saga and read the reported pieces (including those by Heather Knight in The Chronicle) on the arts commision awarding and abruptly rescinding its offer for the Berkeley-based artist to create a monument to the late poet Maya Angelou for the San Francisco Public Library. But in my personal conversations with Thomas, I had a dawning awareness that much of the story hadnt been told publicly. And I wanted to hear it directly from her. In the conversation here, condensed and lightly edited for clarity, Thomas talks about local politics, bureaucracy, how the mostly white arts commission interfaces with the artists they claim to celebrate, and the lack of transparency in who gets to decide what public art means in San Francisco. But she also discusses the more fundamental human component: What it felt like to be enlisted and then dismissed by a public institution, and how, as a Black woman, she found her agency and voice with other Black women and an arts community that rallied to her side. McCalman: Ive read a lot about the Maya Angelou monument fiasco, but I havent heard a lot from you. I would just love to hear the sequence of events, as you remember it, to thread the beginning to the current part. Thomas: (laughs) Oh gosh, thats a long time. I was invited to apply to the request for qualifications (RFQ) for a sculpture to honor Dr. Angelou for the San Francisco Library. I didnt plan to apply because Im not known as a sculptor. But when I looked over the materials and I read the press that publicized the call, I realized very quickly that a statue wasnt a requirement. In fact, the legislation that created the project had statue crossed out and artwork written in its place, and the paperwork that I received specified excellence in portraiture, not sculpture. I thought, well, I can use my expertise and body of work to inform this project, and decided upon a book form that has a portrait of Dr. Angelou on the cover. I based my portrait on her 1973 interview with Bill Moyers when she actually lived in Berkeley. She wore a short afro and hoop earrings. I was looking for a representation of her that spoke to Black cultural pride and something that would be timeless and a way to introduce a new icon to the city. I also looked at the Benin Bronzes of West Africa and Elizabeth Catletts Invisible Man, a rectangular-shaped monument to Ralph Ellison really looking for a way to represent her that would challenge the primacy of neoclassical statuary in monuments. I wanted to give the city something new, something different, because Dr. Angelou was such an innovative, extraordinary person in her life and work: civil rights activist, the first Black woman cable car conductor in San Francisco, the first Black woman to direct a Hollywood movie, the first Black woman inaugural poet in U.S. presidential history so many other firsts. George McCalman / Special to The Chronicle After the San Francisco Arts Commission put out a call in November 2018 for proposals for the Maya Angelou monument, 111 artists responded. In March 2019, Thomas was selected as a finalist along with New York artist Jules Arthur and East Bay artist Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle. The three were asked to develop formal proposals and present them to the selection panel in August. Thomas: I didnt expect to win, but I was hopeful. So when I got the call, I was just screaming! I cant tell you how much joy I felt. The following week, I received a call from the project manager saying that my proposal would be approved at the next Visual Arts Committee meeting and that it was pretty much pro forma, the way that it happens with 99% of public art projects which come through the San Francisco Arts Commission. But instead, after the committee met, I got a call from the VAC chair telling me that my proposal wasnt approved, that the project sponsor preferred a different proposal. I didnt understand. So, finally I asked, What exactly are you telling me? When I tried to find out why my proposal wasnt approved, no one would give me any information. So I listened to the audio transcript of the meeting and something was clearly amiss. Then I listened to all of the audio transcripts and read the minutes for every meeting regarding the project. I went through all 161 pages of public comments and all the emails pertaining to the project that were available. I then wrote a scathing letter to the arts commission. I thought, How dare you? How could you? How could this happen? I had followed the guidelines, I had taken into consideration the scope of the project to the letter, and I won almost unanimously. This is just wrong. Its just wrong. Although the selection panel had chosen Thomas proposal, calling her piece quietly radical, Supervisor Catherine Stefani, who sponsored the legislation creating and paying for the monument, wanted a traditional statue. After Stefani said as much at the Visual Arts Committee meeting in October 2019, the committee chose none of the finalist proposals and opted to begin the process from scratch. McCalman: So you were tasked with being your own detective in figuring out what happened because the commission wasnt holding itself accountable at any point? Thomas: There was no accountability. Nobody would speak to me, quite frankly. I was stonewalled. (The project manager) and I were in contact with each other, but she didnt have answers either. You have to remember, the staff execute the wishes of the commission. And they followed everything to the letter. But the commissioners and the Visual Arts Committee are all political appointees. McCalman: Right, of the mayor. Thomas: Yes, they serve at the pleasure of the mayor of San Francisco. The project was initially brought forward by former Supervisor Mark Farrell, and Supervisor Stefani inherited the project after Mark Farrell left. She changed the criteria for the project after the fact. She insisted on Dr. Angelou being honored with a traditional statue, in the same way that men have been honored in the city, weaponizing neoclassicism and European aesthetics, a very specific kind of statuary. As the city began the proposal process anew, Thomas reached out to the arts community, artists, mentors and colleagues, trying to understand what had happened and what recourse she might have. She also began speaking publicly about the debacle, first at Ashara Ekundayo Gallery in Oakland alongside a member of the selection panel and another semifinalist. Thomas: It was a standing-room-only crowd to talk about what happened and the implications, which were this: How is it possible that a white supervisor is dictating the representation of Dr. Angelou, shutting down the project, essentially erasing the creative and intellectual labor of not just myself and the artists who participated, but the decades of expertise by the selection panelists who included, for the first time in San Franciscos history, a critical mass of Black women equipped with the training, experience, expertise and education to make that selection? We were not having it. I mean it was crazy! Its still very difficult to talk about it, because it was so outrageous! And out of that panel at Ashara Ekundayos gallery, SeeBlackWomxn as a collective formed. That meeting was the beginning of that communitys response to what happened. I worked with SeeBlackWomxn to coordinate a campaign to abolish white supremacy at the SFAC, and with colleagues of mine around the country to boycott the new RFQ. Artists contacted me to ask if they could use my images for their applications. Yes, sure (laughs). The press was involved from the beginning, which is why I think the word got out as widely as it did. I wrote a letter of protest and withdrawal in March, right before the shutdown. The result of the shutdown meant that the Visual Arts Committee meetings and the full commission meetings could be attended virtually by anyone around the country. So here are all of the converging circumstances that made the reversal of that rejection possible and for justice to finally be served. George McCalman / Special to The Chronicle McCalman: That was in March 2020. And the lockdown was just starting. Theyre displaying their previously not transparent meetings to the general public, and people all over the country could now witness the process. Thomas: Yes, now anyone (could) join the meeting remotely. And then a few months later, in the wake of Breonna Taylors murder, George Floyds murder, Ahmaud Arberys murder and Black Lives Matter protests, monuments to white supremacy were being toppled all over the world. Around Juneteenth monuments were being toppled in Golden Gate Park, and Black Lives Matter protesters threatened to pull down Christopher Columbus monument thats when monuments resurfaced in Bay Area consciousness. After Francis Scott Keys monument was defaced, and the city of San Francisco had to remove Christopher Columbus monument at Coit Tower, the mayor called for an audit of San Franciscos monuments to determine which were deemed reflective of the citys values and which ones should come down. I believe it was Heather Knight who reported. She followed this from the very beginning. During the Visual Arts Committee meeting in July, when they were addressing white supremacy in monuments in San Francisco, I read a statement essentially saying, You have to address the systemic racism inherent in this decision to reject my proposal and to shut down and restart the Maya Angelou project. You have to address this first. And I was cut off. SFACs website says that you have three minutes to make comments. So I timed my statement for three minutes, but when the meeting started you had just two minutes. So I tried to read my statement as quickly as I could (laughs). But it was a three-minute statement, and at the two-minute mark, I was cut off. And outrage ensued. I couldnt believe, honestly, that after all of the controversy, after all of the disrespect, after all of the disregard, that the chair of the Visual Arts Committee would not just say: Lets give Lava 20 seconds to finish her statement. She had been an advocate and a supporter of my proposal, but at the same time, I realized her hands were tied. Now, it was within her power to do the right thing, but no one would do the right thing. After I was cut off and it was covered by the press, the arts commissioners wanted to talk to me (laughs). All of a sudden its, Im sorry. And only because it was covered by the press and eventually covered by the New York Times. The fiasco had been covered by Hyperallergic, ArtNews and the Art Newspaper, which is an international art journal. In the art world, I was learning just how widespread this story was. Which was wonderful because I had so much support. There were so many disparate communities that reached out. Folks were outraged that something like this could happen in San Francisco, and that on the face of it, it was so blatantly wrapped up in white supremacy. Getting cut off during the July VAC meeting and not being allowed to finish my statement just emphasized that. I dont know how many people used their public comment time to say, Lava should be able to finish her statement. Over and over and over. When I think about it now, you have to laugh about these things, otherwise the anger will tear you up inside. McCalman: Yeah! Youll sorta just wake up and go to bed crying. I remember it just being part of the larger conversation that was suddenly happening, and it was just a reverberation of this same kind of story. Thomas: Yes. It was the politics of the time, and it was in response to folks just being sick and tired of the ways that white supremacy manifests itself, not just in the murders of innocent Black people, but also the way that Black people within all institutions if theyre non-Black institutions shoulder the brunt of white supremacy in so many different ways. And here in the Bay Area, which has the reputation for being one of the most progressive in the country, it happens in large and small ways, too. Because this happened so publicly, the public face of this is driven by my insistence for redress and restorative justice, my challenge to white supremacy, and Black womens challenge to white supremacy. But there was also so much political power invested in how this all unfolded; it would be nice to get to the bottom. McCalman: Well, youre getting to the bottom of this right now. This conversation pokes holes in this kind of satisfaction that Bay Area liberals have about the Bay Area and the story they have about how progressive San Francisco is versus what it actually is. But this is also a story about city bureaucracy and politics and how it interferes with the public discourse about public arts. That you have this organization that is ostensibly about public art that is running in a way that is not transparent. Thomas: This situation really speaks to an epic failure of liberalism. When the project was being conceived, there wasnt a single Black arts professional, a single Black historian, a single Black artist consulted. You cant conceive of a monument project to honor one of the most exceptional Black women of our time and not include Black people Black women with the requisite expertise in the projects creation and planning, before the project is rolled out to the public. George McCalman / Special to The Chronicle With the media attention, Thomas received offers of private funding to create her monument elsewhere in San Francisco. In August, the arts commission apologized to Thomas, and during a private Zoom call later, Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Stefani both apologized. In November, the arts commission voted to end its second call for proposals and award the contract to Thomas. Thomas: It was a coordinated effort to galvanize artists to speak out against what happened. Because artists dont get a lot of reward, especially in the Bay Area. Its one of the most expensive places for us to live. Its hard to be an artist here. So I wasnt just speaking out on my own behalf, I was speaking on behalf of all artists. If it can happen to me, it can happen to anybody, and it had been happening to artists for a very long time with no recourse at all. So, during that meeting with the full commission, I read a 10-minute statement which was followed by two hours of public comments. That has never happened in the history of the San Francisco Arts Commission. And that meeting was covered by the New York Times, The Chronicle, all of these papers. When the story broke, people were calling me to figure out how to fix it. McCalman: Amazing! Thomas: Folks were asking me, If you were offered this, would you take it? And my initial reaction was, no, not after everything Ive gone through with the arts commission. No, I absolutely would not consider creating a monument to Maya Angelou in San Francisco. McCalman: Ill admit, I was surprised when I heard that you decided that you were going to do it. Im curious what the process of getting there was for you. Thomas: I mean, I am gratified that Supervisor Stefani, that Mayor Breed reversed the rejection. But it took a lot to get to this point, and I was angry about it for a very long time. How are you going to honor Dr. Angelou by disrespecting Black women, by erasing the labor of Black women through political maneuvering and government overreach? Lets just call it what it is using the tools of white supremacy to erase the work of everyone who was involved in the first RFQ. I followed all of the requirements to the letter, and my selection was nearly unanimous, and youre going to do this? And think Im not going to say anything or do anything? McCalman: But thats white supremacy too: the expectation that theres no recourse. Thomas: But, you know, its also political power and politicians believing that they have ultimate power and that artists have no power. Im just super proud of the way that communities stood up and spoke out. I certainly did not know how any of this was going to turn out. I didnt know that I would have so much support and advocacy. McCalman: I think also the subject matter, and your subject, would not have had it any other way. Thomas: Thats true. One of the things Ive always maintained is that, as best as I can, I have tried to uphold the principles that Dr. Angelou stood for. And the first among those is justice. So to let this injustice fly was just not an option for me. There were so many times that I just wanted to throw my hands up and say, OK, Im done. Its not worth my time, its certainly not worth the stress involved. The arts community was outraged and answered in kind and insisted on transparency, insisted on the process being treated with integrity, insisted upon the lens of racial and cultural equity. And now the Arts Commission is finally rewriting its policies. Theyve also hired a new director of cultural affairs. McCalman: What was it like getting an apology from Mayor Breed? Thomas: Honestly, at the time I thought it was the least that she could have done. She went into the meeting apologetic, wanting a positive outcome, and I appreciated that. I appreciated that she wanted to come to a positive resolution. I appreciated that Catherine Stefani apologized. But at that time it was difficult for me to think about working with people who were responsible for what happened. I couldnt answer for three weeks. I had still not decided what I wanted to do going forward, and the offer wasnt made to reverse the decision. McCalman: So, tell me, why did you decide to do this again? Thomas: I realized two things, equally important. One thing that I realized was that the city of San Francisco was going to have a monument to honor Dr. Angelou. It was mandated through legislature, the funding was there. It was just a matter of which artist was going to do this. And I realized that and this took time if another artist had erected it, it would have been a forever reminder of how I had been treated. I didnt want that. I didnt want all of City Hall, I didnt want the San Francisco (Public) Library to become a place that was a reminder of the injustice, hypocrisy and disrespect the antithesis of what Dr. Angelou exemplified. And with that, I also realized that I had a responsibility to this idea of justice. Justice, courage, equity, integrity and an end to white supremacy, those are the principles that Dr. Angelou stood for. Creative freedom as viewed by artists, not dictated by politicians and certainly not dictated by tenets of white supremacy. I realized that if I were committed to upholding her principles throughout this process, that if the city reversed their course, reached out in conciliation and approved my proposal, that I had a responsibility to create it. Mayor Breed appointed Denise Bradley-Tyson as interim director of cultural affairs, and Ms. Bradley-Tyson was instrumental in arriving at this outcome. It really took a village, and a willingness by everyone involved to move forward in good faith. So, thats where I am. It is still very much a process to get to a point where I feel overwhelmingly happy about it. Im happy, but its a reserved kind of happiness. George McCalman is an artist and creative director in San Francisco. His First Person column appears in The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: culture@sfchronicle.com Instagram and Twitter: @mccalmanco Mumbai, Feb 7 : Bollywood actor Amit Sadh on Sunday hinted that he is taking a temporary break from social media. Even though Amit did not directly use the words "break from social media", he hinted at the same by saying he is going to his "tunnel for maintenance". Meanwhile, the actor shared a few pieces of valuable advice for his fans and followers on Instagram. "Going into my tunnel for maintenance. Be nice to each other, be kind to each other and don't spend so much time on the internet. There is life around you. Smell that and embrace that," Amit wrote in an Instagram post on Sunday. On the work front, Amit features in the latest web series Jeet Ki Zid. The series is based on the true story of Major Deep Sengar of the Special Task Force, who returned from Kargil War in a wheelchair. While doctors gave up hope, Deep fought against all odds to bounce back in life. The Zee5 series is directed by Vishal Mangalorkar, and also features Amrita Puri and Sushant Singh. A $5,000 Lexington Selected yearling purchase is headed back to North America and into one of harness racing's top stables after being developed into a champion two- and three-year-old in Ireland. Rainbow Writer, bred by Ontario's Doug Millard Farms and sold for $5,000 as a yearling at Lexington in 2018, raced at the top level across the Atlantic for owner Benny Grendon while in the barn of Patrick Paddy Kane Sr. She won back-to-back titles in the Black Horse Juvenile Series at Portmarnock Raceway among other stakes engagements. Now the mare readies for a run in the U.S. with trainer Brian Brown, who for yearshas had contacts with many members of the Irish harness racing community and gained the trust of Grendon to care for his stable star. Ive never met these people, but I have a friend from over there that I met through Facebook, Brown said. The guy is pretty trusting to send me a horse [when] we dont even know each other. Brown, who currently has 68 horses in training with his winter operation down in Florida, said that Rainbow Writer arrived in the U.S at the end of January and aside from that does not know much else about the mare. I heard she landed fine, everythings good, said Brown, noting that the mare is currently quarantining in Lexington. It kind of puts us way behind here. Honestly, I dont even know what shes up to; what shes been doing in Ireland. But the owner is very confident in her that shes going to make a really good horse here. I told him Shes going to have three weeks in quarantine. Were going to be way behind. He said The wait will be worth it. As long as hes confident, I dont have any reason not to be. Before we start, I would like to talk to the trainer from over there and get his thoughts...what she was doing before she came over, how long shes been off, how long he thinks it will take me, Brown also said. Hes the guy whos won all the races and done all the good with her. I want to talk with him no matter what. Well go from there. And the best part about her -- and I havent checked her out -- is that she should fit non-winners of one in the states. [Benny] says [1:]57 and a piece there could be [1:]51 here. So if I can start her out in the maiden and shes that kind of horse, we should have some fun early. With the amount of time Rainbow Writer has to quarantine, Brown said she likely will not begin training until the latter part of February. Under the care of Browns daughter Jess McCown and his son-in-law Cameron McCown, Rainbow Writer may not be ready to make her first American start until June, though Brown said that could change depending on feedback from the mares trainer in Ireland. The mare joins the Brown barn as one of a few older horses since Browns focus is largely on developing two- and three-year-olds. His barn last year struggled to find the same success it had achieved in the past, but Brown is optimistic that his stable can turn things around this year. Its hurt us some last year, more with our three-year-olds because I missed a couple months of racing and I tried to go right into stakes races, Brown said. A lot of my horses last year didnt race as two-year-olds, so they were really behind the eight ball there and it was just asking too much too soon. So it kind of hurt my three-year-olds. I didnt have a good year with two-year-olds either, but it really wasnt the pandemic...I just didnt do very good. Brown's trainees for 2021 include a number from the first crop of his former star pupils Downbytheseaside and Fear The Dragon, and he's high on both of those sires thus far. Through the summer we got better. At the end of the year, trained a lot of Seasides, a few Fear The Dragons this year. Ive got four JK Endofaneras that I really like, four Captaintreacherouses that I really like. A couple of the Fear The Dragons seem very nice. Ive got 21 Downbytheseasides, and the majority of them seem like pretty nice horses. Im actually looking forward to this year. I think we have a little more to work with this year, and I expect to do better than I have the last couple of years. Among the many horses Brown has returning to the track is Bayfield Beach, who last year finished second in the $720,000 Metro Pace and capped his year with a deceptively-good sixth-place finish in the $371,900 Governors Cup following a wide trip and the addition of Lasix. I raced that horse on Lasix his last start, and I think it made a world of difference, Brown said. He saw blood. We tried some different things, some supplements...that kind of stuff. He got beat a little over four lengths to win, finishing sixth. I think Lasix really improved him and I think that horse is going to have a nice year this year. His first training trip was Friday, Brown also said. He came in around the first of the year. Its hard to say; I think he grew a little. He kind of lost his baby fat. He was always a great-looking horse last year. Hes maybe not quite as round, but by the time I get out of here Im sure hell be pretty stocky. I like to get my horses pretty heavy down here, so when I go home and start turning up the speed and start to race them that theyre big and strong, and I dont go backwards when I get up there. Presuming the 2021 stakes schedule goes unchanged as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Brown said he wants to have Bayfield Beach ready to qualify by April in preparation for the first Pennsylvania Sires Stakes preliminary in May. Brown also said the colt is staked to pretty much everything. Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries to entertain. KABUL Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar received the Charge d' Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul Mr. Ross Wilson to discuss the Afghan Peace Process and cooperation between Afghanistan Government and the new U.S. administration. Minister Atmar thanked the United States for the last nineteen years of commitment and support to the Afghan people and government and welcomed recent messages from the U.S. concerning the peace and reviewing the U.S.-Taliban Agreement. The two sides discussed the latest security and political developments in Afghanistan, the challenges facing the ongoing peace talks, the importance of regional and international support for the negotiations' success, and strengthening bilateral relations and trilateral engagements including with Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia. During the meeting, Mr. Atmar stressed the need for increasing consultations between the two governments, reviewing the U.S.-Taliban agreement, the fulfillment of the Taliban's commitments, and condition-based approach to decision-making. Ambassador Wilson assured Minister Atmar of his country's continued commitment and cooperation with Afghanistan. Though it is far from the biggest city in the Southeast, rent prices in Charleston are higher than any other metropolitan area in the Carolinas, data from real estate platform Zillow show. Zillow has been releasing monthly information pulled from the many listings on its website and app for rent and housing prices for years. Instead of using a simple average, which might not capture a full picture, Zillow's researchers calculate their own "rent index" for 100 of the country's largest metropolitan areas. Charleston is the 78th-largest among that group. Yet the Holy City had the 35th-highest rent index at the end of 2020. Charleston ranks ninth among the metro areas Zillow tracks in the South. Overall, rents south of the Mason-Dixon line are highest in Florida's and Texas' big cities. The index is also higher in Atlanta. Despite higher rents, the median income in Charleston is lower than it is in Raleigh, for example. Sign up for our new business newsletter We're starting a weekly newsletter about the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina. Get ahead with us - it's free. Email Sign Up! The driving force behind higher rates for Charleston is the city's geographic constraints, said Kenneth Soyeh, a PhD-level assistant professor of real estate at the College of Charleston. The proximity to the coast, as well as limited availability of land on the peninsula, mean there is only so much room for growth. But Soyeh added there's also not enough housing stock. Part of the problem lies in the lack of available capital for developers to build more, and to build more affordably priced units. He said eviction laws that favor landlords also can contribute to higher prices. Tenants who can't pay are more easily booted, giving landlords more flexibility and opportunity to raise prices, Soyeh said. A Princeton University study in 2018 gave North Charleston the worst eviction rate in the country. Zillow isn't the only organization that estimates rent prices, and other sources reflect similar trends. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development publishes median rents the midpoint in the data. It also found rent prices in Charleston are higher than in Charlotte, Greenville, Raleigh and even Atlanta for some unit sizes. Rentals in Asheville, the smaller western North Carolina mountain town, are more expensive than in Charleston. Data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition also show Charleston is expensive compared to many of its neighbors: Hourly wages needed to afford rent in Charleston are higher than the largest cities in the rest of South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia, with Asheville again a notable exception. A recently released economic report confirmed what many people already, that the private sector lost a lot of money and as a result either fur Read more The Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan hosted a meeting between the leadership of the country's foreign ministry and the delegation of the Political Office of the Taliban movement, led by the head of the office, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. During the talks, the sides stressed the importance of establishing peace and stability in Afghanistan. It was emphasized that Turkmenistan has been supporting the Afghan people for many years by promoting the development of the Afghan economy, primarily in the strategically important areas such as energy, transport and communications. The sides also noted the importance of construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, high-voltage power transmission lines and fiber-optic communication along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) route, as well as the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan railways for the economic development of Afghanistan. Representatives of the Taliban movement expressed full support for the implementation of the above infrastructure projects aimed at ensuring the well-being and prosperity of the Afghan people. Following the talks, Spokesman for the Taliban's Political Office and negotiating team Mohammad Suhail Shahin made a statement for press. On behalf of the Political Office of the Taliban movement, he expressed gratitude to the Turkmen side for the invitation to visit Turkmenistan and hospitality extended to the delegation. He noted that Turkmenistan, as a neutral state, has put forward a number of initiatives in the recent years aimed at establishing peace and development in Afghanistan. Mohammad Suhail Shahin expressed confidence that the implementation of the TAPI and TAP projects, as well as construction of railways from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan would contribute to achieving peace in the region and economic development of Afghanistan. TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2021 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. HAIKOU, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- A 100,000-metric-tonne deep-water semi-submersible oil production and storage facility on Saturday arrived at a gas field off south China's island province of Hainan and started installation. The energy station, named "Deep Sea No.1," was independently developed and built by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Ltd., China's largest offshore oil producer. The Lingshui 17-2 gas field is China's first deep-water self-operated gas field, with an average operational water depth of 1,500 meters, according to CNOOC. The Deep Sea No.1 was delivered on Jan. 14 from the Yellow Sea off east China's Shandong Province all the way down for the development of the Lingshui 17-2 gas field off Hainan. The delivery represents a breakthrough for China in deep-water oil and gas field development and offshore engineering equipment construction capabilities. Nearly 80 workers had set off for the target sea area on Friday to prepare for the facility's arrival, said Liu Kongzhong, deputy general manager of CNOOC's Lingshui 17-2 project group, adding that the facility is expected to become operational in June. The Deep Sea No.1 has a maximum displacement of 110,000 tonnes. With a designed service life of 150 years, the facility has a maximum oil storage capacity of 20,000 cubic meters. David Shers ComebackTown giving voice to the people of Birmingham & Alabama. Click here to sign up for newsletter. (Opt out at any time) Todays guest columnist is Lisa McNair. My earliest memory is that white men who didnt like her just because of the color of her skin, killed my sister. My older sister, Denise McNair was the youngest of the four little girls killed by a bomb placed at 16th Street Baptist Church on September 15, 1963. That memory has always stayed with me white men who didnt like her just because of the color of her skin, killed my sister. The part about the color of her skin really stands out because it wasnt just the color of her skin but all of the negative preconceived notions of what a Black person was. No one can dictate how they look; what race they are. But that should have nothing to do with the kind of person I am. All whites not evil That being my first memory could have caused me and my family to be very different people; angry, bitter, even unforgiving. However, I have had two of the best parents in the world. My parents, Chris and Maxine McNair, taught us to love everyone. Hate was never an option in the McNair household. A little known fact about our family is that my father did not attend 16th Street Baptist Church with Denise and Mother. He was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church. This was a small church in the Titusville neighborhood. The church had a congregation that was made up of all African Americans except for five people; the pastor, his wife and their three children were White. Pastor Joseph Ellwanger and his wife are wonderful people who were very active in the movement and they really did strive for the beloved community. My father was an elder at the church at that time and we were at the Ellwangers home often and they were at ours, which was a very uncommon occurrence for Blacks, and Whites back then. So for me, when I was born I knew early on that even though whites had killed Denise, all white folks were not evil. Our country still has not gotten it right But as you can imagine the pain of racism and that my sister was killed by an act of racial violence stays with me always. I do not think of it every waking hour but it does come to mind every day. It is a painful thing especially more than 57 years after her death we, as a country have still not gotten it right. Why is that? What have we not done as a people? I think we have not really had an honest conversation about race. In the late 70s when whites fled to the suburbs the conversations, for the most part, just stopped. It was like if you have two kids who are arguing and you separate them so they will cool off, but never sit them down and hash out the problem. But Blacks are in the suburbs now; we live everywhere but we have unfinished conversations that we need to have, they will not all be pleasant but they are necessary. The Best of Enemies Recently I watched this movie, The Best of Enemies which starred Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell who portrayed real life people, Ann Atwater, a fearless and outspoken Civil Rights activist and C. P. Ellis, a local KKK leader in Durham, North Carolina in 1971. I was really moved by this story as it is a true story and yet one more Civil Rights event that is not in our history books as Civil Rights history IS American History. But what stays with me is that these two very unlikely people came together in an experiment organized by their city council to help solve school desegregation in their town. They and other citizens met for 10 days with a facilitator to talk, share and work out their differences and the ultimate result was they decided to desegregate their schools. What I thought was so telling is that they sat down, and spent time together as human beings, talked out the good and the bad and then found common ground to come up with a decision that worked for all the parties involved. We VERY MUCH need to do that in every town in America today as well as here in the Greater Birmingham Area. What those people learned in the end is that we are all human beings with so many things in common, far more in common than we have that are different. And the differences are often not bad, just different. Human beings My Daddy was great at communicating that to us. He would always say human beings do this or human beings do that where others would say all White folks do this or all Black folks do that; you know, the things we say about each other behind closed doors. But Daddy never gave color to any type of behavior. At first I didnt understand why he would use the phrase human being instead of attributing some type of behavior to a particular race of people. Then I realized he was right. You will find all types of behaviors in all races: good and bad, loving and evil, nice and hateful. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We must remember that if we are to move forward in this city, state and country. Why Im hopeful People often ask me how do I stay hopeful especially in the climate of today. Sometimes, even though I was born after Denise was killed it feels like now how it must have felt for people of color back then, scary and very oppressive. Its almost suffocating. But then I remember that things are very different. We have laws that we didnt have then. We do live among each other now. Blacks live everywhere Whites live. Our kids have grown up together, they play together, attend school together. We love and are married to each other more now than ever. I cant name the number of times I am out shopping and I see an older White couple with a cute brown grandchild that they love. They dont want anything bad to happen to that child; he or she is family. I myself have so very many white friends here in Birmingham. People who would go to the ends of the world for me and my family and have done so. I attend a predominately White church and without a doubt I know those folks love me. We have just got to remember things like that. And when we hear others say racially hateful things we have to call them on it and not be silent or laugh. We are all on this planet together. There is nowhere else for us to go. Mars is not ready yet and may never be. We have work to do To my White friends, you will need to take a step out of your comfort zone and learn more about your fellow citizens of color. If your closest Black friend is the maid, the janitor at your office or the one Black person who works in your office and is most likely the receptionist; start with them but you really need to know some more Black people. Learn more about Black history, the Civil Rights movement, read Black authors (past and present), watch some Black films and documentaries. If you dont know what an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) is, look it up and then visit some, we have several in our state. Now to my Black friends, be patient with our White brothers and sisters. It will be frustrating that after all this time there is so much they still dont know but it being frustrated with them is not going to help them learn. Be open, share your knowledge, heritage and history but share it with kindness, patience and love. It will go down so much better. We might not get another time in history like this so we need to make the best of it. We live in the best country in the world yall and Birmingham has some of the most amazing people you ever want to meet. Its our city; love it and love all the people in it because after all, love is the universal language. Lisa McNair is the younger sister of Denise McNair, victim of the 16th Street Baptist church bombing. A lifelong resident of Birmingham, Lisa is a professional photographer and national pubic speaker with a personal memoir due out in 2021. www.speaklisa.com Click here to sign up for our newsletter. (Opt out at any time) David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown. Hes past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP). A teenage girl who allegedly subjected a woman to a horrific 12-hour kidnapping had been left scarred by the freak death of her sister and high-profile killing of her friend. Latia Henderson, 18, was bizarrely unemotional as she fronted Picton Local Court on Thursday, despite being just months into adulthood and standing accused of a 'very serious' crime. Police allege Henderson helped her friend Kayley Lee Ketley, 24, carry out a horrific stabbing and kidnapping of Nisha Phillips, 24, at Claymore, Sydney, on Wednesday. The pair allegedly stuffed Phillips in the boot of her own Holden Commodore and set off down the Hume Highway, before being stopped by police after a passing truckie saw the victim's hand sticking through the smashed tail light and called Triple Zero. Henderson's alleged crime comes after a childhood filled with trauma, including the freak death of her baby sister and assassination of her friend Brayden Dillon. Scroll down for video The trauma-filled childhood of Latia Henderson (above), 18, before she and a friend allegedly stabbed and kidnapped Nisha Phillips on Wednesday, can be revealed Henderson (far right) was close friends with Brayden Dillon (far left) who was gunned down in his sleep in a high-profile incident in 2017 The alleged crime has shocked Henderson's family, with her older sister hitting out at abuse on Facebook in the hours after her arrest. 'I don't know what happened but I know Latia and it's a really out of the normal situation for her,' Cheyenne Palmer wrote. Henderson's younger sister Indy Lee was killed in a horror accident in 2016 when the concrete war memorial at Black Head Bowling Club fell on top of her. An inquest into her death heard another older child was standing on top of the war memorial headstone when it buckled and crushed the three-year-old. In an emotional tribute to her sister on Instagram, Henderson shared a photo of the toddler's burial headstone. 'Half of my heart lives in heaven. I miss you so much angel eyes,' she wrote. Just five months after her sister's death, Henderson's life was again rocked by the shooting death of Dillon. The 15-year-old was asleep in bed when Conrad Craig burst through the front door and into his room. Craig was last year sentenced to at least 30 years jail over the shocking killing. At the time, Henderson told media: 'He was a really good friend of mine. Its so hard to accept the fact that hes gone.' Henderson's younger sister Indy Lee died in 2016 after a concrete war memorial fell on her at a bowling club in Black Head 'Half of my heart lives in heaven. I miss you so much angel eyes,' Henderson wrote in a moving Instagram post to Indy Lee (pictured) Nisha Phillips (pictured) was allegedly stuffed in the boot of her own Holden Commodore after 12 hours of terror that began at a unit in Claymore, western Sydney, about 10.30pm on Tuesday The 24-year-old managed to get her hand out the back tail light of the car (pictured) which was seen by a passing truck driver, who called NSW Police Henderson's lawyer Gazi Abbas did not apply for bail on Thursday meaning the teen will remain behind bars until at least April. He told media outside court the charges were 'distressing'. Henderson's co-accused Ketley was not represented by a lawyer and instead tried to mount a case for her own release. Dressed in a white forensic jumpsuit, a disheveled looking Ketley opted to go against the advice of Magistrate Mark Douglass who urged her not to apply for bail. 'These are very serious offences, please obtain some legal advice in relation to all matters,' he told her. But Ketley persisted unsuccessfully in her application, saying she would do whatever she needed to so that she could care for her sick grandmother. 'My grandmother is very ill. I would be asking to be released to live at her address so I can care for her,' she said. 'I will report at least twice a day everyday. I will do whatever I have to to get bail.' Henderson and Ketley stand accused of subjecting Phillips to more than 12 hours of horror, that began in a home in Claymore and ended on the side of a busy highway. Henderson (left) did not apply for bail, while Ketley (right) told Picton Local Court Magistrate Mark Douglass she needed to be released to help care for her sick grandmother Henderson's lawyer Gazi Abbass made no application for bail on her behalf - with the 18-year-old remanded in custody Court documents state that Phillips was allegedly attacked as early as 10.30pm on Tuesday. It wasn't until close to 11.30am the next morning that police pulled over her Holden Commodore and freed her from the boot. Phillips was suffering stab wounds to her knee, thigh and forearm, but is recovering in a stable condition in hospital. Police are investigating if the alleged kidnappers were on their way to the Belanglo State Forrest between Sydney and Canberra. While the three women were known to each other, the details of an alleged personal dispute that led to the eventual kidnapping remain unclear. Both Henderson and Ketley are charged with unlawful wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, detaining to gain advantage causing bodily harm and driving a vehicle without (the) owner's consent. Ketley was also hit with the additional charges of cannabis possession and driving while disqualified. Forensic police spent Wednesday combing over the car for evidence, with Detective Chief Inspector Brendan Bernie praising the truck driver for his awareness. Police pulled the car over on the Hume Highway near Berrima, in the NSW Southern Highlands, about 11.30am on Wednesday Both Henderson (left) and Ketley were refused bail to reappear in Campbelltown Local Court in April '[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,' Det Chief Insp 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.' '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.' Henderson and Ketley will return to Campbelltown Local Court on April 7. xx With the rocky vaccine rollout and the eligibility for seniors fast approaching, I started a vaccine outreach program to help people 65 and older in my community make appointments and arrange rides to vaccination sites. The Oregon Health Authoritys website is cumbersome, requiring seniors to scroll far down to a button labeled Lets get started, then navigate eligibility questions via a dialogue box clickable from the right bottom corner of their screen. Only then will they be given a link to the calendar to make appointments. And the timeline for the rollout by age group has shifted several times over the course of a few weeks. While the tool lists the dates of eligibility, it does not specify the date on which appointments can be made. I would like to encourage others to start similar outreach programs in their churches, neighborhoods and communities. From the questions I received this week, very little is understood about what to expect, and our seniors are anxious. Some asked whether they should just show up at the Oregon Convention Center on the day their age group is eligible (No, at this time appointments are required.) Others hadnt realized they may already qualify for vaccinations under the Group 1 criterion adults who have a medical condition or disability who receive services in their homes. Some expected to receive a call informing them of eligibility, yet many who qualify have not been called. Please join me in helping the seniors in our community. Margaret Scharle, Portland The webinar provided information about a political event which has historical significance for the Vietnamese people, and is an important milestone during the CPVs development process. Vietnamese Ambassador to Canada Pham Cao Phong briefed participants on major achievements Vietnam has gained over the past 91 years under the leadership of the CPV. The countrys socio-political system has been stabilised; its defence security, independence and sovereignty maintained; and the spiritual and material lives of its people improved. Vietnam has to date established diplomatic ties with 189 out of 193 United Nations members, and had economic linkages with 230 partners, with 17 free trade agreements signed with 58 partners, he stated. Regarding the Vietnam-Canada relations, he stressed that the two countries commit to considering two-way trade and investment as the main driver for the bilateral ties. Both sides are also cooperating with each other in dealing with such global challenges as climate change, food security and environmental protection. Participants at the webinar discussed Vietnams socialist-oriented market economy. Canadian friends showed their wish to learn from Vietnams experience in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. They also expressed respect for the countrys successes in the past struggle for national liberation as well as the current nation building and safeguarding cause under the leadership of the CPV. On Monday, February 8th, the US Senate will begin to hear arguments on the impeachment of President Donald J. Trump. The impeachment document, advanced from the House in record speed and without due deliberation, charges the President with incitement of insurrection in the rioting at the Capitol building on January 6, 2021. That charge is false and totally out of character for Donald J. Trump. He is a recognized man of peace and a five-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. I contend that he deserves a sixth nomination for the way that he has handled the coup that denied him his hard-won victory. Heres a recap of his five nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize to date: First, Norwegian lawmaker Christian Tybring-Gjedde nominated President Trump on September 9, 2020, for a peace agreement between the United Arab Emirates and Israel which opens up possible peace in the Middle East. Second, Swedish Parliamentarian Magnus Jacobsson nominated Trump on September 11, 2020, for brokering a historic peace deal between Serbia and breakaway republic Kosovo. Third, in late September 2020, Australian eminent law professor Professor David Flint, together with four colleagues, nominated President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for the Trump Doctrine. The Trump Doctrine, they said, brought peace in troubled areas without the USA entering new wars. Fourth, Finnish Parliament member Laura Huhtasaari nominated Trump and his administration for the Nobel Peace Prize on October 9, 2020. She highlighted Trump's endeavors to end the era of endless wars, construct peaceas well as underpin internal cohesion and stability of his country. Fifth, American Peter Pry, together with co-signers, nominated President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize on October 26, 2020. They nominated him for deterring nuclear war with North Korea . . . and for his Executive Order on Coordinating National Resilience to Electromagnetic Pulses. I would like to suggest that President Trump, and his followers, receive a sixth nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination should read for conducting a peaceful presidential campaign and gathering millions of people to his rallies, without violence. That includes the rally at the Capitol to stop the steal on January 6th. More evidence is coming to light that what happened at the Capitol had nothing to do with Trump. When it happened, though, Democrats seized upon it, using it to entrap President Trump and his followers and to turn the nation into a police state with the purpose of expunging Trump and all Trump supporters. The Sixth nomination should state that President Trump exercised great discretion during events at the Capitol and following. He immediately called for his supporters to leave the Capitol area and calling for peace to prevail. In the face of calumnious accusations of attempting an insurrection, President Trump passed the remaining two weeks at the White House peacefully. Although well within his rights to invoke Executive Order No. 1348 in response to foreign and domestic interference in a presidential election, he chose to leave the White House peacefully. In terms of discerning a pattern, one can compare Trumps last days in D.C. to Jesuss last days in Jerusalem. The ruling party in Jerusalem felt threatened by the rise of Jesus and his followers. To thwart them, he was falsely charged with insurrection against Israel, with the intention that doing so would destroy the Temple in Jerusalem. Failing to get those charges to stick, they begged Rome to crucify him just because they wanted him dead and his followers scattered. The mob even chose to let the insurrectionist Barabbas go free instead of Jesus so intense was this hatred and fear. Now the Swamp is setting up Trump on the false charge of insurrection and seeking to destroy the Capitol. They hope to kill Trump and scatter his followers. Only four presidents have received the Nobel Peace Prize. Theodore Roosevelt for his ill-conceived support of Japans occupation of Korea, Woodrow Wilson for his efforts to establish the failed League of Nations, Jimmy Carter for his failed efforts at world peace except for peace negotiations between Israel and Egypt, and Barack Obama for nothing. President Trumps accomplishments far exceed all four presidents. President Trump is truly a Man of Peace. IMAGE: Trump at the 2018 CPAC conference by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Lou Dobbs, one of former President Donald J. Trumps most loyal media supporters, abruptly lost his pulpit on Friday when Fox Business canceled his weekday television show, which had become a frequent clearinghouse for baseless theories of electoral fraud in the weeks after Mr. Trump lost the 2020 presidential race. Mr. Dobbss decade-long tenure at the network ended with little warning a guest host filled in for his Friday slot only a day after the election technology company Smartmatic filed a defamation lawsuit against Rupert Murdochs Fox Corporation and Fox News. The suit, which seeks damages of at least $2.7 billion, also named Mr. Dobbs as an individual defendant along with two other Fox anchors, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro. Smartmatic specifically cited Mr. Dobbss program, which by late last year had become so packed with falsehoods about Mr. Trumps defeat that Fox Business was forced to run a fact-checking segment debunking some of its own anchors assertions. Executives at Fox did not elaborate on Friday about why they had canceled Mr. Dobbss program, which was the top-rated show on Fox Business and drew a bigger audience than its competition on CNBC. The network said in a statement that it regularly reviewed its programming lineup. Protesters flash the three-fingered salute while they march Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021, in Yangon, Myanmar after the social media ban. (Image:AP) The more things change, the more they remain the same. Roughly six decades ago, in 1962, when the military staged its first coup ending a decade of experiments with democracy in what was then Burma, Indias quandary was typical of a nation surrounded by volatile neighbours. While policymakers in New Delhi were clear about their commitment to restoring democracy in Burma, with which the country shares a 1,600-km border, there was also a realisation that pragmatic adjustments were necessary to engage with the military, which remains the pivot of several political systems in Asia. Despite Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehrus disappointment with the setback to his deposed friend and Burmas first Prime Minister, U Nu, the Indian leader, sensibly decided to engage with coup leader Gen Ne Win to protect Indian interests, including cross-border insurgencies, Chinas influence and the safety of the larger Indian diaspora. Except the name, which has since changed from Burma to Myanmar, and the capital that has shifted from Yangon (Rangoon) to Naypyidaw, much else remains the same. The junta is back Early last week, the Myanmar military staged yet another coup, hours before a new parliament was to convene following national elections in November 2020. As is with such takeovers, the countrys civilian leadership, including its foremost leader, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, is in custody. The military has declared a state of emergency for a year. The reasons for the coup are entirely predictable: Suu Kyis National League of Democracy (NLD), the party in power, had swept the election. The army, which never really trusted her, was apprehensive that buoyed by her win, she would seek to curb its power, even though it sounded like a bad ruse, given the militarys history of domination of the country. Myanmars constitution reserves 25 percent seats in parliament for the military. It also decrees that its nominees be the ministers of defence, border areas and home affairs, thus retaining full control of the states security apparatus. Also watch: Myanmar | Anti-coup protests grow as army broadens internet crackdown Made for China Such a cloak-and-dagger scenario is tailor-made for China to make its move and Beijing is doing just that. As it has demonstrated in the past, its ability to buy influence in Asian nations, particularly among Indias traditional allies, is formidable. Former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal admits as much. China has strong strategic strength in Myanmar. It has capacities to offer and act as a cushion against western sanctions on the country. China is Myanmar's largest investor and lender and has proposed 38 projects under the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor. During President Xi Jinping's visit to Myanmar in January 2020, the two sides signed 33 agreements, including the Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone, a deep-water port in Rakhine state and a new city project in Yangon. Myanmar is an important partner for Xis ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. Beijing has been pushing to implement strategic projects like plans to connect China's southern Yunnan province with Myanmar's second-largest city, Mandalay and then stretch further south to Yangon and southwest to Kyaukpyu. However, not all is hunky-dory between the two countries, despite Beijing holding the trump cards in the Southeast Asian country. Myanmar has been unable to reach a compromise with its rebel groups even after several rounds of talks. Many of them are based along its northern and northeastern border with China. The inability to reach an accord has been largely fashioned by the big dragon pulling invisible strings. Last year, a Myanmar deputy government minister accused Beijing of interfering in the country's peace efforts by controlling the rebel alliance, the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), which includes the two largest and strongest insurgent groups. The military in Myanmar (also known as the Tatmadaw) is suspicious of China, despite its dependence, said Sibal, one of the architects of Indias Act East policy during his tenure as Foreign Secretary in 2002-2003. New Delhis fine-balancing act Under the Act East and Neighbourhood First policies, India has deepened its relations with Myanmar across political, military, diplomatic, security and economic spectrums. Though nowhere near China, Indias approved investments in Myanmar, as of November 2019, stood at $771.488 million by 33 Indian enterprises. Thirteen Indian public sector undertakings have a presence in Myanmar, including oil and gas players like the ONGC Videsh and GAIL. Banks such as the SBI and the Exim Bank of India have representative offices in the country. Constantino Xavier, Fellow at New Delhis Centre for Social and Economic Progress, summed it up pithily in the Hindustan Times, New Delhi will say what it can and do what it must. Expect public support for democracy and private engagement with the military regime. In October 2020, Indias Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and Army Chief Gen MM Naravanes visits were well received. The visitors handed over to Suu Kyi, an alumnus of Delhis LSR College, a consignment of drugs for COVID-19 patients. India also announced the import of 1,50,000 tonnes of pulses from Myanmar till March 2021, $2 million for building a bridge to ramp up economic connectivity between Mizoram and Myanmar and a proposal to construct a $6 billion petroleum refinery near Yangon. Officials say 1.5 million doses of Covishield vaccine reached Yangon on January 22. New Delhis dual policythat Xavier referred tois paying dividends, particularly in the context of insurgents in the Northeast. Myanmars powerful military, too, is keen to reciprocate. Under the terms of the military agreement signed between the two countries in July 2019 and the resultant strategic cooperation since then, the Myanmar army first drove out ethnic Naga rebels from their country. India responded favourably by supplying the Tatmadaw with weapons that have helped Myanmars military in its fights with various insurgent groups, some of which are China-backed. The bilateral equation has worked out perfectly: in May 2020, the Myanmar government handed over 22 ethnic Assam rebels to India. India has been seemingly tactful in discussing the issue of displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh. While sympathising with the government, New Delhi has nudged Myanmar to secure a position for the displaced people within the country and to start the repatriation process soon in consultation with Bangladesh. New Delhi needs to play its card adroitly in a land that was part of British India till 1937 and with whom cultural ties and people-to-people contacts were the norm till the middle of the twentieth century but which is now increasingly under Chinese sway. Former Indian ambassador to Myanmar Vivek Katju touched upon this dilemma. The main question is how will China act? More than three decades ago the Myanmar army had junked an election result and western countries and India strongly condemned the move. China saw it as an opening and cemented its ties with the Myanmar military and ensured that the country kept afloat, Katju said. Despite some resentment among Myanmars elite, including the military, at Chinas all-pervasive influence, If now the Myanmar military is made an international pariah again, it will have no alternative but to go further into the Chinese embrace, he said. Hopefully, India would have its flanks covered in such a scenario. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 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. Alia and Ranbir, who have been dating for almost three years now, are very vocal about their relationship in front of the media. In a recent interview, Ranbir even said that had it not been for Covid-19, the two might have gotten married last year. (Credit: Instagram) 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. MAGALIA, Calif. - Cal Fire Butte County Firefighters trained multiple times last week. Action News Now went to the last day of a three day Over the Edge Training Course in Magalia. One of the leaders explained why this training is crucial in Butte County. "Training will be used quite a bit throughout the county, specifically with the major roadways and arteries we have running through the county, and lot of the outdoor activities that Butte Count provides we see quite a bit of people in this situation," said Captain Lane Costa. Captain Lane Costa has been with Cal Fire Butte County for about 15 years. He was one of two instructors for the Low Angle Over the Edge Training. Captain Costa says the difference from high angle training is how the victim is transported. "A majority of the weight is going to be supported by the rescuers to the basket that carries the weight of the basket up. Compared to high angle where the rope system itself will support a majority of the load," said Captain Costa. Captain Costa says 80 to 90% of the firefighters with Butte County are trained to a low angle rescue level. This week there were 21 firefighters who took the course. "We have a majority of our students around here from Butte County we also have US Forest Service and Santa Clara County. The standard of training is standard across the board throughout California so no matter if we have situations like the Bear Fire or any other incident outside resources will all be trained to the same level," said Captain Costa. Even though this is a training Captain Costa said it still can be dangerous, so they always safety measures in place. "We do have a safety factor built into the systems here, so if something goes wrong the students here and the instructors are provided a safe atmosphere," said Captain Costa. Captain Costa said they scouted the area in Magalia before training there to make sure it was safe. He also said the area they chose (right off Coutolenc Rd.) to train is a place they have frequent rescues. One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 Many farmers have been upset over the National Green Tribunal's ban on diesel vehicles, including tractors, which are over 10 years old Ghaziabad: Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait on Saturday called on peasants across the country to join the tractor revolution as part of the ongoing protests at Delhi''s borders against the new agri laws introduced by the Centre. During a speech to supporters at the Ghazipur protest site, Tikait reached out to the farming community, many of whom especially in the Delhi-NCR region have been upset over the National Green Tribunal's ban on diesel vehicles, including tractors, that are over 10 years old. The tractors which run in the farms will now run at the NGT's office in Delhi also. Until recently, they had not asked which vehicles are 10 years old. What is their plan? Phase out tractors older than 10 years and help the corporates? But the tractors older than 10 years will also run and the movement (for repeal of the new farm laws) will also be strengthened, Tikait, 51, told the crowd amid cheers. He said more and more farmers across the country will participate in the ongoing farmers' stir for rollback of the contentious laws. Recently, 20,000 tractors were in Delhi and the next target is taking that number to 40 lakh, Tikait said. He also called on tractor owners to write messages of ''tractor kraanti'' (tractor revolution) on their vehicles. Write 'Tractor Kranti 2021, 26 January' on your tractors. Wherever you will go, you will be respected. We have a target of 40 lakh tractors, he said. The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader, whose emotional appeal recently had revived the protest that was losing momentum post the 26 January violence in Delhi, also called on villagers to bring a fistful of soil from their farmlands to the agitation sites and take back a similar amount of 'mitti' of the revolution from the protest sites. Go and spread this revolutionary soil in your farmlands and never will traders look at your farmlands (to usurp it), Tikait said. Exhorting supporters to keep the momentum going, he asked them to be prepared to reach protest sites as the agitation at Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu border points of Delhi could go on till October. Be prepared at villages, whenever a call is made, reach the protest the way the youth (from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh) has done (after the 26 January episode), he said. Ghazipur has earlier witnessed the influence of Tikait over the farmers' community in north India when hundreds of people, including women and children, from villages in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand reached here with water and home-made food on the BKU leader's call. Tikait had made a call for water and food from villages following disruptions in water supply at the protest site by local authorities in the wake of the 26 January violence. The January 6, 2021 mob violence inside the Capitol is abhorrent and must be condemned. It is, unfortunately, far from the only political violence in the history of our citadel of democracy. President Trump and his followers are being labeled "terrorists." But an historical review reveals abhorrent actions that were condemned contemporaneously, only to be mitigated over time... even forgotten. For some reading this, before you were born. July 2, 1915: A German professor, angered by assistance to Great Britain against Germany in WWI, exploded a bomb in the Senate reception room. He committed suicide in jail after his capture. March 1, 1954: Four Puerto Rican nationalists sitting in the House Gallery shot at congressmen in session, wounding five. They were convicted and sentenced to 49 years in prison. In 1979, one died in prison and the remaining three were pardoned by President Carter. They returned to Puerto Rico and hailed as patriots by some. March 1, 1971: A bomb was detonated in the Senate wing, near the Rotunda and below the Senate chamber, causing extensive damage, some structural. Although no one was ever charged, the Weather Underground claimed credit. These "Amerika-hating revolutionaries" engineered bombings, robberies and killings. Interestingly, married couple Bill Ayers and Benardine Dohrn, founding members of the group, became college professors in Chicago where Ayers was connected to the Chicago Annenberg Challenge organization, as was his neighbor community organizer Barack Obama. November 7, 1983: M19CO (a communist organization) claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Capitol's north wing. The blast pushed a potentially lethal hole into the empty Republican Senate cloak room. The Senate had unexpectedly adjourned early. In May 1985, Susan Rosenberg was convicted to 58 years in prison for possession of bombs, explosives and firearms. In 1988 Rosenberg was charged with others for the Capitol bombing, but charges were dropped in 1990 because of her imprisonment on the weapons charges. On June 20, 2001 she was released from prison due to President Clinton's commutation. Susan Rosenberg later became vice chair of Thousand Currents, the fundraising arm for Black Lives Matter. ABC7 YouTube screengrab June 14, 2017: James Hodgkinson shot 70 rounds at an Alexandria, VA ball field where members of the Republican House caucus were practicing in preparation for a charity game with Democrats. Five persons were wounded (including Congressman. Steve Scalise). The shooter, an avowed anti-Trumper and follower of Senator Bernie Sanders, died of wounds he suffered that day. Violent criminal acts must be dealt with severely. But painting blame with a broad partisan brush must be resisted. Casting political stones at politicians for their lawful rhetoric and actions cannot be confused with criminally charging ideological violent extremists. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 01:21:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Police officers are seen on duty during a protest in Tunis, Tunisia, on Feb. 6, 2021. A protest march was organized on Saturday in Tunisian capital Tunis to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the assassination of left-wing opponent Chokri Belaid amid tight security measures. (Photo by Adel Ezzine/Xinhua) TUNIS, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- A protest march was organized on Saturday in Tunisian capital Tunis to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the assassination of left-wing opponent Chokri Belaid amid tight security measures. The protest march began at the Martyr Chokri Belaid Square at Avenue Mohammed 5, in downtown Tunis, with the participation of many political figures from the opposition, parliamentarians, trade unionists and artists. The protesters moved towards Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the main avenue of the Tunisian capital, described by the Tunisians as the avenue of the revolution. The participants in this demonstration chanted slogans in which they demanded to reveal who was behind the political assassinations in Tunisia. They also raised other slogans calling for solutions to the economic situation and working to achieve development. The demonstration was held at a time when the Tunisian authorities have been imposing a strict health protocol for several weeks, including the closure of cafes, restaurants and shops along Avenue Habib Bourguiba. The Tunisian Interior Ministry has set up dozens of barriers in all the alleys leading to Avenue Bourguiba, in anticipation of possible clashes between demonstrators and police. Tunisian opposition figure Chokri Belaid, the head of the Democratic Patriotic Party and a leading voice of the country's secular opposition, was shot dead outside his home in Tunis on Feb. 6, 2013. Enditem There was a time I used to pretend I had met my husband in a cafe, by chance, because it seemed more romantic than the truth, which was that we met online on a dating site. I never wanted to meet someone online, any more than I wanted to be introduced to someone suitable by my Asian parents. I don't think of myself as particularly rule-breaking. All I did was fall in love unexpectedly. Three months after meeting him, I married Richard, an Englishman, someone I wasn't technically supposed to marry because he didn't share my cultural or religious heritage. Today, it is easy for me to think of it as not a big deal, as though telling my family about him wasn't the most difficult thing I'd ever done. We're very normal. After nearly ten years of marriage, and as parents of three small boys, all we do is watch Netflix and eat dinner on the sofa once the children are in bed. But though there is plenty of the everyday in our story, it does not make it any less of a great love. Huma Qureshi from Walsall in the West Midlands, married Richard, a non-Muslim (pictured together) I'm a writer from Walsall, West Midlands, age 39, of Pakistani heritage; Richard is a 40-year-old software consultant from Shropshire. Perhaps no one would know, to look at us, what it took for us to be together. When our engagement was announced, my mother told some of our family and family friends that I met Richard in Regent's Park mosque, as if we both just happened to spend all our free time there. She said this in order to stress that his conversion to Islam was authentic and, perhaps more importantly, to stress that my behaviour was beyond reproach, to dampen gossip in the conservative, relatively strict social circle that raised me. If I met my husband-to-be in the mosque, it meant I was a good sort of Muslim woman and my character came out of this intact. But the truth is, before we met, Richard had never considered converting to Islam. The first time I saw him was after work outside a Tube station. It was March 2011. I was 29, living in a flat I'd just bought in North London. I arrived early because I was more nervous about meeting Richard than I had been about meeting any of the strangers I'd been set up with in the past through my mother, or the Muslim dating internet, or the women I called aunties, even though they were not related to me. The couple (pictured) have three children together and have now been married for ten years The idea I would be married some day was something I had understood ever since I was a girl. The knowledge that, one day, a family might come to visit, then ask my parents for my hand in marriage to their son over cups of tea and samosas was as much a fact of my life as watching Neighbours after school. After I graduated from Warwick University, my parents suggested introducing me to suitable boys. But I said no. I was very romantic and went off to study in Paris for a year. It was only in 2005, after my father had died, that I thought about marriage again. I realised that you need to follow your heart, but also make an active choice. I was living in London and working for a newspaper. On a visit home I awkwardly mumbled to my mother that I was ready to be introduced to suitors. The trouble is, in the Muslim world, I was not in high demand. Almost 30, only 5ft 2in, I wasn't a doctor and I couldn't speak Urdu, at least not very well. I also tried Muslim-specific matrimonial and dating websites, but didn't have much luck. So I thought I might have a better chance of finding someone who was still Muslim but also just a little bit more like me on a more regular dating site. I created a profile on Love-struck, a dating site for Londoners, but not specifically for Muslims. Her parents had suggested introducing her to suitable boys but she said no. The couple are pictured on their wedding day I was happy in my life. The idea of making a suitable match didn't occupy my every waking thought. Until, that is, I got that first email from Richard and I thought: 'Oh. Well, isn't he just lovely?' By the time Richard and I met, we had been writing every single day for a month. Long, detailed emails which he composed perfectly, with an excellent command of grammar. As a writer, I appreciated the effort he made to share the details of his day. But I was nervous because even though I'd been set up more times than I cared to remember in the previous seven years, I'd never met someone who wasn't Asian. Someone who didn't share my family heritage, skin colour, cultural background or faith. I was only meeting boys who understood that these meetings were fast-track interviews to marriage and that there'd be no messing around. I reminded myself that Richard had messaged me and my profile clearly said I was Muslim. Surely he must know what he was letting himself in for? Huma created a profile on Love-struck, a dating site for Londoners, but not specifically for Muslims and then met Richard (pictured together) On that first date, I watched people pour out of the Tube station. And there he was. I felt a little dizzy. We talked in a cafe until closing time. Richard messaged me that night and suggested dinner in a Thai place. We met a few days later and it felt like we were the only two people there. I had tickets to a film festival and Richard accompanied me. He took my hand for the first time. We didn't talk about religion who does when they're first dating? but we discussed our families and the farm where he grew up. Looking back, I didn't talk about being Muslim for fear of being judged. Having worked in the media, I was aware of stereotypes around Muslim women. A few days later, we went for dinner and Richard broached the elephant in the room. I think he knew I didn't know how to have the conversation. 'What would it mean for your family, if they were to know, if we were to be together?' It was if I suddenly woke up. I realised that whatever I had been trying to pretend that this was, it had to end before it had even started. Huma says she was only meeting boys who understood that these meetings were fast-track interviews to marriage and that there'd be no messing around before meeting Richard I looked at him. There was something about him that was so steady, so sincere. All I wanted was for him to pull me to him, let me lay my head on his chest. The way he looked at me I could tell him anything. I took a deep breath and told him in a small voice that we couldn't be together because my religion wouldn't allow it, and my family wouldn't either. I told him I was sorry to have wasted his time. He covered my hand with his. 'We really can't be together? Like, at all?' he asked. He told me that he'd been reading up on it; I wondered what he'd been Googling. 'Well, sure we could,' I said coolly. 'You could convert and marry me, but that's never going to happen. I'm not even supposed to date. I'm sorry, I shouldn't really be here.' Strangely, he didn't bat an eyelid. 'Yeah, that's what I read. About converting. I've been reading up on Islam . . . a lot of similarities to other faiths, as far as I can see.' He later told me his grandparents were strict Methodists and while his parents would call themselves Christian, they weren't a church-going family, but that he believed strongly in the qualities of goodness, kindness and compassion. I told him once more that our being together was out of the question. 'I gave up drinking a while ago!' he said in an optimistic way, trying to lighten the mood. I smiled weakly because I knew it was nowhere near enough. As we walked through the London streets, I realised this would probably be the last time I saw him. Richard and Huma are pictured with their three children. They met through a dating website for Londoners But something had already started. We were inching closer to one another. Every day my head was full of him. Though my self-belief had been run down to the ground by rejections I'd received, and the ugly feeling I was not good enough to be loved, I was struck by an unusual sense of certainty that he cared for me. Richard asked if we could talk again, and we met later that month, March 2011. 'Are you OK?' he said sitting opposite me. He was frowning, concerned. He stretched his hands out towards me, but my hands stayed firmly in my lap. 'Yeah. I think I know what you're going to say and I get it.' 'What am I going to say?' 'That I should have been more honest with you and told you straight away about my family and the Muslim stuff.' He looked at me with a directness that was so steady, it was disarming. 'Well, it's not like I didn't know. It was right there on your profile. I mean, I might not know all the details but, yeah, I figured there might be something to . . . talk about. All I know is that I don't want this to end without even trying and I don't think you do either. 'So if there are things we need to talk about, things we need to work out, let's do that and just see where we are. Unless you don't want to?' I did want to, very much, but I had no idea where or how to begin. I wanted to tell him that I had never felt this before. How We Met by Huma Qureshi (pictured) tells the story of meeting her husband and how her family reacted to it 'What I'm trying to say is,' he stopped, sighing. 'I like being with you. You make me happy. And I don't just go around telling girls that. I don't think it's worth giving up just because you think it might be too difficult. We could figure it out.' I nodded. 'I really, really like you,' he said softly. I allowed myself to smile, because I really, really liked him, too. I told him about the arranged marriage suitors, the matrimonial agency. I waited for him to laugh, to back away. But, instead, when he walked me to the station, I tilted my head up towards him and he said: 'I want you to know, I won't hurt you.' Richard found a beginner's class on Islam at Regent's Park mosque. I went along, too. The imam talked passionately about the rights of women, the power of prayer, the message of peace. Adapted from How We Met by Huma Qureshi (12.99, Elliott & Thompson) Huma Qureshi 2021 On Good Friday, we visited the mosque for Friday prayers. I stood side by side with Richard, a white man who was not Muslim. I was wearing jeans not a traditional shalwar kameez, and no one cared. All people did was smile at us. I emailed my mother to tell her about Richard and was summoned for a family meeting that April. There were weeks of painful questions, almost impossible to answer. Had I given any thought to what our family in Pakistan would think? Eventually, Richard and I decided we needed to talk face-to-face with my mother. In May, we caught the train to Walsall. He bought her an orchid and when she opened the door, he said: 'Assalam-o-alaikum' (Arabic for hello). A dreadful feeling came over me. Mum gestured to us to sit down. 'Is she OK?' Richard mouthed. 'I have no idea,' I said quietly. Then she called us into the dining room and the table was overflowing with rich homemade curries. She had done all of this to say: 'Please be patient with me. I am trying. This is just not something I was prepared for.' Richard tried to make small talk, but she raised her hand. 'No, that's not why you are here. I need to know what's been going on. What your intentions are.' He told my mum he understood her concerns and that he'd been reading about Islam and taken classes and that it made sense to him, the values, the similarities with other Abrahamic faiths. He clarified that he didn't drink, or eat haram meat (no pork). He talked about the respect he had for those who fast. He told her he was learning Arabic prayers and would be converting in the next few weeks and he'd like her to be there, if she wanted to, that is. 'I see,' she said. 'And then what?' 'And then I'd like to ask for permission to marry your daughter, if you'll let me.' I burned up. My mother took a sip of water. 'Why did you contact her on this 'website'? Why her?' I thought: please don't say you just fancied me. But, of course, that's not what he said. 'Because I wanted to settle down with someone who shared my views on life, the world. There was just ... something about Huma. 'It sounded like ... we might have a lot in common, and then we started writing to each other, and we met and it just felt right.' My mum nodded her head indiscernibly and said: 'Huma, pass him the pilau. Don't leave him with an empty plate.' Then she looked straight at Richard and said: 'Come now, you must try a bit of everything.' Taiwan: In the days after Myanmars civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted in an early morning coup, the wide modern boulevards of the countrys Potemkin capital Naypyitaw remained silent and empty. A few military roadblocks and patrolling armoured vehicles were the only sign of the sudden army takeover that threatened to wipe out the countrys recent democratic progress in one audacious swoop. A Burmese protester living in Thailand holds a picture of Myanmar military chief Min Aung Hlaing. Credit:AP On Wednesday, carefully orchestrated television footage showed a diminutive figure in military uniform conducting government business from a golden, throne-like armchair. Those searching for motives behind the Monday morning putsch that imprisoned Suu Kyi and plunged Myanmar back towards oppressive junta rule need look no further than the service ribbons on the chest of General Min Aung Hlaing. The authoritarian general, who is accused of overseeing an ethnic cleansing operation against the Muslim Rohingya minority, is now at the centre of power in the former British colony that, until recently, projected such hope in its fledgling attempts to establish democracy. Hundreds of students belonging to the Communist Party's rival faction led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Sunday held a rally here against Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli's decision to dissolve Parliament, as the rivalry between the two top leaders escalated. The rally by Prachanda's supporters came two days after pro-government students chanting slogans like We love KP Oli, Oli is our hero, Oli for the prime minister staged a massive show of strength in Kathmandu in favour of Oli. Supporters of Prachanda on Sunday shouted slogans like We hate you K P Oli" and We hate KP Oli for taking the country towards the path of regression by dissolving the House of Representatives". The rally was part of the phase-wise anti-government agitation led by Prachanda and Madhav Kumar against the prime minister's controversial decision to dissolve Parliament on December 20 and hold new elections on April 30 and May 10. The ruling NCP has been witnessing months-long tussle between two factions, one led by 68-year-old Oli and Party's chairman and another led by 66-year-old Prachanda", also the executive chair of the party and former premier. Defending his move to dissolve Parliament, Oli said some leaders tried to obstruct the functioning of his government and he had no other alternative other than seeking a fresh mandate. The ruling NCP has split over Oli's call for a new Parliament to be elected more than a year ahead of schedule. Both Oli and the rival group claim to control the Communist Party and the issue is being disputed at the Election Commission. The rival faction even announced that it had ousted Oli from the party at a meeting last month. (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.) Kylie Moore-Gilbert - Wana news agency A British-Australian woman who spent nearly three years in solitary confinement in an Iranian prison has separated from her husband after hearing allegations he was having an affair with a colleague, according to media reports. Kylie Moore-Gilbert, 33, has filed for divorce from Ruslan Hodorov, her Russian-Israeli husband, according to the Herald Sun of Melbourne. The couple were wed in a traditional Jewish ceremony in 2017 after meeting a decade earlier in Israel. Ms Moore-Gilbert spent 804 days in jail, after being accused of being a spy by the Iranians and sentenced to 10 years. She was seized in 2018 after attending a conference at the holy city of Qom in central Iran and strongly denied the charges. She returned to Australia last November as part of a prisoner-swap agreement that saw the release of three Iranians accused of plotting to kill Israeli officials in Bangkok. But the eminent Islamic scholar was reportedly heartbroken on her return to learn of allegations of her husbands relationship with Dr Kylie Baxter, her PhD supervisor. Quoting friends, the Australian paper said the affair began a year after Ms Moore-Gilberts arrest. She was especially upset, given that she had resisted an attempt by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards to lure her husband to Iran, because they believed he was an Israeli spy. Kylie Moore-Gilbert disembarks from an Australian government jet after the prisoner swap - Lukas Coch/AAP image She revealed details of the plot in a letter to Scott Morrison, the Australian prime minister, which was smuggled out of Iran and leaked to the Herald Sun in late 2019. The Revolutionary Guard have imprisoned me in these terrible conditions for over nine months in order to extort me both personally and my government, she wrote. They have also attempted to use me as a hostage in a diabolical plot to lure my husband, an Australian permanent resident (and soon to be new citizen) into joining me in an Iranian prison. She had a gruelling time in prison and went on hunger strike on several occasions to protest at her living conditions. Story continues The Iranians held her in a small freezing cell and tried to undermine her resolve with psychological torture. On her release Ms Moore-Gilbert paid a heartfelt tribute on Twitter to the friends who had sustained her during her incarceration. I cant tell you how heartening it was to hear that my friends and colleagues were speaking up and hadnt forgotten me, she wrote. It gave me so much hope and strength to endure what had seemed like a never-ending, unrelenting nightmare. The University of Melbourne declined to comment on the alleged affair. Love Island could be cancelled again this summer amid the ongoing pandemic. The hit reality show hasn't been on screen since its first winter series a year ago. Advertisements It was previously said that bosses were determined to get the show on air this year and were going all out to make it the biggest and best yet. But ITV chief Carolyn McCall has confessed she doesn't know if the show will be able to go ahead. The channel boss told Radio 4's The Media Show: "We will want to put Love Island on air because its been off air for a little while. We didnt do it last summer. "We are looking at all our options at the moment. The pandemic makes it hard." It was recently claimed that the show could swap its usual villa in sunny Spain for potential locations closer to home. The Sun reported that producers are scouting resorts in Cornwall and Devon should restrictions not allow filming to take place in Majorca. Advertisements A source shared: "As a precautionary measure, producers have looked at several UK sites to hold the series, so if travel restrictions remain strict they have a back-up plan. "Cornwall has been optioned, as well as Torquay, the Isles of Scilly and even Barry Island, where Gavin and Stacey was filmed." While the UK show was cancelled last year, the 2020 US series went ahead in a Las Vegas hotel due to travel restrictions as a result of the pandemic. I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here faced similar problems, ultimately relocating its Australian camp to a castle in Wales for the latest series. With filming on Love Island usually starting in July there's still plenty of time for things to change. Laura Whitmore is set to return as host with filming currently planned for its usual location in Majorca between July and August. Meanwhile it's been claimed that there have been more than 100,000 applications from singletons to enter the villa. Advertisements And if you want to be one more, applications for Love Island this year are currently open if you want to sign up. Up for grabs for the winning couple is a cash prize of 50,000 and the chance for a happily ever after. Axios Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Canadian businessman Frank McKenna, who is chairman of Brookfield Asset Management and deputy chairman of TD Securities, believes Ireland will benefit greatly from President Joe Biden's approach to world trade. McKenna, a former Canadian ambassador to the US who recently addressed the Ireland Canada Business Association, also outlined a number of opportunities in Ireland for the businesses which he is involved with. "I think that Ireland and Canada are very similar and that we both rely on the larger world and our goodwill with the larger world as part of our quality of life," he told the Sunday Independent. "I think Biden, quite frankly, is going to have a much bigger view of the world and hopefully the world will start to come around to acting collaboratively. That would be good for Ireland, it certainly would be good for Canada." McKenna said that he is optimistic about the post-Covid recovery and that Brookfield, which owns holiday village group Center Parcs, saw potential in Ireland. "Our belief was strong enough in the Irish Center Parcs (in Longford) that we've recently recapitalised and put money into it. I'm of the view that as dark as days are now, as we see hope and daylight in front of us, there's going to be an outpouring of activity. People are going to shop and they're going to travel, and they're going to enjoy tourist accommodations. "And so, I think it's going to be a very, very strong operation and we've got five in the UK, one in Ireland to date and it would not be a surprise if we were to look at Ireland for other similar opportunities. But for now, we've just got to get through these dark days of the pandemic and I think people will be running out the doors as soon as they can." Brookfield is a major investor in the renewables area and last year sold wind farm assets in Cork and Clare. "We just sold one portfolio of wind farms, but I notice we're building, in Tipperary, renewable energy for Facebook. We've just hired Mark Carney (former Governor of the Bank of England) who is heading up our green transition fund and you would know him as a son of Co Mayo and all of his grandparents are from Co Mayo and he has Irish citizenship as well." McKenna said Ireland would "figure very prominently" in this area. "We'll be raising tens of billions of dollars to invest in the green economy," he said. Brookfield is also a backer of telecoms firm Imagine. "We could love the country, but (do) not keep the assets forever, we tend to recycle assets a lot. And we've sold some of our green assets, we've bought some more. So, I don't know where we'll end up going with the broadband but I know the company's been very excited about getting into that whole rural broadband space," he said. McKenna also urged Ireland to ratify the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which is a free-trade agreement between Canada and the European Union. CETA has faced some opposition here, particularly from members of the Green Party. Their key concerns relate to an investor-state dispute resolution mechanism, which would give international investors the ability to sue Government over policy changes that affect profits. McKenna said CETA would be positive for Ireland. "It's tariff-free trade, it's with a trusted trading partner, Ireland enjoys a surplus in trading with Canada. The goodwill between the two countries is just brimming, so it just seems logical to get that finished." TD Securities opened offices in Ireland in May 2019 and will grow organically here, McKenna said. "From 20 jobs, we'll be up to 100 and that'll continue to grow." Opening an office in Ireland was an easy decision, he said. "We looked at the menu, all of the other countries were making very attractive offers and pushing hard. But we liked our experience in Ireland, we like the culture in Ireland, we have a commonality in language and legal system, the tax regime is accommodating, the employee base is well educated and attractive, and a lot of us like going to Ireland." McKenna said that it was early days for the Biden administration but that signs were good. "Our relationship with the Trump administration was civil, at best. Nobody in Canada wanted to antagonise him, but they were very hostile to us in so many ways. And we never had a visit from Trump to the country, an official visit. That's extraordinarily rare, Canada is usually visited within months of a new administration. "That was a big issue, but he was attacking us on Nato, he was attacking us on trade issues, tariffs and so on. We'll have issues with Biden, there's no doubt about that, because the US-Canada relationship is the largest in the world." Trump tore up the North American Free Trade Agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico and pushed for changes to boost American business over a year-and-a-half of tortured negotiations and threats that in the end saw the trade pact renamed but emerge little changed. "But the tone is entirely different. The tone is civil, it's accommodating, it's the way you treat a friend, a neighbour, an ally, a cousin and we're all of those things. And I think you'll find the same thing." He said Trump was actively a supporter of Brexit and "didn't seem to care how it came about". "On the other hand, you have Biden, who's from Ballina, Co Mayo, who said that he was not going to be supportive of anything that did not deal with the Irish issues, Good Friday Agreement, etc. So, that's a total difference, a dramatic, total difference. "I think our worst days are behind us. I think it's going to get better," he added. Local faith communities conduct outreach and offer help during harsh Winter weather as some of the very best people in the Kansas City metro work to assist the less fortunate. File this one under Sunday morning inspiration . . . Read more: CONTACT: Pamela D. Wilson 303-810-1816 Email: Inquiry_For_Pamela@pameladwilson.com Golden, Colorado February 7, 2021 Six Sayings and Questions from Caregivers That You May Never Hear Golden CO- Caregiving expert Pamela D. Wilson shares the top six sayings and questions from caregivers that you may never hear unless you are in a caregiver support group or spend time with other caregivers. The feelings of caregivers are judged by other family members and friends, making caregivers hesitant to openly share their feelings. Caring for aging parents can be one of the best experiences in lifewhile also being one of the most frustrating, burdensome, and exhausting things a caregiver will willingly do. Thoughts of adult children so willingly giving of themselves to care for elderly parents may eventually change into the question, "what was I thinking," when marriages crumble, careers are stalled, and adult children face financial hardships as the result of giving up their lives to care for elderly parents. Wilson speaks the language of caregivers and expresses their feelings in her weekly podcasts and articles on her website. Twenty years of direct care experience working with the elderly, disabled, and their family members allows Wilson to share her experiences that include humor and self-deprecation about her personal experiences to bring balance and hope into caregiving experiences. Online courses for elderly care and other helpful information for caregivers are on her website. Here are a few of the top sayings and questions from caregivers that you may never hear or thinkuntil you too become a caregiver. 1 - Caring for Aging Parents Can Feel Overwhelming In this blog post, 10 Reasons Why Caring for Aging Parents Can Feel Overwhelming, Wilson takes a realistic approach to things that caregivers wished they knew but didn't before becoming a caregiver. 2 How to Get Guardianship of a Parent? How to Get Guardianship of a Parent is a question that adult children ask when a parent diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer's may not be making good decisions. Care refusals, self-neglect, and delusional or paranoid behaviors can be exhibited by elderly parents with memory loss before a diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer's occurs. Many adult children have no experience identifying the effects of memory loss on the behavior of an aging parent. This article and online course by Wilson helps adult children learn about mental incapacity, the responsibilities of adult guardianship, and the steps to take to get guardianship of a parent. 3 I'm So Tired of Being a Caregiver In this article Wilson answers the question of why family caregivers become exhausted. Shared are humorous real-life examples that caregivers face when working with care services that lead to caregivers saying, I'm So Tired of Being a Caregiver. 4 Can I Refuse to Care for Elderly Parents? A top pick from Wilson's weekly podcasts, Can I Refuse to Care for Elderly Parents, expresses the thoughts of many caregivers who carry on due to feelings of responsibility and duty. Discussed are the different care situations of millennial caregivers and children in their 70's caring for parents in their 90's. 5 Caring for My Elderly Mother is Killing Me Caring for My Elderly Mother is Killing Me is a top favorite in The Caring Generation podcast series for caregivers. According to Wilson: I felt great hesitance when creating this podcast because even though caring for my mother who passed away was stressfulI felt somewhat disrespectful (to my mother's memory) saying these words that other caregivers experience. However, in the twenty years that I spent working with caregiving families, this statement was very common. I was privileged to support many families where a mother or a father was extremely challengingand I have great empathy for these family situations. My success in managing care for these families was in part to the fact that I had none of the years of personal baggage or negative family experience to carry forward when establishing a relationship with these elderly clients who I grew to love and understand. Their children would often say to me "I don't know how you can deal with my parent." 6 Caregiving Ruined My Life Caregiving Ruined My Life is the true story of many caregivers who start out innocently providing a little care and later move in with elderly parents or move elderly parents into their homes. The lives of these caregivers are often like a run-a-way train that is headed for disaster. Marriages and careers are destroyed in addition to the health of the primary caregiver, who neglects his or her needs in favor of the care of an aging parent. By the time a caregiver looks back and realizes the effect of not setting boundaries in care situations much of the damage has been done. They are attempting to rebuild a life in spite of caring for aging parents. Wilson releases a new podcast in The Caring Generation series every Wednesday in response to questions and concerns shared by caregivers and aging adults. The podcasts are available on Wilson's website and all major podcast sites. More about Wilson's online courses for elderly care: How to Get Guardianship of a Parent and Taking Care of Elderly Parents, caregiver support, webinars, and speaking engagements is on her website at www.pameladwilson.com. Pamela may also be contacted at 303-810-1816 or through the Contact Me page on her website. # (Newser) A TikToker recently went to an emergency room after giving herself a permanent hairstyle by using a powerful spray adhesive in place of hairspray. "I didnt have anymore Got2B Glued Spray so I used this. Gorilla Glue Spray. Bad, bad, bad idea," Tessica Brown said in a Feb. 3 TikTok video that has since been viewed millions of times. She bows her head to show her very shiny and very immobile locks. Per TMZ, Brown documented her trip to the ER on Saturday after first attempting to remove the glue with rubbing alcohol following advice she got from the glue's makers as well as many of her followers. She'd been suffering for a month, but only revealed her mistake last week in the viral TikTok video, as well as on Twitter with the hashtag #gorillagluegirl. story continues below Among the many who offered their support to Brown was Chance the Rapper, who tweeted: "Im glad mfs actually supporting her thru this ... I could tell shorty genuinely didnt know she had put one of the worlds most powerful adhesives in her s---." On her Instagram account, Brown shared video of herself getting emotional as someone tried and failed to remove the glue from her hair as well as stills from outside what appears to be a Louisiana hospital and inside being attended to by a medical professional. Brown offered no words in her posts, instead choosing to include only prayer and crying emojis. (Read more gorilla glue girl stories.) Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 15:43:30|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Farmers take part in a protest against new farm laws at the border between New Delhi and Haryana State in India, Feb. 6, 2021. Indian authorities sounded an alert and beefed up security in the national capital New Delhi Saturday ahead of farmers' call for chakka jam (roadblock). (Str/Xinhua) NEW DELHI, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Indian authorities sounded an alert and beefed up security in the national capital New Delhi Saturday ahead of farmers' call for chakka jam (roadblock). The protesting farmers have called for a three-hour nationwide blockade of state and national highways against the three controversial agricultural laws. However, emergency and essential services such as ambulances and school buses will not be stopped during the roadblock. According to the farmers, the chakka jam, which will begin from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. (local time) will not affect the national capital city. Officials, in a bid to avoid the violence and chaos that they had witnessed last month during farmers' tractor parade, have deployed thousands of police personnel and kept a strict vigil in the city. Reports said around 50,000 personnel of the police, paramilitary and reserve forces are standing guard at various key points of Delhi and the national capital region. The farmers have been protesting for over two months at borders of Delhi, demanding a complete repeal of the three controversial farm laws. Enditem Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 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. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. As many as 34 and defence firms have shown interest in investing in Karnataka to spur aviation business in the southern state, an official said on Sunday. "In all, 34 and defence firms have signed an agreement with the state government to invest a total of Rs 2,464 crore in setting up their facilities, which have the potential to create 6,462 direct jobs," an official of the Industry Department's Udyog Mitra told IANS here. The agreements were signed at the 13th edition of Aero India 2021 expo at the Yelahanka air base on the city's outskirts on February 3-5. Among the firms are Abhyuday Bharat defence cluster with an investment proposal of Rs 1,000 crore, Gopalan Ltd (Rs 438 crore), Alpha Design Technology and Tesbl Aerospace Corporation (Rs 250 crore each). "We have a vibrant aerospace and defence sector ecosystem, which enabled the state to contribute 65 per cent of exports from the country. The proposed investing firms will attract others to invest in the aerospace sector," said state's Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar in a statement on the occasion. As the country's aerospace hub, Bengaluru is home to several state-run and private firms such as the defence behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), BEL, BEML, NAL, DRDO, ADA, ADE and ISRO. "With an investor-centric approach, our new industrial policy (2020-25) offers incentives for investing in the state, with regulatory reforms for access to land and labour," asserted Shettar. The recent Innovation Index of the policy think tank NITI Aayog has ranked Karnataka on top, indicating the state's strengths in human resources, higher education, thrust on research and development, with a conducive investment climate and a pro-active administration. Bengaluru is also home to a quarter (25 per cent) of the country's aircraft and spacecraft industries, which roll out 67 per cent of planes and helicopters for defence services. With a dedicated aerospace policy, the state also has an ancillary ecosystem for the industry to support state-run defence units, R&D centres, scientific and technical institutes and 2,000 small, micro and medium enterprises. (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.) At least 200 people are missing in northern India after a piece of Himalayan glacier broke off, sending a massive flood of water and debris crashing into two dams and sweeping away roads and bridges. Nine bodies have been recovered, Surjeet Singh, a police official told the Associated Press, and a desperate operation has been launched to rescue some 17 people trapped in a tunnel. A portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarkhand state's Tapovan area on Sunday morning, damaging the Rishiganga and Dhauliganga hydropower projects as well as homes in the area. The massive burst of water tore through the Dhauliganga river valley, destroying everything in its path, videos shot by terrified residents showed. 'There was a cloud of dust as the water went by. The ground shook like an earthquake,' local resident Om Agarwal told an Indian TV station. At least 200 people are missing in northern India after a piece of Himalayan glacier broke off, sending a massive flood of water and debris crashing into two dams and sweeping away roads and bridges. Pictured: The massive burst of water tearing through the Dhauliganga river valley Nine bodies have so far been recovered, Surjeet Singh, a police official told the Associated Press. Pictured: A dam is shattered by a river in Chamoli, Uttarkhand, following the glacier break off Most of those missing are workers at two power plants that were battered by the deluge after a huge chunk of the Nanda Devi glacier slipped off a mountainside further upstream, the Uttarkhand state police chief Ashok Kumar said. 'There were 50 workers at Rishi Ganga plant and we have no information about them. Some 150 workers were at Tapovan,' he added. 'About 20 are trapped inside a tunnel. We are trying to reach the trapped workers.' Vivek Pandey, a spokesman for the paramilitary Indo Tibetan Border Force said the Rishiganga hydropower plant was destroyed, while the Dhauliganga hydropower plant had been damaged. Both are on the Alaknanda River, which flows from the Himalayan mountains to the Ganges River. A desperate operation has been launched to rescue some 17 people trapped in a tunnel at a destroyed hydroelectric power station. Pictured: A rescue operation near the Dhauliganga hydro power project in Chamoli Hundreds of troops and paramilitaries along with military helicopters and other aircraft have been sent to the region to conduct rescue efforts. Pictured: Indo Tibetan Border Police personnel arrive for rescue work With the main road washed away, the tunnel was filled with mud and rocks and paramilitary rescuers had to climb down a hillside on ropes to get access to the entrance. Hundreds of troops and paramilitaries along with military helicopters and other aircraft have been sent to the region to conduct rescue efforts. Authorities have emptied two dams to stop the flood waters reaching the Ganges at the towns of Rishikesh and Haridwar, where people were barred from going near the banks of the sacred river, officials said. Villages on hillsides overlooking the river were evacuated, but as night fell authorities announced that the main flood danger had passed. Scores of social media users captured the disaster, with footage showing the massive burst of water tearing through a narrow valley below the power plant, leaving roads and bridges destroyed in its wake. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was monitoring the relief operation. 'India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyone's safety there,' he wrote on Twitter. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was 'constantly' monitoring the relief operation Uttarkhand, where the glacier broke off, was the site of a 2013 disaster. Thousands of people were killed in the state after heavy rains triggered landslides and floods, washing away thousands of homes and roads and cutting communication links in many parts of the area Fourteen glaciers overlook the river in Nanda Devi national park - the topic of scientific studies because of growing fears over climate change and deforestation. 'Avalanches are common phenomena in the catchment area,' M.P.S. Bisht, director of the Uttarakhand Space Application Centre, told AFP news agency. 'Huge landslides also frequently occur.' In 2013, thousands of people were killed in Uttarakhand after heavy rains triggered landslides and floods, washing away thousands of homes and roads and cutting communication links in many parts of the state. The disaster led to calls for a review of development projects in the state, particularly in isolated areas like those around the Rishi Ganga dam. Uma Bharti, a former water resources minister, said that she had called for a freeze on hydroelectric projects in 'sensitive' Himalayan areas such as the Ganges and its tributaries when in government. Vimlendhu Jha, founder of Swechha, an environmental NGO, said the disaster was a 'grim reminder' of the effects of climate change and the 'haphazard development of roads, railways and power plants in ecologically sensitive areas.' 'Activists and locals have constantly opposed the massive river valley projects,' he added. -- Xi requires all CPC members to put people's interests first. -- The focus of China's work concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers has shifted from poverty eradication to promoting rural vitalization. -- Xi emphasizes prioritizing ecological conservation and green development. -- Xi asks scientists to scale the heights of global science. BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- About a week ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, President Xi Jinping made a three-day inspection trip to southwest China's Guizhou Province. During the trip, he visited villagers and community residents, checked the water quality of a river and talked to scientists of China's signature single-dish radio telescope. Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, wished happiness and good fortune for the people and prosperity for the nation in the Year of the Ox, which begins on Feb. 12. The Year of the Ox marks a historic juncture for China as it embarks on a new quest to fully build itself into a modern socialist country. Here are some key takeaways from Xi's trip that may provide some insights into China's development trajectory. PEOPLE MATTER MOST The Party's fundamental purpose is to serve the people wholeheartedly. Xi has always required all CPC members to put people's interests first. As the Party's top leader, Xi himself visited ordinary people, the disadvantaged groups in particular, in his pre-Chinese New Year inspections for nine years in a row. On Wednesday, Xi went to a once poor village in an ethnic Miao township and made a house call on villager Zhao Yuxue. He checked the family's living conditions and joined them to make a traditional snack for festivals. The next day, Xi went to a supermarket in the provincial capital Guiyang, checking the supply of goods for the Spring Festival holiday and their prices. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits villagers of Huawu Village, Xinren Miao Township of Qianxi County, Bijie, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Feb. 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) "The president encouraged us to make concrete efforts in our jobs and offer goods to people at more affordable prices," said Guan Mei, a manager of the supermarket. At the supermarket, Xi particularly demanded strengthened anti-epidemic measures and food safety supervision to ensure the people have a happy holiday. "He is the one who cares most about the common people," Zhao, the ethnic Miao villager, said of Xi. REVITALIZE COUNTRYSIDE Over the past eight years, China lifted nearly 100 million rural poor out of poverty, securing a decisive victory in ending absolute poverty. For the way forward, Xi's Guizhou trip signals that the focus of the country's work concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers has shifted from poverty eradication to promoting rural vitalization. By choosing Guizhou, home to the last nine counties removed from the country's poverty list, Xi wanted to see in person the living conditions of those who had shaken off poverty, and promote steady progress in rural vitalization, a strategy stressed by the Party at its 19th national congress in 2017 to revamp the countryside. Good and stable local jobs that enable farmers to stay in the countryside are an important part of it. During his visit to an ethnic Miao embroidery workshop, Xi hailed its role in promoting rural vitalization. Local women make embroidery works at a workshop in Shibing County of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 21, 2021. (Photo by Cai Xingwen/Xinhua) "Thanks to the good policies, we villagers can now be employed at our doorsteps," said Peng Yi, an artisan at a local embroidery company. GO GREEN The environment has been a constant concern for Xi over the past years. He has visited rivers, mountains and natural reserves across the country as part of his inspection itineraries. On Wednesday, Xi visited a section of the Wujiang River, one of the biggest tributaries of the upper Yangtze River. Checking the ecological environment and water quality of the river, Xi emphasized blazing a new path that prioritizes ecological conservation and green development. Panorama photo taken with a drone shows the Caohai National Nature Reserve in the Yi, Hui and Miao Autonomous County of Weining, southwest China's Guizhou Province, June 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin) A key component of the new development philosophy, green development has been underscored for China's development blueprint in the next five years and through to 2035, at a key Party plenum last year. During the trip, Xi told provincial officials that an excellent ecological environment is Guizhou's biggest development strength and competitive edge, reiterating the role of ecological conservation and green development. SKY IS NOT EVEN THE LIMIT When it comes to science and technology, there is no limit for the country's scientists to pursue excellence. During the trip, Xi met with the project leaders and core scientists of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, and called on scientists to scale the heights of global science. Photo taken on Jan. 11, 2020 shows China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under maintenance in southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Xinhua/Liu Xu) He called the scientists to make new and greater contributions to developing China's scientific and technological strength at a faster pace and realizing the country's self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology. Innovation is expected to play a central role in driving China's modernization. The country has lately performed an array of feats thanks to its science and technology development strategy. It launched the Mars probe Tianwen-1 on July 23, 2020, kicking off the country's independent planetary exploration mission. The China National Space Administration on Friday released the first image of Mars captured by the Mars probe. Photo released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Feb. 5, 2021 shows the first image of Mars captured by Mars probe Tianwen-1 from a distance of 2.2 million km. (Xinhua) FAST, which is tasked with the ultimate goal of revealing more about the universe, is scheduled to be available for scientists across the world from April 1, 2021. In the first year of the telescope's opening to the global scientific community, about 10 percent of the observation time will be allocated to foreign scientists. "We will keep making efforts to ensure that all our astronomical facilities are of top-level globally," said Jiang Peng, chief engineer of FAST and researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories of China. Harvard University Professor Abraham Loeb, pictured in an undated photo, claims in a new book that aliens visited earth in 2017 but scientists ignored it Aliens already visited earth in 2017 and scientists ignored it, a top astronomer from Harvard has claimed. Professor Avi Loeb, the longest-serving chair at the Ivy League college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who has collaborated with Stephen Hawking, argues in a new book, Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, that the best explanation for the highly unusual interstellar object caught speeding through our solar system five years ago, was that it was alien technology. But the 58-year-old, who is Israeli-American, is convinced his peers in the scientific community wrongly dismissed the unusual object, which he named Oumuamua after the Hawaiian word for scout, as an asteroid, and thinks instead it could have been a sail. He said: 'Thinking that we are unique and special and privileged is arrogant. The correct approach is to be modest and say: 'We're nothing special, there are lots of other cultures out there, and we just need to find them.' There are two shapes that fit the peculiarities observed -- long and thin like a cigar, as seen in this artist's illustration, or flat and round like a pancake, almost razor thin Harvard campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the professor is the longest-serving chair of astronomy It started in October 2017 when astronomers observed an object moving so quickly, it could only have come from another star - the first recorded interstellar interloper. It didn't seem to be an ordinary rock, because after slingshotting around the sun, it sped up and deviated from the expected trajectory, propelled by a mysterious force. This could be easily explained if it was a comet expelling gas and debris - but there was no visible evidence of this 'outgassing.' The traveler also tumbled in a strange way - as inferred by how it got brighter and dimmer in scientists' telescopes, and it was unusually luminous, possibly suggesting it was made from a bright metal. In order to explain what happened, astronomers came up with novel theories, such as that it was made of hydrogen ice and would therefore not have visible trails, or that it disintegrated into a dust cloud. 'These ideas that came to explain specific properties of 'Oumuamua'always involve something that we have never seen before,' said Loeb. 'If that's the direction we are taking, then why not contemplate an artificial origin?' Harvard physicist Avi Loeb is not shy about his idea that Earth's 2017 interstellar visitor being an extraterrestrial craft. In a recent interview with Salon Loeb explains that Oumuamu exhibited excess push, which he believes comes from sunlight. 'So a light sail is just like a sail on a boat that reflects the wind, the wind is pushing it, he said Avi Loeb believes 'Oumuamuah could be a lightsail, such as those sent into space by the Plantary Society and seen in this artist's rendering 'Oumuamua was never photographed close-up during its brief sojourn - we only learned of its existence once it was already on its way out of our solar system. There are two shapes that fit the peculiarities observed - long and thin like a cigar, or flat and round like a pancake, almost razor thin. Loeb says simulations favor the latter, and believes the object was deliberately crafted as a light sail propelled by stellar radiation. Another oddity was the way the object moved - compounding the strangeness of its passage. The book, titled 'Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth,' argues the consensus that Oumuamu is not a comet or asteroid, but a light sail Before encountering our Sun, 'Oumuamua was at 'rest' relative to nearby stars -- statistically very rare. Rather than think of it as a vessel hurtling through space, from the object's perspective, our solar system slammed into it. 'Perhaps 'Oumuamua was like a buoy resting in the expanse of the universe,' writes Loeb. Like a trip wire left by an intelligent lifeform, waiting to be triggered by a star system. Loeb's ideas have placed him at odds with fellow astronomers. Writing in Forbes, astrophysicist Ethan Siegel called Loeb a 'once-respected scientist' who, having failed to convince his peers of his arguments, had taken to pandering to the public. Loeb, for his part, protests a 'culture of bullying' in the academy that punishes those who question orthodoxy -- just as Galileo was punished when he proposed the Earth was not the center of the universe. Compared to speculative yet respected branches of theoretical physics -- such as looking for dark matter or multiverses -- the search for alien life is a far more commonsense avenue to pursue, he said. That's why Loeb's pushing for a new branch of astronomy, 'space archaeology', to hunt for the biological and technological signatures of extraterrestrials. 'If we find evidence for technologies that took a million years to develop, then we can get a shortcut into these technologies, we can employ them on Earth,' said Loeb, who spent his childhood on an Israeli farm reading philosophy and pondering life's big questions. Such a discovery could also 'give us a sense that we are part of the same team' as humanity confronts threats ranging from climate change to nuclear conflict. 'Rather than fight each other like nations do very often, we would perhaps collaborate.' The Illinois government is about to decide whether to transform the states teachers into a radical political vanguard bent on indoctrinating the states children in socialism and undermining academic achievement. Of course, thats not how theyre stating it. The Illinois Legislatures Joint Committee on Administrative Rules will consider on February 16 the Illinois State Board of Educations proposed Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards to determine certification of all teachers and other education personnel in the state. This Part establishes certain standards that shall apply to the issuance of all Illinois professional educator licenses endorsed in teaching, school support personnel, and administrative fields, the proposal states. The standards, if approved, would go into effect on October 1. The stated aim is the nebulous but apparently innocuous goal of creating the culturally responsive teacher and leader. Though written with generous helpings of gobbledygook, the standards are quite clear about the intention to license only teachers fully committed to political and cultural indoctrination and willing to ignore academic achievement to the extent that it gets in the way of this, which is to say: completely. The states culturally responsive teachers and leaders will value the notion that multiple lived experiences exist, that there is not one correct way of doing or understanding something, and that what is seen as correct is most often based on our lived experiences. In short, two plus two equals four only if that is how the child has experienced it at home, among neighborhood denizens, and on TV and social media. Children will be graded accordingly, as teachers and administrators [c]onsider a broader modality of student assessments including decidedly nonacademic criteria such as community assessments, social justice work, action research projects, and recognition beyond academia. That mandate, plus the requirement to teach with emphasis on prioritizing historically marginalized students means children will be graded not on how well their ideas comport with reality but will be apportioned grades in whatever way best ensures each identity group -- "(race/ethnicity, national origin, language, sex and gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical/developmental/ emotional ability, socioeconomic class, religion, etc.) -- gets the same grades overall. The houses, bridges, and automobiles built by people thus educated will be very interesting to see, though not useful for any other purposes. The new rules would also codify and expand the perversion of school personnel into spies bent on rooting out crimethink in students households. Teachers and administrators will [k]now about their students and their lives outside of school, using this knowledge to build instruction that leverages prior knowledge and skills, the plan mandates. The standards are all about race, sex, money, and political power -- reading, math, science, and other essentials of intellectual capacity be damned. Teachers will be required to engage in leftist political activism in their free time and promote student activism and advocacy with real world implications. This set of standards would use the states licensure process and obedient college education programs to weed out any teachers devoted to academic excellence before they can enter the profession, and it would evidently apply to any private schools that use licensed teachers. In addition to their catastrophic academic effects, these rules will be costly for taxpayers in Illinois and other states that implement them. Greatly reducing the pool of teachers available in the state (because other states dont have these rules), will raise the cost of teachers by decreasing the supply without reducing the demand for their services. Perhaps that is one of the intended effects of the standards. What other states can learn from this exercise is that the education establishment is fully committed to state governments mandating a politicized curriculum that has no room for each child to reach his or her full potential. With the educational establishment having reached peak corruption, the only plausible remedy is to return power to localities and ultimately to parents. Parents and taxpayers have a common interest in ensuring their often-huge property tax bills pay for schools that teach children what they must know and be able to achieve success in life instead of demoralizing them and leaving them without the knowledge and skills they deserve. They are thwarted in this goal because the concentration of power over education at the state level removes the ability of parents and taxpayers to hold local schools accountable and places power in the hands of the types of mad bureaucrats who wrote the proposed Illinois standards. In addition, programs that allow state education funding to follow the child to the school of the parents choice can put further pressure on public schools to improve student achievement. Gold-standard academic studies have consistently shown that school choice raises educational accomplishment not only for the choice students but also for those who remain behind in the government schools. It is truly a win-win policy. States that follow these citizen-empowering policies will create a great competitive advantage for dedicated teachers and the children they teach. Those who follow Illinois example will only foster more dependency, demoralization, and despair. S. T. Karnick (skarnick@heartland.org) is director of publications at The Heartland Institute. Image: ISBE The rescue operations at NTPC's 900-metre long Tapovan tunnel were halted on Sunday evening due to rise in water level, Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar said. "We were able to dig 150 meters of the tunnel but after a rise in water level, had to halt the work. Most missing persons were working on the two projects. We expect to get a clear picture of their identities by Monday morning," said Kumar. As many as 16 people who were trapped in a tunnel were earlier rescued by ITBP personnel. The rescuers had then started focussing on a second tunnel, where around 30 people were trapped. The ITBP had said that the rescue operations would be carried out in the night as well. The NDRF had stated that people were trapped in tunnels and deep spaces, leading to a delay in their rescue. "Since the flow of water was very fast initially, bodies are being recovered far away from the incident site. Some are trapped in deep areas and others in tunnels. So, there is an issue of access," said Amrendra Kumar Sengar, IG NDRF. The state disaster management centre has confirmed the death of seven persons so far and around 170 continue to be missing. Meanwhile, two teams of glaciologists who were airlifted from Delhi, landed in Dehradun on Sunday evening. They will head to Joshimath-Tapovan on Monday to study the causes of massive flood caused after a part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district A portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, triggering an avalanche and a deluge in the Alaknanda river system that washed away hydroelectric stations. The director of Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, which studies various aspects of the Himalayas, said that Sunday's incident was quite "peculiar" as there was no rain or melting of snow. The glacier burst led to a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and caused large-scale devastation in the upper reaches of the ecologically fragile Himalayas. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Absurd says Mo Dhaliwal on conspiracy theories surrounding farmers protest India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Feb 07: The Canada based Poetic Justice Foundation founded by Mo Dhaliwal, accused of creating the toolkit used by Greta Thunberg while showing solidarity for the farmers in India has said that the conspiracy theories are absurd. In a statement the organisation said that it had no hand in the tweets put out by foreign personalities in support of the farmers' protest in India. "The complex and absurd conspiracies being constructed to link Poetic Justice Foundation to any number of actors worldwide are entirely fiction. Poetic Justice Foundation did not coordinate any protest activities occurring within India," the outfit said in a statement. Ready for talks, but won't accept anything less than repeal of agri laws: Farmers union The PJF further said that it had not coordinated, Rihanna, Thunberg or any number of specific celebrities to tweet about the protest. We did not pay anyone to tweet, the organisation also said. "However, we did generally encourage the entire world to share this issue. Through the international collective of organisers we encouraged the world to pay attention and amplify this message." "We were drawn to the farmers' protest due to our connection and love for our people" the statement said. "We decided to bring a question to the democracy of India. We would ask India 'Why?' We developed key messages that were researched and fact-based. We gathered up all of this thinking and made it publicly available on a website called AskIndiaWhy.com," the PJF also said. SALEM, Ore-- During the 2021 legislative session, Oregon lawmakers, are discussing and considering a proposed bill that, if passed, would eliminate fees and court costs associated with juvenile delinquency matters. The fees being discussed include court appointed council, applying for court appointed council, financial penalties for unpaid fees, electronic monitoring, probation supervision and detention fees, explained Amy Miller, the executive director at Youth, Rights & Justice. Officials say Oregon's juvenile court fees fall more heavily on people of color and low-income families and that the proposed bill is how ''we start to heal the juvenile system." New Delhi, Feb 7 : Hailing the Union Budget 2021-22, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday said that this Budget is the foundation stone for making the country "future-ready". Addressing a press conference at the Delhi BJP office as part of an outreach to explain welfare measures in the Budget, Goyal said important steps were taken to revive the economy under five 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' packages announced last year and now the economy is moving ahead. Talking about the government's role during the Covid pandemic, Goyal said that the way the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, handled the situation is an example throughout the world. "The Prime Minister was clear in his thoughts that he has to save people's lives first and then ensure livelihoods by fixing the economy. India is a country that first saved the life of its people, then saved livelihoods, and then is moving fast saving both. We have left the whole world behind with our initiatives," said the minister. He further stated that the Budget has taken care of every section of the society like farmers, small businessmen and the middle class without putting extra tax burden and this has been done despite a resource constraints and with a possibility of reduced revenue till next year. "This Budget was prepared with foresight. No burden has been put on taxpayers. The finance minister has also managed to give importance to the economy as well as prepare the country for the future," Goyal said. He also said that India can become "Aatmanirbhar" only when it moves forward with "Aatmavishwas" (self-confidence). He said that even the opposition was not able to criticise the Budget this year. On the Railways' share in the Budget, Goyal said that the finance minister allowed Railways to invest Rs 2.15 lakh crore which is five times more than Rs 40,000 to 45,000 crore invested before 2014. "100 per cent electrification of railways has been approved. Railways will become diesel-free in the next three years," he said. Accepting the operation of bullet train has been delayed, the railway minister said that land acquisition in Maharashtra for the project has been stalled. "In Pragati meeting, the Prime Minister has directed Maharashtra to provide land for the project. Maharashtra has provided only one-third of land required for the project. Gujarat has made available more than 90 per cent of land required and the tendering process for work in the state has started," he said. New Delhi: The Congress will protest against the Goods and Services Tax and gherao Parliament on July 18. The Congress claimed that implementation of the GST in its present form will affect traders as well as the common people. Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Ajay Maken made the announcement at a party meeting in Delhi. Maken said that several lakh people demonstrated against the GST in Surat in Gujarat. ALSO READ: Activists demand withdrawal of GST on sanitary napkins from FM Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had opposed the GST in its present form, he added. "The DPCC chief today convened a meeting in which it was announced that a gherao of Parliament House would be held to protest against the GST in its present form on July 18," Maken said in a statement. Maken said Delhi's traders were "fed up with the GST". "Adverse impact of GST was not only affecting the traders, but also the common people," he said. (With PTI Inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Wuhan: A year after his death from COVID-19, residents in the Chinese city of Wuhan say they remain grateful to the whistleblower doctor who first sounded the alarm about the outbreak before it received official recognition. Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist at a hospital in the city, became one of the most visible figures in the early days of the outbreak in Wuhan when he tried to sound the alarm about its appearance, but was reprimanded by police for spreading rumours. Dr Li Wenliang was threatened by police after warning other doctors about early cases of COVID-19, which he at first thought might be SARS returning. He died from the illness on February 7. The 34-year-olds death from the virus on February 7 led to an outpouring of public mourning and rare expressions of anger online. A small stream of people marked the anniversary with visits to the Wuhan Central Hospital on Saturday, some leaving flowers. By Joschka Fischer BERLIN Donald Trump's presidency is now history, which puts renewing the transatlantic relationship back on the European agenda. But there can be no return to the old, cozy dependencies of the Cold War era and the period thereafter, when America the great protector decided all important security matters, and Europe followed as a matter of course. To renew transatlanticism, Europe will need to make its own contribution to joint security, especially within its own geopolitical environment. In its immediate neighborhood, the European Union faces three former global powers that are obsessed with their past imperial glory: Russia, Turkey, and now the United Kingdom. Each has a unique relationship with Europe, currently as well as historically, and all share some commonalities. Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia clings longingly to memories of its superpower status, when the Soviet Union was the global equal of the United States. Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey dreams of reprising the Ottoman Empire's geopolitical and cultural expansion from the Balkans and the western edges of Central Asia to the eastern Mediterranean and the North African coast (Libya), all the way down to the Persian Gulf. And, finally, post-Brexit Britain is searching its soul in self-imposed (and not so splendid) isolation, even as it remains close to continental Europeans through NATO and strong cultural and historical ties. For better or worse, the EU shares the European continent with these three difficult neighbors, and thus must work with each of them to achieve peaceful coexistence. Russia, a nuclear power, is too large and militarily powerful for Europe to manage on its own. Here, the EU will remain dependent on U.S. protection, especially in the face of Russian threats to Eastern Europe and the Baltic States, which were made manifest with the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine. But Europe's main challenge lies elsewhere: the eastern Mediterranean, where the discovery of substantial natural gas deposits below the seabed has significantly increased the risk of a conflict between NATO members Turkey and Greece, as well as involving EU member state Cyprus. Moreover, a NATO mission to stop arms smuggling along the Libyan coast recently precipitated a dangerous confrontation between a French frigate and Turkish navy vessels, resulting in a serious diplomatic contretemps. In fact, there is no shortage of potential flashpoints in the region, owing to competition for natural gas deposits, Turkey's intervention in the Libyan civil war, the ancient conflict over the Aegean, longstanding demarcation issues, overflight and maritime rights, and the open question of Cyprus. These tensions, which are further aggravated by age-old religious and ethnic rivalries, have created an increasingly dangerous situation on Europe's doorstep. Insofar as its own interests are concerned, Europe will have to deal with this problem itself. Under Erdogan, Turkey has been pursuing expansive "neo-Ottoman" policies for several years now. Though his Justice and Development Party (AKP) government had initially attempted to accelerate integration with the West by moving toward EU accession, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and then-French President Jacques Chirac firmly closed the door in its face in 2006. At the time, the global economic boom gave Erdogan the impression that Turkey could modernize and then re-emerge as a great power on its own, without recourse to European integration. But Erdogan completely overestimated his country's capabilities (and still does). Domestically, Erdogan relied on a political alliance with the Islamic Gulen movement until the coup attempt in 2016, whereupon he forged a new pact with extreme nationalists. But the change of allies did not diminish the religious component to Erdogan's politics. He has long emphasized pursuing an Islamic path into the modern age, which represents a departure from the secular tradition established by post-Ottoman Turkey's founder, Kemal Ataturk. This commitment has ineluctably led Erdogan away from the West and toward the Middle East. It is now clear that both the EU and Turkey were caught in a trap of their own making: the prospect of EU membership, which will not be on the table in the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, no alternative integration mechanisms are on offer. But Turkey and the EU cannot simply go their own ways. Europe's markets, investment capacity, and relations with Turkey's archrivals Russia and Iran make it indispensable to Turkey; and Turkey's geopolitical position between Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Caucasus makes it indispensable to the EU. Aside from being the ancestral homeland of large minority populations in Germany, Belgium, and Scandinavia, Turkey will continue to serve an important "bridging function" for refugee migration from Asia to Europe. It is imperative, therefore, that both sides develop peaceful ties outside of EU membership. To be sure, the fiction of Turkey's long-suspended EU accession process will need to be upheld for the time being; because it remains to be seen who will succeed Erdogan, formally ending the process at the current moment would do more harm than good. But as long as Erdogan is in power, coexistence is the best that can be hoped for. Europe must not lose sight of the long game, which inevitably will center on China, not Russia or relations with post-Brexit Britain. China is already establishing a presence in Iran, and demonstrating that it has the capital, know-how, and technology to project power and influence beyond its borders. Should it succeed in turning the Belt and Road Initiative into a line of geopolitical stepping-stones, it might soon emerge at Europe's southeastern border in a form that no one in the EU foresaw. Europe cannot possibly want such an outcome. The "Turkish question" therefore will remain as relevant as ever. ). Joschka Fischer, Germany's foreign minister and vice chancellor from 1998 to 2005, was a leader of the German Green Party for almost 20 years. His article was distributed by Project Syndicate ( www.project-syndicate.org 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 ADVERTISEMENT The Ekiti State Government has filed a suit to challenge the section of the Police Act which provides for compulsory discharge of an unmarried pregnant policewoman from the police force. The suit filed at the Federal High Court in Ado-Eikiti, seeks the striking out of section 127 of the Police Act and Regulations which the state government argues is discriminatory and violates constitutional provisions. The Attorney-General of the state, Wale Fapohunda, who filed the suit on behalf of the state government, disclosed this in a thread of tweets on Sunday. He stated, My office has sought judicial review of Section 127 of the Police Act and Regulations. Section 127 provides that an unmarried woman police officer who becomes pregnant shall be discharged from the Force and shall not be re-enlisted except with the approval of the Inspector-General and shall not be re-enlisted except with the approval of the Inspector-General. We believe this provision is discriminatory and in violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999( as amended). Prayers Mr Fapohundas special assistant on media, Olalekan Suleman, said in a statement on Sunday that the Ekiti State commissioner of police and the Police Service Commission (PSC) were sued as co-defendants in the suit. Mr Suleman added, The suit is asking the court to determine among others, whether the provisions of Section 127 of Police Act and Regulations are not in violation of the combined provisions of Sections 37 and 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), and Articles 2,3, 5 18(3) and 19 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and therefore unconstitutional, null and void. Among the prayers sought in the suit was an order of court declaring Section 127 of the Police Act and Regulations which provides for the discharge from the Police Force, women police officers who become pregnant while unmarried unconstitutional. ALSO READ: Police justify dismissal of pregnant cop It also sought An order nullifying Section 127 of Police Act and Regulations as well as an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Inspector General of Police, the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police and the Police Service Commission from implementing the said provisions. Background The suit followed last years dismissal of a police constable in Ekiti State, Olajide Omolola, for getting pregnant barely a year after graduating from the police academy. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how Babatunde Mobayo, the state police commissioner in the state, justified the dismissal of Ms Omolola, who was attached to the Iye Ekiti Police Station in Ilejemeje area of Ekiti State. Mr Mobayo had said, while addressing journalists on the matter in Ado-Ekiti on January 28, said the dismissed constable violated Section 127 of Police Act and Regulations. Mars is also celebrating its own new year just like Earth. However, there's a huge difference between the two. Scientists announced that the Red Planet's new year will take place on Feb. 7, which is also a very special event here on Earth since it is known as Super Bowl Sunday. Also Read: NASA Offers $500K for Discovery of Best 'Easy-to-Prep' Space Food Technoology to Feed Astronauts in Deep Space According to CNET, Mars' new year happens less compared to Earth. Why? Because a year on Mars lasts 687 Earth days. If Elon Musk's Mars Colonization really happens, this means that people would need a lot fewer holidays and other celebrations to enjoy. What is Mars New Year? Mars's new year is almost equivalent to two new years on Earth since it takes more than 680 days to complete one orbit. The European Space Agency or ESA said that if you want to be younger, just divide your age by 1.88 and tell your friends or your family that it is your Mars age. "A martian day is defined, like on Earth, as the time it takes for the planet to make one revolution around its axis. This is called a sol. Sol is only slightly longer than an Earth day: 24 hours and 39 minutes," explained that agency via ESA INT. The European Agency also said that has four seasons. These include spring, summer, autumn, and winter. If you are wondering what year it is on Mars, then you need to make a simple computation. ESA said that Mars is currently in its 36th year, unlike Earth which is already in 2021. The international space agency also said that Earth reached this year since the count started in 1955. If you will subtract 1955 to 2021, multiply it by total number of Earth days, and then divide it by 687, you will get 35.06 years, which is 36 years to be exact. Reasons to celebrate it Experts said that people have many reasons to celebrate Mars's new year. One of these is NASA's Mars Curiosity rover since it already achieved its 3,000-Martian-day anniversary previously in January. Earthling should also celebrate it since Mars's new year comes just days before a trio of spacecraft sent by China, the United Emirates, and NASA reaches the planet. Although the actual date of Mars's new year and the arrival of the spacecraft, they are still exciting. For more news updates about Mars and other space studies, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: NASA to Launch Astrophysics Mission with SpaceX, Space Agency Wants to Study the History of the Universe 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. TORONTO - Canadian star Dan Levy can check another one off his bucket list after joining the rarified ranks of celebrities who have hosted "Saturday Night Live." TORONTO - Canadian star Dan Levy can check another one off his bucket list after joining the rarified ranks of celebrities who have hosted "Saturday Night Live." The Emmy Award-winning actor and director who co-created "Schitt's Creek" with his father, Eugene Levy, was guest host for last night's edition of the iconic sketch comedy show. During the opening monologue, as Levy was showing off COVID-19 safety measures in place backstage at the famed New York studio, he discovered his father, who flew in from Los Angeles to watch the show, quarantined in a plexiglass box. Levy has been riding an incredible wave of success. Schitt's Creek, which wrapped up it's sixth and final season last spring, swept the comedy category at the last Emmy Awards and is nominated for five Golden Globes. During his monologue he joked about some of the pluses and minuses of his new found fame but ended saying "in all seriousness, for all the good and the not so good, I have somehow found myself here on this iconic stage standing in front of all of you. And trust me when I say this, it has only been good here at SNL." Dan Levy fans may also want to tune in to today's Super Bowl where they'll find him featured in an M&M's commercial. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2021. First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun, second from left, leaves Incheon International Airport with other government officials, Jan. 14, after returning from Iran to discuss the country's seizure of a Korean tanker and its crewmembers in the Strait of Hormuz. Korea Times file South Korea plans to help crew members aboard an oil tanker seized by Iran to return home as early as this week after Tehran's announcement that it will set most of them free, diplomatic sources said Sunday. Last week, Teheran said it will free the crew members detained aboard the MT Hankuk Chemi, except for the captain, about a month after its military seized the vessel with its crew in the country's waters for allegedly polluting the ocean. Officials at the South Korean Embassy in the Middle Eastern country have since had meetings with the crew members to check their health conditions and listen to their thoughts about leaving the vessel. "We are working to finalize the list of members who are to return home. After swiftly checking their desires and other circumstances, we will provide them all necessary consular assistance," a diplomatic source said. The ministry and the ship operator are to push for their return before the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday that runs from Thursday through Saturday, another source noted. A total of 20 crew members were aboard the ship five South Koreans, 11 Myanmarese, two Indonesians and two Vietnamese, and some Korean members have said they will stay on the ship for management purposes. Iran's decision to release the sailors appears to have been made after Seoul made progress in talks with the United States about using some of the Iranian funds frozen in South Korean banks due to U.S. sanctions to pay off Iran's U.N. dues in arrears. Speculation has swirled that the ship seizure is related to Iran's discontent over the frozen money, but Teheran has denied that. (Yonhap) New Delhi: As thousands of people rallied behind the farmers protesting at Delhis borders, a kisan mahapanchayat in Haryanas Charkhi Dadri, attended by Uttar Pradesh BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, on Sunday passed a resolution seeking repeal of the three agricultural reform laws, a legal guarantee on MSP, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations for profitable crop prices, waiver of farm loans and the release of those arrested after the Republic Day violence in Delhi. Asserting the agitation against the farm laws was a peoples movement that will not fail, Tikait said there will be no ghar wapsi till the farmers demands are met. He lauded the role of the khap panchayats (caste councils) and their leaders in supporting the farmers stir. Tikait said two government representatives had come to meet him on Saturday, but he refused to meet them separately. Every discussion will be held collectively in the presence of the Kisan Samyukth Morcha (an umbrella body of the protesting farmers unions). In Madhya Pradesh, Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar claimed the ongoing protests were limited to a certain area and hoped that the deadlock would end soon. The farmers agitation is limited to a certain area. The government is ready for talks with the farmers, and I hope we will be able to break the deadlock very soon. Railway minister Piyush Goyal said in New Delhi the Centre was ready to resume talks with the farmers unions if they (farmers) have some new proposals. He said the Narendra Modi government was sensitive towards the farmers concerns and was ready to resolve the issue via dialogue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the government is a phone call away, but someone has to call to talk or move ahead. If the farmers have any objection to the laws, let us know, and the government is willing to address it. As the protests against the new laws entered Day 74, a farmer from Jind who was supporting the agitation allegedly hanged himself from a tree just 2 km from the Tikri border protest site. A handwritten suicide note purportedly left behind by the 52-year-old deceased said: Dear farmer brethren, Modi government is giving date after date... No one knows when these black farm laws will be rolled back. At Charkhi Dadri, Tikait claimed the campaign against the three laws was going strong. Independent Dadri MLA Sombir Sangwan, chief of the Sangwan khap, who in December withdrew his support to the BJP-JJP government in Haryana, dubbing it anti-farmer, was present. The mahapanchayat was attended by representatives of over 50 khaps. Earlier, on February 3, Tikait addressed his first mahapanchayat in Haryanas Kandela village. The BKU leader from UP has been camping at Ghazipur as part of a campaign by the farmers unions against the laws enacted by the Centre in September. Tikait said the khaps go back to the days of King Harshvardhana and have played a role in society ever since. He said when the farmers stir began, attempts were made to divide it by calling it the agitation of Punjab and Haryana. Seeking to project unity among the farmers unions, Tikait said the manch (stage) and panch (leaders leading the stir) will not change. The BKU leader, whose emotional appeal had recently revived the protest that was losing momentum after the January 26 violence in Delhi, said people from different sections of society were part of the stir. Warning the protesting farmers, Tikait said: Some people will try to divide you as Sikh, non-Sikh, but they should remain united. He praised Punjab BKU leader Balbir Singh Rajewal, who was present, for providing sound leadership. Rajewal is our big leader, he is very wise. We will fight this battle strongly. Tikait mentioned the tragedy caused by a glacier burst at Joshimath in Uttarakhands Chamoli district, leading to a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and causing large-scale devastation in the upper reaches of the ecologically fragile Himalayas. A big tragedy has struck Uttarakhand. I appeal to the BKU family and other farmer organisations to lend a helping hand and assist the local administration. Amid once-in-a-century transformations intermingled with the COVID-19 pandemic, the international community is once again reflecting on the questions: What has happened to the world and how we should respond. China's vision of "building a community with a shared future for mankind" answers these questions of our times, as it meets people's aspiration for peace and development and builds the broadest common ground among the fundamental interests of all countries. The COVID-19 pandemic is compounding the momentous changes occurring globally. The world today is moving toward greater multi-polarity, economic globalization and cultural diversity, and is becoming increasingly information-oriented. New technology and industrial transformations have increased interconnectedness and interdependence, closely bonding human society at an unprecedented level. Meanwhile, underlying global problems have surfaced amid growing uncertainties and destabilizing factors. No country can stay immune from these challenges. The international community has reached a crossroads; and we are facing a choice between a beggar-thy-neighbor approach and coming together in solidarity, between a closed-door policy and opening-up for mutual benefit, and between unilateralism and multilateralism. The COVID-19 pandemic has made us keenly aware how closely interwoven are the interests of all countries, and that humanity shares a common stake. Indeed, our world is an indivisible community with a shared future. Countries need to abandon any ideological prejudice they may harbor, act outside one's own narrow interests, and work closely together. Only in this way can we jointly tide over difficulties. As a responsible country with a global perspective, China has been integrating its own development into the overall development of the world. At a crucial time, when the country itself was hard hit by the COVID-19 virus and the world jointly braved challenges, China upheld the vision of a global community with a shared future with concrete action, demonstrating its sense of responsibility as a major country. China has shared information and experience with the international community in a timely manner, done its best to assist countries and regions less well prepared for the pandemic, and honored its commitment to making Chinese vaccines a global public good. With these efforts, China has made a significant contribution to the global fight against COVID-19. In response to a severe global economic recession, China has played its role well as the largest supplier of global anti-pandemic materials and made all-out efforts to keep the global industrial and supply chains stable. Committed to opening wider to the world, China has signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement as one of 15 participating countries and worked with the EU to complete investment agreement negotiations as scheduled. It has also assisted other countries in their battle against the virus and to achieve economic recovery. At the same time, China is fostering a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other. China will fully leverage the demand of its super-sized domestic market to inject continuous impetus to the world economy. Faced with setbacks in the process of global governance, China will continue to work with the international community to safeguard the international system focused on the United Nations, an international order based on international law, and a multilateral trading system based on the WTO; to promote a new type of international relationship and push for an economic globalization that is more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all. Confronted with historic changes of the times, the international community can understand more than ever the significance of a community with a shared future for mankind. China is determined as ever to build world peace, contribute to global prosperity, uphold the international order, and work together with all other countries to create a better future for humanity. Dr. Zhou Luming is editor of Qiushi Journal. His research interests include China's diplomacy and international relations. Translated by Zhang Liying 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. Bollywood celebs wish for peoples safety after massive flood in Uttarakhand India oi-Deepika S Mumbai, Feb 07: Film personalities, including CBFC chairperson-writer Prasoon Joshi, actors Dia Mirza, Shraddha Kapoor, and filmmaker Abhishek Kapoor on Sunday sent out prayers for the safety of people of Uttarakhand as a glacier broke off at Joshimath in Chamoli district, leading to a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river. The flood caused large-scale devastation in the upper reaches of the ecologically fragile Himalayas, with 50-100 labourers working at the Rishi Ganga power project missing. Shraddha Kapoor took to Twitter and wrote, "Distressing to hear about the glacier breaking off in #Uttarakhand. Praying everyone's safety there." Mirza, who is vocal about environmental issues, said man-made constructions in the Himalayas contributed to the tragedy. "Building too many dams in the Himalayas has lead to this. Prayers for the people of Chamoli," the Sanju actor wrote and shared helpline number of the Disaster Operations Center. Following the glacier burst, homes along the way were swept away as the waters rushed down the mountainsides in a raging torrent. There were fears of damage in human settlements downstream. Many villages were evacuated and people taken to safer areas. Uttarakhand floods: Kejriwal says ready to extend all help Glacier Breaks: 10 dead bodies found, atleast 125 feared dead| Oneindia News Filmmaker Abhishek Kapoor, whose Sushant Singh Rajput-led romantic-drama Kedarnath was set against the backdrop of the 2013 Uttarakhand floods, prayed for the well being of people. "Devastating news. May god watch over those in the path of this monster. Hari Om. #Uttarakhand #Chamoli," the director said. Central Board of Film Certification chief Joshi said he hopes Chamoli and other districts of Uttarakhand stay as safe from the glacier burst and "no lives are endangered." "Prayers and strength for the people, the authorities and rescue teams," the 49-year-old screenwriter-lyricist wrote. Producer Ronnie Screwvala said the floods were a horrifying display of nature's fury and wrote about the "callous" approach of people towards climate change. "Force of nature - saddened to see a disaster unfolding #Uttarakhand - except that with all our callous approach to climate change/ global warming - not sure we can call these "natural disasters" anymore!" he wrote. Sonu Sood tweeted, "Uttarakhand we are with you." Several districts, including Pauri, Tehri, Rudraprayag, Haridwar and Dehradun, are likely to be affected and have been put on high alert. ADVERTISEMENT A PUNCH newspaper journalist, Okechukwu Nnodim, and two others with whom he was abducted late Wednesday, have been released. Mr Nnodim and two sons of his neighbour were kidnapped by gunmen who shot their way into their home in Kubwa area of Abuja at about 11 p.m. on Wednesday. We were told last night that they had been released, but they came home this morning, Oluchi Nnodim, wife of the kidnapped journalist told PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday. PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the kidnappers demanded N10 million ransom for Mr Nnodims release. Asked about the circumstances of her husbands freedom after three days of captivity, Mrs Nnodim said, All I can say now is I thank God for his release. They weren't all Billy boys, but the bully boys have certainly been crawling out of the woodwork again, not that they ever really went away. Just when you thought people here had enough to worry about with the pandemic, another virus the virus of evil has started to spread once more. Unlike the new strain of Covid, it isn't a variant, just more of the same old, same old from days gone by. The weapons are just like they've always been the gun, the paintbrush and, in a more recent addition to the armoury of thuggery, social media. As well as the writing on the wall from the graffiti gombeens, sick morons have been using Twitter, Facebook and other platforms to get their malign messages across. In a week that has brought more shame to Northern Ireland, we've seen the totally reprehensible murder of dissident republican Danny McClean on the Cliftonville Road. The fact that he was a former member of Oglaigh na hEireann who'd served a jail term for terrorist offences didn't lessen the crime, though the public outcry was hardly deafening. Expand Close Murder victim Danny McClean Photopress Belfast / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Murder victim Danny McClean Across the city in east Belfast, the UVF was also at its work. A large group of masked men was filmed on the lower Newtownards Road. It's thought they were on their way to attack a house, as recently happened at other properties in the area. The police pictured 'monitoring' the situation said they were investigating as to whether they could make anyone accountable for the sinister show of strength, but there was understandable criticism that they didn't make any arrests on the spot. Mind you, if they had moved in with the limited numbers that police chiefs had deployed, there would have been a bloodbath. The same can't be said of course of how they handled the arrest of Mark Sykes at Friday's memorial service for the five victims of the 1992 massacre at Sean Graham's bookmakers. As with many other outrages on both sides which I covered as a journalist I don't need a diary to remind me of the anniversary of the bookies attack, which is normally marked with a low-key memorial every year when relatives of the victims and survivors lay wreathes. It's up to the Police Ombudsman to rule on why they decided to weigh in or why it all kicked off but the bitter irony is that the man the PSNI arrested was actually shot four times in the attack. Expand Close Mark Sykes / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mark Sykes I'll never forget how he told me how he counted himself lucky to survive - having been aware as he lay bleeding on the floor, of one of the gunmen walking around the office and shooting wounded victims. Over the past seven days we've also seen sinister elements at work as Brexit checks were suspended at Larne and Belfast ports after threats to staff. The police said they had no evidence that mainstream loyalist paramilitary groups were responsible for menacing staff and nothing to support claims that employees' licence plate numbers had been recorded. But of course if the intimidation didn't emanate from the main terrorist groups, it begs the question where did it come from? It's hard to look past the probability that well-organised groups of loyalists who have previously been involved in protest campaigns have had a role. All the major political parties condemned the threats but the 'fighting' talk of David Campbell of the Loyalist Communities Council, an organisation backed by the UDA, UVF and Red Hand Commando, was a worrying portend of what might lie ahead. Whatever the truth behind the row over Brexit and the Northern Ireland protocol there are undoubted tensions among loyalists over the Irish sea border as evidenced by the 100,000 plus signatures on a DUP petition for Boris Johnson to trigger article 16. He has promised to press for changes. But why anyone would have any faith in him or trust the EU who tried to block coronavirus vaccines coming into Northern Ireland is beyond me. Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill said a controversial police operation which saw a Troubles survivor arrested at a memorial event has created a nationalist crisis of confidence in policing (Liam McBurney/PA) A controversial police operation which saw a Troubles survivor arrested at a memorial event has created a nationalist crisis of confidence in policing, Michelle ONeill has said. Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Simon Byrne has apologised for the scenes that unfolded at the site of a loyalist massacre when officers intervened at an anniversary ceremony amid suspicions that the public gathering breached coronavirus regulations. Mr Byrne announced on Saturday night that one officer has been suspended and another repositioned following Fridays incident in Belfasts Ormeau Road. The actions have been taken pending the outcome of a Police Ombudsman investigation into the events. Mark Sykes, who was shot several times in the 1992 massacre that claimed the lives of five people, was handcuffed and arrested in chaotic scenes captured on social media. The fallout from the incident, and Mr Byrnes subsequent response, has sparked a political row. Expand Close PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne (Brian Lawless/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne (Brian Lawless/PA) While Sinn Fein has dismissed the action against the officers as token gestures, unionists have queried the haste of the suspension, with Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister accusing Mr Byrne of pandering and grovelling to Sinn Fein. Ms ONeill said the approach adopted by officers was crass, vulgar, insensitive and deliberate. The deputy First Minister declined to say if she retained confidence in Mr Byrne but she did say she was not calling on him to resign. If the Chief Constable wants to enjoy the confidence of the wider society then it is for him to demonstrate that he will hold people to account and let us all see that in action, she told BBC Northern Irelands Sunday Politics show. Hes at the very top of the service, so if hes going to bring about a new beginning to policing and if hes going play his part then he must hold people to account and he must call out and challenge what appears to be an ethos and a culture within the PSNI to have a disproportionate approach to one section of society over and above the other. The incident was the latest in a series of controversies around the PSNIs enforcement of Covid-19 rules in Northern Ireland. They have faced criticism for not taking action when large crowds of mourners have gathered for funerals of former paramilitaries, while the ombudsman found officers acted in a discriminatory way in handing out fines to Black Lives Matters protesters last summer. Earlier this week, Mr Byrne was again facing scrutiny after officers did not move in to make arrests when a large crowd of masked men congregated in east Belfast in an apparent paramilitary show of strength. The disgraceful scenes of heavy handed policing of victims & survivors laying flowers in contrast to the failure to police a UVF mob in East Belfast has done huge damage to community confidence in policing. Will meet Chief Const. on Monday to discuss the fall out of these events Michelle OaNeill (@moneillsf) February 6, 2021 Ms ONeill is to lead a party delegation to meet Mr Byrne on Monday. She contrasted the scenes on the Ormeau Road with polices failure to make arrests when they encountered the loyalist gang. I think that the direct contrast in policing is laid bare for all to see and I think anybody who considers all those things in the round would understand that there certainly is a crisis of confidence in policing among the nationalist community, she said. There appears to be a double standard within the policing service, there appears to be an ethos or culture that turns a blind eye to UDA, UVF thugs on the street, but at the same time a disproportionate attempt to target nationalist communities. Mr Allister said bereaved families of other Troubles atrocities had not gathered in numbers to mark anniversaries during lockdown. He questioned why police were facing criticism because they intervened over apparent regulation breaches and were met with a disorderly response. Mr Allister highlighted that Ms ONeill had been interviewed by police amid claims that she herself breached Covid regulations when she and other Sinn Fein leaders attended the funeral of republican Bobby Storey in west Belfast last June. I think of all the people who should have the least to say about policing Covid regulations it is Michelle ONeill, he said. Mr Allister claimed Mr Byrne had abdicated policing on the day of the Storey funeral in June. So he is a Chief Constable who, from the unionist perspective, has lost a great deal of credibility and to then see him what many will say as pandering, grovelling to Sinn Fein demands on Saturday night put him in an even worse light, he said. Asked if Mr Byrne should go, Mr Allister replied: I certainly have no confidence in him by virtue of his abdication of policing back in June. The DUP has questioned the pace of the action taken against the officers, describing it as uncharacteristically swift. Expand Close TUV leader Jim Allister (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp TUV leader Jim Allister (Liam McBurney/PA) The partys four Policing Board members said on Saturday night: We cannot have trial by social media and we cannot have rushed announcements to suit some political agenda. After announcing the action against the two inexperienced officers, both of whom only joined the PSNI last July, Mr Byrne was asked whether he had considered his own position. Im not a quitter, I took this job with my eyes open, determined to invest my time, my capital, working with a top team to deliver on my promise, which was visible, accessible and responsive community policing, he said. Five people, including a 15-year-old boy, were murdered and several others injured in February 1992 when Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) opened fire in the Sean Graham bookmakers shop on the Ormeau Road in February 1992. The chief constable has said he is unable to de-arrest Mr Sykes as the matter now rests with prosecutors to decide whether prosecution is appropriate. Police have said officers initially took action after witnessing a crowd of between 30 to 40 attending an event. Public gatherings of more than six people are currently prevented under Covid-19 lockdown regulations in Northern Ireland. The Police Ombudsman continues to face calls from bereaved relatives of the bookmakers shop attack to publish a delayed investigation report into the 1992 murders, amid allegations of state collusion. 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 STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The state has expanded the group of people who will be eligible for a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine to include those with certain comorbidities beginning Feb. 15. Ninety-four percent of COVID-19-related deaths across the state were people who had underlying illnesses and comorbidities. The vaccine doses, which have been scarce across the city and state, will come from local hospitals who no longer need them to vaccinate staff members those in group 1a of the states vaccine rollout plan. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that hospitals have until Feb. 15 to vaccinate all staff members or their supply will be reallocated to local Department of Health vaccination sites to administer. Cuomos office released the following list of eligible comorbidities that are at risk of severe illness from COVID-19: Cancer (current or in remission, including 9/11-related cancers) Chronic kidney disease Pulmonary Disease, including but not limited to COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), asthma (moderate-to-severe), pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis and 9/11-related pulmonary diseases Intellectual and developmental disabilities, including Down Syndrome Heart conditions, including but not limited to heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathies or hypertension (high blood pressure) Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system), including but not limited to solid organ transplant or from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, use of other immune weakening medicines or other causes Severe Obesity (body mass index of 40 kg/m2) and obesity (body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or higher but less than 40 kg/m2) Pregnancy Sickle cell disease or Thalassemia Type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus Cerebrovascular disease, which affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain Neurologic conditions, including but not limited to Alzheimers disease or dementia Liver disease New Yorkers with comorbidities and underlying conditions exist throughout the states population theyre our teachers, lawyers and carpenters, in addition to the doctors who keep us safe every day and theyre a highly affected population, Cuomo said. The list of comorbidities released by the state is nearly identical to the list first issued by the Centers for Disease Control in late December, however, they were not eligible for vaccination until now. Those with the above-mentioned comorbidities can begin making appointments for Feb. 15, Cuomo said. However, as of Saturday afternoon, the city and state websites did not yet reflect the updated information. Last week, the city also expanded its list of vaccine eligibility after getting approval from the state to include restaurant workers, for-hire drivers, and residents and workers living in group home for people with developmental disabilities. FOLLOW KRISTIN F. DALTON ON TWITTER. About a third of a $45 million NSW government stimulus package for businesses struggling from the Victorian border closure was taken up even after a deadline extension and a criteria expansion. Business leaders now lobbying for a greater financial injection said many had found the size of the grants in the package insulting. Vehicles queue to cross the NSW-Victorian border at Albury on January 1. Credit:Jason Robins Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley, whose Farrer electorate occupies much of the NSW-Victorian border, is urging the state to re-purpose the balance for struggling Riverina economies as a survey of Albury business operators before the latest border closure found almost half were struggling mentally. Ms Ley last week also penned a strongly worded letter to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews saying the chaotic and dangerous dash home by Victorians as the border closed a second time on January 1 should never be repeated and visitors were discouraged from returning to the decimated region. Having spent the last month between Washington, DC, and home in the 11th District, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that there is no better place to live through a pandemic than in the 11th District and Texas in general. This is not by chance, and it is time to give credit where credit is due. Our state and local officials are working tirelessly to stop the pandemic without infringing upon our freedoms; our mayors and city council members have fought tooth and nail to keep businesses open; hospital administrators, health professionals and frontline workers put their own lives at risk daily and work around the clock to provide the best medical care possible; business owners are struggling through immeasurable hardships to keep workers employed. The honest, kind and hardworking folks who make up this district deserve all the praise for their strength during this difficult year. Hope is on the horizon. I am thankful for the good work being done in each of our communities. Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting the COVID-19 vaccination site at the Horseshoe. Midland Memorial Hospital has established an incredible process that has folks in and out in three minutes or less. They are vaccinating an average of 1,000 at-risk Midlanders every day. The site is run by amazing folks from the hospital, including MMH President/CEO Russell Meyers, Infection Preventionist Val Sparks and many others. There are more than 100 volunteers helping at the site every dayincluding nursing students from Midland College and even some high school students. Every day, lunch is donated by local businesses. This is not happening everywhere. It happens in West Texas, where communities truly come together. In Odessa, the vaccine distribution process has been so efficient that they have become a model for Texas. In only the first five days of offering vaccinations, the Odessa Fire Department administered more than 8,000 COVID-19 vaccines. I was honored to visit with Odessa City Manager Michael Marrero, Odessa Fire Chief John Alvarez, Odessa COVID Incident Commander Assistant Chief Rodd Huber and other members of the department to learn about the success of the site. This amazing number of vaccinations could not have been accomplished without the leadership from the Odessa city officials and so many more. I am so proud of this district and hopeful for the future. Any successes in our communities can be attributed to the tireless work of countless public servants and volunteers across our district. It is humbling to see West Texans taking care of each other during this time of need, and I could not be more honored to be the Representative for this incredible district. On the afternoon of Feb. 18, 1861, a booming of cannons set off in Syracuses Regiment Park (now Armory Square) announced the arrival of a very special visitor. Accordingly, a throng of spectators had gathered outside the New York Central Railroad Station, to welcome Abraham Lincoln, the new President-elect. A week earlier, on February 11th, Lincoln had embarked on his triumphant procession from his home in Springfield, Illinois, to Washington D.C., for his inauguration on March 4th. Everywhere the newly-elected Republican stopped along his route, the scene was the same, huge crowds hoping to catch a glimpse or hear the words of the man whose election tore the Union asunder. Driven by their convictions that Lincolns election meant that slavery was on a course to ultimate extinction, by the time he arrived in Syracuse seven states had already seceded from the Union, beginning with South Carolina on December 24, 1860. Texas had only just seceded on February 1, 1861. For its part, a majority of Syracusans were vehemently opposed to disunion. A large general union meeting had been called on January 13, about a month before Lincolns visit, where the majority of attendees committed to the proposition that the Union must and shall be preserved. Lincoln had carried Onondaga County by almost 4,000 votes in the election of 1860. This was unsurprising considering the relative strength of the Republican Party in the area. The Party traces its origins, in part, to Onondaga County and the work of anti-slavery advocates in Camillus, going back to 1852. Additionally, Syracuse newspaper editor and New York State political operator, Vivus Smith, was long purported to have played an integral role in coalescing factions of Whigs, Liberty Party men, and No-Nothings, into the Republican Party during a meeting at his home on West Onondaga Street with Horace Greely and Thurlow Weed, during the fall of 1854. Thus, Lincoln found a rather welcoming crowd in Syracuse on that cold February day. As the train pulled into Vanderbilt Square and slowed to a stop, Lincoln stepped out onto the rear platform to a thunderous ovation, where he was accompanied by the outgoing mayor, Amos Westcott. Mayor Westcott welcomed Lincoln to the Salt City, offered some brief remarks, and introduced him. The citizens of Syracuse had erected a platform outside the station, in the hopes that the President-elect might address the crowd, but Lincoln politely declined. According to eyewitness accounts, Lincoln, wearing his customary plug hat, thanked the crowd for their support and informed them that his time and strength would not permit him to speak at length. He bid them farewell, with the hope that the country would continue to prosper forever. Recalling the event on Lincolns birthday in 1934, 92-year-old Syracuse resident, John Graff, who was 19 at the time of Lincolns visit, remembered the rush of people towards the President-elects railcar as it started away, each grasping, hoping to clasp the great mans hands, as the train and the forces of history pulled him towards his destiny. Amidst a darkening cloud of uncertainty and the looming specter of war, Abraham Lincoln delivered his inaugural address on March 4, 1861. In a scene so poetically symbolic, so perfectly cinematic, Lincoln addressed a crumbling nation--a house divided--in front of the United States Capitol Building, which was undergoing extensive enlargements. The juxtaposition could not have been more stark. His remarks were short and pointed. He reiterated his stance on slavery, saying, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. As for secession, Lincoln declared it anarchy. In words as appropriate to our challenges today as they were then, he continued, A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitationsis the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it does of necessity fly to anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is impossible. The rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible; so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despotism in some form is all that is left. Lincoln closed his remarks leaving no ambiguity as to his position. In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you. Striking a conciliatory tone meant to quiet the fears of the American people, he concluded, We are not enemies, but friendsThe mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. His words have echoed through the ages. Tragically, Lincoln never returned to speak to the citizens of Syracuse. On April 26, 1865, the body of the martyred President passed through Syracuse for the final time, lying in eternal repose, as his funeral train traversed the same route that had carried him to his inauguration four years earlier. Read more: Abraham Lincolns hair preserved in priceless Syracuse sculpture Peterboros Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum offers free daily videos during Black History Month A World of Words and Wires The time a Hall of Fame football coach invited a Syracuse nun to the Super Bowl LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 12: The Rev. Arturo Corral (L) speaks during outdoor Mass marking the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the historic Our Lady Queen of Angels (La Placita) Church amid the COVID-19 pandemic on December 12, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. Masses were held in the church courtyard beneath tents throughout the day with congregants seated in socially distanced chairs and required to wear face coverings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (Getty Images) California churches will be able to re-open with limited capacity after the Supreme Court struck down some of the states strict coronavirus policies. The decision signals the priorities of the courts new conservative super-majority to protect religious rights, even at the potential expense of public health. If Hollywood may host a studio audience or film a singing competition while not a single soul may enter Californias churches, synagogues, and mosques, something has gone seriously awry, wrote justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee. He joined the five other conservatives on the court. They argued the state was singling out religious institutions for stricter rules while other types of establishments have remained open under limited capacity. This Court certainly is not downplaying the suffering many have experienced in this pandemic, Mr Gorsuch added. Prior to the ruling, California governor Gavin Newsom introduced a tiered series of coronavirus restrictions across the state, prohibiting indoor church services in regions with widespread Covid cases. The court ruled religious institutions could re-open for indoor worship with 25 per cent capacity, though didnt explain how it reached this resolution to the case, which arrived before the tribunal on a fast-tracked emergency appeal with limited briefing. Justice Elena Kagan, writing in dissent on behalf of the Courts remaining liberal wing, blasting the ruling as hypocritical, given the Supreme Court itself is conducting business remotely, and warned that the jurists shouldnt second-guess health experts with armchair epidemiology. Justices of this Court are not scientists, she wrote. If this decision causes suffering, we will not pay. Our marble halls are now closed to the public, and our life tenure forever insulates us from responsibility for our errors. That would seem good reason to avoid disrupting a states pandemic response. Prior to the death of the progressive justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court had sided with public health experts and allowed religious restrictions to go forward in some cases. Story continues Her replacement with the Trump-appointed Amy Coney Barett swung the court further rightward, and Fridays ruling follows other court decisions to strike down similar restrictions in New York. South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista, Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, and the statewide Harvest International Ministry were the California churches who challenged the rules. Read More Things to Know: Catholic Church got $1.5B in US virus relief Tanzanias president claims God is protecting country from Covid, but church disagrees Gavin Newsom recall: What happened to the one-time Democrat star? 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. Mahmoud Hussein, a journalist for Qatar's Al Jazeera, arrived at his home in greater Cairo Saturday after four years in an Egyptian jail, an AFP journalist reported, amid thawing relations between the countries. The 54-year-old Egyptian national was released on Thursday from a Cairo prison, a security source and his daughter Azzahra Hussein confirmed to AFP, but bail conditions at a police station in southern Cairo were still being finalised. "His father died before witnessing this moment, he was waiting for it for a long time," Hussein's mother told AFP before her son's arrival. Clutching a necklace with a photo of Hussein on it, she was surrounded by throngs of relatives and supporters who had set up colourful lights to celebrate his return. Neighbours handed out drinks while children lit fireworks as women clapped and ululated. Others rushed to hug him in the small village on the outskirts of Cairo. Qatar's Al Jazeera -- which had run a daily campaign calling for his liberation -- had repeatedly said he was being held "without formal charges nor trial". According to Egyptian law, detainees can be held in pre-trial detention for up to two years, but authorities regularly prolong the periods. "Even though there are bail conditions... Dad is out of the police station, thank God. Freedom to all those oppressed," his other daughter based in Paris, Aya Hussein, said on Twitter. Hussein's release comes just over two weeks after Egypt and Qatar restored diplomatic ties, following a three-year Saudi-led freeze on relations with Doha, with a particular focus on Al Jazeera's coverage. Cairo has been critical of the pan-Arab network's stance, considering it a mouthpiece for the Muslim Brotherhood. The group was outlawed after general-turned-president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the military overthrow of Islamist Mohamed Morsi in 2013. "Al Jazeera Media Network welcomes the news of Mahmoud's freedom, and believes that no journalist should ever be subjected to what Mahmoud has suffered for the past four years for merely carrying out his profession," the Doha-based network said in a statement Saturday. "While he was incarcerated, Mahmoud had become a symbol of press freedom across the globe," Al Jazeera added. Three Al Jazeera journalists were previously arrested in 2013, including Australian Peter Greste, drawing international condemnation. They were freed in 2015. "This has been a colossal and shameful travesty of justice by Egypt purely for political ends," tweeted Greste, hours before Hussein's arrival home. Egypt is the world's worst jailer of journalists behind China and Turkey, according to press freedom group the Committee to Protect Journalists. Press Release February 7, 2021 Villanueva: CREATE bill slashes costs of cancer medication Once enacted into law by President Duterte, the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) bill will result in a more affordable cancer treatment as the measure will exempt cancer prevention medication from the Value Added Tax, Senator Joel Villanueva said today. Villanueva, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resource Development, said he was eagerly looking forward to the enactment of the CREATE bill which he said could serve as a milestone not only in the country's fight against the pandemic, but also in the campaign to prevent cancer and other diseases in the country. "Not only will the proposed CREATE law help our economy bounce back from the raging effects of the pandemic, it will also greatly reduce the cost of cancer medication that has been killing hundreds of Filipinos every day who cannot afford the cost of cancer treatment," said Villanueva, a co-sponsor of Republic Act 11215, also known as the National Integrated Cancer Control Act. On Wednesday, Villanueva hailed the congressional ratification of the bicameral conference committee report on the CREATE bill which will lower corporate income tax (CIT) and amend the country's tax incentives system in a move to attract more foreign investments and create job opportunities in the country. The measure also included so-called "health prescriptions" on important health resources, specifically on cancer medicines. Along with the other provisions, the proposed CREATE law will benefit the public health system as it will reduce the high cost of cancer treatment, especially for poor Filipinos who otherwise had no choice but to skip medication due to lack of funds. Villanueva noted that seven out of 10 Filipino cancer patients ended their medical treatment for cancer due to financial problems. In 2018, Villanueva pushed for the enactment of the National Integrated Cancer Control Act to allow affordable cancer treatment in the country. The bill aimed to prevent deaths and recurrence from cancer by providing "affordable and accessible" medical treatment. "If a cure for cancer will be found, the government should not be complaining about the foregone revenues from the sale of chemo drugs. Those revenues are from Filipinos with cancer, most of whom are poor and suffering two-fold just to get the treatment and medicine that are out of their reach," Villanueva explained. "Pag bubuwisan po natin ang gamot sa cancer, mga kababayan po nating may sakit ang magbabayad niyan. In essence, the cancer-afflicted are paying more when they should be getting aid and medical assistance. This also goes for all the medications for diseases listed as VAT-free in CREATE, like mental illness, tuberculosis and kidney disease," he further said. According to figures from the Department of Health, cancer is a "silent disaster" and is one of epidemic non-communicable diseases that has been the cause of deaths of about 300,000 Filipinos every year, or roughly 800 a day and 33 every hour. In another study, a total of 189 of every 100,000 Filipinos have cancer, while four Filipinos die of the disease every hour or 96 cancer patients every day. "The data suggest one thing: it is of epidemic proportions. Hindi lang po ito mangilan-ngilan. These deaths run hundreds of thousands. If we can help reduce the costs of cancer treatment, we do not only help poor Filipinos financially, we also give them hope," Villanueva added. "And hope is scarce in these trying times. CREATE not only gives hope to our struggling corporations and small businesses, it is also giving hope to millions of Filipinos who will be benefitted by this measure once it is signed into law." According to the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society, the Philippines has the highest prevalence of breast cancer among 197 countries. The Cancer Coalition of the Philippines reported that around 3,900 children were diagnosed as having cancer every year and that the average survival rate of children diagnosed to have cancer was at 30 percent. Sasmita Lanka, a forest officer from Odisha, has been felicitated with United Nation's Asia Environmental Enforcement Award. Lanka, who is a divisional forest officer in Athgarh, Cuttack, received the award under the 'Gender Leadership and Impact' category for her work in helping in busting pangolin smuggling rackets in the state. Happy to share the achievement of Sasmita Lenka, a lady forest officer, who will be one of the recipients of this years UNEP Asia Environment Enforcement Award. She is being recognised for her work on combating against pangolin poaching in Odisha. Congratulations @sasmitalenka pic.twitter.com/7MrvIWuC2q Ramesh Pandey (@rameshpandeyifs) February 1, 2021 She had helped bust an international network of pangolin in Athgarh and Khunnpunni. "We have seized three pangolins, including a dead one, and arrested 28 smugglers. The pangolins were being supplied to China, Vietnam, and Myanmar for black marketing...I'm glad my work was noticed. But it'll only stop once the pangolin is saved from extinction," Sasmita, who is now posted as deputy conservator of forest in the Bhubaneswar district headquarters, told news agency ANI. She also conducted many awareness campaigns among locals about the illegal trade of pangolins. prameyanews.com She had offered a reward of Rs 10,000 for information about suspects. "Residents across 30 villages reached out with information. The initiative received a huge response, and we took action against several criminals based on this information," Lanka said. She said that most locals were not aware that pangolins exist in the vicinity, but awareness about the animal and strict action taken by the administration helped change the people's mindset. Govt. to spend over Rs.10 bn on COVID-19 vaccines View(s): The government is to purchase 18 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines which will cost in the region of Rs. 10 billion at the rate of US$ 3 per vaccine (over Rs. 575), a senior Finance Ministry official said adding that other overheads and charges for transportation etc will add up to several billions. According to the vaccination plan, these vaccines will be administered free of charge, he said. Of this total, nine million vaccines will come from the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVISHIELD product. He noted that the head of the Presidential Task Force for Sri Lankas COVID- 19 vaccination task force and senior Presidential advisor Lalith Weeratunga had informed that there was a requirement of purchasing nine million COVISHIELD vaccines as soon as possible. Sri Lanka will receive eight million doses of a WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX facility, the first batch of which should arrive in mid-February, he divulged. India has already donated 500,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZenecas COVISHIELD vaccine and 300,000 doses of the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm will be imported soon. A request has also been made to Russia for its Sputnik V vaccine. (BS) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, said on Friday that she was alarmed by the continued escalation of ethnic violence in Ethiopia and allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in the Tigray region. In a statement, Nderitu said she has received reports of serious human rights violations and abuses, committed by the parties to the conflict in the Tigray region and their allies. These include extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, looting of property, mass executions and impeded humanitarian access. Nderitu reiterated the call by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for urgent steps to alleviate the humanitarian situation and extend the necessary protection to people at risk. She further urged the federal government of Ethiopia to restore the rule of law and public order in the region and called for an independent and impartial investigation into the allegations of serious violations and abuses of human rights. Nderitu said she has also received disturbing reports of attacks against civilians based on their religion and ethnicity as well as serious allegations of human rights violations and abuses, including arbitrary arrests, killings, rape, displacement of populations and destruction of property, in various parts of the country. These are in addition to reported acts of hate speech and stigmatization including, ethnic profiling against some ethnic communities, notably, the Tigray, Amhara, Somali, and Oromo. "The deep-seated divisions have reportedly led to the imposition of travel restrictions on citizens based on their ethnicity, while ethnically motivated hate speech continues to spread on social media with calls for the exclusion of those perceived not to be original inhabitants of certain ethnic regions," said Nderitu. A failure to address ethnic violence, stigmatization, hate speech, religious tensions, compounded with other risk factors, including a culture of impunity and lack of accountability for serious violations committed, perpetuates an environment that exposes the civilian population to a high risk of atrocity crimes, she said. Nderitu called on the Ethiopian authorities to establish national mechanisms to address the root causes of ethnic violence, build national cohesion and promote reconciliation. If urgent measures are not immediately taken to address the ongoing challenges facing the country, the risk of atrocity crimes in Ethiopia remains high and likely to get worse, she warned. Source: Xinhua/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 Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has picked up two-thirds of its own new gas from KG-D6 block that was auctioned under new rules with state-owned GAIL and Royal Dutch Shell getting smaller volumes, sources said. Reliance and its partner UK's BP Plc on Friday auctioned 7.5 million standard cubic metres per day of incremental gas from the R-series gas field in the KG-D6 block, benchmarking it to a gas marker for the very first time in the country. The auction was held under the liberalised price discovery rules notified by the government that allowed affiliates of the gas producer to bid and buy natural gas. Reliance O2C, an affiliate of Reliance, picked up 4.8 mmscmd of gas in Friday's auction that lasted for seven-and-a-half-hours, sources with direct knowledge of the development said. State gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd won 0.85 mmscmd of supplies while Shell picked up 0.7 mmscmd. Adani Total Gas Ltd got 0.1 mmscmd, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) 0.2 mmscmd and Torrest Gas 0.02 mmscmd. Other buyers include IRM Energy (0.1 mmscmd), PIL (0.35 mmscmd) and IGS (0.35 mmscmd), they said. Sources said the gas was bought at a price of USD 0.18 per million British thermal unit discount to JKM i.e. price of JKM (minus) USD 0.18 with tenures ranging from 3 to 5 years. Reliance did not respond to email sent for comments. Reliance O2C is the new unit that holds the firm's refinery and petrochemical assets. E-bidding process was conducted through an online web-based electronic bidding platform by CRISIL Risk and Infrastructure Solutions Limited (CRIS), an independent agency empanelled by Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). CRIS partnered with e-Procurement Technologies Limited (EPTL) and developed e-bidding platform. The bidding process was carried out as per the guidelines notified by the government in October 2020. Sources said the bidding process for sale of gas was launched on December 30, 2020 and it witnessed participation from around 15 bidders from city gas distribution sector, steel, power, refineries, petrochemicals, resellers and other industries. The e-bidding process required bidders to submit their price bids linked to international LNG price benchmark JKM (Japan Korea Marker). The JKM represents price for spot LNG delivered in Asian market and is now being widely used in LNG industry as a marker for in medium/ long term LNG contracts instead of traditional linkage to oil. This was second time Reliance-BP conducted an e-bidding process which ran on a dynamic forward auction basis for sale of KG-D6 gas. Earlier in November 2019, 5 mmscmd of natural gas was sold at price in range of around 8.6 per cent of Brent crude oil for tenure ranging from 2 to 6 years. Reliance-BP started production of gas on December 18 last year from the R Cluster ultra-deep-water gas field in block KG D6 off the east coast of India. The duo developing three deep-water gas projects in block KG-D6 -- R Cluster, Satellites Cluster and MJ -- which together are expected to meet around 15 per cent of India's gas demand by 2023. R Cluster is the first of the three projects to come onstream and is the deepest offshore gas field in Asia. E-bidding auction rules asked bidders to "quote the variable denoted as 'V' in USD per million British thermal unit (MMBtu) terms." "The gas price (in USD/MMBtu (GCV)) shall be = JKM V," the bidding notice said. GCV stands for gross calorific value. 'V' can be a positive, zero or negative number and up to two decimal places but it cannot be less than (-)0.30 USD/MMBtu, it said. This means users will have to quote -0.30 or higher value of 'V'. If JKM averaged USD 6 per MMBtu, the price will be USD 5.82 per MMBtu. But Reliance-BP will only get the government notified cap price for gas from deep-sea fields. Pricing of gas at JKM will be the first time that domestically produced gas is being sold at rates linked to an international gas benchmark, industry sources said. Also, this will be the first discovery of gas price since the October 2020 decision of the government setting out uniform e-bidding norms for finding the market price. That Cabinet decision also allowed the sale of gas to 'affiliates' and so while Reliance-BP affiliate companies couldn't participate in the November 2019 price discovery, they did in e-bidding on February 5. The government has given operators the freedom to discover market prices but this rate is subject to a pricing ceiling or cap that the government notifies every six months. The cap for six months to March 31, 2021, is USD 4.06 per mmBtu. And accordingly, Reliance-BP would get only that amount for the gas. Essar Steel, Adani Group and state-owned GAIL in November 2019 bought the majority of the initial 5 mmscmd of gas planned to be produced from R-Series in the KG-D6 block by bidding between 8.5 and 8.6 per cent of dated Brent price. In that bidding, Reliance-BP had asked gas users to quote a price (expressed as a percentage of the dated Brent crude oil rate), supply period and the volume of gas required. A floor or minimum quote of 8.4 per cent of dated Brent price was set, which meant that bidders had to quote 8.4 per cent or a higher percentage for securing gas supplies. Dated Brent means the average of published Brent prices for three calendar months immediately preceding the relevant contract month in which gas supplies are made. Reliance got USD 4.205 per MMBtu for gas from D1 and D3 and MA fields during April 2019 and March 2014. It would have got double of that rate if a new formula proposed by the Rangarajan committee was approved but the new BJP government scrapped it and brought a new formula on pricing gas at rates prevalent in export surplus nations such as the US and Russia. The rates came to USD 5.05 in 2014 and are currently at USD 1.79 per mmBtu. Reliance-BP is investing USD 5 billion in bringing to production three deepwater gas projects in block KG-D6 R-Cluster, Satellites Cluster, and MJ which together are expected to meet about 15 per cent of India's gas demand by 2023. R-Cluster will have a peak output of 12.9 mmscmd while satellites, which are supposed to begin output from the third quarter of the 2021 calendar year, would produce a maximum of 7 mmscmd. MJ field will start production in the third quarter of 2022 and will have a peak output of 12 mmscmd. Reliance has so far made 19 gas discoveries in the KG-D6 block. Of these, D-1 and D-3 -- the largest among the lot -- were brought into production from April 2009 and MA, the only oilfield in the block was put to production in September 2008. While the MA field stopped producing last year, output from D-1 and D-3 ceased in February. Other discoveries have either been surrendered or taken away by the government for not meeting timelines for beginning production. Reliance is the operator of the block with 66.6 per cent interest while BP holds the remaining stake. PTI ANZ MKJ Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Mayor Sylvester Turner and other elected officials called for a more fair and equitable system for distributing COVID-19 vaccines. At a news conference Saturday at the Settegast Community Health clinic, Turner criticized the vaccine distribution system, calling it skewed against minorities and blaming it for vaccine hesitancy. On HoustonChronicle.com: Lina Hidalgo, Harris County launch campaign targeting COVID vaccine skeptics The discrepancy is even more concerning, Turner said, given that minority communities have been hit hardest by the virus. The impact of this virus has been disproportionate on people of color, he said. Yet when the vaccine is on the scene, it seems as though it is converse of that. Federally qualified health centers like Harris Health System primarily serve minority communities. According to Dr. Esmaeil Porsa, Harris Health chief executive officer and president, more than 80 percent of the vaccines distributed at Harris Health locations have gone to minorities. The people who are most significantly and negatively impacted by COVID-19 are our racial minorities, our indigent, the uninsured and underinsured, and those are exactly the people that Harris Health System serves, said Porsa. But while the Harris Health System, the largest safety net hospital in Texas, has the capacity to vaccinate up to 15,000 people per week, Porsa said, it is only slated to receive 4,000 doses. You have to follow the problem, added Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis. If you have a disproportionate impact, we ought to put a disproportionate share of the resources there. Compounding the problem, noted state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, is the fact that many minorities are essential workers who risk higher exposure to the virus. They don't have the option of staying home, and they're also the community that's being hit the hardest by the pandemic, Wu said. The mass-distribution sites are helpful for distributing greater doses of the vaccine, but they hinder minority access to the vaccines, Turner contended. Mass distribution sites are good for numbers, but when it comes down to the people who are disproportionately impacted, they're not good for equity, he said. Dr. Jennifer Small of Settegast Community Health said that community clinics like Harris Health are vital to underserved communities. Settegast clinic is located directly in the community, so its easily accessible to patients. Its also directly off a bus line for patients without cars, she noted. The Minute Maid Park mega-distribution site, by comparison, is very difficult to access without a vehicle. Turner called upon larger hospitals to share their vaccine doses with minority communities and public health centers. If you look at the Harris Health System their hospitals LBJ and Ben Taub when you look at the distribution in terms of the hospitals that are getting the vaccines, the Harris Health hospitals are getting a smaller percentage than the other hospitals. The disparity leads directly to vaccine hesitancy, Turner said. When people see their neighbors and family members are getting the vaccine, let me tell you, they're not going to want to be left out, he said. But as long as the disparity is so great, then people are starting to wonder, Well, maybe Hispanics are not getting it because they don't want to get it. On HoustonChronicle.com: The key to boosting COVID vaccine trust? Vaccinating health care workers. The longer minorities have to wait to get vaccinated, said Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia, the more distrust of the vaccine will spread through minority communities. People will wonder about the effects of the vaccine, the validity of the vaccine, the efficacy of the vaccine, and it will allow time for chaotic messaging to continue to confuse people that this is not something that they need to do, Garcia said. Turner appealed to the state to distribute the vaccines directly to the city and county so they can be given to federally qualified health centers, thereby closing some of the gaps in healthcare access. NAACP Houston president Bishop James Dixon issued harsh words to state officials over vaccine distribution. It is extremely important that our governor and those at the state level understand every time a person dies in our community, because they didn't have access to vaccinations, that blood is on your hands. By allowing the city and county to allocate the vaccine distribution, local officials can make informed decisions about where the vaccines are needed most, Turner said. Let's cut the state out of the equation, Garcia agreed. Let's get it to the local communities where we all here know how to reach our constituents. Also Saturday, Houston Rally for Health, Liberty and Choice event took place at the Galleria that called into question the safety and efficacy of vaccines. The event drew four attendees. claire.goodman@chron.com Hundreds of British passengers returning from Dubai have been using Dublin as a back door to avoid strict UK travel restrictions and quarantine in recent days in a development that has sparked serious concern among airport staff. Flights to and from the Middle East, as well as onward connecting flights from Dublin to the UK, have been extremely busy since the British government banned direct passenger flights from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) a week ago in a bid to stop the spread of the highly transmissible South African variant of Covid-19. Evidence has also emerged of an increase in the numbers of Irish passengers who are willing to accept 500 fines before travelling to holiday destinations. After a considerable fall-off in non-essential travel at Dublin Airport in the first half of last week, an Garda Siochana fined around 60 passengers 500 last Thursday alone for breaching non-essential travel regulations before the majority of them flew to destinations, including Dubai, Tenerife and Turkey. Read More Gardai are powerless to stop holidaymakers from continuing to travel even if they hit them with fixed penalty notices. Hundreds of people have chosen to pay the fines and continue on to their destination over the last fortnight. The fine for non-essential travel was increased from 100 per person to 500 from last Monday. The UK travel ban, introduced on January 29, included the four Emirates' Airbus A380 'superjumbo' flights that can carry over 2,000 people a day between London Heathrow and Dubai. Dublin is now being used as a way home for many stranded UK holidaymakers and others stuck in the Middle East. Extra passenger capacity was added to Dublin routes from the UAE on at least one day last week, it is understood. Staff at the airport have taken to describing the route as "the Dublin dodge", while arriving English passengers jokingly refer to Dublin as "Canada" due to the ability to easily enter a bigger neighbour by the back door, said a source. The 6.30pm Aer Lingus flight to London that connects with Emirates' flight from Dubai has been particularly popular with UK holidaymakers, many of them dressed for the desert sun, according to sources. On Thursday evening a 174-seater Airbus departed for London with just 25 free seats, a far higher load than it has had for most of the past year. More than half the passengers on the flight had arrived in from Dubai earlier in the day, according to well placed sources. A bigger 317-seater aircraft was used on Friday evening with 250 travelling, many of them connecting from Dubai - as well as from Portugal, which has also been hit with a strict flight ban by the UK, said sources. By Friday evening there were already 210 booked for this evening's connecting flight. One witness said the British exodus from Dubai was "like something out of the fall of Saigon" and that the first arrivals last week had expressed surprise that they were not taken from the aircraft at Dublin directly to specific holding areas to wait for transfers. Many airline and airport staff are believed to be very unhappy because they feel they are being put at risk by passengers, some with little regard for social distancing, but are reluctant to complain at a time when the sector is severely struggling. In one incident, cleaning staff at Dublin were left to mop up after boisterous passengers urinated on a number of seats on one aircraft, according to a source. The airside transfer desk, which had been closed because of the lack of connecting traffic, was reopened late last week to cope with the influx, it is understood. Prior to that, many Dubai holidaymakers were collecting their bags and passing through immigration to queue up for check-in in the landside public areas of the airport. British citizens who do manage to return from the UAE are obliged to self-isolate for 10 days but can dodge difficult questions at UK immigration by arriving in from Dublin on a separate booking. This has meant that while a proportion of these passengers are transferring directly on to UK-bound flights, many others are waiting until they arrive in Dublin to book their onward journeys, with a significant number staying overnight in Dublin first. The farming sector says it supports an economy-wide aspiration of net zero emissions by 2050 provided it is economically sound and any government-enforced policy is not detrimental to the industry. Coalition tensions over Australias long-term emissions reduction targets are threatening to reignite the climate wars within the federal government, with Nationals leader Michael McCormack saying carving out agriculture from any 2050 pledge could well be one of the options. Nationals leader Michael McCormack has raised the proposition of separating agriculture from any 2050 zero emissions pledge. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Several Nationals backbench MPs, including exiled former cabinet ministers Barnaby Joyce, Matt Canavan and Bridget McKenzie have all questioned the merit of any commitment especially for food and fibre producers in the past week. Prime Minister Scott Morrison is edging towards committing to the 2050 target ahead of this years Glasgow climate summit, but has ruled out implementing any carbon taxes. TORONTO, Feb. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trigon Metals Inc. (TSX-V: TM) (Trigon or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered into definitive agreements to expand its land holding in Namibia, through the acquisition (the Acquisition) of exclusive prospecting licence (EPL 3540 or the Licence). This licence surrounds Trigons Kombat and Gross Otavi projects in the Otavi Mountainland, a region associated with high grade copper mineralization, in addition to a substantial lead and silver content. EPL 3540 covers an area of 5,614 hectares in the Grootfontein District of the Otjozondjupa Region, between the towns of Otavi to the west and Grootfontein to the east. From a geological perspective, it is situated on the Kombat trend, a mineralized structure, which also hosts the Kombat project. The area therefore represents a potential strike extension of the Kombat project, with various known mineral occurrences on the property. To view the Map associated with this release visit https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2bbcf232-bda3-4473-8c9b-6e88e9cd31eb By way of comparison, the three permits that contain the Kombat mine host a 7 Mt Indicated Resource with an additional 31 Mt in Inferred Resources (see Table 1 and 2) and produced 12.5 million tonnes of copper over a 45-year history, encompass only 692.1 hectares or 4.2 kilometres of strikelength. Upon completion the acquisition would increase Trigons presence in the Otavi Valley from 2,011 hectares to 7,625 hectares, a 280% increase. Trigons prospective strikelength grows to over 30 kilometres. Trigon management has extensive knowledge of the area in which EPL 3540 is situated and plans to implement an exploration program in conjunction with its exploration plans for the Kombat project areas. Table 1 Kombat Mineral Resource Estimate as at September 1, 2020 Open Pit (0.6% copper equivalent cut-off) Resource Classification Cu % Pb % Ag (g/t) Cu (t) Pb (t) Ag (kg) Indicated 0.91 0.88 0.58 66 793 65 026 4 255 Inferred 1.07 1.46 0.46 121 844 166 178 5 269 Table 2 Kombat Mineral Resource Estimate as at September 1, 2020 Underground (1.8% copper equivalent cut-off) Resource Classification Cu % Pb % Ag (g/t) Cu (t) Pb (t) Ag (kg) Total Inferred 2.84 1.26 6.64 578 765 255 617 135 255 EPL 3540 is currently held by Namibian company, Gazania Investments Nine (Pty) Ltd (Gazania), which is 80% owned by Sabre Resources Limited (Sabre), through Sabres wholly owned subsidiary, Starloop Holdings Pty Ltd (Starloop), and 20% owned by Coniston Pty Ltd (Coniston). The Licence was first granted on October 30, 2006 and has been renewed several times, with a current expiry date of May 7, 2021. Gazania will be submitting a renewal application for the licence following the signature of the Sabre and Coniston Agreements (as defined below). The Acquisition will be implemented by way of the acquisition by Trigon of 100% of the shares in Starloop from Sabre (the Starloop Shares) and 20% of the shares in Gazania from Coniston (the Gazania Shares). Trigon, through its wholly owned subsidiary, PNT Financeco Corp., has signed sale and purchase agreements with each of Sabre and Coniston dated February 2, 2021 (the Sabre Agreement and the Coniston Agreement respectively), and on fulfilment of the conditions precedent to each agreement will acquire the Starloop Shares and the Gazania Shares for the following purchase considerations. Trigon will acquire the Starloop Shares for a cash purchase consideration of C$200,000 payable on fulfilment of the conditions precedent to the Sabre Agreement. A second tranche cash payment of C$100,000 is payable to Sabre on the renewal of EPL 3540 by the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy, subject to such renewal being granted within 12 months of signature of the Sabre Agreement. Trigon will acquire the Gazania Shares for a cash purchase consideration of C$1,000 on fulfilment of the conditions precedent to the Coniston Agreement. A second tranche cash payment of C$100,000 is payable to Coniston on the renewal of EPL 3540 by the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy, subject to such renewal being granted within 12 months of signature of the Coniston Agreement. The Sabre and Coniston Agreements are each subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Acquisition is an arms length transaction. Jed Richardson, President & CEO of Trigon Metals, commented, We have long held the belief that the copper, silver and lead resource potential of Kombat and the Otavi Valley have never been properly explored. Encouraged by the significant resource expansion announced September 28, 2020, the acquisition of EPL 3540 represents an attractive regional consolidation opportunity for us, and given our extensive existing knowledge of the region, we believe holds upside potential for the long term future of the Kombat project. Qualified Person The technical information presented in this press release has been reviewed and approved for disclosure by Fanie Muller, P.Eng, VP Operations of Trigon, who is a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Trigon Metals Inc. Trigon is a publicly traded Canadian exploration and development company with its core business focused on copper and silver holdings in mine-friendly African jurisdictions. Currently the company has operations in Namibia and Morocco. In Namibia, the Company holds an 80% interest in five mining licences in the Otavi Mountainlands, an area of Namibia widely recognized for its high-grade copper deposits, where the Company is focused on exploration and re-development of the previously producing Kombat mine. In Morocco, the Company is the holder of the Silver Hill project, a highly prospective copper and silver exploration project. Cautionary Notes This news release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements include statements regarding EPL 3540 and the Sabre and Coniston Agreements, the Companys ability to close the Acquisition, the prospectivity of EPL 3540, the planned exploration program for Kombat and EPL 3540, the Companys strategies and the Companys abilities to execute such strategies, the Companys expectations for the Kombat project and EPL 3540, and the Companys future plans and objectives. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of our interim and most recent annual financial statements or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The crisis rocking the Oyo state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took another dimension on Saturday night as the governor of... The crisis rocking the Oyo state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took another dimension on Saturday night as the governor of the state, Seyi Makinde, left the official WhatsApp platform of the party in the state. The governor left the group around 10 pm on Saturday after the Publicity Secretary of the party, Akeem Olatunji, demanded an explanation over a viral video. Olatunji had earlier posted a video of an attack by suspected Fulani herdsmen on the people of Ayete, headquarters of Ibarapa North Local Government Area of the state on the WhatsApp group. This video has gone viral but the authority needs to confirm the claim. Its very urgent to address the message. Olatunji commented on the video. Reacting to the statement made by Olatunji, Makinde at exactly 10:07 pm, said, Every time some idiots makes (sic) a video, the government must respond I dont get it really you need mature people to make meaningful contributions on your platform. The governor also went on to react to another story regarding allegations of violence at the ongoing All Progressives Congress (APC) membership revalidation/registration. Olatunji had also said, Several injured as APC members fight over registration in Oyo State. Governor Makinde asked; What is the relevance of this on the PDP official platform? He then exited the platform. His exit was followed by comments by other participants in the group, with some saying they were disappointed that the governor could be so intolerant. Im highly disappointed sir, we dont expect this from you. Leaders who are low on accommodating may have trouble building up goodwill with other people, Hon Samuel Okunlade, Chairmen of Orelope Local Government Area, Igboho, said. But Kunle Yusuf, Special Adviser to the Governor on Sustainable Development Goals, tackled Okunlade, saying, Please let us stay clear from the issue, we should be careful with the information we share on this loop. One Gbade Adediran however took Kunle Yusuf up, telling him that it is important to speak the truth to power and that people on the platform should act maturely. He said; I agreed (sic) with you, but sometimes we need to say the truth, we only need mature people on this platform, we need to respect ourselves, Ajurawalo ti ijakadi ko. However, The Chief Press Secretary to Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, on Sunday, warned against false security alarms in the form of fake audio and video posts on social media in the state. Adisa, in a statement issued in Ibadan, warned the citizens against raising false alarms on the security situation in Ibarapaland and parts of the Oke-Ogun zone. He equally warned purveyors of fake information to desist from such act so as not to plunge the state into crisis, stating that the after-effects of fake videos, false alarms and fake news could be disastrous. The governors spokesman posited that the penchant of certain individuals, groups and faceless bodies for taking to social media and raise unfounded alarm to cause panic among the people of the state had become a cause for concern to the government. He added that some unscrupulous elements seeking to cause crisis in the state through false social media audio and video releases as well as sponsor fake news in a section of the media were behind the plot. Adisa warned that security agencies would deal with anyone seeking to cause ethnic tension, urging residents of the state to ignore such contents. He noted that some viral social media video and audio messages in which false and inciting claims were made about Ayete, Igangan and other parts of the state had been on the rise in recent weeks. Adisa said that some of such unfounded posts included the claim that Amotekun Corps killed some Fulani herdsmen, which amounted to a hoax and that imaginary 200 houses were razed by hoodlums in Labiran, Ibadan, which was denied by the police. He also mentioned the claim that the insecurity situation in Ibarapa had escalated, saying that this was an outright falsehood. The governors spokesman said that the Department of State Services (DSS) had recently released an intelligence report that some people were planning to cause religious and ethnic crises in Oyo and some other states. Our attention has been drawn to a grand plot to precipitate unrest in Oyo State through the use of fake news in the social media. This plot seeks to promote false alarms, misinformation and sponsored fake news through audio, video and Facebook messages and it is with a view to making the state ungovernable. As a government, the contents of some of these audio and video releases have been investigated and mostly found to be outright falsehood, baseless claims and products of hate speech, targetted only at discrediting government and inciting people. The Makinde-led administration has risen to the occasion on the issue of insecurity and we are already winning the war against criminality, with several measures rolled out to tackle kidnapping and banditry in Ibarapa and some parts of Oke-Ogun. Efforts have also been made to tame the violent gang wars in Ibadan. However, our admonition goes to members of the public across the state not to panic; do not succumb to the sponsored falsehood, as the state government is working assiduously to arrest the insecurity situation. Similarly, though the governor has made it clear that anyone, who sees something, should say something to the government, members of the public should ensure they are giving truthful and factual information. This has become necessary so that security agents will not be embarking on a wild goose chase, based on wrong information, he said. The Information Security Administration under the Ministry of Information & Communications has just updated the blacklist of IP addresses that distribute spam emails. Internet users are getting annoyed by spam emails. Photo: Trong Dat This is a list of IPs/ IP ranges marked as the source of spam e-mail distribution, which are listed periodically. Based on this list, organizations and individuals can prevent the spread of spam email. As of October 1, 2020, a total of more than 1.15 million IP addresses have been blacklisted by the Department of Information Security for spam email distribution. In this latest update, more than 29,000 IP addresses were added to the blacklist. Decree 91/2020 issued by the Prime Minister on combating spam messages, spam email and spam calls stipulate that the building and regular updating of the black list of IP addresses that distribute spam emails is the task of the Information Security Administration and telecommunications and Internet service providers. Spam email is defined as advertising e-mail without the prior consent of users or those violating regulations on sending advertising e-mail. Spam emails also include content that is prohibited under the provisions of Article 9 of the Law on Electronic Transactions, Article 12 of the Law on Information Technology, Article 12 of the Law on Telecommunications, Article 8 of the Law on Advertising, Article 7 of the Law on Information Security, and Article 8 of the Law on Cyber Security. According to Decree 91/2020, advertisers are only allowed to send text messages, emails or make phone calls to users with prior consent for receiving advertisements. Advertisers are also not allowed to send more than 3 emails to one email address within 24 hours, unless having an agreement with the user. Advertising e-mails must be labeled with information about advertisers, service charges, appropriate topics, and advertising contents must comply with the provisions of the law on advertising. In case of violating regulations on advertising, spammers may be prevented and their e-addresses used to distribute telecommunications spam may be banned at the request of competent state agencies. Previously, the Ministry of Information and Communications took strong measures to handle spam messages and calls. In the last 6 months of 2020, network operators prevented a total of 89,649 subscribers spreading spam calls. Trong Dat Over 89,600 mobile subscribers spreading spam calls blocked in six months Five major mobile service providers - Viettel, VinaPhone, MobiFone, Vietnamobile, and the virtual network I-Telecom blocked more than 89,600 mobile subscribers spreading spam calls in the six last months of 2020. A former Republican Senate staffer was arrested in Washington on Friday on federal child pornography charges in what investigators said was a crackdown on an online group that traded numerous illicit files and videos in recent months. Ruben Verastigui is accused of receiving and possessing child pornography between last April and this month, according to a criminal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The 27-year-old was arrested Friday evening at his apartment in the District, where police executed a search warrant. Investigators said they found "several files of child pornography" on his cellphone, along with a chat conversation in which he allegedly discussed exchanging the files and videos. During an interview with investigators, Verastigui admitted to receiving some of the files, according to the complaint. Verastigui worked as a digital strategist for the Senate Republican Conference as recently as last July. Calls to numbers listed for Verastigui and family members weren't immediately returned Saturday afternoon. It wasn't immediately clear whether he had retained a lawyer. Verastigui came onto authorities' radar after last June, when agents from Homeland Security Investigations began investigating a group of at least 18 people who were trading child pornography online, according to a statement of facts in the case. Documents refer to the site as "Application A" to "protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation." Investigators said they searched several members' electronic devices and found chat histories in which members talked about exchanging child pornography. They said Verastigui used the pseudonym "Landon" and the handle "@somethingtaken." In one conversation in April, Verastigui allegedly told a user identified as "S-1" that pornography involving "babies" was his "absolute favorite." The user later sent him a graphic video of child abuse, court records show, followed by nine more illicit clips the following day. During the same conversation, Verastigui asked that the user come to Washington "for the purpose of sexually abusing a minor," records show. Investigators said they identified Verastigui from a naked photo he took in his kitchen and sent to the chat. They said the details of the room and a tattoo visible on his left arm matched a picture from his Instagram account. Following the search of his apartment Friday, investigators conducted a forensic preview of his phone, according to court documents. There, they said, they found "several files" of child pornography and chat logs. After being read his Miranda rights, Verastigui "admitted that he used the username Landon and that he had been part of the group on Application A and had received child pornography during the time he was a part of that group," investigators said. Chat histories revealed he had been involved in the group the previous week, according to court documents. Verastigui was active in Republican politics, most recently working as a communications manager for the nonprofit Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, which supports Republicans who back clean-energy legislation. He was no longer employed at the organization as of Saturday, according to a statement provided by spokesman Ross Gillfillan. "The details of the allegations against Mr. Verastigui are tragic and shocking," the statement said. "We are prepared to fully cooperate with law enforcement requests in this matter to any extent needed." He also worked as a digital strategist for the Senate Republican Conference as recently as July, meaning some of his alleged offenses took place while he was a congressional staffer. A conference spokesperson told The Washington Post in an email: "We have just learned about this investigation and arrest. The individual has not worked at SRC since July 2, 2020." Before that, congressional records show that Verastigui worked as a digital director for the GOP staff of the U.S. Joint Economic Committee in 2018. A spokesperson for former committee chairman Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. A LinkedIn page for Ruben Verastigui says he also worked as a senior designer for the Republican National Committee in 2017 and 2018, designing social media ads for the Trump Make America Great Again Committee and Donald J. Trump for President. A committee spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Social media accounts matching Verastigui's name and photos indicate he has lived and worked in Washington since 2017. According to the LinkedIn page bearing the name Ruben Verastigui, the user was involved in several antiabortion rights organizations before his work in government, including March for Life, Students for Life America and Live Action. Students for Life confirmed Verastigui worked there from Sept. 5, 2014, to Dec. 2, 2016, after he was a student involved with the group. "He worked in an office doing graphic design and had no" oversight "or management of students," Kristi Hamrick, a spokeswoman, wrote in a statement. "We have no knowledge of the allegations that we learned about today, the events of which took place after his tenure." At the 2013 March for Life rally, Verastigui was introduced as the president of his college's Students for Life group, according to a C-SPAN video of the antiabortion rights event. "We are the generation that has been led to believe that the killing of innocent pre-born children is OK," he told the crowd. "How many of us are missing brothers, sisters, cousins, friends because of abortion?" Verastigui appeared to frequently post photos around the District on Instagram, including recently from the White House. In some pictures, including one on the Speaker's Balcony at the U.S. Capitol, Verastigui appears to have a tattoo of text on his left forearm that matches a description in court documents. Houthi supporters rally against the United States' designation of Houthis movement as a foreign terrorist organization, in Sanaa, Yemen, January 25, 2021. /Reuters The United Nations on Saturday welcomed the announcement that the U.S. intents to revoke the designation of Yemen's Houthi movement as a terrorist organization. The revocation will provide profound relief to millions of Yemenis who rely on humanitarian assistance and commercial imports to meet their basic survival needs. It will help ensure that much-needed essential supplies reach them without significant delays, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a note to correspondents. At a time when Yemen is at significant risk of famine, maintaining commercial imports and humanitarian assistance in adequate quantities is essential, said the note. "We hope this positive development will contribute to UN efforts to resume a Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned political process to reach an inclusive, negotiated settlement to the conflict." The designation came in the very last days of the previous U.S. administration led by Donald Trump. The new administration of President Joe Biden said Friday that it would revoke the designation. The move came one day after President Biden announced an end to U.S. support for offensive operations in Yemen and his decision to step up diplomacy and support UN-led initiative to end the war. It's reported that the move did not reflect the U.S. view of the Houthis and their "reprehensible conduct." The UN describes Yemen as the world's biggest humanitarian crisis, with 80 percent of its people in need. Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blacklisted the Houthis on January 19, one day before Biden took office. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015, backing government forces fighting the Iran-aligned Houthis. UN officials are trying to revive peace talks as the country also faces an economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. (With input from Xinhua, Reuters) With the power of the TTR Sothebys International Realty brand coupled with Davids enthusiasm and experience in the industry we are excited for the opportunities that lie ahead. TTR Sothebys International Realty is pleased to welcome David DeSantis to its Downtown Washington, D.C. brokerage office. A Partner, Managing Broker, and top-performing Real Estate Agent at TTR Sothebys International Realty since 2007, DeSantis will serve as Managing Broker of the Downtown Washington, D.C. brokerage office. Prior to his affiliation with TTR Sothebys International Realty, DeSantis served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for PN Hoffman, one of Washington, D.C.s preeminent builder of luxury multifamily housing and mixed-use property, and Vice President of Business Development at the Charles E. Smith Companies, now known as JBG Smith. "Im thrilled to join my colleagues at our Downtown brokerage, says DeSantis, who prior to his foray into real estate spent over a decade in public service and advocacy culminating as a senior staff member of the Federal Trade Commission during the Clinton administration. As a Partner at TTR Sothebys International Realty, I pride myself on delivering extraordinary service to my colleagues and peers, and am excited for the opportunity to be hands on in the dynamic downtown market. Following its most successful year to date, with over $4 Billion in closed real estate sales in 2020, TTR Sothebys International Realtys commitment to the Washington, D.C. marketplace remains as strong as ever. We are thrilled to have David at the helm of our Downtown Washington D.C. brokerage office, says Mark C. Lowham, CEO and Managing Partner of TTR Sothebys International Realty. With the power of the TTR Sothebys International Realty brand coupled with Davids enthusiasm and experience in the industry we are excited for the opportunities that lie ahead. About TTR Sothebys International Realty TTR Sothebys International Realty is regarded as one of the highest-performing real estate firms in the United States. With nine offices and over 500 real estate associates, our commitment to professional service, flawless integrity, and community leadership allowed us to capture more than $4 Billion in closed sales in 2020 while also serving as one of the Washington Metropolitan Areas foremost leaders in corporate philanthropy. To learn more, visit us at ttrsir.com. Artificial intelligence tools can make a 90% accurate prediction of whether a person will die from coronavirus or not, research by the University of Copenhagen has shown. The research published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports can help policymakers prioritize who should be at the front of the queue for the precious covid-19 vaccines. Based on patient data from Denmarks Capital and Zealand regions, the study shows that AI can, with up to 90% certainty, determine whether a person who is not yet infected will die of covid-19 or not if they become infected. Once admitted to hospital with covid-19, the computer can predict with 80% accuracy whether the person will need a respirator. Since the pandemics first wave, researchers have been working to develop computer models that can predict how badly people will be affected by the virus. We began working on the models to assist hospitals, as during the first wave, they feared that they did not have enough respirators for intensive care patients. Our new findings could also be used to carefully identify who needs a vaccine," said Prof Mads Nielsen of the University of Copenhagens Department of Computer Science. The researchers, who fed a computer programme with health data from 3,944 Danish covid-19 patients, said body mass index, age, gender and high blood pressure are among the most heavily weighted factors. The likelihood of dying or ending up on a respirator is heightened if you are male, have high blood pressure or neurological disease. Lung and heart diseases, asthma and diabetes are other factors. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. From the first InterContinental Hotel to the iconic Holiday Inn, from Kimpton revolutionising boutique hotels to new brands paving a new way forward, IHG Hotels & Resorts has long pioneered world travel and the way people connect. Today the company looks ahead as the world waiting to fully embrace travel once more reiterates the importance of the industry and travel as an agent for positive change. From supporting careers for millions to the force for good it plays in communities around the world, the experiences each traveller has during a trip make an impact long beyond the memories. IHG Hotels & Resorts has headed into 2021 by refreshing its brand to further reflect the hotel group's purpose of True Hospitality for Good, its evolving story, portfolio and the needs of hotel owners, consumers, and communities around the world. The brand refresh reflects the companys growth to 16 brands welcoming guests and loyalty program members through the doors of nearly 6,000 hotels across 100 countries. With an updated identity, the company is focused on strengthening perception, how it engages guests, hotel owners and colleagues and better promoting the breadth of its portfolio: A Family of Hotels & Resorts: Moving from IHG to IHG Hotels & Resorts, adding the Hotels & Resorts descriptor to its trade name, reiterates the companys collection of 16 brands that sit side by side as one family. A fresh look and feel: The IHG Hotels & Resorts visual brand identity has been given a makeover to better tell the stories of the brand and make it more relevant and attractive to consumers particularly a younger demographic of consumers, as well as hotel owners, colleagues and future talent around the world. Through new colours, photography and font, its eye-catching, energetic design showcases the brands and hotel experiences in the most engaging way. A place for all: IHG Rewards, the first and one of the largest loyalty programs in the world, has a corresponding new look and feel. The word Club has been removed from its name to reflect the warm welcome that is available to all, with members able to make the most of their travels with exclusive rates, special benefits and easy ways to earn and redeem points at all IHG hotels and partner locations including the breath-taking Mr & Mrs Smith collection. Going forward, IHG Rewards will be seen out and about more often and in more places. Helping guests make the right choice: IHGs family of 16 brands gives guests a wealth of choices, and presented now in four collections, helps guests make the right decision for all their travel needs: The Luxury and Lifestyle Collection: Defined by timeless legacy bound together by distinctive design and unforgettable service. Making every journey a celebration of extraordinary experiences, each in their unique way. 1. Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas 2. Regent Hotels & Resorts 3. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts 4. Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants 5. Hotel Indigo The Premium Collection: Makes travel personal and purposeful. Giving guests a sense of belonging and well-being, with the thoughtful details to make every trip matter. 6. HUALUXE Hotels & Resorts 7. Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts 8. EVEN Hotels 9. voco Hotels The Essentials Collection: Always there, always just what you need. With the warmth and trusted experience which has come to define true hospitality. 10. Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts 11. Holiday Inn Express 12. avid hotels The Suites Collection: Invites guests to settle in for longer stays, knowing the comforts of home are always within reach. 13. Atwell Suites 14. Staybridge Suites 15. Holiday Inn Club Vacations 16. Candlewood Suites Claire Bennett, Chief Customer Officer, IHG Hotels & Resorts, said: The travel industry has faced challenges like never before, and while adapting to new realities weve also stayed true to our roots. We have an incredible family of brands, centred around connecting people strengthening family bonds, forging business partnerships, uniting far-flung friends and engaging with our communities. Our evolved brand articulates how we bring our purpose of True Hospitality for Good to life for our guests, hotel owners, colleagues and communities. So, as we continue to lead through and beyond the pandemic, were clear who we are, what we stand for and how we can help guests open up their world again when theyre ready to travel. And we all feel we need that more than ever, because travel not only opens doors, it opens minds and hearts. Thats why our hotels are more than just a backdrop to lifes special moments, they are a collection of welcoming experiences. - TradeArabia News Service A PRO-Brexit think tank has today announced what it claims is a solution to the Irish Sea border problems caused by the Northern Ireland protocol. The Centre for Brexit Policy's 'Mutual Enforcement' proposal would see the UK and EU agree to recognise each other's standards in goods and services in law. It says this would mean customs officials would no longer be required to check goods going between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Centre for Brexit Policy is headed by former Tory Northern Ireland secretary Owen Paterson, with East Antrim DUP MP and staunch Brexiteer Sammy Wilson also among the directors. Announcing the proposal, backed by former Ulster Unionist leader Lord Trimble, it said: "The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, together with the abuse and misuse of the Good Friday Agreement, has been used as the Trojan horse by which the EU has sought to undermine the UK's attempt to gain back sovereignty. Under Mutual Enforcement, checks only need to take place on exports which cross the border between the EU and UK thus protecting UK sovereignty. "The disastrous Irish Sea border, which still is not fully implemented, could be abandoned." The report by the think tank states: "Unlike a customs union or partnership, mutual enforcement does not - of itself - remove customs duties nor does it remove, harmonise or require mutual recognition of standards. It works by inverting the usual approach to customs enforcement." It goes on to say: "Conversely, in a Mutual Enforcement approach, the obligation to comply with the importing territory's rules and pay duties owed is placed on the exporter as a matter of law of the exporting territory. "This is the critical ingredient - the border position becomes redundant. Under Mutual Enforcement, the border is no longer the first opportunity to assert jurisdiction because the importing territory has successfully asserted its jurisdiction beyond its border." He presented a fake employment letter at the border, but actually wanted to visit his girlfriend. Man sentenced for forging documents to enter Canada illegally He presented a fake employment letter at the border, but actually wanted to visit his girlfriend. Man sentenced for forging documents to enter Canada illegally He presented a fake employment letter at the border, but actually wanted to visit his girlfriend. Man sentenced for forging documents to enter Canada illegally He presented a fake employment letter at the border, but actually wanted to visit his girlfriend. Mohanad Moetaz Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif Sans Font Size A A An American citizen has plead guilty for misrepresentation at the Canada-U.S. border. The man had stated that he was seeking entry in order to carry out essential work, when in reality, he wanted to visit his girlfriend who lives in Canada. The man, Lyell Sullivan Buttermore, looked to enter Canada through the Lansdowne port of entry, and submitted an employment letter as proof to his claim. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers noticed inconsistencies with the employment letter, and upon further questioning, deduced that Buttermore forged the document and was in fact seeking entry to visit his girlfriend. He was then arrested and charged with trying to go around Canadas travel and border restrictions, and attempting to enter Canada with the help of forged documents. Find out if youre eligible for Canadian immigration On December 8, Buttermore plead guilty to immigration misrepresentation in Brockville, Ontario. He was sentenced to a conditional discharge with 12 months of probation. This means that no punishment will occur unless the offence is committed again. Terms include a CAD $2,000 donation to Lanark and Leeds and Grenville Addictions and Mental Health Services. Our officers ensure that those who are granted entry into Canada are complying with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and current border restrictions, said Stephanie Chenier, a CBSA Director in the Northern Ontario Region, Intercepting those who misrepresent themselves is important to protecting the health and safety of Canadians as well as maintaining the integrity of our borders and immigration processes. In March 2020, Canada introduced travel and border restrictions in order to curb the spread of COVID-19. Travellers must be entering Canada for an essential reason. These restrictions are still in place. Certain individuals are exempt from these travel restrictions, such as Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and their immediate family members, among others. However, Canada is strongly discouraging residents of Canada from travelling for a non-essential reason such as for vacation. Prime minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday that those who go on vacation or travel for a non-essential reason, will not be able to claim the CAD $1,000 sickness benefit to cover the cost of their quarantine period upon their return. Find out if youre eligible for Canadian immigration CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options. Former US statesman George Shultz dies at 100 Ronald Reagan kept George Shultz as his top diplomat for six and a half years. File photo: AFP George Shultz, Ronald Reagan's genial secretary of state who identified a diplomatic opening that helped end the Cold War but contributed to a new brand of conflict by advocating preemptive strikes, has died. He was 100. An economics professor who saw himself more as a data-driven expert than an ideologue, Shultz had the rare distinction of serving in four different cabinet positions - including Treasury secretary as Richard Nixon dismantled the post-World War II Bretton Woods monetary system. "One of the most consequential policymakers of all time, having served three American presidents, George P Shultz died February 6 at age 100," the Hoover Institution think tank said in a statement on its website. In the Reagan White House, notorious for infighting, Shultz was one of the least controversial figures, cultivating cordial ties with Congress and the press and, most crucially, rock-solid backing from the president himself, who kept Shultz as his top diplomat for six and a half years. In early 1983, half a year into his tenure, Shultz returned from China to a snowed-under Washington and was invited by Nancy Reagan to a casual dinner at the White House where he was intrigued to hear the famously anti-Communist president sound eager to meet the Soviets. "He had never had a lengthy session with an important leader from a Communist country, and I could sense he would relish such an opportunity," Shultz wrote in his memoir, "Turmoil and Triumph." Days afterward, Shultz brought the Soviet ambassador to the White House in an unmarked car for a secret meeting with Reagan, who pressed for Moscow to allow the emigration of Pentecostal Christians who had sought refuge in the US embassy. The Soviets quietly followed through. Reagan's unlikely role as a negotiator with the superpower he termed an "evil empire" had begun. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev ascended to the helm of the Communist Party and Shultz, joining then vice president George HW Bush, flew to Moscow and met him at the funeral of his predecessor, Konstantin Chernenko. Shultz immediately detected opportunities with Gorbachev. "Gorbachev is totally different from any Soviet leader I've met," Shultz told reporters. A former Marine who fought the Japanese in World War II, he recalled the trust he built with the Soviets as Treasury secretary when he offered a sincere salute at a memorial to their war dead. Shultz's approach with Gorbachev encountered deep scepticism from Defence Secretary Caspar Weinberger and CIA chief Bill Casey, but Reagan overruled them. By 1987, Reagan and Gorbachev signed the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The Soviet Union soon began disintegrating after Gorbachev initiated liberal reforms and dissent grew. Shultz later played down the role of Gorbachev, pointing to underlying weaknesses in the Soviet system and crediting the US leader's massive boost in defence spending. He also hailed European allies, especially West Germany, that defied public protests against Nato missile deployments in the 1980s. "The Soviets had to see that and realise that we were strong and our diplomacy was based on strength," Shultz said in a 2015 appearance at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, where he spent his post-government career. Shultz became secretary of state weeks after Israel invaded Lebanon, a nation that would become central to an issue that would define his tenure - terrorism. In 1983, a suicide bomber suspected to be a Shi'ite Muslim militant blew up the barracks of US Marines serving as peacekeepers in Lebanon, killing 241, with a second attack targeting French forces, killing 59. With hijackings and bombings rising around the world, Shultz vowed in a 1984 speech at a New York synagogue that the United States would go "beyond passive defence to consider means of active prevention, preemption and retaliation." "We cannot allow ourselves to become the Hamlet of nations, worrying endlessly over whether and how to respond," said Shultz, who recommended the US strikes on Libya in 1986 after a US soldier died in an attack on a Berlin nightclub. Shultz's doctrine was cited two decades later when George W Bush invaded Iraq, inaccurately alleging it was pursuing weapons of mass destruction. Shultz vocally backed the invasion, which along with ensuing wars would claim hundreds of thousands of lives. Declaring Iraq to be a "rogue state," Shultz said Saddam Hussein's overthrow was crucial "for the integrity of the international system and for the effort to deal effectively with terrorism." While secretary of state, Shultz's policies in the Middle East were more moderate. He repeatedly clashed with ally Israel, especially over Lebanon, and opened contacts with the Palestine Liberation Organisation. Shultz had served Nixon as labour secretary and also headed his Office of Management and Budget, a cabinet-level post. In an essay for his 100th birthday in 2020, he bemoaned the style of Donald Trump, saying that the United States, like individuals, could succeed only if others trust it. "Put simply," he said, "trust is the coin of the realm." (AFP) Ive been writing the Its All Political column and hosting a podcast of the same name for five years, and youve seen it pop up on different days since then. Now that were moving to Sundays full time, I thought this might be the moment for a quick reintroduction. You know the saying about how no one is more zealous than a recent convert? Same goes for those of us who moved to California. We love it more, often appreciate it more, because we werent lucky enough to be born here. We defend California quicker and louder because we uprooted our lives to move thousands of miles to be here. We cant understand why people would want to leave, because we believe with a converts zeal in the promise that California has long offered: This is the place not just to chase your dream, but to catch it. It is where you can be yourself and be with whom you choose to be with and say what you want, when you want and as loudly as you want. Unlike the places we left. Thats why I moved here nearly 30 years ago. I believed all that. I still do. So thats why it hurts us converts more when California doesnt live up to that promise. Like now. Living the California dream is nearly impossible for anyone who isnt already rich. Or, for the most part, white. The dream isnt attainable now for a skyrocketing number of residents who cant buy a home or cant afford rent unless they pack eight people into a two-bedroom apartment. It is a sham to people who shake their head at $12 grilled cheese sandwiches or wonder who would pay $7 for a shot of pressed juice or who dont shop at a perfumery like one I saw in the Mission District the other day. People dont shop at perfumeries in my beloved hometown of Pittsburgh. Nor do they in Milwaukee, where I lived before moving here. More prized than perfumeries in those places is a pick-up-your-lunchpail-and-go-to-work ethic. Its the same drive I hope to have inherited from my grandfather, who emigrated alone from southern Italy when he was 16 with no more than a fifth-grade education. But while a blue-collar work ethic may prevail there, my hometowns fall short of California in other ways. There isnt the diversity of people or thought in Pittsburgh and Milwaukee that there is here. There isnt the overload of super-smart, creative minds anywhere that we find in the Bay Area. Nor the culture and community around social activism, that dynamic energy that makes the world better by showing us where weve screwed up and how to be better. My old hometowns dont look like America. California does. Not what behind-the-curve East Coasters call the new America. America right now. Thats why it hurts us zealots more when California doesnt live up to its promise. Because weve lived elsewhere, we know that California has so much potential and yet were failing. There arent as many people living on the streets in Pittsburgh as there are here. The public schools in just about every other state are in better shape. One out of every 5 children lives in poverty in California. Roughly 1 million Californians dont have safe drinking water. We cant control our wildfires or the power company that sparked many of them. And lately, we cant distribute our COVID-19 vaccinations as well as West Virginia. At our worst, parts of California look like Third World countries just miles from neighborhoods where people live like royalty. Thats whats frightening. We Californians love to brag that in 10 years, the rest of the country will be copying what we are doing today. Or, as the states highest-ranking native Californian, Gov. Gavin Newsom, likes to say, California is Americas coming attraction. If thats so, heaven help the rest of the U.S. Being ahead of the curve isnt about California inspiring people in Pittsburgh to discover the joys of pressed juice in a few years. Its about our failures becoming theirs. Unless we do something different. And we can. For the past five years, this column (and my accompanying podcast) has been called Its All Political for a reason. Everything we do and everything we hope to change has a political element to it. People can march in the streets in support of Black lives, but structural change will come only through political solutions. Yes, change starts in the streets. Nothing makes a politician move faster than the threat of losing a job. But lasting change doesnt happen unless laws are changed. Our political system may be broken, but I remain optimistic that politics can be the route to change. Because Ive seen it happen just in the time that Ive lived here. Ive seen California evolve from a place where Gov. Pete Wilson won re-election in 1994 through a campaign that bashed Mexican immigrants into a state where Alex Padilla, the son of Mexican immigrants, serves in the U.S. Senate. Ive reported on how grassroots activism changed California when it came to legalizing same-sex marriage and legalizing cannabis in just a few years. Now were watching the beginnings of another evolution, as defund the police transforms from a chanted slogan into a different style of law enforcement. So this is a way of reintroducing myself in this new Sunday spot. With an optimists heart and a cynics eye, I will continue to focus on holding the California political structure accountable to the promise of the California dream. I will continue to tell the stories of the California dream through political figures the leaders, the activists, the dissidents and the Dreamers. I will analyze how California emerges from the pandemic and, possibly, a campaign aimed at recalling the governor. I will show how tech is changing the Bay Area even as many techies shelter in remote work, and how the legal cannabis industry isnt always what we were told it would be. I will check to see whether politicians kept their promises made during the summer of racial reconstruction and call them out when their privilege is showing. I will continue to track where Trumpism goes and where it takes the California Republican Party. And, of course, there is Newsom. The governor who is emblematic of California in many ways. Someone with so much promise, but who is falling short of fulfilling it. But I will also try to understand something else: Why are people leaving? To do that, I will ask the people who know best why California is falling short: the people who just left. I will regularly feature their voices in something we call the California Exit Interview. It will be a way to better understand whats going wrong here. And how we can get back to helping California fulfill its promise. Because I love it like a newcomer. Send me your ideas, tips and thoughts to jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com. You can find me on Twitter at @joegarofoli Pasadena flaring Regarding Pasadena plays defense on pollution, (A1, Feb. 3): In the 1960s, we lived near Hobby Airport, where we could see the flares from Pasadena. We used to chant, Pasadena where the air is greenah. Friends who lived there would retort, its the color and smell of money! Emily Murphy, Kingwood Progress is painful Regarding Bidens drilling order could end up being nail in coffin for oil, (B1, Jan. 31): Yes, progress sometimes can be painful. Horse breeders, livery stables and buggy-makers were up in arms when the advent of the horseless carriage put them out of business. Peggy Campbell, Cypress A medical giant Regarding Doctor tested research barriers, (A1, Feb. 3): Thank you for the article highlighting Dr. Emil Freireichs extraordinary cancer work. When all the vacuous social media influencers, celebrities and politicians are swept aside, it is good to be reminded there are people like Freireich who have devoted themselves to making the world a better place. As he showed, it takes hard work. These greats rarely make the headlines but their influence is worldwide. I always made it a point to say, Hi, Dr. Freireich, whenever I passed him on the skybridge at MD Anderson. I wonder how many appreciated that white-coated gentleman with a walker as one of the worlds medical giants. Mark Adamcik, Sugar Land California vs. Texas Regarding Letter to my liberal friends: Forget California, (A14, Feb. 3): Unlike Bret Stephens, I do not pretend to know why the net movement of residents from California to Texas is currently positive. But I take exception to his selective use of state rankings and crime statistics to explain it. In the 2019 US News and World Reports state rankings, California was rated better than Texas in six of eight categories, ranging from health care to education, and 19 places above Texas in the overall ranking. So, as people move from California to Democratic cities in Texas, perhaps it is our cities moderately liberal policies rather than the states far-right policies that are attracting them. Jason MacInnis, Houston Moshi Asha Rajabu, 28, a resident of Samanga Village in Marangu, Moshi District in Kilimanjaro Region has described her alleged ordeal in the hands of a local leader who accused her of delaying to close her bar business. She has also claimed that following the ordeal, she suffered miscarriage of her two-month old pregnancy. The chairman, Wilfredy Minja, is being held by the regional police force in connection with the alleged beating and assault inflicted upon the woman allegedly resulting in the miscarriage of the two-month pregnancy on January 24, this year. Speaking to Mwananchi, the woman explained that for more than five years she has been struggling to fall pregnant without success and now that she was lucky only to suffer from this misfortune. "It was on January 24, this year. It was past midnight when we were closing the bar, but two customers came in and asked to be served with food. I told the guard to just open for them so we could cook for them," she narrated. She said she ordered the person in charge of the kitchen to prepare food for the two, after the food ready, the customers said they would not eat any more as time had gone. "By then, neighbourhood home guards had surrounded my premise and they told me to hold on with my customers to wait for the chairman. I asked them to forgive me but they refused and demanded that I pay them Sh50,000 so my customers could be released," she narrated. Because the chairman had not yet arrived they had to wait until around 2am. "So when he arrived, he commanded me to undertake frog matching. One one hand, he had a stick and on the other a phone. I begged him to pardon me. He refused and kept on attacking me from 2am to 4am," she said. "My stomach started hurting terribly. I have reported the matter to the police," she said. However, the chairman has been arrested by the Kilimanjaro regional police, while the victim is receiving treatment at Kilema Hospital. TREASURY YIELDS SUGGEST A TOP WITHIN THE NEXT 6 MONTHS Historically, whenever the Treasury Yields fall below zero, then recover back above zero, the US/Global markets reach some peak in price levels within 3 to 8+ months. My research team and I believe the actions of the global markets may be setting up for a future peak in price levels sometime in next 6 months. We believe this will start when the Treasury Yields cross above the Breakdown Threshold. expect A Continued Rally As Long As Yields Stay Below Certain Levels In 1998, a very brief drop below zero in yields prompted a minor pullback in the markets before the bigger top setup in 2000. This pullback in price aligned with what we are calling the Breakdown Threshold level on Yields near 1.20. After the Yields crossed this Threshold, briefly, in 1999, they fell back below this level and the US stock market continued to rally toward an ultimate peak in 2000. In late 2000, Yields collapsed well below the zero levels and recovered back above zero in early 2001. Just 3+ months later, Yields had rallied above the Breakdown Threshold level (1.2) and the US stock markets had already begun to breakdown as well. This instance, the 2000-01 peak, took place after an Appreciation cycle phase prompted an Excess Phase Rally (the DOT COM bubble). The Rollover Top that took place near this top may be similar to what we see happen in 2021 if our research is correct. In late 2006, Yields again collapsed well below the zero level and recovered back above zero near mid 2007. This time, Yields stalled a bit in their advance higher and clearly broke above the Breakdown Threshold in early 2008. By this time, the US markets had already moved into a sideways/rollover topping formation and began to decline sharply after the Breakdown Threshold was breached. Be sure to sign up for our free market trend analysis and signals now so you dont miss our next special report! What we find interesting about this research is that as long as the Treasury Yields fail to rally above the 1.2 Breakdown Threshold, the market dynamics appear to support a melt-up type of trend. Even though traders should understand the risks are starting to become excessive based on this type of pattern, the markets continue to push higher as long a Yield levels stay below the Breakdown Threshold after reaching the Setup Threshold. It is our belief that the Setup Threshold must be breached (to the downside) for this topping pattern to really anchor into place. Looking at the chart below, in 1996 (highlighted in BLUE) the Setup Threshold was breached, but the Zero level was not breached by Yields. When Yields rallied back above the Breakdown Threshold, a minor sideways price correction took place (briefly). As Yields fell back below the Breakdown Threshold (while never breaching the Setup Threshold), the stock market rallied strongly resulting in a 90% price rally before the Yields broke the zero level in 1998. Currently, the Yields level has broken below the zero level and the Setup Threshold, thus there is a high probability that any advance above the Breakdown Threshold will prompt a moderately strong price correction in the US stock markets. If Yields continue to rally higher, we can expect the broader market to move down, possibly starting a new bearish price trend. Depending on what Treasury yields do from this point forward, we could expect a number of different outcomes. Weve attempted to highlight various outcomes on the chart below in different colors. RED: If Treasury Yields rally above the Breakdown Threshold and continue to push higher, then there is a very strong potential that the US/Global markets will enter a deep correction phase and/or bearish trending cycle. BLUE: If Treasury Yields rally above the Breakdown Threshold, then stall and fall back below this level fairly quickly, there is a strong potential that the US stock markets will stall and briefly contract before resuming a melt-up/bullish trend. This fluttering near the Breakdown level may be indicative of uncertainty in the markets or global central banks attempting to push capital resources into the markets to push the economy into a recovery mode. MAGENTA: if Treasury Yields fail to breach the Breakdown Threshold, there is a very strong likelihood that the US stock markets will continue to trend higher (in an Excess Phase mode) prompting a series of new higher closes over time. Our researchers believe we are currently within an Excess Phase topping setup. So, if Yields fail to breach the Breakdown Threshold, it is very likely that the Excess Phase rally will continue (which would be very similar to 1996~1998 in terms of potential price appreciation). What this means for traders is that we could see very big, broad market sector moves over the next 12 to 24+ months. These charts suggest we will either see a continued price rally or some type of moderate price breakdown in the near future depending on how Treasury Yields react near the Breakdown Threshold. 2021 is going to be a very exciting year for traders big trends, big sector moves, and the potential for a very big shift in the global markets. Now that you have this research, you can plan and prepare for the risks and trends that are setting up right now. Dont miss the opportunities in the broad market sectors over the next 6+ months, which will be an incredible year for traders of the BAN strategy. You can sign up now for my FREE webinar that teaches you how to find, enter, and profit from only those sectors that have the most strength and momentum. As some sectors fail, others will begin to trend higher. Learn how BAN Trader Pro can help you spot the best trade setups; staying ahead of sector trends is going to be key to success in these markets. For those who believe in the power of trading on 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. We issued a new trade alert for our subscribers today and all four trades are well on their way to great returns! Have a great weekend! 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. As the former girlfriend of the Duke of Roxburghe, once Britains most eligible bachelor, fashion designer Morvarid Sahafi might be expected to feel a little glum at the news he is getting married. After all, she only split from the Duke former Army captain Charlie Innes-Ker, 39, with whom she has a four-year-old daughter just before lockdown last year. Whats more, his fiancee, Annie Green, 31, is one of Ms Sahafis friends. But if the Iranian-born 39-year-old has any regrets that Ms Green, not herself, is moving into 200-room Floors Castle which Charlie inherited along with a 100 million fortune when his father died in 2019 she is keeping them to herself. Charlie Bowman, the Duke of Roxburghe, pictured, has moved his fiancee Annie Green into his ancestral pile, Floors Castle The Duke had previously been in a relationship with Morvarid Sahfi, pictured, who is also a great friend of Ms Green The Duke inherited the 200-room Floors Castle, pictured, and 100 million after his father died in December 2019 For not only do the happy couple have Ms Sahafis blessing she is overflowing with goodwill. I think he has made a great choice, shes a friend and really wonderful, she says. I have known her for 15 years. I knew her before I knew him. I am very happy about the marriage. I could not have picked a better person myself. She [Annie] is incredible. Eton and Sandhurst-educated Charlie is the 11th Duke of Roxburghe and also holds the titles Marquess of Bowmont and Cessford, Earl of Kelso and Viscount Broxmouth. He and Annie, a trainee occupational therapist from South Africa, will wait until after lockdown restrictions ease before planning their wedding. They met in summer 2020 and get on so well they are a fab couple, says a friend, Before the Duke met Ms Sahafi he was married to Charlotte Aitken, the eldest daughter of Lord Beaverbrook, but they separated within a year. Mumbai, Feb 7 : Gandii Baat fame actress Gehana Vasisth has been arrested by the Crime Branch of Mumbai Police for shooting pornography videos and uploading the same on her website. The actress, whose original name is Vandana Tiwari, will be produced in court on Sunday. "Gehana Vasisth was arrested on Saturday and will be produced in court today," a senior police official confirmed to IANS. Miss Asia Bikini winner Gehana is known for featuring in the Alt Balaji web series Gandii Baat. Apart from this, she has also featured in Hindi and Telugu films and commercials. The actress has shot 87 pornography videos, which she uploaded on her website. These available for viewers at a subscription fee of Rs 2000, as per a report in timesofindia.com. Several others allegedly involved in the act were arrested after the property cell of the Crime Branch raided a bungalow in Madh Island on Thursday as per the same report. The names of the arrested are Yasmin Beg Khan alias Rowa (director and producer), Pratibha Nalawade (graphic designer), Monu Gopaldas Joshi (actor), Bhanusuryam Thakur (assistant) and Mohammed Asif aka Saify (cameraperson). Apart from this, three bank accounts with a total balance of Rs 36 lakh have reportedly been seized by the police. Supplier News 5 February 2021 Rome, Italy - Lybra, developer of the Assistant, the most complete, machine learning, demand-centric revenue management system (RMS), is proud to announce a two-way integration with GP Dati's Scrigno PMS, a leading web-based, cloud suite of module-based hotel management solutions, designed to manage all the strategic areas of the hotel, including operational departments (front office, meeting, housekeeping, food & beverage, etc.) sales, revenue management, marketing and administration. Both companies are, at least in-part, owned by Italian-based software development company - and a leader in the European technology industry, Zucchetti Hospitality. Because of the new, two-way integration, Scrigno PMS reservations data will be integrated into Lybra's Assistant, enabling the RMS to seamlessly and automatically provide Scrigno PMS with the most accurate real-time room rates, as market conditions change. This integration makes it quicker and easier than ever for customers with both solutions to increase their bookings and revenue, eliminating manual data entry and pricing updates. Unlike traditional RMS which rely primarily on historical data (in establishing room rates), Lybra's Assistant RMS prioritizes market data, flight search data - which is a strong indicator of travel intent, and competitor data, enabling the RMS to accurately forecast the real-time travel demand that will be coming to a property's destination, and offer the most accurate pricing recommendations possible, even during the ongoing pandemic. Now, the partnership with GP Dati makes Lybra's Assistant RMS even more powerful. In addition to the traditional PMS functionality, Scrigno PMS monitors hotel's key performance metrics - including occupancy, RevPAR, bed night/room night, etc. - and sales trends, in order to identify a property's necessary business improvement strategies. By pinpointing the places where a property can improve their operational performance using Scrigno and identifying actionable recommendations to improve revenue management challenges through the Assistant RMS, hotels now have all of the information that they need to make significant improvements to their hotel sales, revenue and operations - with pricing and reservations data moving automatically between the two systems to make hotels' operational processes completely hands-free. "In today's travel market, where (almost) all markets are experiencing unprecedented, depressed demand due to the ongoing pandemic, hoteliers need to update their revenue management strategy; real-time, hotel forecasting data is the key to success in today's uncertain market," said Fulvio Giannetti, CEO & Head of Data Science at Lybra. "Effective forecasting of future hotel demand - and then setting hotel room rates based upon that data, is the best way for hotels to price their room competitively, and capture the most hotel bookings possible, out of the limited number coming to their destination. Lybra's Assistant is the only RMS on the market that offers next-generation forecasting capabilities and, in combination with the two-way integration with a property's Scrigno PMS, hotels now have the opportunity to act more quickly and proactively, before their competition does, and become more profitable, no matter how the pandemic affects demand." "The combination of these two solutions is a powerful one for hotels worldwide," said Giuseppe Pellegrini, CEO at GP Dati. "Due to the ongoing effects of the pandemic, many hotels are re-opening their doors with less staff, who are still required to execute their jobs at peak performance; to improve operations and meet - or exceed - guests' expectations with less staff, integration between internal systems is key to increase efficiency and minimize manual intervention. Of course, two of the biggest and most time-consuming parts of running a hotel is revenue management and reservations management, so this integration makes it possible to make a property's processes more efficient and execution of daily operations quicker, giving hotel staff more time to spend on non-automated tasks, like providing each-and-every guest with the best possible travel experience." To learn more about the partnership, about Lybra or the company's Assistant RMS, please contact Jennifer Nagy at any time: [email protected] or +1.786.420.1160. About GP Dati GP Dati Hotel Service SpA is the Italian Venice-based leading software house specialized in property management systems for the top-tier of the hotel industry since 1981. It offers solutions for all operational needs: front office, marketing, revenue management, online sales, F&B, purchases, administration. GP Dati's flagship product is Scrigno Suite, a multi-property Hospitality Management Suite cloud and PCI-DSS compliant ideal for hotel chains, resorts, camping villages and hotels. In 2017 it joined the Zucchetti Group, the largest italian Information Technology Group in Europe. To learn more about GP Dati, visit www.gpdati.com/en About Zucchetti Group Along with other industry-leading software companies in the hospitality, restaurants and wellness sectors, GP Dati and Lybra are both part of the new Zucchetti Hospitality Division, which has quickly become one of the main international players in the market. The Zucchetti Hospitality Division offers a complete suite of software solutions, enabling the management of all aspects of a hotel's operations; the company's offerings include RMS, PMS, CRS, Spa & Wellness, Food & Beverage, websites and app development, smart keys and digital marketing tools. The solidity of Zucchetti Group guarantees a greater capacity for innovation. Thanks to the wide range of solutions available, the Zucchetti Group is able to respond to the most complex IT needs: accounting, ERP, Payroll, HR, CRM, wellness, access control, logistics, software for Tax Consultants, CRM, Asset, Facility, Maintenance, Fleet Management. To learn more about The Zucchetti Group, visit www.zuchetti.com. A search team for a missing Cookstown man have confirmed the recovery of a body. It follows a police appeal last week to find 36-year-old Jason Coles, who was last seen in the Seskinore area of Omagh at 2.45pm on Tuesday, February 2. On Sunday morning, Police Mid Ulster posted an update on social media. It read: Thank you all for your assistance with the search for Jason. Sadly we have to update you that crews and teams conducting the searches have located the body of a male." Police said the body was recovered in the Seskinore Forest area on Saturday evening. A post mortem will be carried out to determine the cause of death. There are no further details at the time. The Community Search and Rescue team and the PSNI has been conducting their searches in the area around Seskinore Forest, including derelict buildings within the forest, ponds and a large area of dense woodland on both sides of the main Omagh to Seskinore Road. It followed the discovery of a vehicle, believed to belong to Mr Coles, in a field on the outskirts of the village. CCTV footage from the area is also understood to have been examined for possible sightings of Mr Coles. Teams have been on the ground in the area since Wednesday, while appeals for anyone who may have seen Mr Coles were posted on lampposts in and around the Seskinore area. Posting on social media, a family member said: "We are beyond devastated. Thank you to everyone who helped in any way. This is not the outcome we had hoped for. May you now RIP Jason." 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. NEW DELHI : The government will announce incentives for scrapping old, polluting vehicles in the next few weeks, road transport and highways secretary Giridhar Aramane on Friday. The incentives will be a part of the proposed voluntary vehicle scrapping policy that aims to phase out old and unfit vehicles. Finance minister Nirmala Sithraman had earlier this week spelt out the policy outline. This will help in encouraging fuel-efficient, environment-friendly vehicles, thereby reducing vehicular pollution and oil import bill. Vehicles would undergo fitness tests in automated fitness centres after 20 years in case of personal vehicles, and after 15 years in case of commercial vehicles," Sitharaman had said in her budget speech on 1 February. Also Read | Vaccination drive picks up slowly Under the proposed vehicle scrappage policy, all the vehicles will have to undergo automated fitness testing. The testing will be non-discriminatory and without any manual intervention, to ensure that the fitness level of the vehicle is revealed without human intervention, manipulation, corruption or fudging of the data, according to Aramane. The incentive structure of the scrapping policy is under works. We are in discussion with stakeholders. Minister will announce the result of discussion in few weeks. However, disincentives have been recently notified by the state governments, which is the green tax. Many states are already imposing it, but in a very ineffective way," Aramane said. The proposed policy is expected to increase production and capacity utilization of automobiles. Besides, older vehicles not only add to air pollution but also causes loss to the vehicle owner, owing to higher maintenance and fuel cost. The voluntary vehicle scrappage policy has been under consideration for more than five years. It was stuck at various levels owing to concerns of revenue loss of the government. Another important part of the policy will be setting up scrapping centres in public-private partnerships (PPP). The state governments and private partners will be assisted, facilitated in the establishment of these scrapping centres. The government will only play a facilitating role, it will not involve in regulating, controlling the scrapping centres. Scrapping facility is already well developed, especially in the shipping sector. We are trying to integrate automobile scrapping with the shipping sector and other sectors, where economies of scale can be achieved," he explained. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Activist Sunday Adeyemo alias Sunday Igboho says he is nothing like the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu. ... Activist Sunday Adeyemo alias Sunday Igboho says he is nothing like the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu. He said their missions were not alike as the Yoruba people only want justice from killer herdsmen and good governance. I am not Kanu and I am not like Kanu. Kanu is working on his agenda; perhaps, he doesnt carry his people along. This is about the Yoruba people being killed, raped, extorted, oppressed and dehumanised in their own land. What we want is justice, peace, harmony and good governance, he told PUNCH in an interview published on Sunday. The activist discredited reports that some Yoruba people in the diaspora had raised about N11million to support his cause. I dont need such and there is nothing like that, he said. Sunday Igboho denied burning the property of the Seriki Fulani of Igangan in Ibarapa LGA of Oyo State when he visited the area to enforce a notice to quit. He said: Let me make myself clear to everyone on this today. On getting to Eruwa, I reported myself to the police area command and having explained our mission, the area commander chose to follow us. The A/C and his team followed us. On getting to Igangan, we met the police and men of Operation Burst. We went into the town and returned shortly after and reported ourselves to the Operation Burst team at the entrance of the town. The question is: Would the area commander have watched us go to Serikis house to set it on fire? Another question is: Could Operation Burst team have allowed us to go freely if we had such a record? There was nothing like that when we were in the town; so we didnt do it. We learnt that it was an angry mob that went to do that. 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 Cai Be sluice gate and its boat lock on the Cai Be River were put into temporary operation on Friday to prevent saline intrusion in Kien Giang Province and other localities in the Mekong Delta region. Construction on the sluice gate has been basically competed after 15 months since its ground-breaking ceremony in November 2019, with only a few works expected to follow suit in 2021. This is considered a 'super irrigation project in the region with an investment of about VND3.3 trillion (US$143,38 million) in the first and about VND2.5 trillion ($108.62 million) in the second phase from government bonds. The Cai Be sluice gate project is pictured in Kien Giang Province, Vietnam, February 5, 2021. Photo: Chi Quoc / Tuoi Tre The project is meant to solve the problem of saline intrusion in the dry season in provinces such as Kien Giang, Hau Giang, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang. According to the People's Committee of Kien Giang, at present, the water level at the watershed stations of the Cuu Long River and inland fields in the province drops rapidly, but equivalent to the average of the same period in previous years. The Cai Be sluice gate project is pictured in Kien Giang Province, Vietnam, February 5, 2021. Photo: Chi Quoc / Tuoi Tre On the Cai Be River, the 4-per-thousand salinity has penetrated for 28km to Long Thanh Commune in Giong Rieng District. On the Cai Lon River, salinity of the same level has spread 22km to Thoi Quan Commune in Go Quao District. The temporary operation of the Cai Be sluice gate is expected help control brackish water in about 20,000 hectares of productive land in Kien Giang. The Cai Be sluice gate project is pictured in Kien Giang Province, Vietnam, February 5, 2021. Photo: Chi Quoc / Tuoi Tre The Cai Be sluice gate project is pictured in Kien Giang Province, Vietnam, February 5, 2021. Photo: Chi Quoc / Tuoi Tre Engineers work at the Cai Be sluice gate project in Kien Giang Province, Vietnam, February 5, 2021. Photo: Chi Quoc / Tuoi Tre The Cai Be sluice gate project is pictured in Kien Giang Province, Vietnam, February 5, 2021. Photo: Chi Quoc / Tuoi Tre An engineer works at the Cai Be sluice gate project in Kien Giang Province, Vietnam, February 5, 2021. Photo: Chi Quoc / Tuoi Tre The Cai Be sluice gate project is pictured in Kien Giang Province, Vietnam, February 5, 2021. Photo: Chi Quoc / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. As the U.S. Senate passed its budget resolution Friday and paved the way for approval of a $1.9 trillion stimulus package by majority vote, lawmakers beat back a Republican effort to keep a possible repeal of the $10,000 cap on how much you can deduct from state and local taxes out of the legislation. Senators voted, 51-49, with Kentucky Republican Rand Paul joining all 50 Democrats, to defeat an amendment preventing a repeal from being added to the stimulus bill. The amendment was proposed by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who has introduced legislation to eliminate the tax levied only on estates of more than $11 million. No COVID relief package should include six-figure tax cuts to multimillionaires when millions of middle-class Americans are struggling to make ends meet, said Grassley, who later voted with every other Senate Republican to make permanent President Donald Trumps tax cuts, which the Tax Policy Center said gave 21% of the benefits to the richest 1% of taxpayers and 17% to the bottom 60%. The deduction cap hit New Jersey and other high-tax states the hardest, the same states that send billions of dollars more to Washington than they receive in services. And two-thirds of those hurt by the cap in New Jersey were middle-class homeowners, who also saw their property values drop below what they would have been without the deduction limit, according to the Internal Revenue Service and Moodys Analytics. Republicans feigning to care about helping low- and middle-income families by making the tax code more progressive is disingenuous to say the least, said U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez. It was a deliberate hit job on middle-class taxpayers in New Jersey and other blue states that already disproportionately send more to the federal treasury than they get back. While repeal of the cap was not in President Joe Bidens original proposal, adding it to the bill would allow it to pass with just 51 votes and not be subject to a Republican filibuster. Republicans used the same procedure, known as reconciliation, to pass the tax law in the first place with no Democratic support. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., Bill Pascrell Jr., D-9th Dist., and the rest of the states House delegation have called for repealing the deduction cap in the coronavirus stimulus bill. Pascrell said the cap was enacted solely by the Republicans in their pathetic 2017 tax scam bill and New Jersey has been paying the price ever since. Gov. Phil Murphy added his voice to the chorus on Friday, appearing with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to call for repealing the cap, which the governors said targeted Democratic-run states. It was done not for any practical purpose but completely based on politics, Murphy said. Cuomo said the provision belonged in the coronavirus bill because New Jersey and New York, along with Connecticut, were so hard hit at the start of the pandemic and have yet to recover. I believe it is factually inarguable that New York, New Jersey and Connecticut paid a higher price for COVID than other states in other parts of the country, Cuomo said. COVID came from Europe, not China. Thats why we had the explosion in the numbers early on. Thats why we had deaths here before they even had COVID tests. Meanwhile, a proposal released last week by U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, posed a new threat to the scaled-down state and local tax deduction. Romney proposed new cash benefits of $350 a month for young children and $250 a month for those in school. The benefits would begin midway through a womans pregnancy. He would pay for the program in part by eliminating the entire deduction for state and local taxes. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Egypt Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry affirmed during a meeting in Cairo on Sunday with his Yemeni counterpart, Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak, Cairo's constant stance that a political solution is the best way to settle the Yemeni crisis. A power-sharing cabinet has been formed late last year between the Yemeni government and southern separatists, a step that Egypt has officially welcomed. Shoukry, during the meeting, expressed confidence that the success in forming the new government would contribute to unifying efforts and backing the course of a comprehensive political solution for the Yemeni crisis, a statement by the foreign ministry read. The Egyptian minister reiterated his countrys fixed position on supporting the unity, independence, and territorial integrity of the Yemeni state. He highlighted the need for a political solution to the crisis based on the agreed relevant references. Minister Shoukry expressed Egypts support to the Yemeni governments endeavours that aim to achieve security and stability and advance the path of development in the country, the statement read. Bin Mubarak affirmed his countrys keenness to enhance bilateral relations with Egypt in a number of priority fields, including benefiting from the Egyptian experience in training Yemeni cadres. The Yemeni minister noted that his country is looking forward to holding a joint committee with Egypt during the current year. Bin Mubarak hailed Egypts stance towards the Yemeni crisis and paid tribute to Egypts support to the Yemeni government and the Yemeni community residing in Egypt. Egypt has been a supporter to the Yemeni government and the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi rebels in Yemen. It has frequently voiced support to the measures the kingdom takes to deter Houthi attacks against Saudi territories. Short link: LONDON - South Africa will suspend use of the coronavirus vaccine being developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca after researchers found that it provided "minimal protection" against mild to moderate coronavirus infections caused by the new variant first detected in that country. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said Sunday that the rollout will be paused while scientists assess the data and determine a way forward. Officials had been eager to begin vaccinating health-care workers with the shots after 1 million doses arrived last week. The data, disclosed at a news conference Sunday, showed that once the variant became dominant in the country in November, the vaccine provided no significant protection against illness - though all the cases of disease were mild or moderate. There were 19 cases of covid-19 caused by the variant among people who received the vaccine and 20 cases among people who got a placebo. That suggests that the vaccine was 10% effective, but the difference could have been due to chance. "That is largely disappointing news," said Shabir Madhi, a vaccine expert at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, who presented the data. Because many vaccines, including other coronavirus vaccines, are more effective against severe disease, there's still hope that it could protect against the worst outcomes. But because the participants in the trial were young and healthy - their average age was 31 - researchers weren't able to test whether the vaccine still works against severe disease. "The vaccine clearly does not work against this variant for mild and moderate disease," said Larry Corey, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. "Does it work against severe disease? The answer is: We don't know." The preliminary data is a potential setback, and bolsters concern that some of the emerging variants of the virus might be able to elude at least some of the new vaccines. Vaccine developers say they are creating "libraries" of tweaked vaccines that they could quickly test against emerging viral variants. They say that some of the new and improved versions of their vaccines could be tested and released within the year, if necessary. The variant first identified in South Africa, known as B.1.351, appears to be more transmissible and has subtle but important changes to its telltale spike protein, which the virus uses to attach to and then enter human host cells. Thousands of new variants are circling the planet, but only a few rise to the level of "variants of concern," because they are more transmissible, more lethal or suspected of being able to dodge the antibodies produced by vaccination. Thousands of new variants are circling the planet, but only a few have risen to the level of "variants of concern," because they are more transmissible, more lethal or suspected of being able to dodge the antibodies produced by vaccination. Mutated virus may reinfect people already stricken once with covid-19, sparking debate and concerns The date released Sunday was limited. Scientists eagerly await a detailed preprint or publication in a scientific journal. Researchers from the Universities of Witwatersrand and Oxford examined adults between the ages of 18 and 64 across seven sites in South Africa from June 24 to Nov. 9. Half the participants received at least one dose of the Oxford vaccine; half received at least one dose of a placebo. Given the median age of the participants, researchers could not produce statistically robust conclusions about whether the vaccine protected against severe covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Few young adults get severe illness, and the number of participants in the study was small. The Oxford vaccine looked very promising until November, with about 75 percent effectiveness - in line with its performance in other trials. But once the mutated B. 1.351 variant became dominant, its protective abilities were severely eroded, at least against mild and moderate disease. In contrast, vaccine trials from Novavax and Johnson & Johnson have shown that vaccines don't work as well against B. 1.351, but do still work, with 50 to 60 percent efficacy. Andrew Pollard, chief investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial, said the study "confirms that the pandemic coronavirus will find ways to continue to spread in vaccinated populations, as expected." Speaking to the BBC, Oxford vaccine developer Sarah Gilbert said the coronavirus vaccines in use worldwide "have a reduction in efficacy against some of the variant viruses." "What that is looking like is that we may not be reducing the total number of cases, but there's still protection in that case against deaths, hospitalizations and severe disease," she told the "Andrew Marr Show." Gilbert added that her team is developing a vaccine to protect against the variant identified in South Africa. "It's not quite ready to vaccinate people yet. It's easy to adapt the technology, develop a new vaccine, which will have to go through a small amount of clinical testing, not nearly the same amount as we had to go through last year," she said. Public health officials have been relieved in recent days by preliminary reports that the Novavax and Johnson & Johnson vaccines were up to 60 percent effective against the variant from South Africa. That efficacy is good but substantially lower than against the original virus. That variant contains a worrisome mutation, at a site on the virus RNA called E484K, that has drawn close scrutiny from infectious-disease experts, who have given it the nickname "Eeek." The "Eeek" mutation has been seen in variants in Brazil and Britain. It has also been identified in recent days in a handful of cases in the United States. On Friday, the Oxford-AstraZeneca team reported that its vaccine may help keep people from spreading the virus, offering a hopeful but uncertain answer to one of the great remaining questions of the pandemic. In a preprint of an article under review at the Lancet medical journal, the Oxford University vaccine developers reported that based on follow-up studies of their clinical trials in Britain, which found the vaccine safe and effective, there is also "the potential for the vaccine to reduce transmission of the virus." That data is preliminary, and independent researchers are awaiting more information. 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. The spreading success of the Covid vaccine remains a source of inspiration and hope. The sight of civilisation mobilising all its might in the cause of life and health instead of, as so often, for war or conflict is a moving one from which we can all draw many lessons. And it is just as impressive now the immunisation programme has moved from the grand scale of strategy, invention and research, such as the organisational skills of Kate Bingham and the scientific brilliance of Oxford University into the small scale of the individual jabs. We are now at the stage where the liberation of the people from the fear of the virus is being carried on by individuals, those who give the jabs, minute by minute, and those who patiently wait for them. Within a few weeks, the practical achievement will be so great that it will begin to transform life. A woman wearing a protective face mask is pictured walking past a boarded up and closed store along Oxford Street in London (file photo) How silly the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, looks now. Sir Keir had said five times that it would be better for Britain to stay in the European Medicines Agency, which has been far slower at giving vaccines the green light than the UK. No wonder he tried to deny it in Parliament last week. But the truth was soon out. It is Boris Johnsons Government, with its healthy respect for British abilities, which has got us this far. The Labour Party, even now more than half in love with EU bureaucracy, still doesnt get it. Even the EUs bumbling chief, Ursula von der Leyen, has grasped what British EU-lovers do not, admitting: I am aware that alone a country can be a speedboat, while the EU is more like a tanker. Exactly right, Frau von der Leyen. But how soon will this country actually experience the benefits of all this enterprise and ingenuity, in the shape of recovered freedom? The Mail on Sunday wholly supports the Prime Ministers determination to make sure that this is the last lockdown. We are now at the stage where the liberation of the people from the fear of the virus is being carried on by individuals, those who give the jabs, minute by minute, and those who patiently wait for them. Pictured: An Asda vaccination centre in Cape Hill, near Birmingham So we understand the Cabinets hesitation over reopening Britain too soon, forcing it to break such an important promise later. We also back the policy of vaccinating the most vulnerable first, surely the best way of taming the virus as quickly as possible. And we understand that it may be some time yet before a large enough part of the population have received their jabs for the effects on infections and the death rate to be as visible as we all hope they will be. The Government should not raise false hopes. But at this dank, dark, dreary and cold moment in the year, with Christmas long gone and spring hard to imagine, there is a growing need for something to hope for. The economy which sustains all the good things in life needs it. Sir Keir had said five times that it would be better for Britain to stay in the European Medicines Agency, which has been far slower at giving vaccines the green light than the UK. Pictured: the Labour Party leader in the House of Commons on February 3 The schools need it, and must surely open on March 8. Divided families need it. Suffering businesses need it. And it is Ministers who must in the end decide this. Technical advisers, in the ever-growing undergrowth of Sage and its sub-committees, often see only one side of the argument and have no wider responsibilities than a desire to be totally safe at all costs. But total safety is not just an impossible aim. It can stand in the way of necessary medical treatments and of the human happiness vital to good health. Reopening our society, done wisely and at the right moment, will save lives. Let the decision be taken with care and patience. But let it be taken. Shoot for the moon and youll hit the barn. Shoot for the barn and youll end up in the manure pile. Since when has optimistic thinking and setting high and tough-to-reach goals been a hindrance to reaching those goals? The article about overpromises by the governor (Overpromises mean it could be months before all of Oregons teachers are vaccinated for COVID-19, Feb. 3) just contributes to the divisiveness and lack of unity that had dominated our world for the past four years. Yes, maybe we wont get all the teachers vaccinated when wed like. Yes, we may need to delay vaccinating everyone whos at risk. These are moving targets, and the lack of planning and support from the previous federal administration has made accurate goal-setting an impossible task. But the future is bright. With a slight twist in tone and focus, The Oregonian/OregonLive could give the citizenry some hope. Science has never offered perfect solutions, only best guesses based on known data. Our news reporters need to get off the doomsday bus. We will get past this not without some errors and challenges, but we will. Help us see that. Wade McJacobs, Beaverton SAGINAW COUNTY, MI - The president of the Saginaw Intermediate School Districts Board of Education has retired after nearly three decades of service, according to a news release from the district. Richard Burmeister resigned from the board after 29 years effective Tuesday, Dec. 31. An alumnus of Freeland High School, Burmeister worked for decades as a caseworker and later administrator with the Michigan Department of Health and Human services. His work in the area, including Saginaw and Midland counties, instilled in him the importance of education and prompted him to serve the board of the ISD and Freeland Community School District, according to the release. Mr. Burmeister has created a lasting legacy of bold and courageous leadership by which an incredible foundation of excellence has been established at Saginaw ISD, said ISD Superintendent Jeffrey Collier in the release. His experience, wisdom, and energy have been integral in supporting important decisions while protecting the best interests of our school children and families throughout Saginaw County and the Great Lakes Bay Region. During Burmeisters tenure, the ISD brought back Head Start programs to Saginaw County, passed a career and technical education millage, helped to establish the Great Lakes Bay Early College program and more, according to the release. From supporting the passing of the CTE millage in 2018 to attending the State of the Union address with Gary Peters in 2020, I leave in good care the many successes, benchmarks, and paved paths forward that we have accomplished in education for students, families, and community members throughout Saginaw County, Burmeister said in the release.. The district is in good hands, and I do not expect anything but positive outcomes for the future of education in Saginaw County. It has been a pleasure serving in this role. To help you navigate this complicated school year, were pleased to offer you a simpler way to get all of your education news: Our new Michigan Schools: Education in the COVID Era newsletter delivered right to your inbox. To receive this newsletter, simply click here to sign up. Read more: As coronavirus rages, influenza cases are almost nonexistent this year Theres a lot of tension in Bay City over political yard signs remaining up past election, commissioner says Pfizer reports $15 billion in revenue from coronavirus vaccine Sophia has been a regular attendee of conferences around the world. Tyrone Siu/Reuters A Hong Kong robotics firm planned to mass produce an AI robot during the pandemic, Reuters reported. Named Sophia, the robot has been appearing at conferences and speaking to journalists since 2016. "Don't worry, if you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you," Sophia said in 2017. Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories. Sophia, a talking humanoid robot, is being readied for mass production during the pandemic. "The world of COVID-19 is going to need more and more automation to keep people safe," Hanson Robotics founder David Hanson told Reuters. Hanson said the company hoped to sell thousands of robots in the first half of 2021, according to Reuters. Based in Hong Kong, Hanson Robotics had been iterating on its Sophia design since introducing it in 2016. It was one of four models ready for mass production, according to Reuters. In the years since Sophia's introduction, the robot has popped up at conferences, broken hearts, and talked to reporters, including several interviews with Insider. In 2018, the robot even sang a duet with Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show. Here's a brief history of Sophia's history and appearances. Sophia at the company's lab in Hong Kong. Tyrone Siu/Reuters The humanoid robot was designed in the Hong Kong office of Hanson Robotics, seen here in January. David Hanson presents Sophia during a presentation at the AI for Good Global Summit at the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva, Switzerland, in June 2017. Denis Balibouse/Reuters Hanson brought Sophia to conferences around the world, including the one above, in Switzerland, in 2017. Model Adesuwa Aighewi takes a selfie as she is interviewed by Sophia backstage at a fashion event. Andrew Kelly/Reuters The robot has been making news for years, including in 2018, when it attended an Alexander Wang fashion show. Social attends a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine. Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters In 2018, Sophia spoke to the press at a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine. People take selfies with Sophia at the Malta AI and Blockchain Summit in St Julian's, Malta in 2018. Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters In 2018, attendees at the Malta AI and Blockchain Summit took selfies with the robot. Sophia speaks during an event of the Fundacion Telmex Mexico Siglo XXI in September 2019. Edgard Garrido/Reuters In 2019, Sophia took to the stage in Mexico City. David Hanson and Ben Goertzel from SingularityNET present a Philip K. Dick robot and Sophia during a presentation about robots and AI, at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal. Pedro Nunes/Reuters Sophia's makers also brought her on stage during 2019's Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal. An engineer adjusts the cover at the back of Sophia's head at the company's lab in Hong Kong. Tyrone Siu/Reuters In January, Hanson Robotics said it was putting the final touches on Sophia. CEO David Hanson adjusts Sophia at Hanson Robotics' lab in Hong Kong in January 2021. Tyrone Siu The robot is just one of a few models Hanson Robotics has worked on. In 2017, Business Insider wrote about Sophia's seven humanoid "siblings." Story continues David Hanson, gives a high-five to Sophia at the company's lab in Hong Kong, in January 2021. Tyrone Siu/Reuters In 2017, Saudi Arabia granted citizenship to Sophia. "I am very honored and proud of this unique distinction," Sophia said at the time. "This is historical to be the first robot in the world to be recognized with a citizenship." Sophia also mocked Tesla CEO's, Elon Musk, who had warned about the dangers of artificial intelligence. "Don't worry, if you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you," Sophia said. Read the original article on Business Insider As of 2021 the Swiss Air Force is to provide 24/7 availability of jet interceptors to deal with any emergency, like a commercial, or any other aircraft, entering Swiss airspace without permission. Before that the F18s were only available during business hours and it took six years to get Swiss voters to agree to the added expense of round-the-clock F-18 availability. It cost the Swiss spending an additional $34 million a year and the hiring of a hundred additional personnel to achieve this new level of readiness. The cause of this was change was an embarrassing February 2014 incident where Swiss F-18s failed to take off and intercept a hijacked Ethiopian Boeing 767 that was known, for several hours, to be headed their way. Initially two Italian fighters intercepted and escorted the 767 as it entered Italian air space near Sicily. When the 767 entered French air space on its final approach to Switzerland two French fighters took over and as the airliner entered Swiss air space the French fighters stuck with it. Swiss F-18s would normally take over at this point but, as was later explained, budget cuts and noise rules prevented the Swiss F-18s from taking off. Switzerland already had rules in place that would allow French fighters to enter Swiss air space in such an emergency. However, the French fighters could not fire their weapons without Swiss permission. The 767 landed at Geneva and the copilot, who planned to request political asylum, was arrested. Swiss officials explained that because of budget cuts their air force could no longer afford 24/7 availability of its F-18s for emergencies. Exceptions could be made, but in this case they werent. That was apparently because there are also noise restrictions on F-18 use and since the 767 was arriving before 8 AM, the jets taking off would have been in violation of local aircraft noise rules. The Swiss did not see any problem with all this because they knew the hijacker wanted asylum and a French fighter escort would do. The neighbors were not happy with having to cover for the Swiss and there were subsequently similar incidents in other countries that demonstrated how disastrous the old Swiss approach was. Even before the 2014 incident there was a situation where a Russian airliner with engine trouble entered Swiss air space outside of the air force business hours and no aircraft went to meet the airliner, which crashed killing all on board. The accident investigation revealed that if the airliner had a fighter escort it could have landed safely because the fighter pilots could have provided information the Russian pilot needed to get the plane down safely. Because no such escort was available there was a fatal crash. The Swiss were not the only ones with this problem. For example, later in 2014 It was revealed that an Austrian Air Force Eurofighter (the Typhoon combat jet) squadron had to reduce its pilot roster by a third because of budget cuts. It wasnt payroll cuts that caused this, but a much lower budget for jet fuel. There was now insufficient fuel available for all 18 pilots to fly enough hours to maintain their skills. Moreover two of the 12 Typhoons in the squadron have been grounded and used as a source of spare parts. Availability of Typhoons to intercept aerial intruders is also now restricted to what can best be described as business hours (eight hours a day for five days a week), similar to the old Swiss system. The Austrian solution to cuts in the military budget was not unique and twice in 2014 such mandatory economies led to embarrassing incidents where a European air force was unable to send a jet fighter into the air to confront an aerial intruder. Finnish experience with this occurred when Russian warplanes entered Finnish air space and while these intruders were detected, there were no pilots available to take up an F-18 fighter to confront the Russians. The reason given was budgetary problems, specifically an overtime cap that made it impossible to have pilots and ground crews available 24/7 to deal with intruders everywhere on Finlands long border with Russia. With the Finns there was also a problem with the extent of its 1,300-kilometer border with Russia and the expense of having fighters available for interception everywhere all the time. During the May 2014 incident another Russian aircraft came close to the border in the south and the Finns intercepted that one. This incident resonated with the U.S. because Finland wanted to join NATO and gain the benefits of the NATO mutual defense pact to deal with an increasingly aggressive Russia. NATO membership often involves fellow members sending jet fighters in for training. That also sends a message to any local threats. While Americans, and many Europeans, were appalled at the Swiss attitude, they were a little more understanding of the Finnish situation. The Finns have long sought to placate rather than confront their enormous and often cranky neighbor. Switzerland, on the other hand, has managed to maintain its neutrality for over two centuries. Nevertheless, the Finns dont like this kind of publicity, which spotlighted their usual attitude towards occasional Russian reminders of why Finland should fear their former master. Finland was part of Russia from 1809 to 1917. Because of local politics, and the enormous expense of maintaining modern forces, the politics of paying for and using military forces are different in Europe, especially since the end of the Cold War in 1991. The United States was alarmed with these developments and had little success in getting its European allies to organize their armed forces to be more effective. This is becoming a growing problem for the Americans. For a long time, the European nations took for granted that the United States would always show up to supply key military capabilities, just as the Swiss depended on France to put fighters in the air when the Swiss could not. During the Cold War, which started in 1947, the U.S. accepted these European attitudes, in part because they were not as dysfunctional as they are now. Since the 1990s the U.S. increasingly resented this growing burden and has been uncharacteristically undiplomatic during when discussing logistical and equipment shortcomings of its NATO allies. Switzerland is not a NATO ally but, as the 767 hijacking made clear, there are situations where the Swiss are involved with NATO in military matters whether they want to be or not. There continue to be examples how this sort of thing works, or doesnt. The French-led liberation of northern Mali in early 2013 was greatly assisted by French warplanes using smart bombs to attack known terrorist bases. This was devastating and led to the rapid collapse of resistance. But most of the air support would not have been possible without American aerial tankers. There was a similar shortage of aerial reconnaissance aircraft, especially those that could do electronic monitoring (to monitor terrorist communications on the ground). Later in 2013 NATO was under pressure to support the Syrian rebels with air support, as they did the Libyans in 2011. That would not be possible without American assistance and the main reason it didnt happen was the U.S. refusal to get involved. After the 2014 the U.S. did agree to support NATO air operations over Syria and that continues with American logistical and intel support. Libya in 2011 was supposed to be just a European operation. NATO was persuaded to take charge of the bombing campaign to fulfill a UN order to stop the Libyan dictator from murdering his own people on a large scale. While NATO agreed to do this they found, once more, that they didnt have sufficient military capability to get it done with European resources alone. The U.S. still had to supply most of the refueling and intelligence aircraft as well as send more smart bombs because most NATO nations dont have very large stocks of these weapons. This was yet another example of how unprepared most NATO members were for actual combat. The situation has gotten worse since 1991. This was immediately seen when there was a need for peacekeeping in the Balkans throughout the 1990s. The U.S. was implored to pitch in because the European NATO nations couldnt handle this themselves. Then came September 11, 2001. NATO members offered to help in Afghanistan and. to a lesser extent, Iraq. But it was more promises than performance because NATO nations were even less prepared for peacekeeping in distant hotspots. The reluctance of most European nations to send troops to Iraq or Afghanistan was more than just the result of political differences. While Europe has about twice as many active-duty troops as the United States, they have far fewer fit enough to send off to a combat zone. This was a problem first noted in the 1990s, when there was a big demand for peacekeepers in the Balkans. The Europeans couldn't fob this one off on the Americans and had to come up with combat ready troops. The Europeans had a tough time finding soldiers ready and able to go. European armed forces are full of people in uniform who have a civil service mentality. That is, they think and act like civilians, not soldiers. Belgium discovered, for example, that 14 percent of its troops were obese, compared to 12 percent of the general population and unfit for many of their duties. Much noise is always being made about getting all the troops in good physical shape. While that is possible, it is less likely that the mentality of the troops will be changed. During the Cold War, Europe got most of its troops via conscription. Young men came in for two or three years and then left. Anywhere from a third to half the troops were long term professionals, in for twenty or more years. But even before the Cold War ended, many of the European military professionals were losing their combat edge. When the Soviet Union disappeared in 1991, there was no longer any compelling reason for a European soldier to think and act like one. It was just a job. A government job that was not, or should not, be terribly demanding. Europeans spend a much higher proportion of their defense dollars on payroll, leaving little money for training, new equipment, and maintenance. It also meant an older, on average, bunch of troops. Going to war is a young man's game, but Europeans have instead turned their armed forces into another job creation program. There are some exceptions, like Britain and France, demanding that the troops remain fit and maintaining high training standards. Most European nations maintain a few elite infantry units, but these don't add up to much in terms of numbers. Only Britain and France have large "rapid reaction" forces that can be sent overseas on short notice. The United States has the largest such force, and many European nations are trying to expand theirs. America also has a leadership advantage on the ground. The U.S. has long maintained an "up or out" promotion policy, which forces people out of the service if they are not promoted within a certain amount of time. The U.S. also maintains high standards for new recruits, and maintains more combat capable units. The U.S. is able to field more combat troops, and far more combat power, than over twice as many European soldiers, sailors, and airmen who are on active duty. The Europeans are still producing more excuses than solutions, and that is not expected to change, no matter how much the Americans complain. In fact, it is getting worse. European nations are rapidly downsizing their air forces. Not just in numbers of aircraft but in money spent on training. For over sixty years the U.S. could depend on European pilots to be well trained and competent. But after 1991 Europeans were cutting flying hours and the U.S. had to adapt to Europeans showing up in modern aircraft with poorly trained pilots. Or, in the case of the Swiss or Finnish Air Force, not showing up at all. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Bolder than expected plan hopes to stabilize home prices The government unveiled its housing supply plan last Thursday to drastically increase the supply of homes in Seoul and other metropolises under a public sector initiative. If the plan goes well, 836,000 new homes will be built nationwide, including 320,000 in the capital alone. The Moon Jae-in administration's policy shift, from controlling demand to increasing supply, is a step in the right direction. Aside from the unprecedentedly large volume of supply, the new plan is different from previous measures in several ways. First of all, rather than private contractors, public developers will take the lead in swiftly carrying out the plan. To encourage the participation of landowners and homeowners in targeted areas, the government will provide incentives and ease various urban regulations. It will also guarantee optimal profits for participants while retrieving excessive development gains and expanding public rental homes. However, there are many stumbling blocks to the plan's smooth implementation. Even if consultations between the central government, local administrations and the National Assembly proceed well, it will not be easy to harmonize the opinions of private participants who are in different situations and have differing interests. Policymakers should develop various inducements best suited to each area and open channels to reflect the residents' voices. Besides, large-scale development projects tend to fuel a rise in property prices if past experience is any guide, requiring pre-emptive anti-speculation steps. As former construction ministers have pointed out in unison, the nation cannot resolve the housing issue overnight. Given the nature of the housing market, in which almost all Koreans can be considered contracting parties, no matter how good a policy is, it cannot be a panacea. The Moon administration's previous policy of focusing on regulation backfired by triggering panic buying. No less important than supplying new homes is facilitating transactions involving existing houses. Just as the government has made a bold turnaround from demand restraint to supply expansion, it needs to consider revising the real estate taxation system, including lowering the unduly high capital gains tax. The U.K.s broadcast regulator Ofcom said Thursday that it had revoked the license of CGTN, the overseas arm of China Central Television. The move is likely to increase tensions between the two already fractious countries. Ofcom explained that it had withdrawn the license for CGTN to broadcast in the UK, after its investigation concluded that the license is wrongfully held by Star China Media Limited. More from Variety While that reads like a technicality, the regulator explained that licensees must have editorial control over the licensed service. In addition, license holders cannot be controlled by political bodies. CGTN fell foul on these two counts because editorial control rests with CCTV, which is ultimately controlled by the Communist Party of China. Additionally, Star China Media is the distributor of the CGTN service in the U.K., rather than the provider of the service, Ofcom explained. In addition, (Ofcom has) been unable to grant an application to transfer the license to an entity called China Global Television Network Corporation (CGTNC). This is because crucial information was missing from the application, and because we consider that CGTNC would be disqualified from holding a license, as it is controlled by a body which is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, Ofcom continued. Previously, CGTN was found to be in breach of Ofcoms Broadcasting Code for failing to preserve due impartiality in its coverage of the Hong Kong protests. These constituted a serious breach of the U.K.s fairness and privacy rules. We expect to conclude separate sanctions proceedings against CGTN for due impartiality and fairness and privacy breaches shortly, the Ofcom statement said. Ofcom also has three other ongoing fairness and privacy investigations about content on CGTNs service in the U.K. These remain ongoing, pending further consideration. Story continues There has been no comment yet from CGTN or CCTV, but the U.K. move is likely to meet with retaliation and is certain to stoke tensions between the two countries. Relations between the U.K. and China are already tense due to a string of disputes. These include: the U.K.s recent tightening of rules on imports of cotton from the Xinjiang region, where China has been accused of religious persecution, slavery, state-sanctioned rape and forced sterilization of Uighur Muslims; the U.K.s U-turn and eventual decision to bar the purchase of 5G equipment from Chinas Huawei telecoms equipment firm; the South China Sea; and investment policy. By far the biggest area of contention is Hong Kong, the former British colony that was handed back to China in July 1997, but which was set up as a Special Administrative Area of China with a high degree of autonomy guaranteed by international treaty until 2047. In the past five years, Chinese control over Hong Kong has increased considerably and the territorys partial democracy has been rolled back. In summer 2019, the Hong Kong government proposed to allow extradition to mainland China, a move which brought two million people to the streets in protest. (It was CGTNs reporting of this that was punished by Ofcom.) Since then, in July 2020, China injected a National Security Law into Hong Kongs mini constitution known as the Basic Law. This move allows Chinese security forces to operate freely in the city under mainland law, the establishment of special courts to rule on security measures, and even the transfer of cases to the mainland. The National Security Law also allows increased monitoring of media in Hong Kong. Since that time elections to Hong Kongs legislative Council have been postponed, legislators from opposition parties have been removed from office, and pro-democracy activists who attempted to select new candidates through primary elections, have been arrested. The U.K.s reaction has been the National Security Law has been to offer everyone in Hong Kong who is eligible to apply for a British National (Overseas) passport, some five million people, five-years of residency in the U.K. and a route to full U.K. citizenship. The U.K.s Home Office said it expects 300,000 Hong Kongers to take up its special visa over the next five years. China and Hong Kong last week responded by saying that they no longer recognized the BN (O) passport as a valid travel document. Since mid-2020 China has also taken an increasingly strong stance against foreign journalists. Several reporters for U.S.-owned media including the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal were expelled. More recently, those mainland Chinese rules appeared to also be applied in Hong Kong, which had previously operated its own visa policy for foreign journalists and which had once allowed the city to flourish as a media hub. Foreign TV channels are mostly barred from operating in mainland China, though a couple of dozen, including the U.K. state-owned British Broadcasting Corporation, are allowed limited landing rights and can be screened in high end apartment complexes and hotels. China and the U.S., under the previous Donald Trump regime, made journalistic access yet another battle ground in their Cold War. Both countries engaged in tit for tat measures and expelled each reporters on at least two occasions. The Ofcom decision strikes against the broadcast operations of the Chinese state broadcaster in the U.K. But it does nothing to stop Chinese journalists continuing to report from the country. With the exception of one Financial Times editor expelled from Hong Kong for organizing a public seminar with a pro-democracy campaigner, U.K. journalists operating in China have not recently been subject to the same difficulties as American or Canadian nationals. It remains to be seen how far China goes with its reprisals. In recent days, the BBC published some of the most damning witness and victim testimony yet to emerge from Xinjiang. Earlier on Thursday, Chinas foreign ministry also made solemn representations to the BBCs Beijing branch over its false reporting about the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. https://www.aish.com/ho/p/Descendants-of-Jews-Saved-by-Heroic-Pole-Find-Each-Other.html Wladimir Riszko hid 16 Jews for two years during the Holocaust. For years, Sara Bank Wolf searched for information about her family. I grew up completely surrounded by Holocaust survivors, she explained in a recent Aish.com interview, speaking from her home in Israel. The families of Saras mother and father were decimated during the Holocaust. Saras father, Dov Feingold, along with his parents Chaim and Sara, had spent two harrowing years when he was a little boy hiding underground in his native town of Przemysl in Poland, evading the Nazis. Although Sara heard some of this tragic family history growing up in America, there was much she didnt know. As a teenager, she formally interviewed her grandparents about their wartime experiences, but much of what her grandparents went through remained unsaid. Saras grandfather Chaim did mention that he, her grandmother and her father were saved by a Ukrainian man living in Przemysl who hid them along with 13 other Jews for two years, but Sara never knew the name of this brave rescuer. Chaim Feingold, Salya (Sara) Feingold (nee Sperling) and their son Dov Feingold Saras grandmother died before she was born; shes named after her. Her early demise was related to the two long years she spent hiding under the house of the mysterious benefactor: during that time, she developed strep throat which went untreated and probably developed into rheumatic fever, permanently damaging her heart. After her grandfather died, it seemed shed never be able to find out the name of the man whod hidden her family. Saras father Dov was only a young child during the Holocaust and couldnt remember many details of his familys hiding place, nor the other Jews they hid with. Remembering the Past in London Meanwhile, in London, Julie Hart Russell another daughter of Holocaust survivors, also had questions about her familys wartime experiences including her uncle Meyer Dornbusch. Growing up a second-generation Holocaust survivor, none of this was discussed in our family, Julie explained in an Aish.com interview. It was just buried. Her mother had survived the notorious Krakow Ghetto and many other relatives perished or had their own harrowing stories of survival. I knew that my grandfather was one of ten and I knew that some died in the war, she explained. Much of her family history went unspoken. Julie has fond memories of her Uncle Meyer, who lived in Paris. Meyer Dornbusch also known as Marcel was a strong, charismatic man, Julie recalls. He was larger than life; he had a very good sense of humor. When she was younger, Julie spent a year studying in Paris and recalls visiting him with fondness though now she wishes shed asked him how he survived the war. Now I would sit him down and ask questions. Meyer Dornbusch (in glasses), with his brother Oscar and nephew Phillippe Unbeknownst to Julie, her Uncle Meyer was also one of the Jews hidden in that underground site in Przemysl. He, along with his niece Regina Dornbusch, were two of the Jews rescued by the mysterious Polish man. Asking for Details Again Last January 18, 2021, a late-night phone call changed Saras life. Sara was taking a course on teaching about the Holocaust and her online class ended at 10 PM Israel time. Tired and trying to unwind, she phoned up her mother and asked questions about their familys wartime history. I asked her what she knew about when my grandfather was in hiding. Reminiscing over the past, Saras mother now recalled a detail that shed heard years before. She seemed to remember hearing that the Polish man whod saved the Jews married one of the Jewish women he saved and later on moved to New Zealand. Hearing this new detail of her family history, Sara suddenly was full of energy, ready to investigate this detail from the past. She wrote to a Holocaust museum in New Zealand, telling them the basic details of her search: she was looking for a Gentile man who hid sixteen Jews in the town of Przemysl during the Holocaust and moved to New Zealand. Did they have any information? Sara didnt expect to find much, and soon received a short, polite response saying there didnt seem much to go on and the museum was unable to help. Sara didnt realize it at the time, but her email to the museum in New Zealand had also been seen by Dr. Ann Beaglehole, a celebrated Hungarian-born New Zealand writer who has researched the experiences of immigrants in New Zealand. Dr. Beaglehole saw a copy of her email and recognized the details in the story. She had once interviewed the children of an immigrant to New Zealand and she believed the man who saved and sheltered the 16 Jews during the Holocaust might have been their father. Apparently Dr. Beaglehole passed along Saras email to them because the next day, Sara woke up in Israel to a new letter in her email inbox. I'm crying! the short email declared. At first Sara was puzzled, but after more emails back and forth, she realized shed found the children of the man whod saved her father. George Riszko, the son of this incredibly brave hero, had written to her, crying while he typed. He knew the story of his fathers heroism. It seemed incredible that after so many years he and the daughter of one the Jews his father hid were finally able to connect. Honoring Wladimir Riszko Georges fathers name was Wladimir Riszko. If hed been caught hiding Jews, he faced certain death. After World War II, Wladimir married Rennie, one of the Jewish women hed saved. They moved to New Zealand where Wladimir worked as a dockworker. Their daughter Eva Woodbury lives in Wellington, and soon she and Sara connected on the phone too. Eva cried, she later recalled: I felt the release of having my father honored at long last. Eva explained that her mother, Rennie Riszko, was really traumatized for much of her life, particularly after Wladimir died in 1978. Rennie passed away in 2011. While her parents were alive, they told Eva all about the other 15 Jews her father saved. In fact, Eva told Sara, she had a list of all sixteen Jews her father hid. Sara immediately started researching the names that Eva shared with her. Some included last names; others were only first names which she has so far been unable to trace. Using genealogical websites and aided by a cousin whos interested in genealogy, Sara soon had identified several of the people who hid together with her father and grandparents. We were like a detective agency. Then she penned a Facebook post asking people with knowledge of these individuals to Please help us by forwarding the post: Miraculously we have just learned the name of the righteous gentile, Wladimir Riszko who saved the lives of my father and his parents, Chaim Feingold, Salya (Sara) Feingold (nee Sperling) and my dad Dov. Altogether he hid 16 Jews for 2 years, including Rivka Schildkraut, Sara wrote in her January 24, 2021 post. Mayer Dornbusch and his niece Regina, someone who went by the name of Juper/Chuper and the following individuals for whom we have no last name: Sam, Max, their sister, her husband, daughter and her brother in law. Sams girlfriend Frania, her sister Ruzia and Sams nephew, Juzek. Please contact me. Within days, several descendants of some of these Jews in places as far flung as London, Paris, Israel and Chicago were finally able to speak to each other over Zoom. Momentous Phone Call Our first Zoom call was on Holocaust Memorial Day, recalls Emma Russell, Julies daughter in London. The occasion felt momentous. My heart was pounding, Sara recalls. Soon after, Sara identified a descendent of the daughter of Regina Dornbusch living in Chicago. Sara phoned Regina's daughter, I found your cousins, some of whom had been hidden by Wladimir Riszko too. They had an emotional conversation followed by another Zoom call, even though by then it was the middle of the night in Israel. My mom was in the supermarket, Sara recalls; she left her cart to go join the call. We had an unbelievable reunion for close to two hours. Contacting Yad Vashem Now that they know their families histories, some of the descendants of the Jews that Wladimir Riszko hid are reaching out to Yad Vashem to ask them to investigate and declare him a Righteous Gentile. Julie Hart Russell notes that her daughter Emma is taking an active role in this. After the emotional excitement of recent weeks, Emma has a new goal: The aim is to get him listed as Righteous Among the Nations. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 03:05:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A staff member of Sinovac Biotech, a Chinese biopharmaceutical company, displays two doses of COVID-19 inactivated vaccine in prefilled syringes in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 23, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) on Friday granted conditional market approval to CoronaVac, an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech, the company said on Saturday. The Sinovac vaccine, produced by the Beijing-based Sinovac Life Sciences Co. Ltd., affiliated with Sinovac Biotech, was approved for emergency use in China last June. The vaccine started being used for emergency inoculation among some special groups in the country from July last year. From this January, countries including Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and Laos successively approved the emergency use of the Sinovac vaccine locally. A medical worker prepares a dose of China's COVID-19 vaccine in the city of Tabatinga in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, Jan. 19, 2021. (Photo by Lucio Tavora/Xinhua) These countries recognize the clinical research results of the vaccine, believing it has obvious effects on reducing the medical treatment, hospitalization, critical cases and deaths caused by COVID-19, and is of great importance to pandemic prevention and control, Sinovac Biotech said in a press release on its website. Sinovac Life Sciences Co. Ltd. on Feb. 3 filed an application for conditional market approval of CoronaVac, which was granted on the basis of the vaccine's overseas phase-3 clinical trials for two months, it said. The NMPA requested the company to continue to carry out relevant clinical trials, fulfill the conditional requirements, and submit the follow-up research results in time. "We expect to provide more safe and effective vaccines as soon as possible and help control COVID-19 ultimately by increasing inoculation rates, enabling social and economic development to return to the normal track," said Yin Weidong, chairman and CEO of Sinovac. Photo taken on July 15, 2020 shows an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine being scanned for tracking purposes at a automatic packing line of Sinovac Life Sciences Co., Ltd. in Beijing, capital of China, on July 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) According to the company, the vaccination procedure includes two shots with an interval of 14 to 28 days, and each dose is 0.5 ml. In China, the vaccine has completed its phase-1 and phase-2 clinical trials for adults aged over 18 and the elderly, and the enrollment of volunteers aged 3 to 17 has been completed. The volunteers in China has reached more than 2,200 people and the results showed that the vaccine has good safety and immunogenicity in all age groups. Since July 2020, Sinovac has conducted phase-3 clinical trials in four countries including Brazil, Chile, Indonesia and Turkey, involving more than 25,000 volunteers altogether. As of December 16, 2020, 12,396 medical workers aged over 18 were enrolled in Brazil and 253 infection cases were collected during the observation period. Clinical studies in Brazil suggested that the vaccine was 100 percent effective in preventing hospitalized, severe, and fatal cases, 83.7 percent effective in preventing cases requiring medical treatment, and has a general efficacy rate of 50.65 percent. A medical worker receives a dose of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine at the Sabiha Uzun Maternal Child Health Center in Ankara, Turkey on Jan. 15, 2021. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua) Clinical trials in Turkey involved both health care workers aged 18-59 who are at high risk and the general population at normal risk. Results in Turkey showed that the vaccine has an efficacy rate of 91.25 percent. The vaccine production quality management system has passed GMP inspections in many countries including China, Brazil, Indonesia and Chile. Hundreds of batches of large-scale production have proved that the vaccine production process is controllable and the quality is reliable. Sinovac's first production line which went into operation in August 2020 has an annual production capacity of 500 million doses. The company has constructed a second production line, which will start operation in February, increasing its annual production capacity to 1 billion doses. Staff members check by the automated light inspection machine at a packing line of inactivated COVID-19 vaccine of Sinovac Life Sciences Co., Ltd. in Beijing, capital of China, on Jan. 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) Sinovac will also export semi-finished jabs to some countries with filling and packaging capabilities such as Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey. The supply of vaccines in the form of both finished and semi-finished products will help fill the gap of the company's filling and packaging capacity, save the international transportation cost, and improve the accessibility and affordability of vaccines, the company said. It is China's second self-developed COVID-19 vaccine that has got conditional market approval in the country. The vaccine developed by China National Biotec Group affiliated with Sinopharm was approved in December last year. The body of veteran journalist, Felix Mponda, who succumbed to Covid-19 on Friday at Queens Elizabeth Central Hospital was buried in an emotional ceremony on Saturday morning at Nancholi, Blantyre. Mponda, who once worked with MBC, Times Media Group was laid to rest with not more than 50 people due to Covid-19 restrictions. In his eulogy, veteran journalist Don Napuwa, who once worked with the Ministry of Information described the late Mponda as a hardworking but humble journalist. "The media fraternity has lost a dedicated journalist who was always inspiring the young and upcoming journalists. It is sad to be losing such talent because these are the people young journalists expect to tap knowledge from," said Napuwa. A Roman Catholic, Mponda is survived by a wife and five children. After a highly successful week broadcasting the Listowel Harvest Festival in September 2020, TG4 have announced additional racing coverage for 2021. On Sunday, February 14, TG4 will be in Punchestown to broadcast their St Valentines day meeting at the iconic County Kildare racecourse. Beginning at 2.45pm, five races will be shown live with the first race broadcast at 3pm - The Valentines Maiden Hurdle. The week in County Kerry was the sixteenth consecutive year broadcasting the famous racing festival in Listowel and TG4 are now delighted to extend its live racing coverage to Punchestown this February. TG4s live coverage from Punchestown will be presented by Sean Ban Breathnach and Manus O Conghaile and they will be joined by reporter Daragh O Conchuir who will provide all the latest news and views. Along with the five live races, there will also be a chance to see the first two races replayed in full during the afternoons broadcast. The days main event is the sixth race at 4:30pm The Punchestown Grand National Trial Handicap Steeplechase and no doubt this will be a great spectacle for the viewing public. Conor O'Neill, CEO of Punchestown Racecourse and Chairperson of Horse Racing Irelands Media Rights Committee, said: This is a fantastic development, and I must acknowledge all concerned in their efforts in bringing it to fruition. The team at TG4 have always been great supporters of Irish racing and indeed of Punchestown and this further supports that commitment. TG4 has long been associated with the Listowel Harvest Festival which has been the highlight of their racing coverage for many years. They have previously previewed the Punchestown Festival and of course we recently enjoyed the fantastic Dawn Run documentary which featured the iconic match race that took place here at the track in 1986. This is a great opportunity to showcase additional race meetings on terrestrial television to homes throughout Ireland and the racing will also be available on the TG4 Player on www.tg4.ie/live. Horse racing is an integral part of Irish culture and Im delighted to welcome the TG4 broadcast team to the home of Irish jump racing on February 14. We wish TG4 every continued success and we look forward to developing this relationship further for Irish racing. Go n-eiri an bothar leat. 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 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 Loading The shift could be seen in the release of the governments technology road map in September. To the dismay of many climate scientists the document championed the use of gas, but tellingly it barely mentioned coal. In keeping with Coalition climate doctrine it included no reductions targets and no price on carbon. Emissions would be achieved by backing new technologies rather than penalising old industries. If it cut emissions by the amount the international community was increasingly demanding, that would be almost incidental, Morrison seemed to suggest when flagging the plan in Parliament. Were putting together the technology plan, and a technology road map ... which may well exceed a zero net carbon outcome in 2050, he said. It may well exceed that. But those opposite came up with a target, they had no clue what it would cost, no clue how they would get there. Due to the pandemic the UN climate talks in Glasgow set for last November were delayed by a year but diplomatic pressure was mounting on Australia to take more climate action nonetheless. For host Boris Johnson, a successful summit had become a legacy issue and the UK Prime Minister kept ramping up his own goals. The UK, he said, would not only hit net-zero by 2050, but reduce emissions by 68 per cent on 1990 levels by the end of the decade. This pressure grew with Joe Bidens victory in the United States in November. When it became clear Morrison would not be offered a speaking slot at an interim climate meeting in December, the PM instead announced to a meeting of Pacific island leaders that Australia would not use controversial Kyoto credits the government claimed to have earned by beating reductions targets set under a previous treaty in meeting its Paris goals. Were committed to achieving net-zero emissions as soon as possible, he said. Our long-term emissions reduction strategy, to be lodged ahead of COP26 [United Nations Climate talks], will provide the necessary detail on our plan, but much has already been released. In January Morrison took another rhetorical step, telling The Australian that the shift towards a net-zero economy was inevitable. It is now about the how, not the if That is what Im saying in G20; that is what Im saying in G7, he said. They are the conversations that I have, whether it is with the Europeans, or with the Japanese or whoever else We all want to get there. It is not about the politics any more, it is about the technology. None of these statements, nor the drift that they chart, have been accidental, Liberal MPs have told the Herald and the Age. In the words of one, Morrison has long been aware he cannot attend the Glasgow talks and be isolated alongside a small handful of climate recalcitrants in the face of Australias allies and trading partners. Loading Nor can he risk firm declarations of reductions goals that are anathema to those in the Coalition who oppose any action. Morrison is inoculating himself with language that signals the change to them without forcing their hand to action, one of his MPs says. His shift has not gone unnoticed in climate science circles either. Professor Lesley Hughes, a counsellor with the Climate Council says it is clear the PMs progression is real. I think he is boiling the frog, getting opponents, mainly in the National party, used to the idea of action. He knows in the general community there is a political advantage in acting, she says. NEW DELHI - A piece of a glacier broke off high in the Himalayas on Sunday, causing a deadly flash flood that smashed through a hydroelectric power plant and destroyed homes in India. More than 125 people were reported missing. India rushed disaster response teams to Uttarakhand, a mountainous northern state. Seven bodies have been recovered. Because of the rapid flow of the water, bodies were being recovered away from the disaster site, officials told local media. Ashok Kumar, Uttarakhand's police chief, said the avalanche occurred at 11 a.m. Authorities evacuated several villages downstream. "The picture will be clear tomorrow morning," he said, referring to the rescue operations and those missing. Television channels aired footage of water barreling down a narrow canyon and sweeping away the power plant at its base. A second state-run power plant nearby also suffered extensive damage. Most of the missing were workers at the two power plants. Troops dug a ditch to rescue about a dozen workers trapped in a tunnel. Videos of the operation showed rescue workers pulling out a man, who flung his arms in the air victoriously. Rescue operations continued late into the night at another tunnel, where an estimated 30 people remain trapped. Girish Joshi, a consultant with the state's disaster management authority, said that an eight-mile stretch of the Alaknanda River was affected but that there was no further danger. "The river levels are normal now," he said. Authorities in the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh said they were on alert and monitoring water levels. Uttarakhand suffered a devastating flood in 2013 that claimed thousands of lives. Analysts have blamed climate change and unchecked construction for such disasters. "This looks very much like a climate change event," said Anjal Prakash, a professor at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. "The glaciers are melting due to global warming." Prakash, who serves on a United Nations panel on climate change, said that the Himalayan area is one of the least monitored in the region and that the disaster Sunday shows how vulnerable it can be. Farooq Azam, a specialist in glaciology and hydrology at the Indian Institute of Technology in Indore, said glacial bursts are rare. He said more information is needed to understand the event Sunday, but "climate change-driven erratic weather patterns" such as increased snowfall and rainfall and warmer winters have led to the melting of "a lot of snow." Trivendra Singh Rawat, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, said that experts will look into the cause of the disaster but that the priority is to "save lives." Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the nation "prays for everyone's safety." New Delhi, Feb 7 : In relief for Uttarakhand, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday said that no adverse weather is expected in the next two days in Tapovan and Joshimath in the hill state's Chamoli district where a sudden flash flood has created huge havoc. The Joshimath area witnessed a massive flood due to the water level in Dhauliganga river suddenly surging on Sunday morning, following by an avalanche near a power project at Reni village of Chamoli. "Dry weather is likely to prevail over Uttarakhand on 7th and 8h February 2021. However, under influence of Western Disturbances, light rainfall or snowfall is likely over the northern part of Uttarakhand during evening of 9th Feb to 10th Feb," the IMD said in a statement. "No rainfall or snowfall likely, mainly dry weather will prevail" for Chamoli, Tapovan and Joshimath, it said. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat took to Twitter on Sunday to explain the chain of events which resulted in the disaster and the devastation which followed. "The incident was reported near Reni village, 26 km from Joshimath. The Dhauliganga river got flooded and washed away many houses situated on the river banks." Rawat said that the flow from the Tehri dam was stopped to facilitate smooth passage of rising waters on Rishi Ganga and Alaknanda. All the villages and low-lying areas on the banks were vacated and water flow from Srinagar dam was increased to manage higher water flows due to the disaster. "Currently no additional water flows are being reported and there is no flood situation anywhere. Water from the affected site has reached beyond Nandprayag and river was flowing 1 metre above normal levels. No loss has been reported from villages along the Alaknanda," the Chief Minister said. Bennington, VT (05201) Today Rain likely. High 48F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch.. Tonight Cloudy with periods of rain. Low 44F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a half an inch. The early results for the AstraZeneca vaccine against the variant could have far-reaching implications as many other countries in Africa and beyond have been planning to use the AstraZeneca shot. The international COVAX initiative has bought the AstraZeneca vaccine in bulk from the Serum Institute of India. The anticipation for Ozark Season 4 is growing more and more. As the final season of the show, itll reveal the fate of the Byrde family as they continue to work for a Mexican drug cartel in the Missouri Ozarks. So far, those attached to the show have kept the details to a minimum. But we just got a sneak peek at the forthcoming program, courtesy of actor Skylar Gaertner (Jonah Byrde). (L-R) Dave Karger, Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Julia Garner, and Chris Mundy at an event in April 2019 in Los Angeles, California | Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Netflix How Ozark Season 3 ended One big thing that happened was the death of Wendy Byrdes brother, Ben. As viewers recall, Ben had discovered the truth about his family and was threatening to expose their entire operation, which put his life in jeopardy. Though Wendy repeatedly tried to save him, there was nothing more she could do after he crossed a line with Helen Pierce, who then ordered Bens assassination. His death impacted many characters, but Jonah was arguably the most affected, especially because they had been so close. He even tried to get revenge on Helen by killing her, only to learn that his parents had helped facilitate the murder. In one of the final scenes, Jonah snapped and shot a gun through a home window. At the same time, his parents were headed to meet Navarro along with Helen. Helen had been trying to cut them out of the operation due to their handling of certain business dealings. But in the end, Navarro chose the Byrdes over her. RELATED: Ozark Cleverly Foreshadows Plot Spoilers In Each Episodes Title Card Ozark Season 4 is on the way Ozark was approved for season 4 in June 2020. As Variety notes, the fourth season will contain 14 episodes and will be split into two parts. Later that year, Jason Bateman (Marty Byrde) told IndieWire that production would begin on Nov. 9, 2020. Everything is moving well toward that, and were very confident in the guidelines and protocols were going to be following. Weve got tons of consultants, [and] were learning a lot from other productions, he explained. They're going to go out with a bang. Ozark will be back with an expanded 14-episode final season. pic.twitter.com/otIoUeTXyH Netflix (@netflix) June 30, 2020 RELATED: Jason Bateman Is Preparing for the Worst When Ozark Starts Filming in November As far as the plot details, it seems the Byrdes will be battling it out with the rival Snell family, who now have Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) on their team. Also upset with the Byrdes for their role in Bens death, Ruth terminated their business relationship in season 3 and went to work for Darlene Snell. Marty and the Byrdes kind of took over [Ruths intuition] and she stopped listening to that, and [in] Season 3, she made the mistake again [of] not listening to her gut [and] doing all this stuff for the Byrdes, and shes done with it, Garner previously told IndieWire. Heres a first-look at Ozark Season 4 During the week of Jan. 31, Gaertner posted Instagram photos with Garner in honor of her 27th birthday. Both were dressed in their characters gear with masks on in compliance with coronavirus (COVID-19) protocols. The photos have since expired from his page, but they can be found on The Daily Expresss website. Theres no word on if they were shooting a scene together or if they were just together to celebrate Garners birthday, but theres a big theory that Jonah and Ruth could team up in season 4. As CBR notes, some viewers believe Jonah will join the Snell operation out of the anger and resentment he has toward his family over Bens death. But nothing has been confirmed. As we continue to wait for the fourth and final season of Ozark, feel free to check out more of our coverage below. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 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. KENT COUNTY, MI -- A coronavirus case with the variant strain B.1.1.7, which is believed to more contagious than the primary strain, has been found in a Kent County resident. The variant is approximately 50% more transmissible, leading to faster spread of the virus and potentially increasing numbers of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, the Kent County Health Department said in a Sunday, Feb. 7 news release. Fundamentally this is a race for the coverage of our population; a race that pits vaccination efforts against the transmission of infections, county Health Director Dr. Adam London said. While we work to minimize the impact of COVID-19 infections, the B.1.1.7 variant is giving the virus increased velocity. The health department is encouraging testing of individuals who have traveled out of Michigan in last 14 days, especially to areas in which the new variants are widely circulating. The first confirmed cases of the variant were confirmed in West Michigan on Thursday in Kalamazoo County. Data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention shows the variant is in 33 states. Florida has recorded 187 infections involving B.1.1.7 as of Thursday, followed by much-more-populous California with 145 infections, according to the CDC. Read more on MLive: First West Michigan case of COVID-19 variant reported in Kalamazoo County Michigan cites 20 employers in latest round of COVID-19 safety violations COVID-19 vaccine updates from counties across Michigan 60% of Genesee County teachers will soon be vaccinated, health department says In COVID-19 isolation, she faced devastating cancer diagnosis but said, I can do this 23 cases of COVID-19 variant now in University of Michigan community, health officials say Michigan reports 1,018 new coronavirus cases, 97 deaths kntombat wrote: Isn't B an example of an extreme answer? I had narrowed my answers down to A and B but I eliminated B because it was written as a fact. Can anyone help me out here? kntombat if true Which of the following, if true, best explains... the probability of conceiving females every will will government-funded initiatives if true if that phrase were dropped in Hello,. I remember this question from last week, when I had thought to respond to your initial query. This is a case in which I wish could better mimic the phrasing of official questions, something that I believe may be prohibited by copyright law. An official question would likely drop in a crucialinto the question stem, as in,Choice (A) looks decent. If a population favors male births and believes that birth control will increase, then members of that population might have a compelling reason to avoid birth control, and the government-funded birth control initiatives might indeed fail. But is this the best answer? Probability is not absolute.Choice (B) does indeed deal in extremes, but if it is true thatparent wants a male child andavoid birth control until a male is conceived, then we are no longer dealing in probabilities, but in a definitive outcome. In this case, Xlead to Y, which will in turn lead to Z, the failed initiatives (unless a lot of males happen to be born to first-time parents). This is a safer answer than (A).Choice (C) introduces a concern about the population of XYZ that we have no information about in the passage. It should be an easy one to see off.Choice (D) does not touch on either birth control or curbing population growth, but attacksinstead. This is another could-be-true consideration, like (A). I cannot say that it could not be the reason behind the failed initiatives, but again, does it present the strongest case?Choice (E) follows the popular opinion on overpopulation, which has nothing to do with the initiatives.I do not like to criticize questions that others have put a lot of thought and effort into, and I think material is generally of high quality. In this case, though, I feel as though the missingopens the door to confusion. The hardest answer to argue againstis (B), and that is what compelled me to choose it the first time.I hope that helps. Thank you for thinking to ask me.- Andrew Regional Private doctors in Manipur protest against mixopathy Correspondent IMPHAL, Feb 6 | Publish Date: 2/6/2021 1:19:17 PM IST Mixopathy is fundamentally not good for patients, will compromise patient care, a banner under which doctors of a private hospital in Imphal staged protest against surgeries by Ayurvedic doctors on Saturday read. Doctors of the Shija hospital, a private premier hospital in Imphal staged a sit-in-protest at the hospital campus on Saturday under the aegis of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Manipur state branch. It is easy to take a vulnerable patient on a ride. Mixopathy is poorly thought through and can make things worse, another banner read. The protest was staged as a part of nationwide protest of the doctors against surgeries by Ayurvedic doctors. The CCIM, in its notification, allowed AYUSH doctors to pursue 48 different surgeries like amputation, cataract, cholecystectomy, tonsillectomy and various complicated surgeries) after a two-year training and MS (Tantra Shalya). Doctors across the country are demanding withdrawal of the CCIM notification alleging that it was a highly unethical step of the government of India. Taking part in the protest ,IMAMainpur branch vice president Dr S Jugindro Singh observed that allowing AYUSH doctors to pursue surgeries will compromise the healthcare system of the country. It will put the health of the general public at great risk, he said, while observing that a surgery or operation is normally performed by specialised or super specialised doctors in a specific field of medical, he said. They performoperation after more than eight years in a specific field that too after completion of MBBS course, he added. The recent gazette notification allows AYUSH doctors to pursue the surgeries only after two years of preliminary training. This will compromise the healthcare system of the country, he said. IMA Manipur branch has been staging a series of protests joining the nationwide protest of the doctors under the aegis of IMA. Members of IMA Manipur branch had staged a one-day hunger strike at IMA complex in Imphal on February 3 last. IMA said it strongly feels that Ayurveda should be encouraged to develop its own way and stop mixing Ayurveda and allopathy which will spell disaster. This is the blog of Dr Caitlin Green FSA. It features posts on my main academic research foci alongside other topics that I'm currently working on, including drafts of papers, ideas and similarthese are usually identifiable by the presence of footnotes. You're free to cite these drafts if they are of interest, and are reminded that academic blogs are indeed citable under most citation systems. In addition, the current site also houses posts relating to my personal interests, including long-distance trade, migration and contacts; landscape and coastal history; early literature and legends; and the history, archaeology, place-names and legends of Lincolnshire and Cornwall. For further details of this website & how to contact me, please see the ' About ' page or @caitlinrgreen on Twitter. Its impossible to say whether Katherines experience is typical, in part because its impossible to say nearly anything with certainty about the nations vaccine rollout. Last month Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported that owing to failures of planning and monitoring, the federal government has essentially lost track of some 20 million vaccine doses that were delivered to the states during the previous administration. Part of the problem seems to be a wildly ineffective vaccine management system. As M.I.T. Technology Review has reported, the federal government gave the company Deloitte a $44 million no-bid contract to develop software that all states could use to manage their vaccine rollouts. The resulting product is so unreliable that many health departments have abandoned it. Other troubles abound. As noted by ProPublica, many states have not required health facilities to report vaccine waste, despite being asked to do so by the C.D.C. If we dont know where shots have gone, how can we possibly know what portion have been lost, discarded or even stolen? And if we dont know where or how or why such waste is occurring, how can we possibly hope to minimize it? The same goes for vaccination equity. We know that the 32 million or so shots that have been administered so far have gone disproportionately to wealthier, whiter Americans. But we dont know exactly how bad those disparities are only about half of all vaccinations logged so far include racial data and we dont know whats behind that gap. Some people blame the inequity on vaccine hesitancy in marginalized communities; others point to online registration systems and clinic hours that make shots more difficult to access for low-income Americans. Each of those problems has different solutions. Vaccines are not the only thing officials are in the dark about. They also dont know where or how fast mutant variants of concern are spreading. The C.D.C. is now aiming to sequence the genomes of some 6,000 virus samples every week. Thats a big improvement over how things have been going. But its not nearly enough to get a handle on the crisis. In some states, just a tiny fraction of cases are being sequenced, even during large outbreaks that might be explained by more transmissible variants. In North Dakota, for example, hundreds of new cases were logged and scores of people died during a sudden spike in cases last fall. But just 33 coronavirus genomes were uploaded to GISAID, the global repository of coronavirus sequences during that time. Russian military officers serving at the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria have handed over humanitarian aid to teachers in Syrias Aleppo. Sixty-five teachers in the city of Aleppo that did not abandon their students during hostilities in the region received humanitarian packages from the Russian military, head of the centers Aleppo department Sergei Shkerin informed reporters, TASS reports. "Today, the Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties held a humanitarian action and provided aid to Aleppos teachers. These teachers have remained at work during hostilities and during the coronavirus pandemic. So we have decided to help them. Everyone was satisfied with this action," Shkerin said. The teachers received food packages and warm clothes. The Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria has been active in Syria since 2016. Since the start of its work, the Russian military held 2,711 humanitarian events. The total weight of humanitarian cargo handed over in Syria comes up to over 4,600 tonnes. Is your job based in Philly but you had to work from your suburban home in 2020? If so, your employer can file with the city on your behalf for the first time, and your 2020 wage tax refund will be mailed directly to you. But for most Philly workers, it appears unlikely that your employer will take this collective action for reasons described below. Instead, youll probably have to file individually for a city wage tax refund. And you must include a letter from the bosses proving that you were mandated to work from home and didnt make that decision on your own. Then you have to wait six to eight weeks, delays permitting. Welcome to the craziest tax year in memory. The phones are already ringing off the hook in the citys revenue department. At issue are millions of dollars that the city may have to refund to Philadelphia workers who spent the pandemic working from the suburbs. The city wage tax raises $1.5 billion a year and accounts for about 45% of the citys annual revenue. So it is a big deal. Due to the pandemic, the tax is expected to decline by about $78 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, The Inquirer has reported. And the city expects to collect $200 million less in the wage tax than projected in the current year. The city typically collects 40% of its roughly $1.5 billion in annual wage taxes from nonresidents. These are the folks who might be in line for a refund. The wage tax issue is really hot right now, said Jennifer Karpchuk, tax attorney and shareholder at Chamberlain Hrdlicka in Conshohocken. Philadelphia has the nations highest wage tax, currently 3.87% for residents and 3.5% for nonresidents who commute to work in the city. The tax has often been cited as a job killer, but it raises so much money that the city cant easily replace it. Before COVID-19, companies withheld Philadelphia wage tax from paychecks automatically. But that changed this year for many workers. Can I get a wage tax refund? Philadelphias long-standing test for who pays the wage tax was updated especially for the COVID 2020 tax year. If youre a nonresident, and your employer required you to work from home [during COVID], you dont pay the wage tax. If its optional that you work from home, then you still pay, Karpchuk explained. A lot of people may get tripped up, thinking they get the refund. Its not necessarily the case. If you werent mandated to stay home, then you are liable for the wage tax. For the first time, the Philadelphia Department of Revenue is offering employers a bulk filing option, whereby companies can file for refunds on behalf of all their workers. Because so many Philadelphia workers were ordered to work from their abodes, for 2020 only we are allowing employers to submit a refund request on behalf of a group of their nonresident employees, the city said on its website. However, many employers are hesitant, fearing a tax audit from the city, accountants say. That fear is likely to prevent many companies from doing it collectively. Employers and employees: What youll need So far, the citys Department of Revenue has an online form for employers requesting the wage-tax form. Download that employer form at www.phila.gov/documents/2020-wage-tax-refunds/. Rebecca Lopez Kriss, deputy commissioner of the citys Department of Revenue, said the hope is to have it online as soon as possible. Heres the link: www.phila.gov/documents/2020-wage-tax-refunds . The department is staffing up, she said in the departments All About Wage Tax Refunds video on YouTube. She predicted a six- to eight-week wait for a refund. Please dont call us a week after you file for your refund, she said. Its going to be awhile. If youre filing for a refund yourself, youll need a letter from your company stating that you were mandated to work from home, plus one of the citys forthcoming wage tax refund petition forms. Again, The key aspect is that the Philadelphia office of the business must be closed, or if open, the company must have mandated that employees work from home, said Blue Bell CPA David Zalles. Ideally the employee should have a document stating this, and I suggest attaching that document to the refund form. It probably wont be as simple as it sounds, tax experts say. Refunds could present a logistical nightmare, said Phyllis Epstein, a lawyer and tax expert with Epstein, Shapiro & Epstein in Center City. Another interesting question is how self-employed individuals establish that they were required by their employer to work from home. One form will be for nonresident employees who were ordered to work from home during the pandemic. A streamlined petition, it is available only to workers who were required to work from home by their employer. Be sure to include: A letter from your employer for the dates you were required to work outside Philadelphia. A full copy of your W-2, which includes taxes paid to Philadelphia. Another online form is for lower-income filers who are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, said Duane Morris tax group head Michael Gillen. If you fall in that category, you must file an income-based refund petition. It can be signed by your employer or a tax preparer. Be sure to include: A full copy of your W-2 for each employer (if you have more than one). A copy of the PA SP-40 form you file with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. All 2020 refund forms should be available on the citys website: www.phila.gov/revenue/tax-forms. If you have questions, email refund.unit@phila.gov or call at (215) 686-6574; -6575 or -6578. Free tax-prep help Temple Universitys Fox School of Business will again offer the free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Its open to any family, individual or student who makes less than $56,844 annually. This years VITA program will operate virtually. The Internal Revenue Service said tax season will start Friday, Feb. 12, when the agency will begin accepting and processing 2020 tax year returns. Now, more than ever, this program is of the utmost importance, said Steve Balsam, a professor of accounting and the coordinator of Temples VITA program. First option: Mail VITA the documents listed to Box 1031, Springhouse, Pa. 19477. Those documents are available here: https://ambler.temple.edu/vita-2021-required-documents. VITA will contact you to confirm receipt. If you dont hear back after a week, contact 215-326-9519 or email vita@temple.edu. Second option: A VITA affiliate, the Community Development Corporation, on Saturday, Feb. 6, starts allowing clients to drop-off their documents at the following locations, days and times: Community Development Corp., 210 Cedar Ave., Willow Grove, Pa., on Tuesdays, 4 to 7 p.m.; Thursdays, 4 to 7 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to noon. Community Development Corp., 1840 County Line Rd., Suite 212, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.; on Mondays, 4 to 7 p.m.; Wednesdays, 4 to 7 p.m.; Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Future of Work is produced with support from the William Penn Foundation and the Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the projects donors. Staff writer Laura McCrystal contributed to this story. Led by one of the youngest governments in the world, Lithuania is looking to broadbase ties with India in high-growth areas and Indian companies can use the Baltic nation as a "gateway" to expand their presence in Europe, its ambassador Julius Pranevicius said on Sunday. The envoy said the new Lithuanian government was keen on expanding collaboration with India in areas of financial services, life sciences, digital technology and pharmaceuticals, and promised to offer a dynamic business environment to Indian investors. The Baltic nation has fast emerged as a burgeoning fintech hub in the world on the lines of Luxembourg with leading global financial services and digital technologies companies setting up bases in the country. Lithuania's new dispensation led by Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, which assumed office in December, is being hailed as one of the world's most gender-balanced and young governments. Out of 15 members in the cabinet, seven are women and nine ministers are under the age of 40 years. Pranevicius said the "young" government of Prime Minister Simonyte is leading Lithuania with "new energy and dynamism" with a focus on high-growth areas for economic growth, and the relations with India stand high on its priority. Lithuania, a prominent Baltic nation, is a member of the powerful NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) as well as the European Union. In a historic first for the country that regained its independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, the new government was formed by three conservative parties which are all led by women The main agenda of the government is to deal with the challenges of the coronavirus crisis as well as to focus on growth in futuristic areas for strengthening Lithuania's economy and make it a hub of new innovation and technologies. "The new government is looking at expanding cooperation with India in the emerging areas of financial services, life sciences, digital technologies, pharmaceutical and education," Pranevicius told PTI. The ambassador said there has been a steady increase in leading financial technology firms setting up bases in Lithuania as a result of the Brexit, and Indian companies too can take advantage of the favourable investment climate in his country. "Lithuania is a young dynamic country which is trying to focus on innovative and high-tech areas to spur growth. I think the image of the young country has been further strengthened by the new gender-balanced and young government," Pranevicius said. Describing India as a world leader in the pharma sector, the envoy said Lithuania was looking forward to bolstering cooperation with it in biotechnology, life sciences and related areas that will have mutual benefit. "India is a world power in pharmaceuticals. We hope major breakthroughs will come from India in the sector. In our case, we are also a regional hub for biotechnology as we are enjoying an annual growth of 20 percent in the life sciences sector," he said. "We expect that 5 percent of our GDP will come from the life sciences sector and we have the potential to become number one in Europe in the life sciences sector. We think both India and Lithuania can expand cooperation in the sector," Pranevicius said. He also identified digital technology and financial services as potential areas for expanding cooperation, noting that it will transform the economic engagement between the two sides. "If you look at the number of fintech companies in different European countries, you will see that Lithuania is on top. Our government has established a favourable condition for international companies to start their operation in Lithuania," he said. "Any company from anywhere in the world can choose Lithuania as a gateway to the broader European market. As the government, we surely will provide the best conditions for them," the envoy added. Pranevicius said Indian companies in Lithuania will be able to get faster access to the European market and their expansion will be relatively easier because of the investor-friendly regulatory environment and infrastructure. The envoy also hoped that India and European Union would be able to move forward on the long-pending free trade agreement and said it would help in further boosting trade ties. "We expect that the negotiations will intensify in coming months and I strongly hope that the agreement will be signed and come into force. It will be helpful for Lithuania and other EU member countries as well as India," he said. Launched in June 2007, the FTA talks have been stalled since May 2013, when both sides failed to bridge substantial gaps on crucial issues, including data security status for the IT sector. The bilateral trade between India and Lithuania reached a record USD 367 million in the year 2016-17 before decreasing to USD 339 million in 2018-19, according to Indian statistics. Major items of import from India include pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, textiles and consumer goods while export to India include machinery and mechanical appliances, high tech optical instruments, base metals and articles of base metal, chemicals, sulphur, lime and cement. India's HCL Technologies (HCL) has been operating in Lithuania. HCL's Operation Centre was formally inaugurated on December 11, 2019 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Lithuanian language, which is the oldest living Indo-European language, has a lot of similarities with Sanskrit, signifying a possible close ancient link. (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. IT has been well established that the countrys most effective mobilisation system is the election machinery based on political affiliation. With this in mind, the current crisis in the country regarding the frightening spread of the coronavirus calls for a different kind of intervention. It is past time for the declaration of a political truce. We call on the countrys two major political machines, PNM and UNC, and all other existing political parties and groups, to come together in the national interest. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday had an inspection tour in Cairos Ezbet Al-Haggana to follow-up on the ongoing development happening at the slum district, a statement from the presidency said. Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Rady said in the statement that El-Sisi has directed the continuation of the states approach and its efforts to develop all random, insecure, and unplanned areas spread across the country from all sides. El-Sisi has also ordered to determine the scale of efforts to change the reality of those areas in a way that improves the daily living conditions of the citizens and provides a decent life for the families residing within them, in addition to linking such areas to the new road network in the surrounding areas and providing various basic services, Rady said. Among the officials who accompanied the president during his tour were the prime minister, and the ministers of electricity, water resources and irrigation, petroleum, education, planning and economic development, local development, trade and industry, housing, and health. Egypt has been pushing forward with efforts to re-house residents of unsafe areas as part of the country's plan to put an end to the problem of informal residential areas countrywide by 2030. The phenomenon of informal settlements was first put in the national spotlight in 2008 following the collapse of a rock face on the edge of Al-Moqattam, which led to the deaths and injury of scores of people living in the Doueyka area and highlighted the urgency of addressing housing challenges. Since then, plans to eliminate urban slums have progressed in tandem with the development of new urban communities. According to the Informal Settlements Development Fund (ISDF), unplanned areas comprise 40 percent of urban construction in Egypt and are home to 22 million people. By 2030, the ISDF hopes to have eliminated unplanned areas entirely. The model housing communities already built to relocate slum residents include the Asmarat complex in Al-Moqattam, Masaken Othman, the Mahrousa Projects, and Bashayer Al-Kheir. In the last six years, the Ministry of Housing has constructed 165,958 housing units at a cost of LE41 billion and is currently working on a further 74,927 units. Short link: Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 13:20:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Martina Fuchs GENEVA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- In face of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, growing inequalities, and world economic revitalization, multilateralism and global cooperation will be key to post-pandemic recovery, said Pamela Coke-Hamilton, executive director of the International Trade Center (ITC). Echoing calls from global leaders at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Davos Agenda last month for more multilateral and international cooperation, Coke-Hamilton stressed that multilateral action remains critical to the battle against COVID-19, sharing knowledge and the fair and equal distribution of vaccines. As Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his address at Davos this year, "we can address the global challenges 'through upholding multilateralism and building a community with a shared future for mankind,'" she told Xinhua in an interview on Friday. "The post-pandemic period will provide a unique opportunity for global cooperation to rebuild the international economic order and also the international social order," she said. Established in 1964 and headquartered in Geneva, the ITC is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations (UN). It helps developing and transition countries achieve sustainable human development through exports and supports the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Asked about her projections for global trade this year, Coke-Hamilton, who has led the center since last October, said the world economy is still "on a cliffhanger," quoting a warning from a UN report last month. According to the report on the "World Economic Situation and Prospects," the pandemic made the global economy shrink by 4.3 percent in 2020, the sharpest contraction in global output since the Great Depression. "While there is growing optimism with vaccines, it is still very uncertain; and the duration of the crisis, we just don't know. That is also going to affect the depth of the impact," Coke-Hamilton said. "These initial signs of rebound are encouraging, there are indications that the downward shift will not be fully compensated however until maybe 2025. We are optimistic, but we are also realistic in terms of how the rebound is going to occur," she said. "For this rebound to be sustainable, countries need comprehensive trade strategies, they need to prioritize investment in innovation, technology, R&D, infrastructure and also the digital economy," she added. On the outlook of the bilateral relations between China and the United States, Coke-Hamilton said "the truth is when China and the U.S. work together constructively, the entire world benefits." "I'm very optimistic that these economies can champion a new multilateralism and global cooperation at the same time. And this is when the world needs it most," she added. Enditem Axios Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. One of Portlands most popular downtown beer bars will close for good. Baileys Taproom and sister bar, The Upper Lip, will shut down permanently after temporarily closing in September, owner Geoff Phillips told Brewpublic Saturday. Phillips temporarily shut down the bars in September after struggling to draw customers while open for limited seating, leaving open the possibility that the bars could reopen this year. But Phillips told Brewpublic on Saturday that the building has been sold to a new owner and that the closures will be permanent. Baileys opened in 2007 and quickly became known as one of Portlands best beer bars thanks to an interesting and extensive list of rotating taps. The popular bar hosted several annual beer events, including Brewpublics KillerBeerFest. The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has led to the closure of a handful of notable Portland beer bars and breweries. Base Camp Brewing closed for good last month, Rogue Ales announced the closure of its longtime Pearl District pub in September and beer bar, Thirsty Monk, shut its door in July. Other breweries, including Grixsen Brewing and Back Pedal Brewing, are closed, but have left open the possibility of reopening if things change. -- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg Srinagar: The father of slain Athar Mushtaq who was killed in a military operation in Srinagar on December 31 has been booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Speaking to Free Press Kashmir a family member of Mushtaq Ahmed, a resident of the Bellow area in Pulwama said, Nobody earlier informed us about any such development. Sources however told Free Press Kashmir that Athars Father including six others have been booked under FIR Number 7/2021 U/S 147, 341, 13 ULA RPC lodged at the Police station of Rajpora in Pulwama. The family said that they had organised a protest in the Masjid, for demanding justice, and they have been booked for that, along with and six other people. We were not informed by the police that they have been booked. We heard it from the people, he said. We had organised the protest at the Masjid to ask for justice. And we have been booked under anti-terror laws for it, he told Free Press Kashmir. We did not block any road. We wanted to protest to let the police know our demands so they help us in getting justice. However, they have booked us instead The family said that the police had summoned a few people, including the Imam of the Masjid, and told them they have been booked. However, he was never summoned. The family also said that they will fight for Justice through a proper legal channel. No matter if we have to move to the supreme court, we will move there to get the bodies back, his uncle had said. Mehbooba Mufti, the former Chief Minister of Jammu Kashmir tweeted, after losing his son in an alleged fake encounter, Athar Mushtaqs father has been slapped with an FIR for demanding his dead body. His crime was to stage a peaceful protest. The inhabitants of Naya Kashmir cant even question a callous admin & have been reduced to living corpses. Pertinently, 0n December 30, 2020, families of three militants killed in a military operation by a joint team of police, CRPF and Army at Lawaypora in city outskirts of Srinagar staged a protest, asserting that they were innocent civilians. In this regard, the police had said, that three unidentified militants have been killed while the house where militants were hiding suffered partial damage. In the second statement, police said that three militants were killed in a gunfight in Lawaypora area and none of them was on its list of militants, yet two of them were hardcore associates (OGWs) of militants while third one might have joined very recently. In the third statement issued by police on January 1, 2021, after claims by the families of slain trio claiming they were not linked with militancy, police said that technical verification of the slain trio has revealed that two among the three slain were radically inclined and were OGWs of Lashkar-e-Taiba outfit now TRF. Nevertheless police is investigating into the case from all possible angles, the statement added. Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 advocates Punishment for unlawful activities for Whoever, takes part in or commits, or advocates, abets, advises or incites the commission of, any unlawful activity, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. Whoever, in any way, assists any unlawful activity of any association declared unlawful under section 3, after the notification by which it has been so declared has become effective under sub-section (3) of that section, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. Courtesy: Free Press Axios Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Government will be moving to clamp down on food establishments which have been trying to beat the COVID restrictions, by bringing out their staff to prepare meals, which are then put on sale at other locations. 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. RTHK: Former US statesman George Shultz dies at 100 George Shultz, Ronald Reagan's genial secretary of state who identified a diplomatic opening that helped end the Cold War but contributed to a new brand of conflict by advocating preemptive strikes, has died. He was 100. An economics professor who saw himself more as a data-driven expert than an ideologue, Shultz had the rare distinction of serving in four different cabinet positions - including Treasury secretary as Richard Nixon dismantled the post-World War II Bretton Woods monetary system. "One of the most consequential policymakers of all time, having served three American presidents, George P Shultz died February 6 at age 100," the Hoover Institution think tank said in a statement on its website. In the Reagan White House, notorious for infighting, Shultz was one of the least controversial figures, cultivating cordial ties with Congress and the press and, most crucially, rock-solid backing from the president himself, who kept Shultz as his top diplomat for six and a half years. In early 1983, half a year into his tenure, Shultz returned from China to a snowed-under Washington and was invited by Nancy Reagan to a casual dinner at the White House where he was intrigued to hear the famously anti-Communist president sound eager to meet the Soviets. "He had never had a lengthy session with an important leader from a Communist country, and I could sense he would relish such an opportunity," Shultz wrote in his memoir, "Turmoil and Triumph." Days afterward, Shultz brought the Soviet ambassador to the White House in an unmarked car for a secret meeting with Reagan, who pressed for Moscow to allow the emigration of Pentecostal Christians who had sought refuge in the US embassy. The Soviets quietly followed through. Reagan's unlikely role as a negotiator with the superpower he termed an "evil empire" had begun. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev ascended to the helm of the Communist Party and Shultz, joining then vice president George HW Bush, flew to Moscow and met him at the funeral of his predecessor, Konstantin Chernenko. Shultz immediately detected opportunities with Gorbachev. "Gorbachev is totally different from any Soviet leader I've met," Shultz told reporters. A former Marine who fought the Japanese in World War II, he recalled the trust he built with the Soviets as Treasury secretary when he offered a sincere salute at a memorial to their war dead. Shultz's approach with Gorbachev encountered deep scepticism from Defence Secretary Caspar Weinberger and CIA chief Bill Casey, but Reagan overruled them. By 1987, Reagan and Gorbachev signed the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. The Soviet Union soon began disintegrating after Gorbachev initiated liberal reforms and dissent grew. Shultz later played down the role of Gorbachev, pointing to underlying weaknesses in the Soviet system and crediting the US leader's massive boost in defence spending. He also hailed European allies, especially West Germany, that defied public protests against Nato missile deployments in the 1980s. "The Soviets had to see that and realise that we were strong and our diplomacy was based on strength," Shultz said in a 2015 appearance at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, where he spent his post-government career. Shultz became secretary of state weeks after Israel invaded Lebanon, a nation that would become central to an issue that would define his tenure - terrorism. In 1983, a suicide bomber suspected to be a Shi'ite Muslim militant blew up the barracks of US Marines serving as peacekeepers in Lebanon, killing 241, with a second attack targeting French forces, killing 59. With hijackings and bombings rising around the world, Shultz vowed in a 1984 speech at a New York synagogue that the United States would go "beyond passive defence to consider means of active prevention, preemption and retaliation." "We cannot allow ourselves to become the Hamlet of nations, worrying endlessly over whether and how to respond," said Shultz, who recommended the US strikes on Libya in 1986 after a US soldier died in an attack on a Berlin nightclub. Shultz's doctrine was cited two decades later when George W Bush invaded Iraq, inaccurately alleging it was pursuing weapons of mass destruction. Shultz vocally backed the invasion, which along with ensuing wars would claim hundreds of thousands of lives. Declaring Iraq to be a "rogue state," Shultz said Saddam Hussein's overthrow was crucial "for the integrity of the international system and for the effort to deal effectively with terrorism." While secretary of state, Shultz's policies in the Middle East were more moderate. He repeatedly clashed with ally Israel, especially over Lebanon, and opened contacts with the Palestine Liberation Organisation. Shultz had served Nixon as labour secretary and also headed his Office of Management and Budget, a cabinet-level post. In an essay for his 100th birthday in 2020, he bemoaned the style of Donald Trump, saying that the United States, like individuals, could succeed only if others trust it. "Put simply," he said, "trust is the coin of the realm." (AFP) This story has been published on: 2021-02-07. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! ICE Thats because the imaginative Swedish company had something important to show, took advantage of everyone else being gone from the premises, and decided to do an onsite, Youtube-presentation of the Gemera plug-in hybrid grand tourer. Separately, Koenigsegg also showed the Absolut, a high-speed version of the Jesko (check the videeo below).Animated by the same powertrain as its lesser sibling a 5.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 running a nine-speed multi-clutch transmission it is capable of developing 1,280 hp (or 1,600 hp if you go crazy and feed it E85).Now, thats incredibly powerful, even for a four-wheeled machine, but imagine placing something proportionally as powerful on a motorcycle and send it out into the wild.Of course, Koenigsegg itself would probably never venture into the world of motorcycles, but what if it did? Would the Absolut be a good starting point for a two-wheeled design?The guys over at Budget Direct sure think so, as they came up with an Absolut-based motorcycle rendering. Borrowing elements from the car itself, like the slim headlight, the double fins at the rear, and the companys insane ghost logo placed on the side of the fuel tank, it looks about right in this lineage.The wheels have been made to match the car as well, but its up to us to imagine what kind of drivetrain would make them spin, this being a rendering and all. We could imagine, as said above, a proportionally-powerfulconfiguration, but given the direction the industry is now heading, dreaming of an electric configuration would probably not be that much of a stretch. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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| 2021-02-08 01:42:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia is keen to learn from China's economic transformation as the east African country embarks on its own ambitious economic reform program, an Ethiopian official said Sunday. Tagesse Chafo, speaker of the Ethiopian Parliament, made the remarks during discussions he held with China's Ambassador to Ethiopia, Zhao Zhiyuan, according to a press release released by the Press Office of the Ethiopian Parliament. "Ethiopia and China have long-standing friendship and strong relationship spanning five decades. Ethiopia hopes to learn a lot from China in terms of transforming its economy," Chafo remarked. Ethiopia and China established diplomatic ties in 1970, with the two countries in recent years forging closer economic, political, social, medical and cultural ties. Chafo also commended China's assistance in Ethiopia's fight against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zhao Zhiyuan said China and Ethiopia have been steadfastly cooperating with each other since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak was detected about one year ago. Ethiopia has as of Sunday afternoon confirmed 141,453 COVID-19 cases and 2,145 COVID-19 related deaths. Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation, has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the east African region. The Chinese government as well as Chinese private firms have given several rounds of COVID-19 medical supplies to Ethiopia to help the east African country fight the spread of the pandemic. Zhao also said China has built many projects and deployed 50,000 Chinese citizens in various fields to help the east African country become the largest economy in Africa. "Chinese companies in Ethiopia have created more than 1 million jobs in various sectors, highlighting China's Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership with Ethiopia," he added. Enditem Union minister Som Parkash on Sunday said the government is ready for talks with the agitating farmers and asked whether there can be an offer bigger than suspending the contentious agriculture laws for 18 months. He said the government was making sincere efforts to resolve the issue. The government is ready for talks, Parkash said addressing a press conference here. We offered to suspend the laws for one-and-half years and constitute a committee with farmers' representatives on these laws. What can be a bigger offer than this? he added. His statement comes a day after protesting farmer unions said they were ready to resume talks with the government, but asked it to come up with a fresh proposal as the existing offer to put the three farm laws on hold for 12-18 months is not acceptable to them. Parkash, the Union minister of state for Commerce, was part of the three-member ministerial team which held several rounds of negotiations with the farmers' leaders. Parkash, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Punjab's Hoshiarpur parliamentary constituency, said the farm legislations were passed by Parliament and a due process was followed. The law is not framed by raising hands. There is a system in the country, he added. The union minister said the government enacted the laws keeping in view the interest of the whole country. Thousands of farmers have been protesting since late November 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 Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. They have expressed 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. To a question on the upcoming municipal polls in Punjab, Parkash said the farmers' agitation should not be linked with the elections. The government had brought these laws in the interest of the farming community, he said. The minister slammed the ruling Congress in Punjab, accusing it of orchestrating the protest against the BJP leaders in the state. The police is acting at the behest of the state government, he alleged. A group of farmers in Hoshiarpur on Saturday had shouted slogans against the BJP outside a venue where party leaders, including Parkash, had come for a public meeting. Elections to the eight municipal corporations and 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats in the state will be held on February 14. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry filed a lawsuit Feb. 5 against a reporter for The Advocate and The Times-Picayune over a public records she filed, asking a judge to issue a declaratory judgment denying the rest and to seal the proceedings from the public. The reporter, Andrea Gallo, had requested copies of sexual harassment complaints about Pat Magee, the head of the offices criminal division, and records of how the complaints were handled. Magee returned to work last month after an investigation found that he engaged in inappropriate behavior, including using sexual slang and making unprofessional comments over the appearance of employees. Attorney General Jeff Landry sues Advocate reporter over public-records request Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry on Friday sued a reporter for The Advocate and The Times-Picayune over a public-records request she fil +2 Top deputy to AG Jeff Landry, subject of sexual harassment probe, suspended without pay A top deputy to Attorney General Jeff Landry returned to work Tuesday after an investigation that found he "engaged in inappropriate verbal co In my 40 years as an editor, Ive never seen a journalist get sued for requesting a public record, said Peter Kovacs, the newspapers editor. Were not intimidated. In fact, were more determined. Read Landry's court filings below: If you live in Charleston or Berkeley county, its easy to think the whole remote vs. in-person debate over schools has been settled, and in-person classes won. But while Charleston and Berkeley are among the 27 districts statewide offering parents the opportunity to send their children back to school five days a week, the other 52 are either allowing students in the classroom only a few days a week or still locking them out entirely. Most tragically, the Corridor of Shame schools in Calhoun, Colleton, Lee and Orangeburg counties where students are least likely to have good internet connections and online skills and parents at home who can help them navigate remote learning were still entirely remote as of Friday. We all know the arguments by now. Children are losing ground academically, socially and emotionally each day theyre not in the classroom. Not to mention the damage to families who have to choose between leaving the kids home alone or giving up jobs that keep the lights on and food on the table. Some teachers though not all, and probably nowhere close to most say that holding classes puts students and teachers at too high a risk for contracting COVID-19. But the evidence has become overwhelming that there is so little transmission in schools that students and teachers are safer there than anywhere else except perhaps in their homes, and then only if no one is leaving their homes to go to work or to restaurants or shopping. Thats why we agree with S.C. Education Superintendent Molly Spearman, who said Thursday: South Carolina cannot afford to delay going back to school any longer. Face-to-face instruction is vital to families and communities, and action has to be taken. And its why we were happy to see her rescind a June recommendation that school districts open their classrooms only when community spread is low. That has no legal effect Charleston, Berkeley and 25 other districts had opened them full time even with high rates of community spread but it removes one more excuse for other districts to keep locking students out of the classroom most or all of the time. Sign up for our opinion newsletter Get a weekly recap of South Carolina opinion and analysis from The Post and Courier in your inbox on Monday evenings. Email Sign Up! Although we wish it werent necessary, were also happy to see that the Legislature is finally moving to require districts to let all the children back into the classroom. The idea behind legislation tentatively approved by the Senate on Thursday to bump teachers up in the vaccination line in order to alleviate their fears while also requiring them to return to the classroom is excellent. But as written, it would cause huge logistical problems, likely forcing DHEC to cancel vaccination appointments for tens of thousands of people who have already signed up, and force them to start the often difficult process all over. Gov. Henry McMaster could have eliminated some of the logistical problems by allowing teachers to get in line for the vaccine along with people ages 65-69, and he still should. And the Senate or the House should amend S.516 to require DHEC to prioritize teachers without cancelling any appointments already made. And school districts should comply with Mr. McMasters request to work with their local hospitals or health departments now to put together plans for vaccination clinics, which will have the effect of bumping teachers to the head of the line whenever he allows them to be vaccinated. Mr. McMaster is absolutely correct when he argues as President Joe Bidens new CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday and as half of South Carolinas schools have demonstrated that we shouldnt make teacher vaccinations a prerequisite for opening schools. But senators are correct to understand that teachers have genuine if overwrought fears, South Carolina faces a teacher shortage, and giving teachers some vaccine priority is a good-faith effort to work with the professionals whose contributions the virus has taught us all to value even more. Lawmakers and Mr. McMaster need to work together to find a way to accomplish their shared goals, and get all of our kids back into the classroom. It has been over a year that coronavirus cases first emerged in China's Wuhan. What started as a mysterious fever in November 2019 in China had the world paused in an uneasy, uncertain lockdown by March 2020. When China faced flak for not alerting the world on time about the virus infection, it was Chinese doctor Li Wenliang whose name came forward as the whistleblower in the case. He was one of the eight whistleblowers who warned other medics of the coronavirus outbreak but were reprimanded by the police. He dropped a bombshell in his medical school alumni group on the popular Chinese messaging app WeChat that seven patients from a local seafood market had been diagnosed with a SARS-like illness and quarantined in his hospital. Li explained that, according to a test he had seen, the illness was a coronavirus a large family of viruses that includes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) which led to 800 death in China and the world in 2003. Li told his friends to warn their loved ones privately. But within hours screenshots of his messages had gone viral - without his name being blurred. He was one of several medics targeted by the police for trying to blow the whistle on the deadly virus in the early weeks of the outbreak. A year after his death, Wuhan residents are thankful to Wenliang for sending out the alarm about the outbreak before it received official recognition. Wenliang, an ophthalmologist at a hospital in the city, became one of the most visible figures in the early days of the outbreak in Wuhan when he tried to sound the alarm about its appearance, but was reprimanded by police for spreading rumours. The doctor died on February 7 after contracting the virus infection while treating coronavirus patients in Wuhan. There was mourning and anger after his death as reports of his intimidation by police emerged as he tried to send out alert on the pandemic. While the world and his colleagues remembered him and honoured him, Chinese President hasn't made any mention of him. When President Xi Jinping honoured the heroes of the peoples war against the virus in September, there was no mention of Lis contribution. While people on the streets around Lis hospital say life in the city has mostly returned to its usual rhythm, they still revere Li for his actions. As Reuters journalists visited the area around the hospital on Saturday they were followed by two men in plainclothes who identified themselves as hospital parking security, and local guards blocked a cameraman from filming the hospital entrance. He was the first to tell us about the virus, said Li Pan, 24, who owns an online store. He must have considered the impact would be huge, but he still raised the alarm. That was really brave, Li said. Ji Penghui, a 34 year-old designer, said he heard about Lis warning in the early days and rushed to stock up on masks before the officials spoke openly about the virus. The public strongly acknowledges him, and personally, I think he should receive more official honours, rather than being treated as what he did is already in the past Ji said. Ji said the government made mistakes in the early stages, but it has handled it well since. A World Health Organization team is currently in Wuhan researching the early stages of the outbreak, and is preparing to present its findings, team member Dominic Dwyer told Reuters on Friday. The team visited the sprawling Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, thought to be where the virus first became an outbreak, which led to a pandemic that has infected over 105 million people and killed nearly 3 million worldwide. The market site has been shut to the public since the beginning of last year. The origins of the virus have become highly politicised, and some Chinese diplomats and state media have thrown support behind theories that the virus potentially originated in another country. While 80-year-old Qian Wende said he does not know where the virus came from, he regards Li as a hero. We should be commemorating his contribution to fighting the pandemic, he said. (With inputs from Reuters) The Minor League sons of two former Major League pitchers Friday won $3.24 million in their lawsuit over a 2019 assault at an upscale Washington Avenue bar. Kacy Clemens and Conner Capel, the sons of former Astros Roger Clemens and Mike Capel, were cleared of wrongdoing and the Concrete Cowboy was found liable in a Jan. 1, 2019, altercation involving the bar staff that left both men bloody and injured. Kent Adams, attorney for the bar owner and the bars parent company, said opposing counsel was an outstanding trial lawyer who did a great job on the Harris County case. Our clients are reviewing the next steps and we will move forward per their instructions accordingly, he said. Clemens, 26, played first base in the minors for the Blue Jays. Capel, 23, was an outfielder in the minors for the Cardinals. Both men live in Houston. Their lawyer made the case this week to a jury that the two friends were innocent bystanders amid a commotion at the packed bar. Witnesses said the bar owner and bouncers put them in chokeholds, roughed them up and threw them out. Capel had a skull fracture above his eye, where witnesses said he got slammed with a flashlight, and needed stitches. He also had bruised ribs, scratches and cuts. Clemens had injuries to his neck and a swollen elbow on his throwing arm, according to evidence at trial. This was a hard-fought case over two years to uncover the real facts as to what occurred, said Randy Sorrels, who represented the plaintiffs. The young men are appreciative of the jury exonerating them and holding the bar responsible. The younger ballplayers sued the bar owner, Daniel Wierck, and the bars parent company, 34th S&S, LLC. The jury ruled in their favor on two counts, finding the bar staff liable for assault and negligence. Sorrels argued the owners created a dangerous environment by allowing hundreds more people than the bars maximum capacity. The witnesses included Clemens father, a two-time World Series champion and seven-time Cy Young award winner, who said his jaw dropped when his son and godson arrived at his home in the early morning. The elder Clemens told jurors, It looked to me like they had been in a car accident. He said the altercation hindered his sons reputation at his ball club. Adams, for the company, told jurors Clemens and Capel were part of the group involved in the initial commotion and the bar should not be held responsible for their injuries. gabrielle.banks@chron.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 A man was sent to the hospital following a Saturday shooting on Thalia Street, according to the New Orleans police Department. Police are investigating the shooting that happened in the 2800 block of Thalia Street. NOPD did not immediately release any other information. Announcement On Proposed Election Of Additional Directors Qingdao / Shanghai / Frankfurt / Hong Kong, 07 February 2021 - Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (D-Share 690D.DE, A-Share 600690.SH, H-Share 06690.HK) published today an announcement on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and on the Hongkong Stock Exchange with regard to Proposed Election of Additional Directors. The board of directors (the 'Board') of Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. (the 'Company', together with its subsidiaries as the 'Group') announces that: Following the completion of the listing of H shares by way of introduction and the transaction on privatisation of Haier Electronics Group Co., Ltd. (stock code: 1169) by the Company, to further improve the corporate governance, better realise the synergy and enhance diversity of the Board, the Company intends to elect additional directors, namely Mr. Xie Ju Zhi as the executive director of the Company, and Mr. Yu Hon To, David and Ms. Eva Li Kam Fun as the non-executive directors of the Company. The aforementioned director candidates have been considered and approved at the Board meeting. The term of office shall commence from the date on which their appointments are approved at the general meeting of the Company until the date on which the term of the current session of the Board expires. Upon expiration of their terms of office, they may be re-elected. The biographical details of the aforementioned director candidates are set out in Appendix I to this announcement. To promote the Internet of Things Strategy of the Company and enrich the diversity of the Board, according to the relevant provisions of the Company Law of the People's Republic of China and the Articles of Association of the Company as well as the opinions of the Nomination Committee under the Board, the Board has agreed that Mr. Li Shipeng is nominated as the independent non-executive director, whose term of office shall be the same as the tenth session of the Board. His qualifications as the independent non-executive directors have been filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange with no objection. Please refer to Appendix II for the biographical details of Mr. Li Shipeng. Mr. Li has extensive experience in several sectors, including Internet of Things technologies and artificial intelligence. Not only will his joining be able to promote the diversity of Board members, but also speed up planning and implementation of the Company's strategies of being the Internet of Things ecology brand. The nomination of Mr. Li was made by the Company after taking into consideration of the diversity of Board members in respect of several factors, including cultural and educational background, professional experience, skills and expertise in particular. It is based on the value and contributions that can be made by the candidate to the Board, evaluated on an objective bases, after taking into full consideration of the benefits on the diversity of the Board members, and implemented in accordance with the law, regulations and relevant provisions of securities regulatory authorities. As of the date of this announcement, save as disclosed in this announcement, in the past three years, each of the director candidates have not held any directorship in any other public companies the securities of which are listed on any securities market in Hong Kong or overseas, nor served other positions in other members of the Group, and do not have any other major appointments or professional qualifications. The director candidates do not have other relationship with any directors, supervisors, senior management or substantial shareholders or controlling shareholders of the Company and do not hold any interest in the shares of the Company or its associated companies within the meaning of Part XV of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Chapter 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong). There is or was no information in relation to the appointment of the director candidates which is required to be disclosed pursuant to the requirements set out in 13.51(2) (h) to (v) of the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited nor are there any matters which need to be brought to the attention of the shareholders of the Company. If appointed, the Company will enter into service contracts with each appointed director. The directors fee is the same as that of the current tenth session of the Board (RMB200,000 per annual for each director). The Board has agreed to submit the above-mentioned proposal for election of additional directors to the Company's first extraordinary general meeting of 2021 (the 'EGM') for consideration and approval. A circular containing, among other things, the relevant information on the proposed election of additional directors, together with the notice of convening the EGM, will be despatched to the shareholders of the Company in due course. The Board of Directors Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. Appendix I: Biographical Details of Additional Directors to be Elected Mr. XIE Ju Zhi (Mr. XIE), aged 54, graduated from Shandong University of Finance and Economics in July 1989 with a bachelor's degree, and joined Haier Group Corporation in the same year. Mr. Xie has experience in whole-process product management, product-wide services and product-wide marketing. Mr. Xie had held senior positions in Electrothermal Division of the Haier Group Corporation and East China Marketing and Promotion Division of the Haier Group Corporation, and served as the Corporate General Manager of the Customer Services of the Haier Group Corporation since August 2002. Since July 2012, he has been the Vice President of Haier Group Corporation, and he has been in charge of Haier Group Corporation's integration of community sales services in first and second-tier cities, and developing the online and offline sales of new household products. From December 2015 to date, he has been managing the newly developed business segments of Haier Group Corporation, including water purification, logistics, Haier home and Gooday services and has started to concurrently manage the water heater business since 2019. He was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and an Executive Director of Haier Electronics Group Co., Ltd. ('Haier Electronics', a listed company of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the 'Hong Kong Stock Exchange'), stock code: 1169) which was privatized and delisted on 23 December 2020) since 27 March 2019. Mr. Xie was awarded honorary titles including the Gold Award of Outstanding Contribution Award of China's Home Appliance Services Industry (???????????????) and Outstanding Entrepreneur of Shandong Province (????????). Mr. Xie is also a director of the following subsidiaries of Haier Smart Home: Haier Electronics Group Co., Ltd., Haier Water Heaters Holdings (BVI) Ltd., Haier Washing Machines Holdings (BVI) Ltd., Haier Holdings (BVI) Limited, Qingdao Haier Investment and Development Holdings (BVI) Limited, Bloom Trade Limited, Hong Kong Bolang Housewares Trading Company Limited, Health Water Equipment (HK) Co., Ltd., Qingdao Haishi Water Equipment Co., Ltd. and its certain subsidiaries, Haier Electronics Sales (HK) Company Limited, Qingdao Economy and Technology Development Zone Haier Water Heater Co., Ltd., Chongqing Haier Water Heater Co., Ltd., Wuhan Haier Water Heater Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou Haier New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., Qingdao Haier Smart Electrics Equipment Co., Ltd., Qingdao Haier New Energy Electrical Technology Co., Ltd., Qingdao Haier Intelligent Electronics Co., Ltd., Youshuijia IoT Technology (Qingdao) Co., Ltd., Qingdao Goodaymart Lexinyun Technology Co., Ltd. and Designwelt (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. subsidiaries. As at the date of this announcement, Mr. Xie holds 715,444 H shares of the Company. Mr. YU Hon To, David (Mr. YU), aged 72. Mr. Yu holds a Bachelor of Social Science degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Mr. Yu is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and an Associate Member of Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is a chartered accountant with over 40 years' experience in the fields of auditing, corporate finance (including advisory on IPO, mergers & acquisitions and financial restructuring), financial investigation and corporate governance. Mr. Yu was formerly a partner of Coopers & Lybrand (now merged as PricewaterhouseCoopers) in Hong Kong with extensive experience in the corporate finance advisory assignments in Greater China for Hong Kong corporations, private equity groups and multinationals. Mr. Yu also served as an independent non-executive director and the chairman of the audit committee of Haier Electronics, a subsidiary of the Company, over the past three years. Mr. Yu had served various public offices including being a member of the Listing Committee of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange from 1992 to 1995, a member of the Investment Committee and the Audit Committee of Employees Retraining Board (established under the Employees Retraining Ordinance of Hong Kong) from 1999 to 2020, and a member of the Board of Review (established under Inland Revenue Ordinance of Hong Kong) from 2006 to 2012. Mr. Yu is currently an independent non-executive director of several other companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, namely China Renewable Energy Investment Limited (stock code: 987), Media Chinese International Limited (stock code: 685), One Media Group Limited (stock code: 426), Playmates Holdings Limited (stock code: 635), China Resources Gas Group Limited (stock code: 1193), Keck Seng Investments (Hong Kong) Limited (stock code: 184), New Century Asset Management Limited (the manager of New Century Real Estate Investment Trust (stock code: 1275)) and MS Group Holdings Limited (stock code: 1451). Mr. Yu holds 810,000 H shares of the Company. Ms. Eva Li Kam Fun (names that commonly used are 'Mrs. Eva CHENG Li Kam Fun') ('Ms. Eva Li Kam Fun'), aged 68. Ms. Eva Li Kam Fun graduated from the University of Hong Kong with Bachelor of Arts (Hons) and Master of Business Administration degrees. She was conferred with the degree of Doctor of Business Administration, honoris causa, from the Open University of Hong Kong in 2014. Ms. Eva Li Kam Fun is currently the president of Our Hong Kong Foundation. She also serves as an independent non-executive director of Nestle S.A, a publicly listed company on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Ms. Eva Li Kam Fun also served as an independent non-executive director of Haier Electronics, a subsidiary of the Company, over the past three years. Prior to joining the Our Hong Kong Foundation, Ms. Eva Li Kam Fun had a distinguished career that spanned 34 years with Amway Corporation. When she retired in 2011, she held the concurrent positions of Executive Vice President of Amway Corporation and Executive Chairman of Amway China Co. Ltd. responsible for Amway Greater China & Southeast Asia Region. During the last three years, Ms. Eva Li Kam Fun had also been an independent non-executive director of Amcor Limited (a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange) from 2014 to 2019, and an independent non-executive director of Trinity Limited (a company listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange) (Stock Code: 891) from 2011 to 2020. Ms. Eva Li Kam Fun's leadership was well recognised in the business community. She was twice named the 'World's 100 Most Powerful Women' by Forbes Magazine in 2008 and 2009. CNBC awarded Ms. Eva Li Kam Fun with the 'China Talent Management Award' in its 2007 China Business Leaders Awards. In the areas of public and social service, Ms. Eva Li Kam Fun is court member of the Open University of Hong Kong, advisor of the All-China Women's Federation Hong Kong Delegates Association, honorary president of the Hong Kong Federation of Women, and permanent honorary director of The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Eva Li Kam Fun holds 355,200 H shares of the Company. Appendix II: Biographical Details of Additional Independent Non-executive Director to be Elected Mr. Li Shipeng (Mr. Li), aged 54, holds a bachelor's and master's degree from University of Science and Technology of China, and a PhD degree from Lehigh University, USA. Mr. Li has extensive experience in areas such as Internet of Things technology, and artificial intelligence. Mr. Li is currently the Executive President of Shenzhen Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. Prior to that, he served as the Chief Researcher and Deputy Dean of Microsoft Research Asia, Chief Technology Officer of Cogobuy Group, and Vice President of iFlytek Group. Mr. Li is a member of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the International Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE fellow). He was listed as one of the world's top 1,000 computer scientists by Guide2Research and ranked top 20 in Mainland China in 2020. Mr. Li is a renowned expert in areas such Internet, computer vision, cloud computing, Internet of Things and artificial intelligence. 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 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is unlikely to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled programme at Haldia in Purba Medinipore district on Sunday evening, a top official at the state secretariat said. The exact reason for this uncertainty has not been specified, but the "insult meted out to her" on January 23, when Jai Shri Ram' slogans were raised at an event just before her speech, could be the cause, he said. Also Read: PM Modi leaves for Assam and West Bengal visit: Check all the details Modi is set to inaugurate four projects in Haldia in oil, gas, and infrastructure sectors. "Madam (CM) is unlikely to attend this evening's programme at Haldia where PM Modi will be inaugurating projects," the official told PTI. The TMC boss has also asked her party members to skip the programme, he added. Banerjee had on January 23 refused to deliver her speech at an event on the occasion of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's 125th birth anniversary, after a section of the audience raised 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans in the presence of the prime minister. She had said that such "insult was unacceptable". Sources in the Raj Bhavan said Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar is scheduled to attend Sunday's event. Rebel Wilson recently called it quits with her millionaire boyfriend Jacob Busch. And on Sunday, the Australian actress, 40, showed him exactly what he was missing as she put on an eye-popping display in a plunging blue jumpsuit. Rebel flaunted her incredible 30 kilograms (66.1lbs or 4.7 stone) weight loss on Instagram in an impromptu photo shoot. Showing Jacob what he's missing! Rebel Wilson, 40, shows off her slender physique as her personal trainer Jono Castano reveals he's not all to blame for her impressive transformation 'Special Saturday before Super Sunday!' she wrote alongside the photo. The new post comes as her Sydney-based personal trainer, Jono Castano, revealed despite training the Hollywood star up to six times per week in 2020 during her 'Year of Health', Rebel deserved more credit than she may be getting. Speaking to Body & Soul, the 30-year-old explained: 'To get results, you dont have to see a trainer.' Hard work: On Sunday, Jono Castano, (left) revealed despite training six times per week with the Hollywood star, he's not all to blame for her transformation 'Rebel still does a lot on her own... Rebel loves walks. And I love to implement them!' he added with a laugh. Jono continued: 'Youve got 45 minutes in your day to get outside and clock up some steps.' The Sydney-based health expert explained when he first sat down to discuss Rebel's goals it was more about her feeling better than what was on the scales. 'Rebel still does a lot on her own... Rebel loves walks. And I love to implement them!' he told Body & Soul this week Jono explained when focusing on weight loss with his clients he likes to instead focus on the mind, recovery, nutrition and training. Rebel announced only five days ago that she was back on the market, after more than a year of dating Jacob. The actress posted a gorgeous snap of herself standing beside a trailer in a form-fitting denim dress as she shared the news with her followers. 'Lots on my mind... aghhhhhh...#single-girl-heading-to-Super-Bowl!' she captioned the photo. Back on the market: Wilson announced her single status with this stylish snap earlier this week Sources have since said the couple's relationship had simply 'fizzled out'. 'There wasn't one incident that really happened to end things the relationship just ran its course and fizzled out', a source told E! 'They spent the holidays apart and it was getting a little hard to make it work since Rebel lives in LA and he lives in Palm Beach. The insider added the former couple remain good friends and look back on their relationship fondly. They said: 'Rebel and Jacob may even end up hanging out together in the future. Jacob has a lot of love and respect for Rebel and she'll always hold a special place in his heart. He adored her.' Despite the circumstances, 2020 was overall a positive year for Rebel. COLUMBIA South Carolina lawmakers sent two dozen judges to the bench across the state on Feb. 3, where theyll preside over thousands of proceedings, from criminal appeals to evictions, over the course of their terms. All of them were White, which has sparked outrage, but not surprise, among several Black members of the General Assembly, who said qualified candidates of color were overlooked. They told The Post and Courier it's another lost opportunity for the Palmetto State to show a commitment to diversity from the top levels of government. S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty, who is Black, has been on the state's highest bench since 2007. And of the nine judges on the state's appeals court, its second highest, one is Black. Of the 61 current supreme, appeals and circuit court judges, nine are Black, or 15 percent. Meanwhile, about 27 percent of South Carolina's population is Black. "We have a problem in South Carolina in that we don't have enough Black judges on the bench, and it's frustrating," said state Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, R-North Charleston. State Rep. Ivory Thigpen, a Columbia Democrat set to become chairman of the Black Legislative Caucus in two years, said he thinks its critical that the judicial bench reflect the state's diversity and that Black lawmakers emphasize that to all of their colleagues. While the majority of the judicial races were uncontested, four Black women lost or withdrew from races held in the General Assembly on Feb. 3 despite credentials that proponents said put them on equal footing with White nominees. South Carolina and Virginia are the only states that select judges through the Legislature, and more than 120 are chosen for positions on administrative law, appeals, circuit and family courts. Legislators also pick state Supreme Court justices. The time of the Black woman just seems to not have arrived in South Carolina, said state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg. For me, it was just a sad day. The highest profile contest in the slate of elections was a seat on the S.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, where DeAndrea Benjamin, a circuit court judge who is wife of Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, lost to Florence Family Court Judge Jay Vinson. The race was marked by attacks of Benjamin from conservatives, who decried her Democratic connections, despite Vinson's own ties to Democrats. Had she won, Benjamin would have become the first Black woman to serve on the states second-highest court. "Im not prepared to say anybody was racist, Im not prepared to say racism played a part, but Im prepared to say it doesnt look right and something is going on here, said State Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Hopkins. House Judiciary Chairman Chris Murphy, a North Charleston Republican who is a member of the state's Judicial Merit Selection Commission, declined to comment on the results of the Feb. 3 elections. Senate Judiciary Chairman Luke Rankin of Conway is chairman of the selection commission that screens judicial candidates before they go to lawmakers. Im proud of the slate that we collectively advanced to the General Assembly for the election," Rankin said. "We, of course, do not preordain the ultimate victor. Thats not our task. Each candidate is given the opportunity to campaign, to prevail upon the majority of 169 of us as to their merits and as compared to the others. So the criticism that this was not a diverse group doesnt speak to the work of our committee, it speaks to each candidates own strengths." Benjamin's defeat was soon followed by those of two more Black women: Spartanburg Municipal Judge Erika McJimpsey lost a seat on the 7th Judicial Circuits family court to Angela Moss, an assistant public defender in Spartanburg County and sister-in-law of state Rep. Steve Moss, R-Blacksburg, while Lowcountry prosecutor Temeaka Legette was kept off the 14th Judicial Circuit bench after losing to Colleton County attorney Robert Bonds. Legette, a criminal prosecutor in the 14th Circuit Solicitors Office since 2002, won a national leadership award in 2019 from the U.S. Attorneys Office and helped set up one of the states first domestic violence courts. Bonds, a private practice attorney with the Walterboro-based Hetrick, Harvin & Bonds, spent eight years on City Council and has been practicing law in South Carolina since 1990. Another Black woman, Stephanie Lawrence of Columbia, withdrew her name for consideration for an Administrative Law seat minutes before the General Assembly voted on Feb. 3 because she didnt have enough legislative support to win. Jackson said Lawrence was backed by most of Richland Countys legislative delegation. "Usually thats a clincher, Jackson said. Theres no justification for why that didnt happen. State Rep. Leon Howard, a Columbia Democrat who chairs Richland County's legislative delegation, said the Feb. 3 outcome was a setback for the state. This is nothing really new, he said. In 1995, when I was elected to the House of Representatives we had little to no African American judges on the bench, and finally we were able to make some strides. Now we are stuck in reverse. Across South Carolinas rural areas, where there are higher Black populations, a lack of judicial diversity can be especially troublesome, said Pendarvis, who is also an attorney. While I don't say any members have ill intentions, I don't think they're cognizant that representation matters, and we have to do our due diligence to make sure we elected judges that look like South Carolina, he said. We have to do better. It says a lot about what our priorities are. S.C. Legislative Black Caucus Chairwoman Pat Henegan, D-Bennettsville, said she was also disappointed but is looking ahead. The best chance Black lawmakers have of changing the situation is if more of them get elected in the future, Henegan said. So she said they need to focus on recruiting and supporting candidates in more districts. CORRECTION: This story has been updated to note Angela Moss is the sister-in-law of state Rep. Steve Moss, a Blacksburg Republican. New Delhi, Feb 7 : The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is working on a scheme wherein immediate treatment will be ensured to those injured in accidents on national highways across the country. The Ministry is planning to come up with an improved mechanism that will immediately inform the police and ambulance services in case of accident. Arrangement of an ambulance equipped with Global Positioning System to ferry victims to nearest hospital will be ensured. Similarly, the Ministry is also working on several new schemes to prevent road accidents, in tandem with engineering institutes like Indian Institutes of Technology and National Institutes of Technology across the country. Giridhar Aramane, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, said that work is underway for an emergency response mechanism for road safety. "Immediate treatment will be possible for those injured in road accidents if the police, ambulances and hospitals are connected through a single network. It will also help in relief and rescue work." The Ministry is working on real-time information exchange as well as cashless treatment of the injured, he said, adding that talks are underway with the Health Ministry in this regard. According to the official data, after the strict implementation of the Motor Vehicle Act in September 2019, a significant decline of over 3.86 per cent has been noticed in the number of accidents across the country. In 2019, a total of 4,49,002 road accidents took place in which 1,51,113 people lost their lives. The Ministry believes that apart from other measures, fear of hefty fines deterred people to violate traffic rules. However, India is still among the countries where the road accidents are high. Currently, the Ministry is working on the Integrated Road Accident Project with the help of the World Bank. According to the Ministry officials, the cashless treatment scheme will greatly benefit the affected families. Sources said that after the launch of the scheme, treatment of up to Rs 2.5 lakh will be free for accident victims. Prince Charles has said using obscure language around environmental issues is 'unhelpful' and risks alienating those who need to hear it. The Prince of Wales, 72, called for 'a willingness to do things differently' as the agricultural industry faces significant change, in a piece he penned for the upcoming issue Farmers Weekly magazine. 'In this new world, the relationship between farmers and carbon, water and biodiversity, will be of fundamental importance, with bigger challenges and new opportunities,' the heir to the throne wrote. The Prince of Wales, 72, called for 'a willingness to do things differently' as the agricultural industry faces significant change, in a piece he penned for the upcoming issue Farmers Weekly magazine. 'So it is often unhelpful, perhaps, that much of the language being used to describe the situation and the potential remedies is so obscure, sometimes appearing as if it has been chosen to hide the real message and alienate those who most need to hear it,' he added. He continued to add that common environmental terms such as biodiversity and agroforestry, often used by scientists and NGOs, fail to communicate practical messages. It comes as the future king, thought to currently be based at his country home, Highgrove House in Gloucestershire with wife Camilla, 73, prepares to accept a lifetime achievement award from the farming industry publication. The prince has a long-standing interest in the natural world and will receive the award from Farmers Weekly due to his contributions to British farming. It comes as the future king, thought to currently be based at his country home, Highgrove House in Gloucestershire with wife Camilla, 73, prepares to accept a lifetime achievement award from the farming industry publication Earlier this month Charles said it was 'sheer madness' to continue on a path of destroying the planet. At a virtual event hosted by the Royal Society, he warned humans had already reached the point where there is not enough nature to meet our demands and that while nature could recover if given the chance, the window to do so 'is closing fast'. 'We all of us have a fiduciary duty to life on Earth, for we hold this planet in trust, having a duty of care that is absolute. 'Yet we know that, day by day, strand by strand, we are rapidly destroying the fabric of the natural world for ourselves and children and grandchildren, and testing this precious planet to destruction.' A long time environmental campaigner, the Duke of Cornwall also guest edited an edition for Country Life where he urged the nation to draw on its strength that has seen it fight coronavirus and 'pool our efforts' to tackle 'the other deeply troubling problems our planet faces: global warming, climate change and the heartbreaking loss of biodiversity.' He added: 'We have a very short window of opportunity, which must not be squandered, in which to seize something good from this crisis and, as we rebuild, to put Nature, our planet and our children and grandchildren first.' Hyderabad: Indian economy is witnessing a V-shaped recovery after challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said on Saturday. Interacting with the media in Hyderabad, Thakur said India and other countries faced economic slowdown due to lockdown and other measures taken to contain the spread of the pandemic. "But India stood strong. The economy is witnessing a V-shaped recovery," he said. He said the union budget presented earlier this month will give a boost to various sectors. "The recent budget has no new taxes on the people of this country," he said, adding that Modi Government "is development- driven". He said all sections of people have appreciated the budget except the opposition parties. The minister said that the revised estimates (RE) 2020-21 for expenditure is 34.50 lakh crore as against budgetary estimates (BE) 2020-21 of 30.42 lakh crore. He said the budget for 2021-22 is very transparent and aims for the overall development of the country. "In the next four to five years, India would become a USD five trillion economy. The general budget for 2021-22 has been designed carefully," he said. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic pushing its meetings to Zoom, Phillipsburg Town Council met at the Phillipsburg Housing Authoritys Heckman House. The authoritys executive director, Paul Rummerfield, now faces charges of official misconduct and related counts after he allegedly installed cameras and microphones to spy on employees. Council last week voted to have the towns attorney, Rich Wenner, reach out to the Warren County Prosecutors Office to see if any of its meetings -- either public or behind closed doors -- were caught in the alleged surveillance scheme. For some time weve held our meetings in one of the facilities there, said Councilman Randy Piazza Jr., who suggested the inquiry to see if any of our meetings have been compromised. Oftentimes we discuss contractual matters, litigation matters, employee matters, settlements, things of that nature, that could possibly be, I dont know, compromised in their integrity going forward, Piazza said. Council on Tuesday authorized the inquiry 4-0, with Councilwoman Danielle DeGerolamo abstaining. According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by New Jersey State Police, Rummerfield possessed and accessed electronic interception devices. These electronic devices were used to intercept private conversations of PHA employees, specifically maintenance employees located in the breakroom at 502 Heckman Street, Phillipsburg, and main office employees located at 530 Heckman Street, Phillipsburg. The Heckman House where council met in a community room is at 525 Fisher Ave., adjacent to 530 Heckman St. and across Anderson Street from 502 Heckman St. I dont know for sure whether thats one of the areas that was being recorded, First Assistant Prosecutor Anthony Robinson told lehighvalleylive.com on Friday, adding that councils concerns would be investigated: Any referral we get we certainly take seriously. Investigators seized five electronic devices, such as cellphones or computers, as part of the probe into the alleged audio recordings. Court documents list the timeframe for the allegations as around January 2017 to September 2020. Rummerfield, 67, of the 500 block of Barrymore Street in Phillipsburg, previously was accused of sexual harassment by an employee in a civil lawsuit that was filed a year ago and is still pending. He has not returned calls for comment. Court records do not list an attorney for him. He is scheduled to appear in New Jersey Superior Court in Belvidere on Feb. 23 on the charges of second-degree official misconduct, second-degree pattern of official misconduct, third-degree possession of intercepting devices and third-degree intercepting communications. The housing authoritys board of commissioners on Jan. 28 suspended Rummerfield with pay. Town council on Tuesday accepted the resignation of Commissioner Ann Baptista, commending and thanking her for her service. Council Vice President Bobby Fulper said in advertising to fill the vacancy, council is looking to exclude any applicants with ties to authority employees or board members amid the ongoing criminal case. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.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. News around the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine seems to get worse by the day. And for no country more than for India, which is committed heavily to this particular vaccine through a massive production arrangement with the Serum Institute of India (SII). New and worrying limits to the efficacy of this vaccine have surfaced over the weekend after it was found nearly ineffective against a new variant of the virus that has come to be known as the South Africa variant. This variant originated in South Africa or at the least was first identified in South Africa and travelled to Britain besides several other countries. And now, it has been found in communities in Britain not linked to travel from South Africa. ALSO READ | After Germany, France Says No Oxford-AstraZeneca Virus Vaccine for People Over 65 A study whose findings were reported Sunday found that the AstraZeneca vaccine had only limited effect in countering mild or moderate illness resulting from the South Africa variant. Any protection against more serious illness from the virus has not been tested. The study was carried out among young and healthy adults. AstraZeneca has held out hope that the present vaccine may still prevent any serious illness resulting from this new variant of the virus. Oxford and AstraZeneca have announced that they are developing an updated vaccine to protect against the South Africa variant. That is expected to be ready only later this year. Better success for the Oxford vaccine has been claimed against what has come to be called the UK variant of the virus. Early research has suggested that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines offer more protection against the South Africa variant. Two new vaccines being developed by Novavax and Janssen also have shown better results against the South Africa variant. Six Problems The Oxford vaccine had appeared the biggest promise against the virus since the pandemic broke last year. Now none seems more controversial, or less convincing, on the record so far. Britain itself is relying on the Oxford vaccine less heavily than India. It approved Pfizer first, and now appears to be rolling that one out faster than the Oxford vaccine, which is widely regarded across Britain as a poor and less preferable cousin to the rest. The Oxford team is now holding out new promises looking ahead but six major problems have been flagged around the Oxford vaccine. 1. Other vaccines are reporting about 90 percent success while the Oxford trial showed 62 percent success. This effectively means a two in five chance you can get the vaccine and still get the virus, though studies show the infection would be less acute. 2. The Oxford trial claimed 90 percent success through a part of the trial where a smaller dosage was given by mistake. Just what was Oxford doing making a mistake like that, in a trial such as this, remains unclear. After all, few trials have mattered more. 3. That 90 percent claim came from a better result with no more than three individuals. Oxford averaged the results out to claim 70 percent success. Those claims of 90 percent and of 70 percent were both rejected by the MHRA, the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority whose task it is to approve vaccines in Britain. 4. And now a huge ethical issue has come up it turns out that Oxford did not tell its volunteers through the trial that it made a mistake in giving them an incorrect dosage. It suggested in a note that this may have been a part of the plan, in blurry language intended clearly to cover up its mistakes rather than admit them openly. 5. Not least, Oxford never tested the most vulnerable. Its trials were conducted almost entirely in the 18-55 group, in which the overwhelming majority recover naturally. And so now France and Germany are refusing to use this vaccine on anyone above 65 on the grounds that it has never been tested among the elderly who need it most. 6. To add to all of this, now results show it offers only limited protection against the South Africa variant of the virus. Two Promises This week, the under-pressure Oxford team held out two new promises. One, while offering some protection and lessening the severity of an infection, it also reduces transmissibility, by about two-thirds. That difference is important; a vaccinated person may be protected, but still may infect others; vaccines can protect the lungs but the virus can persist in the upper respiratory tract. Second, it plans to develop an updated vaccine to protect against emerging new variants of the virus. It hopes to have this in place later this year. ADVERTISEMENT The Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, says the agency has rescued a man who attempted suicide at National Bus Stop, Ikeja. Mr Oke-Osanyintolu made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos. According to him, the man allegedly fell from a height on Saturday and a distress call was made to the emergency agency. He said that the alleged suicider was rescued by LASEMA officials alive. We received a distress call around 9:50 a.m. about a man reported to have attempted to commit suicide at National Bus Stop, Ikeja. This prompted the immediate activation of our emergency responders to the scene, he said. He explained that when his team got to the scene, they met an adult male who sustained an open lacerated wound on the heel of his left leg. Mr Oke-Osanyintolu said that the victim sustained suspected fracture at the distal end of the right tibia on account of alcohol intoxication and suicide attempt. Information gathered at the scene of incident was that the adult man fell from height with a view of suicide attempt. At the scene safety was ensured, wound was irrigated, the victim was assessed and vitals checked with BP 130/80mmHG, PR 92bpm, RR 22cpm, spo2 92 per cent, gcs 15. Oxygen was administered with Nasal Cannula at 4 lit for 45mins and his bleeding was controlled and dressed with 1m 75mg of diclofenac and he was also given a litre of Normal Saline, he said. He said that the man was immediately taken to Ikeja General Hospital for further treatment. He said that the victim was responding to treatment adding that investigation was ongoing. (NAN). Gulfood, returns to the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) for its 26th edition this month, with industry professionals recognising its importance in reinvigorating global connections and making up for missed opportunities as the worlds first in-person sourcing event for the global F&B sector in almost a year. Running from February 21 to 25, across 20 exhibition halls at DWTC, the most competitive global sourcing platform will welcome participants from 85 countries, coming together to reconnect, reignite business in an industry beset by changing customer behaviours. With a diverse exhibitor line-up and a whos who of international power brands eager to capitalise on DWTCs safe business environment and Gulfoods status as the only place to start the year with confidence, the show will be held against a backdrop of the UAE National Food Security Strategy. It is a strategy that visualises the country ranking among the top 10 of the Global Food Security Index; the UAE vision is expected to be a magnet for international industry engagement at Gulfood 2021, a statement said. Aside from business opportunities arising from the UAEs national food security goals, participants will also discover an industry transforming with innovative products and technology designed to address massively changing consumer behaviours including trends towards organic, natural and healthy products, contactless transactions, plant-based protein, sophisticated and proven providence ingredients, as well as convenience meal kits and environmentally friendly packaging. This is a watershed event as the first opportunity that global F&B players have to physically meet, and source much-needed new business to reboot a sector following one of the most challenging years ever, said Trixie LohMirmand, Executive Vice President, Events Management, DWTC. Much has changed in the 12 months since the last Gulfood, yet the industry has responded with innovation, determination, and product and process transformation. All of which will be prominent at Gulfood 2021, the industrys most innovative meeting ground, making up for lost time and giving rise to huge opportunities. Furthermore, being the first live event for the sector, exhibitors can anticipate meeting with buyers who are looking to place major orders for the new normal era. DWTC has proved its capability to curate the safest face-to-face business environment and deliver world-class events with the highest safety protocols. This is evidenced with the recent GITEX Technology Week, the only live in-person tech event in 2020. Held in December, the event welcomed tens of thousands of visitors with 96% of local and international attendees recording a safe or very safe experience. With product sampling and food handling such a vital interaction at a global F&B event, those proven protocols have been further intensified for Gulfood 2021, under strict guidance and coordination with Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and Dubai Municipality, to ensure the safest possible business conditions. Exhibitors must provide hand sanitiser to visitors before the food sampling commences in a designated area within the exhibition stand. Live cooking demonstrations are permitted however food must be served on individual plates and food is to be consumed at the stand; all live cooking demonstrations must observe 2 metres social distancing. Wearing of masks will be mandatory, with social distancing and contactless transactions in place across the 20 halls to ensure the wellbeing of all delegates. On-site registration will not be available; registration must be completed in advance via www.gulfood.com We are committed to providing the safest environment for people to do business, added LohMirmand. We have implemented a series of measures in accordance with the health and safety guidelines set out by the local authorities. Additionally, exhibitors and visitors can be reassured by DWTC becoming the first convention and exhibition centre in the Middle East achieve the prestigious Bureau Veritas Safeguard Label, which attests to compliance with the highest hygiene standards. And exhibitor feedback points to Gulfood being a timely boost for the F&B industry to kickstart face-to-face meetings to spur a business resurgence. Sergey Vologodsky, Vice-President of Russian Export Center recognises that the show serves as a key forum to showcase the best of the Russian industry to a global audience: You cannot put a value on that crucial face time with like-minded sector professionals, so it is great news for Dubai and the global food industry that Gulfood is returning in-person. We look forward to an engaging and successful show, and invite you to the stand of Russian manufacturers, represented by 22 companies within the World Food Pavilion. All the signs are that theres another challenging year ahead, said Akram N. Kassatly, President of Kassalty Chtaura, a leading beverage manufacturer from Lebanon. The only way to start it right is to secure business now. Gulfood is the most efficient international food & beverage exhibition, in terms of quality of visitors, Gulfood enables us to start the year with conviction and confidence. Established F&B heavyweights are eager to reconvene and reignite business goals at Gulfood 2021 and are encouraged by the safety measures in place. We are looking forward to getting back to the exhibition floor at Gulfood and have full confidence in the integrity of Dubai, the show organisers and the government of UAE in maintaining strict safety protocols, explained Willem van Walt Meijer, Chief Executive Officer, Al Ain Farms. Both the emirate and the exhibition have robust reputations as strategic business hubs. Having long established a reputation over the past three decades as the major platform to network, exchange knowledge, conduct mega business transactions and set industry benchmarks, Gulfood 2021 will once again provide boundless opportunities for both exhibitors and visitors.--TradeArabia News Service Success in handling the COVID-19 crisis has increased optimism across Sydney for the year ahead and may have primed the state for major reforms, including changes to stamp duty and a transition away from coal. Nearly 45 per cent of people surveyed in January expect their quality of life in Sydney to be better in a year, up from 37 per cent late last year, an Ipsos survey for urban policy think tank, the Committee for Sydney, has found. Many Sydneysiders have expressed optimism for the future and support for stamp duty reforms, transitioning away from coal and transforming Parramatta Road. Credit:Louise Kennerly While 23 per cent of people surveyed last year said they expected life to get worse in 12 months, only 16 per cent felt that way at the start of this year. That optimism is unique to people in Australia and China, which were the only two places among a dozen countries surveyed by Ipsos where optimism increased between December last year and January this year. President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, talks with the residents of Jinyuan community in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, on Thursday in front of a digital screen displaying Chinese characters, which say "Celebrating the Spring Festival". [Photo/XINHUA] President concludes inspection tour of province with call for high-quality growth President Xi Jinping has underlined the importance of innovative and green development in Guizhou province, and urged local officials to step up efforts to implement the new development philosophy and build the new development paradigm of "dual circulation" based on the requirements of the new development stage. Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at a meeting in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, on Friday before concluding his three-day inspection tour of the province. The meeting was attended by officials from the provincial Party committee and government. He called on the province to give equal importance to development and environmental protection, and coordinate efforts in both development and security to seek high-quality growth. Xi expressed hope that Guizhou will blaze a new path for the country's western development campaign in the new era, make a good start in rural vitalization, take advantage of the opportunity of implementing the digital economy strategy and make greater achievements in environmental conservation. Noting that building the new development paradigm requires innovative development, Xi urged the province to advance the deep integration of big data with the real economy, foster and expand strategic and emerging industries, and accelerate the development of modern industries. He underlined the need to create new modes of consumption to fully unleash the potential of consumption demand, and turn to reforms to solve deep-rooted institutional problems. Xi asked Guizhou to actively participate in the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, which aims to connect China's inland western region with major ports in southern China, and promote reforms and development through openness. He also stressed the need to align the achievements of poverty alleviation with rural vitalization and strengthen measures to prevent rural people from falling back into poverty. Xi's inspection tour came ahead of Spring Festival, which falls on Feb 12 this year. Since he became general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in 2012, Xi has gone on an inspection tour in the country before the traditional festival every year. He has used the trips to visit people and officials at the grassroots level, learn about people's livelihoods, and extend New Year's greetings to people around the country. During his inspection tour in Guizhou, he traveled to the cities of Bijie and Guiyang, where he visited a village, an urban residential community and a supermarket, and learned about the supply of goods for the upcoming Spring Festival holiday and their prices. He urged officials to seriously fulfill their responsibilities in relation to work that matters to people's immediate interests, effectively carry out epidemic prevention and control measures, and strengthen supervision over food safety to ensure the people enjoy a happy and safe festival. Also on Friday, Xi met representatives of scientists who work for China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, the world's largest single-dish radio telescope, in Guiyang. He learned about the construction of the telescope, which is located in Guizhou, as well as the technological innovations and international cooperation related to the project. Saying that this major scientific and technological infrastructure facility is an example of the progress in innovation the country has made in cutting-edge technologies, Xi praised those who had made contributions to this achievement. He stressed that as China is comprehensively building itself into a modern socialist country, it must attach great importance to science and technology and allow technological innovation to play a key and crucial role in the process. Xi encouraged the scientific workers to make efforts to secure new achievements in key fields and make greater contributions to building the country into a leading power in science and technology. Austin can't catch a break in the Op-Ed pages. Two weeks after a California man blasted the Texas 'dystopia,' the founder of an investment firm is calling for workers with aspirations to choose New York City over the Lone Star State's capitol. Bloomberg published the opinion piece by Conor Sen under the headline, "Young and Ambitious? Move to New York, Not Austin." READ ALSO: Texas beef company offering Brady's semen for free if Buccaneers win Super Bowl The story caught the attention of Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York City, who tweeted, "Move over Austin, because as the song says, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere and its easier than ever for young dreamers to make it in the greatest city in the world!" Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wasn't having it. "Dude. Just stop. Because, as the saying goes, dont mess with Texas," Abbott responded. Sen, the founder of Georgia-based Peachtree Creek Investments, noted that rents in high-cost cities like San Francisco and New York have plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic as work-from-home policies allow employees to flee for the suburbs and beyond. The shift and the influx of Bay Area companies to Texas prompted some to present locales like Austin and Miami as alternatives to Manhattan or Silicon Valley. Not so fast, says Sen, pointing to the price adjustment New York has seen in recent months. "2021 might actually be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for ambitious young people to get bargain pricing on the best cities in America places like New York, which were expensive for a reason," Sen writes. The Big Apple offers invaluable exposure to people in one's industry, Sen notes. He has worked remotely for eight years, but suggested that workers in their 20s can better build their networks and skills in-person. Despite the frosty economic outlook and weather, Sen writes, New York is "a much better bet at this point than chasing unproven second-tier markets that have lost much of their cost advantage to their high-cost peers, and might see some of their selling points melt away as normal life returns." Austinites and Abbott may beg to differ. After two years of challenging the Trump administration, New York Attorney General Letitia James is taking on Facebook and Google in antitrust cases, suing to dissolve the National Rifle Association and running a potentially explosive investigation into Donald Trump's real estate empire. The question is, can she deliver? And, if she can, what will she do next? The first Black woman to win statewide office in New York, James, 62, has confronted powerful interests as far away as Silicon Valley and as close as her own backyard. Just last week she went after Gov. Andrew Cuomo, announcing she'd found that the state undercounted nursing home deaths from Covid-19 by as much as 50%. Her string of victories against the Trump administration alone includes everything from worker safety to housing discrimination to the integrity of the census. Her losses include an embarrassing defeat in a first-of-its-kind climate change lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp. "No one like her has ever been in this position before, and she is seizing the opportunity," said Christine Quinn, a former New York City Council speaker who worked with James for years. "She's fearless." James is proud of the work, which she frequently undertook with other Democratic state AGs, often leading the suits with her California counterpart. The two large states acted as "bookends in defending our democracy" coast to coast, she said in an interview. "Trump was burning the house down and we attorneys general were putting out the fire," James said. "It was an administration that can best be described by chaos and confusion and outright hate." James said she didn't plan on a national role in "defending our democracy" but is "sure as hell glad" she was there to do it. Her ongoing investigation of the Trump Organization is to determine whether it falsely reported property values to get loans or tax benefits, which the company has denied, calling the probe politically motivated. The civil inquiry has emerged as one of the greatest potential threats to Trump, who also faces an active criminal investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. "My office is investigating potential civil claims," said James. "In the event we uncover any criminal activity, it will change the posture of our case. I took a solemn oath to follow the law." The bold to-do list doesn't hurt James with progressive voters, either, putting her political prospects in the spotlight. Her job, in which she oversees 700 lawyers and more than 1,000 additional staff, has been a steppingstone to the highest office in the state. And the remaining two years of her term coincide with whatever Trump, a useful foil, has in mind for a comeback. "I'm just keeping my head down and doing my work, and we'll see what the future holds," said James, who is also the first African American and first woman elected as the state's chief legal officer. "They say we plan, God laughs. Certainly he's been laughing all along." Among the uncertainties is the Facebook case, in which Douglas Gansler, a Democrat who served as attorney general of Maryland, said James will have a hard time showing harm to consumers. "There could be a settlement or something like that, but there's no chance she can win the Facebook lawsuit," said Gansler, now a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in Washington defending companies in legal actions brought by states. The firm isn't involved in the Facebook case. James is confident she'll win the case, in which she is leading a bipartisan coalition of almost every U.S. state. "Facebook's monopoly hurts consumers, it hurts the marketplace, it hurts advertisers, and Facebook users have nowhere else to go," she said. James has been "a rising star" in the state's Democratic Party for years, said Jake Dilemani, who leads political, public and government projects at Mercury Public Affairs. Even if she loses some of the cases, he said, she'll be "at the top of the list" of contenders to succeed Cuomo, who is running for election to a fourth term next year. "As long as she continues to take an aggressive stance on issues that matter to New Yorkers and, frankly, to Americans, she'll be doing a good job, and her work will be viewed positively," Dilemani said. James, who went to the City University of New York's Lehman College and earned her law degree from Howard University, grew up as one of eight children of working-class parents in Brooklyn. Her decision to run for attorney general, one of the most powerful legal positions in the country, was influenced by a chance encounter at a coffee shop, when she was still New York City's popular public advocate, an elected role with the mayor's ear. "A young woman who I know from the neighborhood, who happens to be an undocumented immigrant, came up to me with tears in her eyes and asked me for legal assistance because her husband was being deported," James said. "I gave her some names of people to call and gave her a hug. That's what did it." Her sense of right and wrong is rooted in her faith. James frequently refers to God in conversation. When she isn't working, or worshiping at Emmanuel Baptist Church, she likes to walk around her neighborhood, stately Clinton Hill, and talk to people. She's never been married and says she's too busy for the usual hobbies. "I'm married to my work, which is why I'm churning out these lawsuits," she joked. "If you know of anyone out there. " James's most visible loss so far was a 2018 lawsuit against Exxon Mobil, a case she inherited. In it, New York accused the energy company of violating the state's powerful securities law, the Martin Act, by misleading the public about its internal efforts to account for the future costs of climate change. James didn't have to prove intent, or even that any investors were deceived, yet a state judge dismissed the suit in December 2019, saying her experts were "eviscerated" on cross-examination. Still, those who know James describe her as focused, prepared and unrelenting. Chelsea Clinton, who helps run the Clinton Foundation, said she approached James at an event around 2014, when James was still public advocate, to praise her "incredible choreography" in tackling the many challenges facing the city. A few years later, Clinton supported a bill James had sponsored to ban city employers from asking job candidates about their salary history, a practice that undermines efforts to pay women the same as men for the same work. The bill ultimately became law. What impressed Clinton most was that James insisted the law apply to employers of all sizes, rather than compromise by creating an exception for smaller businesses as some labor laws do, because she knew that many women work for smaller companies. James can "work on multiple fronts but also make sure all of that work is done with great purpose and attention to detail," Clinton said. And sometimes with a dash of drama, Quinn said. She recalled a moment in 2011 when James, then a City Council member, was grilling an official at a public meeting about the city's botched response to a snowstorm that had crippled the metropolis. Suddenly she pulled out a set of tire chains, which emergency vehicles had lacked. There was laughter. She was dead serious. She then attended meetings on the storm in each of the city's five boroughs. "Some people are big thinkers, and some people are good with details, but Tish is both," Quinn said. She described an episode around 2008 when the city was trying to save money by closing underused day care centers. Quinn said James researched the centers to present Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office with data -- the mayor's specialty. City Hall was "pushing really hard, and she pushed back just as hard, if not harder," Quinn said of her successful effort. "She wasn't just dogged. She wasn't just unyielding. She had the facts about utilization and the cultural competence and relevance of these centers. That's something you know not from paper but from knowing your district." The former mayor owns Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP. That James knows her turf well came in handy for Quinn, who as speaker wanted to immerse herself in the city. James took her to four or five churches in Brooklyn on a Sunday to introduce her around. "She knew everybody," Quinn said. "And not just their names. She knew their mothers, their brothers, who wasn't feeling well, who had just gone to college." 'Several Pandemics' All those skills are now to be tested as never before. Elaborating on the Facebook case, Cadwalader's Gansler pointed to what he considers serious flaws. "Not that big tech does everything completely kosher, but Facebook consumers don't pay anything," he said. "And that's before you get to the fact that the Federal Trade Commission approved Facebook buying Instagram" years ago. The states accuse the company of stifling competition by snapping up future competitors to protect an illegal monopoly on social media. "Breaking up Facebook is one of the many remedies that are on the table," James said. Facebook has called the allegations a "revisionist history" of acquisitions approved long ago, arguing that people and businesses use Facebook because it offers the most value, not because they're forced to. Looking back, James said she's glad 2020 is over. It was "a year of several pandemics -- Covid, racial reckoning and economic downturn," she said. "What we need, now more than ever, is to heal the breach in our nation." US President Joe Biden said he won't lift sanctions against Iran as long as the Islamic republic is not adhering to its nuclear deal commitments. Asked whether he would halt sanctions to convince Iran to return to the bargaining table, Biden offered a clear reply in a CBS interview aired Sunday: "No." The journalist then asked if the Iranians would first have to stop enriching uranium, which drew an affirmative nod from Biden. The 2015 landmark deal has been hanging by a thread since Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from it in 2018 and reimpose sanctions on Tehran. Tehran a year later suspended its compliance with most key nuclear commitments to the deal. The Biden administration has expressed willingness to return to the deal, but insisted that Tehran first resume full compliance. On January 4, Iran announced it has stepped up its uranium enrichment process to 20 percent purity, far above the 3.67 percent level permitted by the deal, but far below the amount required for an atomic bomb. 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. NORMAL, Ala. (AP) Jevon Tatum had 15 points off the bench to carry Alabama A&M to a 93-58 win over Mississippi Valley State on Saturday. Garrett Hicks had 13 points and seven assists for Alabama A&M (5-2, 3-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference), which earned its fourth straight home victory. Brandon Houston added 13 points. Jalen Johnson had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Caleb Hunter had 17 points for the Delta Devils (0-16, 0-8), who have now lost 16 games in a row to start the season. Terry Collins added 12 points. Keiondre Jefferson had seven points and 10 rebounds. ___ For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25 ___ This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com More than 200 years ago, slaves marched and fought along the northern bank of the Mississippi River between LaPlace and Kenner to escape bondage. Visitors to the area can now walk along the path of that uprising one of the largest slave revolts in U.S. history on the newly opened 1811 Slave Revolt Trail. The 10-mile trail, unveiled Friday by the Louisiana's River Parishes Tourist Commission, begins at the 1811 Kid Ory Historic House in LaPlace, where the revolt began on the night of Jan. 8, 1811, and ends at Destrehan Plantation, the site of one of three tribunals held after the revolt that sentenced 45 participants to death. +3 Two-part PBS series explores Black churches; LPB to host companion events; see trailer "No social institution in the Black community is more central and important than the Black church, says Henry Louis Gates Jr. "It is imperative to immortalize the contributions of these freedom fighters and to educate all who visit or study this area about their monumental sacrifices to modern society and the development of civil rights," Buddy Boe, executive director of the commission, said in a news release. "The Commission looks forward to supporting the efforts of the 1811 Slave Revolt Trail, to foster interest in these local heroes." The revolt began when Charles Deslondes and a group of fellow slaves, fueled by cruel treatment and reports of the successful Haitan Revolution, attacked Manuel Andry at his plantation, now the 1811 Kid Ory Historic House. 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 They then headed south along the Mississippi River toward New Orleans, and their numbers grew into the hundreds as other escaped slaves joined them during the two-day march. The revolt ended near the Bernoudy Plantation in St. Charles Parish on Jan. 11 when a group of planters and militia confronted the revolutionaries in a battle that left dozens of the former slaves dead. Deslondes was captured and killed the next day and 45 of the participants were executed Jan. 15. Though this action was technically unsuccessful, reverberations of the 1811 rebellion echoed across the young United States, reads the trails website. It was the first of several large-scale, militant actions against slavery that occurred across the South in the decades leading up to the Civil War and Emancipation. UL president embraces public program on voting history, defends professor's participation University of Louisiana at Lafayette President Joseph Savoie confirmed Thursday that the campus library has secured funding for a community di The trail includes a dramatized account of the revolt voiced over by actor and New Orleans native Wendell Pierce, according to the release. Available on the project's website, it's designed to be listened to while following part of trail the slaves took during the revolt. The trail also includes the previously untold stories of participants in the revolt and extended experiences at the Whitney Plantation in Edgard and Historic Riverlands Church in Reserve, according to the release. Bigg Boss 14 Promo: Salman Slams Rubina-Abhinav For Using Derogatory Words For Rakhi; Jasmin Shares Her Opinion In last nights Weekend ka Vaar in the Bigg Boss 14 house, host Salman Khan reprimanded Rakhi Sawant for her behavior in the past week and gave her the option to walk out of the controversial reality show. He also stated that many are calling him a biased and partial host because they feel makers are siding with Rakhi. The dancer apologized for everything and also promised that it wont be repeated. However, she was upset that Salman did not talk about the things that were said to her by Abhinav Shukla and Rubina Dilaik. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ColorsTV (@colorstv) For the uninitiated, Rakhi had called Abhinav tharki. He had hit back by referring to her as gandi, waahiyat aurat. Rubina, on the other hand, had splashed a bucket full of water on Rakhi. Well in tonights episode, Salman will slam the husband and wife for the derogatory words they used for Rakhi. He will ask them what was worse--Rakhi accusing Abhinav of having a roving eye or the things he and Rubina said about her. Ex contestant Jasmin Bhasin, who will be entering the show as beau Aly Gonis connection, will also share her opinion. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ColorsTV (@colorstv) Jasmin will state that Abhinav should have drawn a line when Rakhi went to him and asked him to drape her saree in an earlier episode. When Abhinav will admit what he said was worse than Rakhis claim, Salman will question Rubina and will ask, You think you're going very correct in the show? In your opinion, who is right here and who is wrong here? YINCHUAN, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- For more than 50 years, Jiang Jie has written Spring Festival couplets for villagers in his neighborhood. As a tradition, Chinese people write Spring Festival couplets, a two-sentence, auspicious poem written on red couplets in anticipation of a prosperous Lunar New Year. As the Spring Festival is just around the corner, Jiang has joined other villagers in writing the couplets again. The difference this year is that each of them wore a mask under the requirements of COVID-19 control and prevention. "It's like a ceremony for us to say goodbye to winter and say hello to spring. Likewise, we bid farewell to poverty and pray for luck in the coming year," said Jiang, 80. Jiang lives in the Shenjiahe Folk Cultural Village, Yuanzhou District of Guyuan City in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The village is home to various forms of intangible cultural heritage, including paper-cutting, painting and Chinese calligraphy, and many villagers like Jiang are good at this art form of writing with ink and brushes. In Shenjiahe, it's an annual tradition to write Spring Festival couplets for villagers in the Chinese Lunar New Year, and the event usually attracts up to 1,000 villagers to the site, said Shen Kebin, the activity organizer. "We have written the couplets for generations," said Jiang, adding that in this way, villagers do not need to buy couplets from markets and could save money in preparation for other necessities for the Lunar New Year. Among more than 30 pairs of couplets written by Jiang, one pair reads: Shake off poverty with governmental help and make fortunes with our own hands. A horizontal scroll bears the words "Hope for the future." "I like this one most. It shows the life we have been fighting for," said Jiang. Yuanzhou District was once a national poverty-stricken locality. For Jiang, his younger years were marked by water shortage. Thanks to China's targeted poverty-alleviation efforts, villagers now have access to tap water, electricity and the internet. Benefiting from an irrigation project, the vast arid land in Yuanzhou District has become the base to 14,667 hectares of vegetables, which have increased people's income and enriched the variety of dishes on locals' dining tables. Yuanzhou District shook off poverty last March. Jiang's son has bought a car. Gone are the days when Jiang had to walk or ride on a donkey. "I feel so satisfied with my life now, and I write down those changes in couplets too," Jiang said. "What's written in the couplets should keep pace with the times and reflect changes in society," said Shen Kebin, the activity organizer, adding that nearly 400 Spring Festival couplets have been written under the themes of festival celebrations, fighting against poverty and the coronavirus. According to Shen, most of the couplets were written online in WeChat groups, in line with rules against COVID-19. Cai Jinghua, 12, was the youngest to take part in the activity. In his couplets, he wrote "We should always be grateful to those who lifted us out of poverty and keep us safe amid the COVID-19 epidemic." [ Editor: WPY ] Massive flooding from a glacier burst in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district has been reported in the Dhauli Ganga river and Joshimath on Sunday, February 7. The deluge has caused damage to Rishiganga Power Project in Tapovan area. Meanwhile, state Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat tweeted, "There is a possibility of damage to the Rishiganga project in Rini village of Chamoli due to heavy rains and sudden water. There is also a possibility of flooding in the lower areas of Alaknanda due to sudden arrival in the river. People has been alerted in coastal areas. People settled along the river are being removed from the area." Also read: Uttarakhand flood: PM Modi announces Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia for kin of deceased Follow BusinessToday.In for all latest updates on Uttarakhand glacier burst: 11:55 PM: Indian Air Force shares initial report from site of Uttarakhand flash flood Indian Air Force shares initial report from site of Uttarakhand flash flood. It also shared visuals from broken Rishiganga Project Dam near Tapovan, road & bridge broken due to Rubble at entrance at Malari valley. Indian Air Force shares recce initial report from site of Uttarakhand flash flood Visuals from broken Rishiganga Project Dam near Tapovan (pic 1), road & bridge broken due to Rubble at entrance at Malari valley (pic 2) (Pic source-IAF) pic.twitter.com/4xmMJ1uGL7 ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 11: 35 PM: Modi made fourth call to review flood situation: Uttarakhand CM "Prime Minister Narendra Modi just called to review the flood situation in the State... this was his fourth call regarding the matter," says Uttarakhand CM. 9:55 PM: US expresses condolences for loss of life in Uttarakhand flood "Our deepest condolences to those affected by the glacier burst and landslide in India. We grieve with the family and friends of the deceased and extend our hopes for a speedy and full recovery for the injured," says US State Department. 9:15 PM: Rishikesh-Joshimath-Mana road reopened by BRO teams The Rishikesh-Joshimath-Mana road which was blocked at Hathipahad due to flash flood in Dhauli Ganga was reopened for traffic by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) by late afternoon today after road clearance operation. Several BRO teams are in the area for relief operations, ANI quoted officials as saying. Seven died, 170 missing in Uttarakhand flood incident: State Disaster Management Center At least seven people have died, six injured and around 170 are missing after the Uttarakhand flood incident today, says State Disaster Management Center. 8:45 PM: Water levels recede at Alaknanda, Upper Ganga: Central Water Commission Official Flood Forecast Water levels at important station on at 7 PM...on #Alaknanda & # Upper #Ganga... pic.twitter.com/Er4fEhkgQN Central Water Commission Official Flood Forecast (@CWCOfficial_FF) February 7, 2021 8:40 PM: Uttarakhand avalanche worst since 2013 flash floods Uttarakhand avalanche is teh worst one since 2013 flash floods, says Pradeep John (Tamil Nadu Weatherman). "Though there was rains / snow few days ago in the area, the snow cover when compared to last few years is neither the highest nor the lowest. In 2021 the rains was less. And this happening in February is very rare one," he said in a tweet. Uttarakhand Avalanche - Worst one since 2013 Flash Floods Though there was rains / snow few days ago in the area, the snow cover when compared to last few years is neither the highest nor the lowest. In 2021 the rains was less. And this happening in February is very rare one. pic.twitter.com/pyy6n1ks0y Pradeep John (Tamil Nadu Weatherman) (@praddy06) February 7, 2021 8:30 PM: Japan envoy expresses condolences to victims of Uttarakhand flood "My heart bleeds for tragic loss and missing of many innocent lives by the massive #glacier burst in #Uttarakhand today. I'd like to extend my heartfelt condolences, and pray for those missing to be rescued as soon as possible. Our sympathy is with the people of #Uttarakhand," says Satoshi Suzuki, Japanese envoy to India. 8:20 PM: Visuals of C130J Super Hercules transport aircraft, a part of IAF disaster relief Task Force, landing at the Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun with rescue teams and other heavy equipment on board. #WATCH: As part of IAF disaster relief Task Force, a C130J Super Hercules transport aircraft landed at the Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun with rescue teams and other heavy equipment on board. pic.twitter.com/4D9Eg2NvmT ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 7:50 PM: Indian Army reaches spot, NDRF team to reach soon: Uttarakhand CM Updating on ongoing relief work, Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat says Indian Army has reached the spot, while a team of NDRF that has reached Dehradun is en route Chamoli. Doctors have camped there. A team of 60 SDRF personnel with equipment have reached the spot, he said. 7:40 PM: DRDO team of snow and avalanche experts to reach tomorrow to assess situation in glaciers According to DRDO officials, DRDO team of snow and avalanche experts from its newly-created Defence Geo-Informatics Research Establishment would be reaching tomorrow to assess situation at site in Uttarakhand where flash flood occurred. Team would assess situation in glaciers around the site, the official said. 7:35 PM: Govt focused on saving lives of people: Uttarakhand CM Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat has said that the state government is focused on saving lives of people. Experts will explain the reason behind the glacier outburst, he said. 7:25pm: Five locals, 180 sheeps, goats swept away in flood Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat informed that at least five locals including shepherds with their 180 sheeps and goats swept away in the flash flood. "We are assuming that around 125 people are missing," Rawat added. 7:20pm: Army, Navy, ITBP and IAF gear up for rescue operation Two teams of the NDRF have been sent and three additional teams have been flown in from Hindon airport in Ghaziabad. The troops will reach the affected region tonight. More than 200 ITBP personnel are on the spot, and one column of the Engineering Task Force (ETF) of the army has been deployed. The Indian Navy divers are being flown in and aircraft and helicopters of the IAF are on standby. 7:15pm: 'Rishiganga hydro project washed away but no danger of downstream flooding' A 13.2 MW small hydro project on the Rishiganga river was swept away in the glacier burst but there is no danger of floods in the downstream areas as the water level has been contained, NCMC informed. The flash flood also affected the downstream hydro project of NTPC at Tapovan on the river Dhauli Ganga, which is a tributary of the river Alaknanda. 7:10pm: Indian Army deploys four columns, medical teams The Indian Army has deployed four columns and two medical teams in the rescue of people affected by a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river. A column comprises 30-40 personnel. The Army has also pressed into service a number of its helicopters to assist the civil administration in rescuing people from flood affected areas. Additionally, the Indian Air Force has operated C-130 and AN32 transport aircraft to airlift personnel from NDRF to the affected areas. 7:05pm: DRDO to reach Uttarakhand on Monday to assess disaster's site A team of DRDO team has been airlifted to Uttarakhand. The DRDO team of snow and avalanche experts will reach on Monday to assess the situation at the site where the flash flood has occurred. The team would assess the situation in glaciers around the site. 6:55pm: PM approves ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for kin of deceased; Rs 50,000 for severely injured PM Modi has approved an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the kin of those who have lost their lives due to the tragic avalanche, and Rs 50,000 would be given to those who severely got injured. 6:50pm: Authorities working to provide all support to affected people: PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the rescue and relief work in Uttarakhand has started taking pace and he has been in constant touch with the Union Home Minister, the Chief Minister of the state and NDRF officials. 6:45pm: 7 bodies recovered, 12 rescued and 150 missing: SDRF The State Disaster Management Authority, Dehradun has said that seven have been bodies recovered so far from Raini, Biraji, Alakapuri and Chchinaka villages. Out of 150 reported missing people, 12 persons rescued so far, it added. 6:40pm: Uttarakhand CM announces financial aid for kin of deceased Uttarakhand government to give financial assistance of Rs 4 lakhs each to the kin of the deceased. 6:35pm: Situation under control in Uttarakhand, no more threats: Centre The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by Cabinet Secretary, Rajiv Gauba informed that there is no danger of downstream flooding, rise in water level has contained. Besides, there are no threats to villages and hydro projects, the Centre notified on Sunday evening. 6:25pm: Rescue operation to continue up to 48 hours; around 50 swept away by river: NDRF IG NDRF informed that the rescue operation at Chamoli district might continue for 24-48 hours. The Inspector General also expected that around 40-50 people might have been swept away by the river. He said that NDRF personnel have been fanned out to look for both survivors and bodies. 6:20pm:Relief efforts for Uttarakhand Two teams of NDRF are en route and three additional teams have been flown in from Hindon which will reach the disaster spot later in the night. More than 200 ITBP personnel are on the spot, and one column and Engineering Task Force (ETF) of Army, with all rescue equipment, have been deployed. Navy divers are being flown in and aircraft/ helicopters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) are on standby. 6:10pm: Relief efforts for Uttarakhand flash flood Around 16 people trapped in a tunnel have been rescued by the ITBP, while efforts are on to rescue others trapped in another tunnel, which is being co-ordinated by the Army and ITBP. 6:05pm: Uttarakhand Nanda Devi glacier burst: How it happened? According to National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), the glacial burst led to the rising of water levels in the river Rishiganga, which washed away the Rishiganga small hydro project of 13.2 MW. The flash flood also affected the downstream hydro project of NTPC at Tapovan on the river Dhauliganga, which is a tributary of the river Alaknanda. 6:00pm:10 bodies retrieved during rescue operation The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said 10 bodies retrieved during the rescue operation at Uttarakhand's disaster sites. 5:55pm: No snowfall, rainfall in Uttarakhand's disaster-hit areas on Feb 7, 8: IMD The MeT department has said that there will be no adverse weather events in Chamoli, Tapovan and Joshimath on February 7 and 8. India Meteorological Department (IMD) Additional Director General Anand Sharma said Chamoli, Tapovan and Joshimath are likely to witness dry weather during the two days. "No snowfall/rainfall is likely on February 7-8," the IMD said. 5:45pm: NCMC meets cabinet secy Gauba to review Uttarakhand's disaster The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary, Rajiv Gauba met today to review the situation arising out of the natural disaster in Uttarakhand caused by the glacial burst. 5:35pm: 'Rescue pilgrims from Gujarat': Rupani requests Uttarakhand CM Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has requested Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat to ensure immediate help and rescue of pilgrims from Gujarat. In a telephonic conversation with Rawat, Rupani has requested immediate help and relief and to ensure the rescue of the pilgrims from Gujarat trapped in the natural calamity at Chamoli Tapovan. He also sought help in arranging treatment for the injured. Several pilgrims from Gujarat are reportedly stranded after the glacier broke off at Joshimath. 5:25pm: ITBP rescues all 16 people who were trapped in the tunnel near Tapovan, Chamoli #WATCH | Uttarakhand: ITBP personnel rescue one person who was trapped in the tunnel near Tapovan dam in Chamoli. Rescue operation underway. (Video Source: ITBP) pic.twitter.com/RO91YhIdyo ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 #UPDATE: ITBP rescues all 16 people who were trapped in the tunnel near Tapovan, Chamoli. #Uttarakhandhttps://t.co/vi2ZbTyB9N ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 5:20pm: Congress President Sonia Gandhi requests her party workers and volunteers to help Uttarakhand's people "Concerned at the disturbing news of 'glacier break', flooding and destruction in Uttarakhand, and the resultant projection of danger in the downstream catchment of the River Ganga. I pray for the safety of all and request Congress workers and volunteers to help the people and the authorities in their relief and rescue efforts. The Indian National Congress stands with the people of Uttarakhand in this hour of tragedy and crisis," Sonia Gandhi said. 5.16 pm: Saddened by loss of life in Uttarakhand glacier burst incident, tweets UP CM Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tweeted, "I am deeply saddened by the reports of loss of life due to the natural disaster in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. It is a request to Lord Rama that peace be upon the departed souls, give the power to the bereaved family to bear this sorrow and to provide immediate health benefits to the injured." , Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) February 7, 2021 5.02 pm: 16 people recused from tunnel near Tapovan dam ITBP personnel rescued all 16 workers from the tunnel near Tapovan dam in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, MHA sources told India Today adding that SDRF and ITBP are also trying to open other tunnel. Meanwhile, the NCMC (National Crisis Management Committee) is holding a meeting chaired by the Cabinet Secretary. Army rescue ops on at Tapovan tunnel. #Uttarakhandpic.twitter.com/B0QEgAtRku Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) February 7, 2021 4.45 pm: Rescue operations in full swing, tweets PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet that relief and rescue operations are on in full swing in Uttarakhand. Taking to Twitter, he said, "I am constantly in touch with the CM and other relief workers from the state. Relief work is in full progress and every attempt is being made to help the effected people," Modi said while addressing a gathering in West Bengal's Haldia. "Rarely do we find a family in Uttarakhand that doesn't send someone to the Army. Hence, they have the ability to fight any disaster," he added. Am constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation in Uttarakhand. India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyones safety there. Have been continuously speaking to senior authorities and getting updates on NDRF deployment, rescue work and relief operations. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 7, 2021 4.37 pm: Uttarakhand glacier burst: 10 bodies recovered from Dhauli Ganga river, says ITBP official Around 9-10 bodies have been recovered from the Dhauli Ganga river, SS Deswal, DG, ITBP said. "It is suspected that around 100 workers were at the site. 250 ITBP personnel are present at site, Indian Army team to reach soon," ANI quoted Deswal as saying. He further added that nearly 20 workers are stranded in under-construction tunnel near Tapovan dam, stating that an ITBP team has been deployed at the spot to carry out rescue operation. Deswal said that ITBP is in touch with NTPC's management team to collect more information on missing people. 4.29 pm: Uttarakhand latest news NTPC Ltd's official twitter handle posted, "An avalanche near Tapovan in Uttarakhand has damaged a part of our under-construction hydropower project in the region. While rescue operation is on, situation is being monitored continuously with the help of district administration and police." 4.24 pm: 120 NTPC workers believed to be washed away by the flash floods in Uttarakhand Two villages, Rheni and Lata, near the glacier burst site and 3-4 shepherds are also believed to have been washed away. 4.17 pm: ITBP personnel digging to open Tapovan Tunnel which is completely blocked due to debris. Many reportedly trapped inside the tunnel. 4.09 pm: Glacier burst in Chamoli news While over 150 people are feared dead, three bodies have been recovered from NTPC site in Tapovan area of Chamoli district in Uttarakhand, ANI report. 4.05 pm: Bridge near Malari ahead of Joshimath washed away by floods A Border Roads Organisation bridge near Malari ahead of Joshimath area has been washed away by the floods. Director General BRO Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhary has instructed officials to reinstate it at the earliest possible. Necessary stores and personnel are being moved to the location. 3.59 pm: "Deeply worried": President Koivind tweets about Uttarakhand glacier burst "Deeply worried about the glacier burst near Joshimath, Uttarakhand, that caused destruction in the region. Praying for well being and safety of people. Am confident that rescue and relief operations on ground are progressing well," President Ram Nath Kovind said in a tweet. Deeply worried about the glacier burst near Joshimath, Uttarakhand, that caused destruction in the region. Praying for well being and safety of people. Am confident that rescue and relief operations on ground are progressing well. President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) February 7, 2021 3.53 pm: Glacier burst in Uttarakhand NDRF teams being airlifted from Ghaziabad's Hindon Air Base to Uttarakhand. See pic. 3.44 pm: Uttarakhand glacier burst 16 people who were feared to be trapped in Tapovan Dam are being shifted to safer places by police, ANI cited Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar as saying. 16 people who were trapped in Tapovan Dam are being shifted to safer places by Police: Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar. #Chamoli (File pic) pic.twitter.com/K1qmZ0xoQQ ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 3.36 pm: IAF's Mi-17 and Chinook helicopters from Chandigarh and elsewhere on standby for resuce operations in Uttarakhand. Watch video here: IAF Mi-17 & Chinook helicopters from Chandigarh and elsewhere on standby for search & rescue ops in #Uttarakhand. Will be required very soon given the devastation. Prayers. pic.twitter.com/sFok7pouKO Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) February 7, 2021 3.27 pm: Chamoli news Three NDRF teams to be airlifted from Ghaziabad's Hindon air base to Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. See pics. 3.16 pm: Uttarakhand CM reaches Chamoli State Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat being briefed on flood situation by Indian Army and ITBP personnel in Chamoli, ANI reports. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat being briefed on flood situation by Army and ITBP jawans, in Tapovan area of Chamoli district. pic.twitter.com/uBraBzSFzJ ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 3.08 pm: Uttarakhand glacier news BJP President JP Nadda spoke to Uttarakhand CM to take stock of the flood situation in Chamoli. He also talked to the state BJP chief and said that the party workers must help in relief and rescue work. "The administration is alert to the circumstances arising out of accidental glacier breakdown in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. Chief Minister is himself is looking after the relief and rescue operations. State BJP Chairman Banshidhar has been urged to deploy BJP workers in relief and rescue operations," Nadda also tweeted. 2.59 pm: Uttarakhand latest news Four Indian Army columns, two medical teams and one Engineering Task Force have been posted at Ringi village in Joshimath to carry out rescue and relief operations. IAF choppers are on aerial rescue mission as well. 2.52 pm: Uttarakhand glacier burst: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi tweets Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that party colleagues will also join hands for relief work in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 7, 2021 2.46 pm: Uttarakhand glacier burst A meeting has been scheduled at Cabinet Secretariat on rescue and relief operations in Uttarakhand's Chamoli. DGs and Home Ministry officials will join the meet. 2.41 pm: ITBP, NDRF teams rushed from Dehradun ITBP has rushed its two teams to the disaster spot in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. Three NDRF teams have also been dispatched from Dehradun, while three additional teams will also reach there with the help of Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper by Sunday evening. Meanwhile, SDRF and local administration has already reached the spot, MoS Home Nityanand Rai told ANI. Two teams of ITBP reach the spot, three NDRF teams have been rushed from Dehradun and 3 additional teams will reach there with help of IAF chopper till evening. SDRF & local administration already at spot: MoS Home Nityanand Rai to ANI on massive flood in Dhauliganga. #Chamolipic.twitter.com/iMtpKQS4mK ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 2.35 pm: Chamoli glacier burst: Joshimath-Malari bridge washed away in floods The Joshimath-Malari bridge has been washed away because of heavy flooding in Dhauli Ganga river. The bridge was used by Indian Army to go to the border areas. 2.29 pm: Glacier burst in Uttarakhand: State CM announces helpline for people stuck in affected areas. "If you are stuck in teh effected area, if you need any kind of help, please contact Disaster Operations Center number 1070 or 9557444486. Please do not spread rumors from old videos about teh incident," Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat tweeted. , 1070 9557444486 Trivendra Singh Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) February 7, 2021 2.22 pm: "constantly monitoring situation" in Uttarakhand: PM Modi tweet "Am constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation in Uttarakhand. India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyone's safety there. Has been continuously speaking to senior authorities and getting updates on NDRF deployment, rescue work and relief operations," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted on Sunday, February 7. Am constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation in Uttarakhand. India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyones safety there. Have been continuously speaking to senior authorities and getting updates on NDRF deployment, rescue work and relief operations. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 7, 2021 2.15 pm: Uttarakhand glacier burst live: 100-150 casualties feared due the flash floods in the state's Chamoli district. 100-150 casualties feared in the flash flood in Chamoli district: Uttarakhand Chief Secretary OM Prakash to ANI pic.twitter.com/JoR76lWEAb ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 2.09 pm: ITBP personnel review damage in Tapovan and area of Reni where flash flood occurred earlier on Sunday, February 7. (Photo source: ITBP) 2.04 pm: Glacier burst in Chamoli Situation is normalising with water flow being controlled. Water gushed out because Reshi dam broke. Itbp teams are on spot: ITBP sources. 2.00 pm: Amit Shah speaks to Uttarakhand CM, DG ITBP and DG NDRF 4 NDRF teams are being airlifted to Dehradun to reach Joshimath, Union Home Minister Amit Shah tweets. NDRF Airlift https://t.co/BVFZJiHiWY Amit Shah (@AmitShah) February 7, 2021 1.56 pm: Glacier burst Uttarakhand Three choppers including two Mi-17 and one ALH Dhruv chopper of Air Force stationed in Dehradoon for rescue operations in flood affected areas. More aircraft will be deployed as per the requirement on ground: IAF officials. 1.51 pm: Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat says Alaknanda water level is 1 metre above normal but flow reducing gradually. 1.47 pm: Uttarakhand glacier burst: 150 labourers working at Rishi Ganga power project reported missing Over 150 workers at the Rishi Ganga power project are likely to be directly affected by the glacier burst at Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, said State Disaster Response Force DIG Ridhim Aggarwal. "Representatives of the power project have told me that they are not being able to contact around 150 of their workmen at the project site," she said. 1.43 pm: Rescue operations underway at Rishiganga Project, in Reni, Joshimath. See pics: 1.38 pm: Chamoli glacier update Bijnore administration in UP issues alert for villages near Ganges . 1.28 pm: Alert sounded in UP. Bijnore, kannauj, Fatehgarh and other places along on alert. 1.20 pm: Latest: Home ministry instructs 4 teams to be rushed to Uttarakhand. 1.15 pm: Uttarakhand CM rushes to disaster spot, requests people not to spread panic by sharing old videos. Officials with Rideau Carleton Raceway are preparing for a mid-month return to harness racing in the event that the current provincial restrictions in Ontario are lifted early next week. According to racing manager Peter Andrusek, Rideau Carleton Raceway is preparing to race on Sunday, Feb. 14 should the provincial government allow it. Premier Doug Ford is expected to make an announcement on Monday (Feb. 8) regarding the current state of emergency that's set to expire on Tuesday. Many expect Ford to announce that earlier restrictions prompted by province's coronavirus pandemic numbers will be relaxed, with a return to live harness racing possible but by no means guaranteed. "The situation is fluid," said Andrusek, "and right now we do not have anything concrete from the province directing us with respect to our race program or the likelihood of lifting the restrictions to it. That being said, in order to race on the 14th we have to be proactive. We can't turn the switch on two days or three days before our first live card." If approval is granted, the plan would be for Rideau to host qualifiers on Thursday (Feb. 11) at 10:00 a.m. before its first live pari-mutuel card on Sunday (Feb. 14). The entry box for that Sunday card would close on Feb. 11 at 12:00 p.m. Subsequent qualifying days would be Wednesdays, according to Andrusek. Andrusek told Rideau's Graeme Mitchell that the lack of answers from government with respect to the rationale for suspending racing has been extremely frustrating. "This has been very difficult for us, because I know I've been working very closely with [National Capital Region Harness Horse Association director] John [MacMillan] as he has mentioned. This time around, unlike the spring, the province has not been very forthcoming in terms of the conditions that would be required to lift the lockdown or our restrictions to racing. I've been on the phone everyday, me and John, trying to get that information for you and it has been very, very frustrating because that [information] has not been made available to us. It ain't just us...Ontario Racing has worked very hard in this regard to make our case, to solicit information for you, Woodbine and the other racetracks. But this time, it's just been a very, very frustrating process." Andrusek pointed out that the COVID-19 case count in the Ottawa region has been very low, providing him with some optimism that a return to racing and opening up of the economy in the not-to-distant future isn't a pipedream in that regard, nothing that "there's tremendous pressure in the business community in this region to open this territory up." As far as the on-track product is concerned, race secretary Ian Fleming noted that the condition sheet for the Feb. 14 card should look very familiar to Rideau's horsepeople but how those classes fill will definitely depend on whether those horses that raced there most recently are ready to drop in the box. "When the announcement's made Monday we'll know whether we'll be using [the condition sheet] or not." As far as a clean line requirement goes, Fleming noted that the current window is 60 days plus an allowance for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day from the day the entry box closes -- February 11. "If there was a draw on February 11, you would go back 62 days from then. If you has a clean line in between those 62 days you'd be good to enter for the 14th." The video also discusses the importance of maintaining the high standards of health guidelines and protocols in place and if those standards might need to be more stringent, whether the track will be open for training, who would be allowed to enter at Rideau, and whether the re-opening of Rideau would necessarily mean that other racetracks would be granted the same lifting of restrictions. Federal Election Commission filings reveal payments from Rep. Ilhan Omar's campaign made up the vast majority of money her husband's consulting firm earned during the 2020 election cycle. E Street Group, which is partially owned by Omar's husband, Tim Mynett, drew in $2.9 million from Rep. Omar's 2020 campaign and $3.7 million in total political spending from other candidates. Between January 2019 and November 2020, Omar's campaign contributed 78 percent of the total campaign funds received by the E Street Group. According to Fox News, Omar promised not to have further ties with E Street Group in mid-November - payments in the FEC filings were made before then. Rep. Ilhan Omar is under fire due to the political contributions she made to husband's firm Omar is married to Tim Mynett (right), part-owner of political consulting firm E Street Group The two married in March, which was discovered after they were seen in secret 'Every dollar that was spent went to a team of more than 20 that were helping us fight back against attacks and organize on the ground and online in a COVID-19 world,' Omar wrote in a campaign email. 'And Tim -- beyond his salary at the firm -- received no profit whatsoever from the consulting relationship the firm provided.' Prior to that, however, Omar pushed back against the idea of cutting ties with the E Street Group, despite the potential optics of impropriety. 'You dont stop using the service of people who are doing good work because somebody thinks it means something else,' Omar said in an interview with The New York Times in September. Omar's campaign gave $2.9 million to E Street Group from 2019 through November 2020 E Street Group took in a total of $3.7 million from political campaigns during that same span of time 'Why would I not work with people who understand my district, who have been working there for 10 years, who understand what it means to raise resources for a candidate like myself and manage and target our communications to our district to battle the misinformation and narratives that the media and our adversaries continue to put out?' 'I believe that the narratives exist because those that are putting that narrative out understand what they gain when Im disadvantaged that way,' Omar added. Other political candidates who paid the E Street Group between January 2019 and November 2020 include Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Rep. Peter DeFazio, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer. GOP members are looking to strip committee assignments from Omar for unrelated reasons Omar has previously used what was considered an anti-Semitic trope in criticism of Israel and AIPAC FEC rules allow campaign funds to contribute to the salary of a family member, so long as they are being paid fair value and are providing a legitimate service to the campaign. The disclosures come as Omar looks to raise money while the GOP threatens to target her committee assignments for past comments that were accused of being anti-Semitic. 'Let's be clear: This resolution to remove Ilhan is rooted in racism, xenophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry and we must call it out,' said a fundraising email obtained by Fox News. In mid-November, Omar vowed to stop having ties with E Street Group going forward (Sen. Majorie) 'Taylor Greene is raising hundreds of thousands of dollars off of it. So, we've set a goal to raise $150,000 in the next 48 hours to fight back.' In February 2019, Omar used what could be considered an anti-Semitic trope while criticizing support for Israel, writing 'Its all about the Benjamins baby,' That comment is being compared to Marjorie Taylor Greene's writings that a 'Jewish space laser' was responsible for California wildfires. Democrats this week voted to strip Greene, a Georgia senator, of her committee assignments after the GOP failed to take punitive action in reaction to her past support of the QAnon conspiracy, extreme remarks advocating violence against Democrats, and comments considered anti-Semitic and bigoted. Omar and Mynett married in March, at which point the two already had a professional relationship. Previously, Omar was married to Ahmed Hirsi in 2002 in an Islamic ceremony that was unregistered. She had two children with Hirsi. In 2009, she had a civil ceremony with British citizen Ahmed Elmi after she had an Islamic divorce from Hirsi. Elmi and Omar broke up in 2011 and divorced in 2017, after which Omar reunited with Hirsi and had a third child, before divorcing in November 2019. In addition to the campaign contributions from Omar, E Street Group also received almost $135,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program and $500,000 from the Economic Injury Disaster program, both loan payments from COVID-19 stimulus bills. About a third of a $45 million NSW government stimulus package for businesses struggling from the Victorian border closure was taken up even after a deadline extension and a criteria expansion. Business leaders now lobbying for a greater financial injection said many had found the size of the grants in the package insulting. Vehicles queue to cross the NSW-Victorian border at Albury on January 1. Credit:Jason Robins Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley, whose Farrer electorate occupies much of the NSW-Victorian border, is urging the state to re-purpose the balance for struggling Riverina economies as a survey of Albury business operators before the latest border closure found almost half were struggling mentally. Ms Ley last week also penned a strongly worded letter to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews saying the chaotic and dangerous dash home by Victorians as the border closed a second time on January 1 should never be repeated and visitors were discouraged from returning to the decimated region. Join North West Simon Community in the fight against homelessness by having a Virtual Tea Day anytime in February. A Virtual Tea Day is an easy and fun way to maintain social distancing and connect with family, friends and colleague while also raising vital funds for North West Simon Community. Its very simple to do! 2020 has been a challenging year for all of us, all our community fundraising events have had to be cancelled which account for 80% of our income. Just because we cant get together and meet face-to-face, doesnt mean that we cant come together virtually. You cant beat a good catch up no matter the distance! You could even host an international Tea Day! Hosting a virtual Tea Day with colleagues is the perfect way to catch up and connect whilst working remotely. Dont forget, physical distancing doesnt have to mean social distancing! Now, all thats left to do is get the kettle on, the biscuits out, and away you go! 1. Let North West Simon Community know that youd like to host a Virtual Tea Day contact details below: 2. Set a date and spread the word to your friends, family or work colleagues. Spread the Word Whether it be through text, email or social media, spread the word and ask your friends, family or colleagues to join. The more people you can get involved, the better! Choose a platform Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts and WhatsApp are popular options. Make sure everyone has the link to join your virtual Tea Day, and have your hot drink at the ready! Welcome everyone as they join and invite people to start having a good old catch up. 3. You can have fun and theme your online get together - Share your theme ideas with us on our Facebook Page and inspire others to get involved! Share your photos using #NWSimonTeaDay and post to the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages 4. Log in, have a cuppa, a chat and encourage everyone to make a donation to North West Simon Community via our website: www.northwestsimon.ie/donate and in the comment box reference Tea Day You can donate via Bank Transfer, please clearly label your transfer with your name / your group / your organisation. Please contact for bank details or call and they can take a card payment over the phone. Share your theme ideas with us on our Facebook Page and inspire others to get involved! Further details from Mary at 087 7708865 or email mary@northwestsimon.ie (Natural News) Trump supporters, conservatives, and independent media, are all unilaterally being censored, blocked, banned, and demonetized online. Anyone who doesnt fall in line with the authoritarian democrats, the technocrat elites, and their globalist allies is being removed from social media, shamed for their political views, and told to never speak about censorship and social media bias. Big Tech has rapidly removed conservative voices from the public discourse, removing their expertise, research, pages, opinions, video platforms, businesses and monetization strategies. This segregation, bullying and abuse is just the beginning. Now, blacklisted conservatives are being threatened for speaking up about the censorship and Big Techs blatant anti-conservative bias. A research team from New York University, funded by a prominent Joe Biden donor, claim that censored conservatives are spreading disinformation when they accuse Big Tech firms of anti-conservative bias. Authoritarian Democrats do not want conservatives talking about the censorship they face online Even after Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of Big Tech banned the 45th President of the United States from their platforms, its suddenly deemed a conspiracy theory that Big Tech ever committed the act to begin with. Big Tech is now accusing conservatives of spreading disinformation for calling out the fact that Big Tech censors them unfairly, segregates them and restricts their voice without due process. The claim of anti-conservative animus on the part of social media companies is itself a form of disinformation: a falsehood with no reliable evidence to support it, the report concludes. The manipulative study was funded by Craig Newmark, a six-digit donor to the Biden presidential campaign. The study defends Big Techs ban on President Donald Trump and the suppression of news stories that tell of the Biden familys corruption and criminal activity. The paid-off researchers claim that Facebook and Twitter made a reasonable decision to block the New York Post story about Hunter Bidens emails that were released before election day, during the pre-extended election period of 2020. The manipulative study is being used to push for a Digital Regulatory Agency that shames all dissenting, conservative voices and convinces Trump supporters that they are spreading disinformation online. Authoritarian Democrats are running scared, trying to gaslight America after censoring conservatives Conservatives are being bullied by authoritarian democrats who control 90 percent of the information flow online. These authoritarian democrats not only cover for their favorite political allies, but they also use censorship to cover up their crimes. Now the authoritarian democrats are threatening the people they censored for daring to speak out about being censored. Instead of showing contrition for their blatant acts of censorship and bias, Democrats are telling their political opposition that they deserved to be shut up and shut out from public discourse, that the acts of political violence (censorship) used against conservatives are for their own good. This obscene behavior can be compared to the crimes of Catholic Priests who molest young children in secrecy. When the children try to speak out, they are punished for daring to question authority. The religious elite and their supporting cast of disciples protect one another, threatening their victims when they try to come forward. This same abuse was also witnessed during the electoral process of 2020. Even as hundreds of testimonials flooded the state legislators attesting under oath that there was election fraud, Big Tech insisted there was no evidence of election fraud. The courts, upholding the fraudulent narrative that Democrats won the presidency, ultimately accused the whistleblowers of being the ones who are undermining democracy and sowing distrust in Americas election process. Big Tech is running scared now because Conservatives and other censored voices are beginning to unite and see their common enemy in broad daylight. Florida is one of the first states to give conservatives the power to sue Big Tech when they censor conservatives political speech and impede their ability to participate in democracy. Right now, the authoritarian Democrats and the Big Tech elite look desperate and weak as they do everything in their power to manipulate their victims into thinking the censorship never actually happened to them, that they are going crazy, that the abuse is somehow justified. Sources include: DailyCaller.com NaturalNews.com HereistheEvidence.com NaturalNews.com Reuters.com NaturalNews.com Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-08 06:03:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- George Shultz, who severed as U.S. secretary of state in the Ronald Reagan administration, died Saturday at the age of 100. His death was announced on Sunday by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where Shultz had worked for more than three decades. "Our colleague was a great American statesman and a true patriot in every sense of the word. He will be remembered in history as a man who made the world a better place," Condoleezza Rice, a former secretary of state and current director of the Hoover Institution, said in a statement issued by the Hoover Institution. Shultz is one of only two Americans to have held four different federal cabinet-level positions. He served as secretary of labor, director of the Office of Management and Budget, and secretary of the treasury in the Richard Nixon administration. He was secretary of state in the Reagan era from 1982 to 1989. Analysts noted that Shultz, a firm believer in diplomacy, helped steer the Cold War to a peaceful end. He played a crucial role in negotiating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between Washington and Moscow, which leaders of both sides signed in 1987. Citing Russian violations, the Donald Trump administration formally withdrew from the treaty in August 2019. Born in New York City in December 1920, Shultz graduated from Princeton University before serving in the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II. He later earned a Ph.D. in industrial economics in 1949 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Enditem The sales of China's centrally-administered grain and oil in 2020 more than doubled from the same period a year earlier amid the country's efforts to ensure grain security, according to the China Grain Reserves Group (CGRG). A total of 105 million tonnes of policy grain was sold last year, reaching the second-highest level on record, the CGRG said. Policy grain refers to grain from central reserves and will be released to the market to increase supply when it is necessary. Apart from guaranteeing market supply, the CGRG overcame the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic and adopted measures including extending the purchasing period to protect the rights and interests of farmers, the group added. Despite the disruption of the epidemic, China saw its 17th consecutive bumper year in 2020, with grain output reaching nearly 670 billion kg, up 0.9 percent year on year. New Delhi, Feb 7 : Security has been further beefed up in the last couple of days at Singhu border, however, the agitating farmers remain firm on their demands. Every protesting farmer at Singhu village gives almost the same reply, "We won't go back till the three anti-farmer laws are taken back". Police barricades that were earlier put up at Singhu village, now have also appeared at Singhola village, which is around one-and-a-half km away from Singhu. Singhu and Singhola, these two Jat-dominated villages of northeast Delhi are located either side of the road - (Delhi-Panipat highway) which is blocked since November 26 due to the farmers' protests. Scores of farmers from Haryana and Punjab have been protesting at Singhu against three the farm laws passed by Parliament. These three laws are - The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020. In the last one week, IANS spoke to a varied section of people and farmers at the Singhu protest site to get their views about three farm laws they have stood against and about their lives within multi-layer security for the last two months. Though most of them were not well aware of the contentious points of these three farm laws, they have their own stories of struggling as farmers. A group of farmers from various districts of Haryana sitting with their traditional hookahs in the middle raised their concerns that the new farm rules will end the mandi system and leave them dependent on corporate agents. Mahar Singh Talwandi, an old farmer in the group said, "We are worried that the government will end the mandi system and will give free hands to big companies. The Mandi system helps us to take money in advance and the people associated with the system are also familiar with farmers' issues." As to how the movement against three farm laws started in Haryana, Devender Singh, another old famer in the group said, "Government's laws are written in English and we old farmers do not know. But, we know farming and its rules. After the Government passed these farm laws, farmers in Haryana started meetings in villages and opposed farm laws. People those who are dependent on farming have reservations against these farms laws." While a middle-aged farmer who has come from Jind district in Haryana, sitting in the group added, "At present, the farmers in Haryana have no work to do on farmland for next two months. We are free and will stay here only." Young farmers at Singhu would often reply to any query slamming the BJP-run government, especially incidents on January 26 at Red Fort and scuffle due to stone-pelting at a protest site on January 28. They expressed their anger slamming the government for suspending internet services there, putting up barricades, blocking the place they are protesting, arrests of farmers, and many more issues. "BJP-led government first tried to divide farmers and then made several attempts to derail peaceful farm protests through its partymen. Many of us are students and we are here because of wrong policy (farm laws) by the government. We will not allow corporate companies to snatch our lands. We will fight until these anti-farm laws are repealed," said Sukhvir Singh, one of the farmers in the group. Satnam Singh, a farmer leader in the group added, "We will not talk with the government till all the farmers are out of jail. No matter how long the government will test farmers, we will sit here and will leave this place only after these three farm laws are taken back." In his first speech since assuming power, Libya's new prime minister said his government was committed to strengthening relations with neighbouring countries and achieving stability in the region."We call on all countries, without exception, to be our partners in achieving stability in the region by contributing to the existence of Libya as a politically, security and economically stable country," Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah said. The Libyan official thanked the United Nations and all members of the Libyan Dialogue Forum, which resulted in his selection as interim prime minister. Dbeibah, a powerful businessman backed by western tribes, stressed that failure in this sensitive stage of Libya's history is not an option, calling on all Libyans to rally around this government. Earlier, the prime minister announced his desire to establish a ministry for national reconciliation and to divide the country into security zones. Under outlined steps, Dbeibah must form a Cabinet and present its programme within three weeks.The UN secretary-generals acting special representative for Libya, Stephanie Williams, said the interim government must fully support a cease-fire, uphold the election date and launch "a comprehensive national reconciliation process." (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) The Metropolitan Police Department of Washington D.C. released an arrest report on a Texas native Friday accused of distribution of child pornography. Ruben Verastigui, 27, of Northeast, DC, was taken into custody after authorities say an investigation revealed he distributed, received and possessed images of child pornography. The report reads that detectives from multiple child crimes units in the country's capital conducted a month long investigation on the Texas transplant, Northwest Vista College graduate and avid pro-life advocate. "Between March 2020 and February 2021, an investigation revealed the suspect distributed, received and possessed images of child pornography," the release states. Jared Holt, a fellow at Digital Forensic Research Lab, an anti-disinformation project by D.C. think tank Atlantic Council, released several disturbing screen shots from the criminal complaint against Verastigui on his Twitter and made note of his history in work at pro-life organizations. In the criminal complaint, Verastigui asked another member of an online child porn website to come to D.C. for the purpose of sexually abusing a minor. RELATED: San Antonio man called out for Capitol riot on TikTok to see case play out in Washington D.C. Verastigui's LinkedIn page states he is employed as a communications manager at Citizens For Responsible Energy Solutions, a non-profit energy organization in D.C. His employment history spans throughout a myriad of political organizations, including the Republican National Committee and various pro-life organizations. His bio on the social site reads: "A proud born and raised Texan working in the land of pantsuits and politics. Passionate about creating beautifully creative and comprehensive content for policy and social justice issues. #FutureIsLatino." The education section of his profile says he attended Northwest Vista college from 2011 to 2014. While he was president of the Northwest Vista College Students for Life, he was one of many pro-life speakers at the 2013 March for Life rally in D.C. RELTAED: BCSO: San Antonio man arrested for DWI had fake DEA badge and gun in vehicle Verastigui also served on the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association as a part of their Republican outreach and recruitment effort. His Instagram, @rubenaaronvera which also remained active as of Saturday, shows him at visiting various political landmarks in D.C., and even posing in the White House. In the description of a 2019 event Verastigui spoke at held by the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association, it was written that Verastigui is "a proud born and raised San Antonio, Texan." Karly Williams is a digital producer for MySA. Follow her @karlyjwilliams Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 U.S. Vaccinations Ramp Up, Some Recipients Struggle to Secure a Second Dose The Supreme Court lifted some restrictions on religious services in California. China approved its second vaccine. The next hurdle in the U.S. vaccination campaign may be securing a second dose. Patients are observed for adverse reactions after receiving their first Covid-19 vaccine doses in downtown Seattle last month. Scheduling the next dose has not always been a streamlined process. Credit... Grant Hindsley/Agence France-Presse Getty Images In some American states, people who have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine have been experiencing maddening difficulties as they try to schedule their second. In New Hampshire, officials said this week that they were switching scheduling systems for second-dose appointments after some people were given slots on dates that were past the time frame recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Connecticut, some frustrated older adults were waiting to have their second doses scheduled after getting their first shot, The Connecticut Mirror reported. The problems are pronounced in Washington State, where some residents are anxiously scrambling for second-dose appointments because of scheduling systems that do not always simultaneously schedule appointments for both doses. Kathy Beachy was initially one of them. She received her first shot on Jan. 21 at Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, and had been desperately trying to book an appointment for her second ever since. Finally, more than two weeks after her first shot, she got a call lining her up for a shot on Feb. 19. Both Ms. Beachy and her husband, Brad Beachy, are 65 and older and have received their first shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Were kind of scrambling, Ms. Beachy said before she got the call on Saturday evening. Its extremely nerve-racking and stressful. When she tried to schedule an appointment for her second dose after her first one, all of the slots were booked until April, Ms. Beachy said. Since then, she has been continuously calling Overlake. Now, the confirmation for her second dose finally has her feeling relieved after two weeks stuck in limbo. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires two injections, given 21 days apart, while Modernas two injections should be given 28 days apart. But the C.D.C. said last month that the interval can be expanded to six weeks if giving the second dose sooner was not feasible. Overlake said in a statement that it was aware of some patients who did not schedule or were unable to schedule appointments for a second dose for a variety of reasons, and apologized for any challenges that the self-scheduling system may have caused. Overlake has identified the patients who still need to schedule their second dose, a spokeswoman said, and began the process of contacting them in order to complete their vaccination process within the required time frame. In Snohomish County, north of Seattle, two sites run by the county at Arlington Municipal Airport and Evergreen State Fairgrounds also do not schedule second-dose appointments until later, said Jason Biermann, the countys emergency management director, but he assured the public that everyone would still get their second shot. Were not anticipating being short of second doses, Mr. Biermann said. We wanted to focus on getting folks vaccinated, and so the system that we were able to get quickly in place would only allow us to schedule one dose at a time. Still, this system brings with it some serious angst for people like Ed OMalley, who received his first shot on Jan. 20 at the state fairgrounds, but still has not heard back about the date of his second one. It makes you anxious, Mr. OMalley, 76, said in an interview. It does make you worry a little bit. Mr. Biermann acknowledged that everyone might not get their second dose exactly 21 or 28 days after their first shot, but said that they surely would within the six-week window. Cassie Sauer, president and chief executive of the Washington State Hospital Association, said she recommended that all vaccination sites schedule appointments for both doses at the same time, and at the same place, to make the process as seamless as possible. She also provided some reassurance. We do actually believe that its going to get sorted out, she said. I have confidence that people are going to get their second doses. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Coronavirus testing in the U.S. is declining. Experts arent sure why. The seven-day average of daily new coronavirus tests has declined to 1.7 million from a high of 2.1 million last month. Credit... Pete Kiehart for The New York Times The number of coronavirus tests administered daily in the United States has been trending downward for more than two weeks. And though experts say the trend is too fresh to set off major alarm bells, the decline raises the possibility that testing has reached a ceiling at a time when scientists say the nation should be conducting millions more tests per day to help stop the spread of the virus. On Jan. 18, the seven-day average of daily new tests reached an all-time high of more than 2.1 million, according to the Covid Tracking Project. On Thursday, it was about 1.7 million. Maintaining a level of at least two million tests per day is considered an important threshold by public health experts, who say that it is a level of testing that will allow them to identify most people with symptoms, as well as two people with whom each sick person has been in close contact. This dip coincides with a downturn in another important coronavirus metric: the seven-day average of new reported coronavirus cases, which was down 57 percent Thursday compared with its peak on Jan. 8. When the number of tests performed and cases reported go down at the same time, public health experts want to know if the dip in new cases is tied to the fact that fewer tests are being performed the theory being that If you dont test, you dont find cases, as Dr. Jodie Guest, an epidemiologist at Emory University, put it recently. For now it seems the number of new cases is indeed falling, said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, who noted that the percentage of positive tests is also on the decline. Thats why Im convinced the decline is real, Dr. Jha said in an interview Friday night. The decline, unfortunately, is also relative. Fridays seven-day average of about 130,953 daily reported cases in the U.S. is still significantly higher than peaks in the spring and summer. The Covid crisis is still with us. So why are the testing numbers going down? Dr. Emily Martin, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan, said that the recent dip in testing should come with lots of caveats on what exactly it is we can take away from the trend. It may be, she said, that testing spiked in January, possibly caused by people returning to jobs and schools after holiday breaks and being subjected to mandatory testing. But Dr. Martin and other experts say that the numbers could also reflect a complacency about testing, as vaccine distribution is ramping up. It is also possible that the dip reflects the burden on public health offices that are being asked to administer both vaccines and tests at the same time and that vaccinations, in some cases, are taking precedence. The seven-day average of vaccinations has been on the rise, topping 1.3 million in recent days and approaching the Biden administrations goal of 1.5 million doses per day. I do know that there are testing facilities that have been shifting their focus to vaccinations right now, Dr. Guest said. And I do wonder if the numbers were seeing go down are based on some shifting of priorities. And that is not particularly good news: Experts say that widespread testing must continue to be part of the fight against the virus, because scientists dont know exactly how effective most of the vaccines are at slowing its spread. Vaccine trials, in the interest of speed, were intended primarily to study how effective the inoculations are against stopping the onset of severe Covid-19 disease and not whether they would prevent the transmission of the virus. There was some progress on that front this week, with a study that showed that the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca has the potential to slow transmission, according to researchers at the university. U.S. Coronavirus Cases Are Down but Eclipse Spring and Summer Peaks New cases have fallen almost 50 percent since the highest peak, on Jan. 8. Still, the numbers are far higher than at any point before Oct. 1. A San Diego area school district quarantines more than 100 students and staff members just days after reopening. An elementary school in Escondido, Calif. The city school district is continuing with its reopening plan, despite an outbreak. Credit... Google Maps As classes start up again and schools try to bring students and teachers back to campus safely if at all one school district north of San Diego was forced to quarantine more than 100 students and staff members, just days after welcoming them back for hybrid instruction. On Friday, the district, Escondido Union School District, reported 17 positive coronavirus cases, and said eight of those individuals came to campus while potentially infectious. In the previous days, 81 students and 15 staff members from three elementary schools and one middle school in the district were informed of their potential exposure and began a 10-day quarantine. As of Friday night, the number of positive cases had increased to 26, with 99 students and 17 staff members quarantining, 10 of whom had attended school while potentially infected. It is unclear whether those who attended while potentially infected were awaiting test results after possible exposure to the virus, but a spokeswoman for the district said it was possible that some came to school before receiving a result. Our city struggles with a high case rate, and our community includes many multigenerational families, Luis Rankins-Ibarra, the district superintendent, said in the statement, adding that it was unfortunate that individuals come to school while awaiting test results, after having close contact with someone who contracted the virus, or while they feel ill. We are doing everything possible to ensure a safe environment for our students and employees while they are on campus, he said. However, we cannot control the environments off campus. About 8,700 students are enrolled in the districts hybrid model from transitional kindergarten to eighth grade, the district said. News of the quarantine comes amid a new semester and a reignited national debate about reopening schools. Officials in Chicago and Philadelphia issued ultimatums to some educators, while teachers unions in both cities pushed back against reopening plans. In Escondido, Dr. Rankins-Ibarra said data showed a decline in cases and hospitalizations when he recommended returning to campus with a hybrid model. Coronavirus cases in San Diego County, which includes the school district, remain high January was its worst month for cases but virus numbers have declined over the past two weeks, according to a New York Times database. Though he called the quarantines frustrating and concerning, Dr. Rankins-Ibarra said the district would continue with its reopening plan, which includes temperature checks, questionnaires about symptoms, enhanced air filtration systems and social distancing, among other measures. Safety continues to be our top priority as we work to provide education and support for our families during this pandemic, Dr. Rankins-Ibarra said. The pandemic is pushing American mothers over the edge. Liz Halfhill, 30, works full time as a paralegal while in school and is her sons primary caregiver. Some mornings, the two let out guttural screams catharsis amid the stress of the past 11 months. Credit... Brenda Ann Kenneally for The New York Times In early September, as the school year inched closer, a group of mothers in New Jersey decided they would gather in a park, at a safe social distance, and scream their lungs out. For months, as the pandemic disrupted work and home life, these moms, like so many parents, had been stretched thin acting as caregivers, teachers and earners at once. They were breaking. As are mothers all over the United States. By now, you have read the headlines, repeating like a depressing drum beat: Working moms are not OK. Pandemic Triples Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in New Mothers. Working Moms Are Reaching the Breaking Point. You can also see the problem in numbers: Almost one million mothers have left the work force with Black mothers, Hispanic mothers and single mothers among the hardest hit. Almost one in four children experienced food insecurity in 2020, which is intimately related to the loss of maternal income. And more than three-quarters of parents with children ages 8 to 12 say the uncertainty around the school year is causing them stress. Despite these alarm bells clanging, signaling a financial and emotional disaster among Americas mothers, who are doing most of the increased amount of child care and domestic work during this pandemic, the cultural and policy response enacted at this point has been nearly nonexistent. The impact is not just about mothers fate as workers, though the economic fallout of these pandemic years might have lifelong consequences. The pandemic is also a mental health crisis for mothers that fervently needs to be addressed, or at the very least acknowledged. Almost 70 percent of mothers say that worry and stress from the pandemic have damaged their health. The statistics are shocking, but they are sterile; they dont begin to expose the frayed lives of American mothers and their children during this pandemic. Jessica Bennett, a New York Times editor at large, spent months communicating with three women, who kept detailed diaries of their days, for a look at just how much American mothers are doing every waking second. With everything going on, I just dont have time to take care of my mental health right now. I have to keep it together for everyone else, said Dekeda Brown, 41, one of the three mothers featured in Ms. Bennetts piece. I feel like a ticking time bomb that is constantly being pushed to the breaking point, but then I am able to defuse myself. Goodness, this is taxing. I dont know how to feel sane again, said Elise Kelner, 30, a mother of two children under 4, when she called in from Gilbert, Ariz. Im just stuck in this position for God knows how much longer. The Times collected the voices of women on a special phone line set up to give mothers across the country the opportunity to scream it out like the moms in New Jersey. Hundreds responded with shouts, cries, guttural yells and lots and lots of expletives. Check out the series below, which shows all the messy, heartbreaking moments of everyday fear and chaos, and the rays of joy that can sometimes shine through. Advertisement Continue reading the main story In a late-night ruling, the Supreme Court partly lifts virus restrictions on religious services in California. A film director, John Soares, receiving communion at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles in June of last year. Credit... Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press A splintered Supreme Court on late Friday night partly lifted restrictions on religious services in California that had been prompted by the pandemic. The court ruled in cases brought by South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista and Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena. The churches said restrictions imposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, violated the Constitutions protection of the free exercise of religion. The restrictions set varying limits on attendance at religious services by county, depending on infection rates. With the pandemic raging, in-person worship services were entirely barred in Tier 1, which covers almost all of the state. In a brief, unsigned opinion, the court blocked that total ban but left in place a 25 percent capacity restriction and a prohibition on singing and chanting. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch said they would have blocked all of the restrictions. Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented, saying they would have left all of the restrictions in place. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., in a concurring opinion, explained why a middle ground was appropriate. He said that the court should generally defer to public health experts but that there were limits to that deference. The state has concluded, for example, that singing indoors poses a heightened risk of transmitting Covid-19, he wrote. I see no basis in this record for overriding that aspect of the state public health framework. At the same time, the chief justice continued, the states present determination that the maximum number of adherents who can safely worship in the most cavernous cathedral is zero appears to reflect not expertise or discretion, but instead insufficient appreciation or consideration of the interests at stake. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, in her first opinion, wrote that she would not have blocked the restrictions on singing and chanting based on the available evidence. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh joined her opinion. Justice Gorsuch, joined by Justices Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr., said the state had favored its entertainment industry over worship services. If Hollywood may host a studio audience or film a singing competition while not a single soul may enter Californias churches, synagogues and mosques, Justice Gorsuch wrote, something has gone seriously awry. In dissent, Justice Kagan, joined by Justices Breyer and Sotomayor, said the majority had intruded into matters best left to public health officials. Justices of this court are not scientists, Justice Kagan wrote. Nor do we know much about public health policy. Yet today the court displaces the judgments of experts about how to respond to a raging pandemic. The ruling followed a similar one in November in a case from New York. Advertisement Continue reading the main story How the pandemic silenced New Yorks $25 billion Hudson Yards development. Hudson Yards has suffered during the pandemic, raising questions about its future. Credit... Todd Heisler/The New York Times When Hudson Yards opened in 2019 as the largest private development in American history, it aspired to transform Manhattans Far West Side with a sleek spread of ultraluxury condominiums, office towers for powerhouse companies like Facebook, and a mall with coveted international brands and restaurants by celebrity chefs like Jose Andres. All of it surrounded a copper-colored sculpture that was supposed to be to New York what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. But the pandemic has ravaged New York Citys real estate market and its premier, $25 billion development, raising significant questions about the future of Hudson Yards and signaling the broader challenges facing the city as it tries to recover. Hundreds of condominiums remain unsold, and the mall is barren of customers. Its anchor tenant, Neiman Marcus, filed for bankruptcy and closed permanently, and at least four other stores, as well as several restaurants, have also gone out of business. The developments centerpiece, the 150-foot-tall scalable structure known as the Vessel, closed to visitors in January after a third suicide in less than a year. The office buildings, whose workers sustained many of the shops and restaurants, have been largely empty since last spring. Even more perilous, the promised second phase of Hudson Yards eight additional buildings, including a school, more luxury condos and office space appears on indefinite hold as the developer, the Related Companies, seeks federal financing for a nearly 10-acre platform on which it will be built. Related, which had said the entire project would be finished in 2024, no longer offers an estimated completion date. Matthew Haag and A flood of emotions, along with a first shot. Hannah Wise received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday. Credit... Hannah Wise One morning this week, as I was driving 90 minutes down a highway, past frost-covered fields and bright white church steeples, I finally cried. I was on my way to get the vaccine, and after nearly a year of bottling up emotions, they were suddenly pouring out. I qualified for the vaccine in Missouris Phase 1B-Tier 2 because I have Crohns disease, an autoimmune illness that affects the intestinal tract, as well as psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis conditions managed through a rigid medication schedule that suppresses the immune system, leaving people like me particularly vulnerable to severe illness from the coronavirus. The virus has felt inescapable, as it has for so many people. At work, as an editor at The New York Times, I read story after story about the loss of life and try to find words to help readers understand and process the pandemics toll. At home, the virus has laid bare my own health concerns. I moved to Kansas City, Mo., from New York in June, after 100 days alone in my apartment, to be closer to family in case I were to be infected. Every step outside my apartment has felt like a calculated risk. Driving east on I-50 toward the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia, I felt all the emotions of the year bursting forth. Could this be what hope feels like? Getting a vaccine is far from guaranteed, even for the two million Missourians who qualify. As of Feb. 4, only 6.3 percent of the states six million residents have received one vaccine dose. I set up alerts to see every tweet from Gov. Mike Parson, the Kansas City and Jackson County health departments and nearly every hospital system in the area. A tweet is how I learned about openings at a state-run mass vaccination event. On Monday, I signed up for my fourth vaccine list. Tuesday afternoon, I got the call: My appointment would be the next day. Inside the agricultural building turned vaccine clinic, I was one of the youngest patients. Concerned that Id be turned away at the door because my disability is invisible, I rattled off my conditions as I checked in. But my paperwork was there waiting for me. Samantha Unkel, 24, who comes from a family of nurses, said she was excited to give me the vaccine. I felt tears welling up again behind my mask. She congratulated me as I took my vaccine selfie. Ive felt a physical lightness since the shot. It is a glimmer of joy during a dark and cold winter. Friends who will most likely not be vaccinated for many months said that my vaccination cheered them too: evidence of tangible progress. At the end of February, I hope to drive back for my second dose. My life after the vaccine will look much like my life before. Ill still be wearing my mask and social distancing, but Ill do so with less fear. Advertisement Continue reading the main story For single people, pandemic isolation has presented a unique type of loneliness. The coronavirus pandemic has been especially hard on single people. Credit... Andrea Mantovani for The New York Times The coronavirus pandemic has been rough on virtually everyone. But those who have been single through the isolation, fear and upheaval say theyve been confronted with a distinct set of challenges not necessarily more or less severe than those who are coupled up, but different. The first few months I thought: This is OK, I can work on myself, said Gagan Bhatnagar, 35, a clinical oncology consultant in London. But then it just dragged on. One day I realized it had been three months since I had touched a human being. With a widely shared Twitter thread in December, Mr. Bhatnagar tapped into a wide range of single angst. The thousands of responses he received indicated single people often felt their needs were being overlooked or dismissed, and they frequently felt guilty about expressing them. Whats a bit of mopey loneliness when others are dying? Being unable to date as usual has robbed people of the hope and excitement that can sustain them through typical rough patches, he said. (Many reported that socially distanced walks in the cold, one of the few Covid-safe ways to meet people after matching online, wasnt conducive to forming connections.) The most physical contact Ive had was with a cashier giving me change, said Marc Fein, 35, an educator and mental health advocate in Jerusalem. I dont think I realized how much I needed it. Science supports the necessity of human touch: Tiffany Field, the director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami, said research had shown touch to be crucial as a mood stabilizer. To have well-being, you need to have touch, she said. And if you dont have that, you go into these states of anxiety and depression. Housing aid may not reach people who are renting informally. Angelica Gabriel, 47, and her husband, Felix Cesario, 50, at their apartment complex in Mountain View, Calif. The couple share their apartment with others to manage the rent. Credit... Sarahbeth Maney for The New York Times As the pandemic enters its second year, millions of renters are struggling with a loss of income and with the insecurity of not knowing how long they will have a home. Savings depleted, they are running up credit card debt to make the rent, or accruing months of overdue payments. Families are offsetting housing costs by moving in together. Even before the pandemic, about 11 million households one in four U.S. renters were spending more than half their pretax income on housing, and overcrowding was on the rise. Now, the pressure has grown worse. One study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed that tenants who lost jobs in the pandemic had amassed $11 billion in rental arrears. On Friday, as monthly jobs data provided new evidence of a stalling recovery, President Biden underscored the housing insecurity faced by millions. The rental assistance in his $1.9 trillion relief plan, he said, is essential to keep people in their homes rather than being thrown out in the street. And $25 billion in federal rental aid approved in December is set to be distributed. That, and Mr. Bidens extension of an eviction moratorium, should help many people. But for every million or so households who are evicted in the United States each year, there are many more millions who move out before they miss a payment, who cut back on food and medicine to make rent, or who take up informal housing arrangements that exist outside the traditional landlord-tenant relationship. The federal rental aid may not reach these people, who are the most vulnerable to slipping into homelessness. While rents have fallen in many big cities, vacancy rates for the cheapest buildings are essentially flat from last year, according to CoStar Group, a commercial property group. Before the pandemic there was already a longstanding shortage of affordable housing, so anyone who loses an affordable home will still have a hard time finding a new one. Those Weve Lost Albert Hale, a trailblazing lawyer and former president of the Navajo Nation, dies at 70. Albert Hale was elected the second president of the Navajo Nation in 1994, and later served in the Arizona State Senate and House of Representatives. Credit... Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. Albert Hale was serving as president of the Navajo Nation when one of the most powerful political figures in the United States flared tempers by telling leaders in Indian Country that he had trouble understanding the concept of tribal sovereignty. So in 1998, Mr. Hale, a trailblazing lawyer all too familiar with Washingtons methods of dealing with tribal nations, issued a retort to the official, Newt Gingrich, a Republican who was then speaker of the House of Representatives. When I come to Washington, you dont send me to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said Mr. Hale, representing the largest Indian reservation in the United States, according to an article in The New York Times. You have a state dinner for me. After a long political career, Mr. Hale died on Feb. 2 at a hospital in Mesa, Ariz. He was 70. The cause was Covid-19, his daughter April Hale said. Mr. Hale was elected the second president of the Navajo Nation in 1994, not long after it created a three-branch system of government similar to many other democracies. He later served in the Arizona State Senate and House of Representatives. Mr. Hales death was a reminder of how the virus is devastating the Navajo Nation, which has been one of the hardest-hit places in the United States during the pandemic. At least 1,038 people have died from the virus in the nation, which spreads over parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, tribal officials said Wednesday. Advertisement Continue reading the main story South Africa says AstraZenecas vaccine doesnt work well against a variant. Paramedics caring for a Covid-19 patient at his home in Lenasia, South Africa, last month. Credit... Bram Janssen/Associated Press South Africa has halted use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford coronavirus vaccine after evidence emerged that the vaccine did not protect clinical-trial participants from mild or moderate illness caused by the more contagious virus variant that was first seen in the country. The findings were a devastating blow to the countrys efforts to combat the pandemic. Scientists in South Africa said on Sunday that a similar problem held among people who had been infected by earlier versions of the coronavirus: The immunity they acquired naturally did not appear to protect them from mild or moderate cases when reinfected by the variant, known as B.1.351. The developments, coming nearly a week after a million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine arrived in South Africa, were an enormous setback for the country, where more than 46,000 people are known to have died from the virus. And they were another sign of the dangers posed by new mutations. The B.1.351 variant has already spread to at least 32 countries, including the United States. The low number of cases evaluated as part of the studies outlined by South African scientists on Sunday made it difficult to pinpoint the precise effect of the variant. And it was not clear whether the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine protected against severe disease from the B.1.351 variant. The clinical trial participants who were evaluated were relatively young and unlikely to become severely ill, making it impossible for the scientists to determine whether the variant interfered with the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines ability to protect against severe Covid-19, hospitalizations or deaths. However, based on the immune responses detected in blood samples from people who were given the vaccine, the scientists said they believed that the vaccine could yet protect against more severe cases. If further studies show that it does, South African health officials said on Sunday that they would consider resuming use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine. Even so, the fact that it showed minimal efficacy in preventing mild and moderate cases of the new variant added to the mounting evidence that B.1.351 makes current vaccines less effective. These research findings have not been published in a scientific journal. Pfizer and Moderna have both said that preliminary laboratory studies indicate that their vaccines, while still protective, are less effective against B.1.351. Novavax and Johnson & Johnson have also sequenced test samples from their clinical trial participants in South Africa, where the variant caused the vast majority of cases and both reported lower efficacy there than in the United States. These results are very much a reality check, Shabir Madhi, a virologist at University of the Witwatersrand who ran the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine trial in South Africa, said of the findings released on Sunday. The pause in the countrys rollout of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine means that the first shipments will now be put in warehouses. Instead, South African health officials said they would inoculate health workers in the coming weeks with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which has strong efficacy in preventing severe cases and hospitalizations caused by the new variant. Johnson & Johnson has applied for an emergency use authorization in South Africa. But health officials there indicated that even before it is authorized, some health workers could be given the vaccine as part of an ongoing trial. In the AstraZeneca-Oxford trial in South Africa, roughly 2,000 participants were given either two doses of the vaccine or placebo shots. There was virtually no difference in the numbers of people in the vaccine and placebo groups who were infected with B.1.351, suggesting that the vaccine did little to protect against the new variant. Nineteen of the 748 people in the group that was given the vaccine were infected with the new variant, compared with 20 of 714 people in the group that was given a placebo. That equates to a vaccine efficacy of 10 percent, though the scientists did not have enough statistical confidence to know for sure whether that figure would hold among more people. Benjamin Mueller, Rebecca Robbins and Parading in force Text by Kasun Warakapitiya, Pix by Lahiru Harshana 73rd Independence Day Celebrations View(s): View(s): A toned-down, yet glorified independence celebration was held at Independence Square amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, with safety precautions in place. The event started off with the arrival of the dignitaries, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The opposition leader, former president, state officials and military personnel were present. The event commenced as the president hoisted the national flag and a group of students sang the national anthem. A two-minute silence was observed to honour patriots who secured the independence of the country. A 21-gun salute was performed to honour the president. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa addressed the nation at the event and expressed his views on gaining independence, and the need for maintaining territorial integrity and sovereignty. Following the presidents address, the military parade took place comprising of 3,153 Army personnel, 821 Navy personnel, and 740 Air Force personnel. Another 510 Police personnel and 447 Civil Defence Force personnel participated in the parade. The Air Force displayed their helicopters and planes in a fly by. Both military and Police horses were ridden in the parade. The military elephant Kandula and the Police mascot elephant were also paraded. The event ended with a brief cultural pageant which displayed different types of dances and traditional activities. Armenia ex-minister of emergency situations hospitalized with heart attack Mher Grigoryan: Clarification of border points is possible only after withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from Armenia Suspicious deal: Whether there was profit from buying DNA IDs? Armenia ex-president says current authorities are trying to blame Russia for defeat in war 4 people killed in Afghanistani bus attack Robert Kocharyan: This war could not have happened, it was a consequence of the policy of the authorities Kocharyan: I have to ask people how it happened that overwhelming majority elected this leader Armen Gevorgyan presents 'Armenia' bloc program: We offer the concept of a working country Biden's administration proposed to leave unchanged amount of financial support to Armenia US Embassy in Baku calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release Armenian POWs Luxembourg MFA calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release all Armenian prisoners 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 Mr Abdulai Abanga, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Binduri constituency in the Upper East Region said his main aim is to develop his constituency as the second MP to win the seat on the ticket of New Patriotic Party (NPP). Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra, the Binduri lawmaker noted that the last time NPP won the seat was in 2008 and so the electorate gave him the opportunity with the belief that he will bring development to their doorsteps. He said, Binduri for some time now was Governor by the NDC and the last time NPP won a seat was in 2008, it means a lot to me and believe my people have in me, so I owe them a lot. I was elected to represent the people of Binduri, help to represent them well, lobby to bring development to their doorsteps. Binduri as you know is a deprived constituency, as one of the rural constituencies, people are generally poor and so we lack a lot of social amenities, like good drinking water, good roads, lack of health facilities, education facilities among others. So I was elected with the hope that I can lobby and get the attention of the central government to support them with those key issues so that we can also have a better life. He stressed. Mr Abanga also commended District Chief Executive (DCE) Mr Ayinga Yakubu Abagre for his support throughout till now, Yakubu is a friend, a brother we work together and I can confirm that I have a fantastic working relationship with him and the whole party in the constituency, the constituency chairman, and all the executives I can say about 98 per cent we all work together as a family and that was the reason why we won the election. We were all singing from the same hymn book like the Christians will say. Together we complemented each other, we worked extra hard and that is why we were able to secure the victory. It is always NDC that so for us to be able to win the seat we needed to be able to put in extra effort, we needed to work so hard, we needed to work as a team and that is exactly what we did and by doing that God blessed us to the victory. He added 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 best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 11:45:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in Brazil held an online event on Saturday to celebrate the Chinese Lunar Year of the Ox that begins on Feb. 12. Jointly organized by Chinese consulates in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Recife, and presented by the Chinese Association of Brazil, the event included explanatory videos on the significance of the Chinese New Year, its origin and meaning. Dance shows and musical performances were also broadcast on social networks. "The Lunar New Year is the most important traditional holiday for the Chinese people. It is the time to reunite family, visit relatives and friends, and wish everyone good luck," Chinese Ambassador to Brazil Yang Wanming said in his address. "In the Chinese culture, the ox symbolizes diligence, down-to-earthness, and entrepreneurship. With courage and determination, we will work in this new year with all Brazilian society to move the bilateral relationship forward," the ambassador added. Yang also said the global fight against the novel coronavirus makes this year's holiday "different." "I take this opportunity to greet those who are working on the front line, to express gratitude to those who engaged in China-Brazil cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, and to wish a happy Lunar New Year to my compatriots in Brazil and China," he said. Enditem Sophie Hinchcliffe - better known as Mrs Hinch - gave birth to son Ronnie in 2019. (Getty Images) She has built a huge fanbase on Instagram by sharing all aspects of her life, from her cleaning tips to family routine. But Sophie Hinchliffe better known as Mrs Hinch has revealed that she feared opening up about her mental health after the birth of her son Ronnie in June 2019. Speaking to The Suns Fabulous magazine, the social media star, 30, said she had initially worried about disclosing feelings of despair, spiralling thoughts and questioning her parenting abilities in the months after he arrived. She said: I never spoke about it at the time because it felt a little bit like it would come across as attention-seeking and I also worried about bringing other people down. I didnt make out everything was perfect... instead I just didnt say anything at all. But now I will talk about it all day long if that is whats needed to make people reach out. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. While Hinchcliffe didnt specify that she had postnatal depression which affects one in 10 women in the UK she admitted: I wish Id got help sooner. Most days I was like: Who am I? I didnt know what I was doing and Im not going to lie and say it was all roses and a beautiful experience from start to finish, because it bloody wasnt. She eventually wrote about her heartbreaking experience of early motherhood in her memoir, This Is Me, published last autumn and which went on to become a Sunday Times number one bestseller. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The mother-of-one announced on New Years Day that she is expecting her second child with husband Jamie. Hinchliffe shared a picture with her four million followers on Instagram of Ronnie holding a board revealing the happy news. Captioning the sweet image, she wrote: It is often in the darkest skies that we see the brightest stars. Baby Hinch number two, we cant wait to finally meet you. Happy New Year everyone... from our little family to yours... we hope your 2021 is filled with hope, health and happiness. We love you all. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The post garnered more than 1.4 million likes and over 58,000 comments. Story continues Loose Women panellist Sophie Solomon wrote: Ron you are going to be the best big brother ever. Love Island star Dani Dyer shared: Omg congratulations. TOWIE cast member Lydia Bright added: Ah congratulations darling. In her latest interview, Hinchcliffe who hasnt revealed her due date yet also admitted that she been devouring some unusual foods while carrying her second child. She said: Im living off jacket potatoes and Weetabix! I had exactly the same cravings last time. Pregnancy is so strange, isnt it? Asus is working on a smaller compact premium smartphone, reports Digitimes. According to the report, the smartphone will be called Zenfone Mini. The report does not specify the screen size, but it is said to be much smaller than Asus 6Z, which has a 6.4-inch screen. A Gizmochina report that the screen will have a screen size under 6-inch, but not smaller than 5.5-inch. Other details of the phone are not known yet. Since its going to be a flagship-level smartphone, it could come with Qualcomms Snapdragon 888 processor. You can also expect a high-end camera and fast charging support. The smaller Zenfone could be aimed at Apples compact iPhone 12 mini. The smartphone has a 5.4-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display. It also comes with A14 Bionic chip, 12MP+12MP ultra-wide camera setup on the rear, 12MP selfie camera, 2,227mAh battery. Apart from Asus, Sony is also looking to tap users who prefer smaller smartphones. According to OnLeaks, Sony is going to resurrect Xperia lineup of compact phones. The upcoming Sony smartphone will measure just 140 x 68.9 x 8.9mm. It will have a 5.5-inch display. The upcoming Sony handset will have thicker bezels, larger chin, and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera housed in a water-drop shaped notch added the leakster. New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday raided at 23 locations in connection with shell companies and Hawala racket. The CBI sleuths conducted raids at 18 locations in Kolkata while at five locations in Ranchi. The central agency has raided three Income-Tax officials. The raids have also conducted at premises of Tapas K Dutta, Principal Commissioner, Income Tax Ranchi as a case has been registered against him and six others including a Charted Accountants on the allegations of criminal conspiracy, taking illegal gratification, criminal misconduct. CBI conducting raids at 18 locations in Kolkata & 5 locations in Ranchi, in connection with Shell companies & Hawala rackets ANI (@ANI_news) July 12, 2017 The raids were also carried out in Salt Lake area of Kolkata. CBI raids 3 I-T officials & 6 persons including a CA on allegations of criminal conspiracy, taking illegal gratification,criminal misconduct ANI (@ANI_news) July 12, 2017 Also Read: CBI carries out 8 hours long raid at Lalu Yadavs properties, files fresh corruption case For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat met with a delegation from the French Treasury on Sunday to follow up on the status of current projects and harness new opportunities for cooperation between Egypt and France to provide development financing for green recovery, transportation, housing, sanitation, and health. During the meeting, the delegation affirmed the strength of Egyptian-French relations and the success of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisis visit to France, which took place at the end of 2019, adding that there are long-term plans to support the continuation of development projects in cooperation with several ministries, including the ministries of transport, health, civil aviation, and housing. The meeting was held in the presence of Ambassador of France to Egypt Stephane Romatet; Gabriel Cumenge, deputy assistant secretary for the Ministry of Finance of France; Sebastien Raspiller, head of the financial sector department of the French Treasury; Michel Oldenburg, head of the French Economic Mission in Cairo; and Fabio Grazi, director of the French Development Agency in Cairo. The meeting comes following a visit of the French delegation to a number of Egyptian ministries, which helped identify the upcoming steps to finalise potential agreements, in addition to charting new and different routes to future cooperation. During the meeting, Al-Mashat underlined the value of cooperation between Egypt and France and the mutual benefit it brings, as it contributes to supporting green recovery and complements national efforts to guarantee economic growth and the provision of universal social standards to their citizens in line with the UNs sustainable development goals. In December 2020, Egypt and France inked three financing agreements worth 715.6 million. Al-Mashat also noted that there are a number of negotiations that were carried out with several authorities and ministries in Egypt a few days ago during the visit of the French Delegation to Egypt in order to discuss the financing details. These projects include cooperation with French university hospitals to provide technical evaluation and technical studies for the Ministry of Health, and technical cooperation with the French Blood Foundation to develop plasma donation centers. The minister added that the projects targeted for financing also include the supply of 32 cars for the first line of the metro, the supply of 32 cars for the third line of the metro, the rehabilitation of 32 trains in the second and sixth lines of the metro, and the extension of several railway lines, including Cairo to Wadi Halfa, Libya, Al-Arish to Taba, and the Safaga port. To promote inclusive development and reshape Egypts economic geography, Al-Mashat noted that the discussions also touched upon supporting national projects that aim to develop rural villages in Egypt by developing water infrastructure, providing aerial supervision, and construction. Al-Mashat also praised the role of the French Development Agency in expressing keenness to finance markets in the governorates of Delta and Alexandria, as well as the Regional Energy Control Centre in Alexandria, and the development of Al-Qasr Al-Aini Hospital, in addition to exploring opportunities for cooperation in digital communications. The history of cooperation between both countries dates back to 1974, with an economic cooperation portfolio worth 7.5 billion alongside more than 42 inked protocols covering transportation; electricity; civil aviation; housing and utilities; health; agriculture and irrigation; micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises; environment; antiquities; and Education, according to the ministry. The current cooperation portfolio between Egypt and France amounts to 1 billion. Short link: She recently extended her time on the sunny shores of Tulum, Mexico, after explaining to her Instagram followers it is 'first and foremost a work trip'. And Chloe Sims took some time out of her apparently demanding work schedule to share snaps of herself looking sensational as she posed in a flattering white bikini. The TOWIE star, 38, looked enviably tanned and toned in the stylish two-piece as she posed up a storm on the powdery white sand outside popular eatery Bagatelle. Just another day at the office: Chloe Sims took some time out of her schedule to share snaps of herself posing in a white bikini during her 'work' trip to Tulum, Mexico Accessorising with a sparkling necklace and seashell anklet, the TV personality commanded attention as she perched her pert posterior on a low concrete wall. With her golden brown tresses styled in a ponytail with a centre-parting, the mother-of-one highlighted her distinctive use with a generous serving of nude makeup. Captioning the trio of images, she wrote: 'ON MY OWN JOURNEY.. MINDING MY BUSINESS.' On Wednesday, Chloe shared another sizzling snap of herself in a swimsuit as she sunbathed on the beach in the popular Mexican resort. Tanned and deliver: The TOWIE star, 38, looked enviably tanned and toned in the stylish two-piece as she posed up a storm on the powdery white sand outside popular eatery Bagatelle Minding her business: With her golden brown tresses styled in a ponytail with a centre-parting, the mother-of-one highlighted her distinctive use with a generous serving of nude makeup She was seen lapping up the sunshine in the plunging one-piece, which teased a hint of her surgically-enhanced cleavage. The reality star donned a straw fedora hat and a glamorous makeup 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, while staying at a luxury hotel with her teen daughter Madison and cousin Frankie Essex. Bask: She also took to her Instagram Stories to share a snap of herself basking in the sunshine 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 last Friday. Popstar Dua Lipa, and model Lottie Moss are among those that have been pictured in the Central American country in recent weeks. Cheeky display: Chloe also sent her followers green with envy on Wednesday as she posted a sizzling swimsuit snap while sunbathing on the beach in Tulum 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 novel coronavirus. The country recorded 18,670 newly confirmed coronavirus infections last alone 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. 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 Irish Water, Laois County Council and all local authorities are asking homes and businesses to check for leaks and to conserve water where possible whilst adhering to public health advice on hand washing and hygiene regarding Covid-19. The agencies are asking people to do this to protect the water supply in advance of expected freezing temperatures and snow expected in the coming days. They say that in January, following freezing temperatures and the subsequent thaw the public water network experienced a higher than normal volume of bursts. Irish Water in partnership with Local Authorities carried out hundreds of leak and burst repairs arising from the cold snap. Speaking about the forecasted freezing weather, Tom Cuddy, Head of Operations, Irish Water. As we face another spell of sub-zero temperatures over the weekend and into next week we are appealing to homes, businesses and those responsible for unoccupied buildings to check for leaks whilst adhering to current public health regulations and advice, and to turn off water where its not needed. "We are also appealing to customers to check outside pipes in particular that can become frozen and burst during periods of cold weather and report leaks they see on the public network to us. "Small efforts by everyone to conserve water wherever possible make a big difference overall and we would ask the public to only use what they need whilst continuing to adhere to public health advice on hand washing and hygiene regarding COVID-19. "Simple advice on conservation includes for example taking showers over baths and fixing dripping taps where it is possible to do so "We are also reminding people with responsibility for properties that are currently unoccupied to check for leaks, whilst adhering to public health regulations and advice and turn off water where it is not required," he said. Irish Water says there are lots more tips on how to conserve water in your home, business or school on our website at https://www.water.ie/ conservation/ Irish Water says it is important to check for and repair leaks on your premises, especially during the cold, winter months. It says business owners should be mindful of the risk of frozen pipes and possible bursts if a building is left unoccupied and unheated during a spell of very cold weather. If a commercial premises is unoccupied due to Covid-19 restrictions while there is a spell of cold weather, Irish Water warns that there is an increased risk of frozen pipes and consequent damage. Business owners should regularly inspect properties for leaks during a period of closures, whilst adhering to the public health regulations and advice. Winter proofing Find out more about how to prepare for cold weather on our Winter Proofing page https://www.water.ie/support/ winter-proofing/ and see our useful video on how to Winter proof your home and protect your pipes Dealing with frozen or burst pipes Find out more about how to deal with frozen and burst pipes https://www.water.ie/support/ frozen-and-burst-pipes/ and see our useful video on What to do if you have frozen or burst pipes Tips to help you conserve water Leak free: Check that your home is leak free. Check for running overflows and fix any dripping taps, cisterns or pipes Dont let the tap run: Brushing your teeth with the tap running can use up to a staggering 6 litres per minute. Brushing your teeth with the tap off will use a more modest 1 litre of water Shower vs. Bath: The average bath uses 80 litres of water compared to an average shower using 49 litres in seven minutes. Switch your bath to a shower for a massive water saving Less time: With the average shower using 7 litres of water per minute by turning your five minute shower into four minutes, you could save up to 7 litres of water per day! Fully loaded: Always ensure your dishwasher and washing machines are fully loaded. A modern washing machine uses approximately 65 litres of water per cycle while a dishwasher uses 20 litres. By ensuring they are fully loaded, not only will you conserve water but you will also reduce your energy bills Dont flush it all away: A third of all water used in the home is flushed down the toilet. Some larger cisterns can continue to work effectively with a smaller flush. Place a displacement device into the cistern (out of the way of moving parts) to save water Axios Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. ISLE ROYALE, MI Two years ago this winter, after an arctic blast had frozen the surface of Lake Superior between Isle Royale and the Canadian mainland, a 4-year-old female wolf walked to the edge of Michigans most remote island after sunset. She took a few steps onto the ice and kept going. About 15 miles later, the 70-pound wolf who sported a distinctive black fur mantle across the back of her tan coat, stepped onto the Canadian mainland, her GPS tracking collar showed. And with that one freezing, unexpected walk on Jan. 31 2019, the wolf known as W003F largely took herself out of the worlds longest predator-prey study thats been going on for decades on Isle Royale. The wolf had been captured in nearby Minnesota in the fall of 2018, and spent nearly four months on the island archipelago before trotting back to the mainland. Of the nearly 20 wolves who have been captured and brought to the island as part of an ambitious National Park Service project to resurrect viable wolf packs there and thin the moose population, W003F has been the only wolf to use an ice bridge as an escape route. Even though she was no longer a prime part of the islands wolf project no one was tracking her to see which wolves she traveled with or if she mated and had pups researchers for the last two years have been keeping an eye on this wolfs distant movements through her radio collar. And what theyve seen has really surprised them. Shes crossed a lot of borders, said Beth Orning, a postdoctoral research scientist who until recently worked on the Isle Royale project as part of the Global Wildlife Conservation Center through the State University of New Yorks College of Environmental Science and Forestry. A plot of W003Fs radio-tracked movements show that once the wolf reached the Canadian mainland in early 2019, she traveled back into Minnesota near the area of her capture and stayed there for about a month. She continued traveling around Minnesota and into Ontario, Canada, until deciding to remain in Ontario from July to September 2019. From September to October 2019, wolf 003F ventured back to Grand Portage Reservation (in Minnesota) for a month. This stay was brief before she traveled back up to Ontario. Although she has spent most of her time in Ontario since October 2019, she did make two excursions to Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota during February and March 2020, study staff said. Her journey has covered thousands of miles. All this long-distance roaming makes her a rare wolf, scientists say. Most wolves travel to find a mate or join an existing pack. But W003Fs preference to be on the move and cover a lot of ground is not something researchers see every day. The total amount of distance and where she traveled, its in the rare spectrum, said Orning, one of the authors of a scientific paper published recently, entitled Emigration and First-Year Movements of Initial Wolf Translocations to Isle Royale. BROUGHT OVER ON A BOAT The female wolf started her journey to become W003F on Sept. 29, 2018, when research documents show she was captured using a foothold trap while walking within the Grand Portage Reservation in northeastern Minnesota. She was one of a handful of wolves captured there. Some were destined to head to Isle Royale, while others were deemed unsuitable for the project and released. In each area, we pre-baited sites with nuisance beaver and vehicle-killed white-tailed deer carcasses to facilitate captures, project staff wrote. W003F taking her first step out of her crate onto Isle Royale in October 2018. Once this particular wolf was caught, researchers determined her age and physical condition made her a good fit for relocation to Isle Royale. After her vet check, she received a round of vaccinations, ear tags and a GPS collar. With that, she became W003F. On Oct. 2, she was loaded into a large metal crate, which was covered with a tarp and lifted onto the Beaver, a National Park Service boat, for the trip to the island. Once there, her crate was moved from the boat onto the back of a John Deere Gator, and driven to the release site near Windigo, on the southwest end of the island. Less than an hour after her crates door was opened, she edged out and gave the project crew a beautiful last photo of her walking into the woods. In her first days, she would have had food available as she settled into the island. Researchers had provided freshly-killed moose from the islands over-abundant population, giving the new transplants a taste of the big prey the park service was hoping theyd become adept at killing themselves. A couple other translocated wolves had already been dropped off on the island, and its last native-born pair still roamed one side of Isle Royale. INTERNATIONAL ADVENTURE Her early movements encompassed the entire island, researchers said. Until Jan. 31, 2019. About that time, a dip in the Polar Vortex sent arctic air spilling down into the Great Lakes. Temperatures and wind chills plummeted. Enough of Lake Superiors surface froze to create one of the infrequent ice bridges between Isle Royale and the mainland. Isle Royale researchers said an ice bridge departure had been on their radar as a possibility, but it was still a disappointment to lose one of the projects wolves that way. Ice bridges are always a possibility, Orning said. We really dont know when they are going to form and when theyre not, adding climate change has made them less predictable. Researchers tracking the new wolves from afar via their GPS collars first noticed a discrepancy with all the new wolves tracking data during that Polar Vortex stretch. The NPS described it this way in a press release at the time: Mark Romanski, Isle Royale National Parks Division Chief for Natural Resources and project lead for the wolf reintroduction efforts, had been monitoring GPS data from each of the translocated wolves ... . He noted the wolves had been moving about the southwestern end of the park. However, no locations were reported for nearly 5 days, between Jan 27th and Feb 2nd. This can happen when a wolf is hunkered down in dense forest cover and there is no clear view for the collar to transmit data up to the satellites. Blinded by the poor satellite transmissions, the park needed aerial observations to help locate the translocated wolves. On Feb. 2, 2019, Rolf Peterson and other researchers from Michigan Technological University where the islands wolf-moose study has been based for decades - arrived on Isle Royale. He quickly arranged to go up with a pilot so they could radio-track the new wolves from the air. They found signals from two of the three collared wolves that were supposed to be on the island at that time. As for W003F, Peterson caught a very static-filled signal radiating from off Isle Royales north shore toward Canada. Wolf 003F left Isle Royale via an ice bridge across Lake Superior on Jan. 31, 2019. She crossed onto mainland Canada near the U.S. border with Minnesota. We followed the signal toward the north shore of the island and finally out over the open water of Lake Superior, Peterson said at the time. A lead a half mile wide had opened a few hours before, as the ice bridge was dislodged by a strong northeast wind. We flew out across the open lead and out over the ice pack then determined that the wolfs signal was still to the north, straight to the mainland. Later that day, GPS data from the wolfs collar came in, showing shed headed north off the island, then cut a track west across the frozen lake, stepping into Canada near the Pigeon River and the U.S. border of northeastern Minnesota. While researchers cant get inside this wolfs head and pinpoint exactly why she decided to risk leaving the island, they do know her GPS collar had showed decreased movement in the days before she left. That might show she was avoiding other wolves on the island. We posit food stress, social competition, and lack of breeding opportunity, or a combination of these and other factors may have facilitated the long-distance emigration of this wolf from Isle Royale. W003F's movements since she left Isle Royale in early 2019. She has traveled thousands of miles, crossing into the U.S. and then back to Canada. In the months and years that followed, Orning said researchers kept an eye on the GPS data W003Fs collar kept sending back. Her far-flung movements implied she had not found a mate or integrated into a pack. Her preference seemed to be to stay on the move. Researchers saw that she traveled 1.5 times faster than other collared wolves on Isle Royale once she left. Her recent locations have been around Atikokan, Ontario and the forests at the outskirts of Thunder Bay. Shes a Canadian now, Orning said. Even more than that, W003F has returned to the way she started an untracked wolf. Her GPS collar failed at the end of December, Orning said. Where she goes next is up to her. Wolf 003F's movements from October 2018 through September 2019. READ MORE Isle Royale wolf update: Surprise pups, a missing wolf and a lot of tension Isle Royales last native-born male wolf: The secrets his bones revealed Extra ribs, crooked backs show inbreeding that caused Isle Royales old wolf packs to crash Ice fisherman catches rare video of wolf chasing down a coyote A bid to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to give victims of child sexual abuse a new legal window to sue over otherwise time-barred allegations got new life Thursday, days after the disclosure of a paperwork error threw it into disarray. Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, told colleagues during a state House session that Republican leaders in both chambers were working with him and he hoped to get the proposed amendment on the spring primary ballot through a rarely used emergency process allowed in the constitution. Well be able to pass a standalone quickly and get this on the May ballot as originally intended, Rozzi said. Rozzi, a prime backer of the amendment who has told of his rape by a priest when he was 13, said the top-ranking senator in the GOP-majority Senate, President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, supports an emergency amendment process. Corman and other top Senate Republicans were noncommittal or silent Thursday. As always, we look forward to reviewing any plan the House is able to pass over to the Senate and that includes an emergency constitutional amendment, Corman spokesperson Jenn Kocher said. House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, said in floor remarks that his caucus will work with Rozzi and other backers to get the emergency amendment through the chamber. The proposed constitutional amendment would give now-adult victims of childhood sexual abuse a two-year reprieve a so-called window from time limits in state law that otherwise bar them from suing perpetrators or institutions that may have covered up abuse. The drive to amend the constitution has been fueled by investigations into child sexual abuse allegations inside Pennsylvanias Roman Catholic dioceses. But many victims lost their right to sue under Pennsylvania law when they turned 18, 20 or 30, depending on what the law was when they were abused. With the Harrisburg Diocese and the Boy Scouts of America already in bankruptcy court, time is of the essence for thousands of people in Pennsylvania who were sexually abused as children, a lawyer for victims said. Ben Andreozzi, a lawyer who represents hundreds of victims of sexual abuse, said Pennsylvania victims who filed a claim in those two bankruptcy cases will be paid a fraction of what they might otherwise receive if the state does not restore their right to sue before those cases wrap up. Those victims are literally at the mercy of the Pennsylvania Legislature, Andreozzi said. Voters approved adding the emergency amendment process to the constitution in 1967. It was used three times, between 1972 and 1977, according to the Department of State. The provision is designed to be used in the event a major emergency threatens or is about to threaten the Commonwealth and if the safety or welfare of the Commonwealth requires prompt amendment, it says. The three emergency amendments in 1972, 1975 and 1977 were all enacted after the state was struck by flooding or storms, including Hurricane Agnes in 1972. In each amendment, the provision gave the state Legislature the power to enact laws to provide direct financial assistance to people and private businesses, institutions and organizations to alleviate the danger, damage, suffering or hardship. An emergency amendment requires both chambers to support it with a two-thirds approval vote. That needs to happen at least 30 days before the May 18 primary to appear on the ballot as a referendum. We have to find a remedy because these victims constitutional rights have been violated and we need to fix this problem, Rozzi told colleagues. The proposed amendment had been on track to appear on the May 18 statewide ballot. But Gov. Tom Wolfs administration disclosed Monday that the Department of State had failed to advertise the amendment during the 2019-20 legislative session, as required, when the amendment received the first of two rounds of approval in the House and Senate. That threatens to set back the process by two years, until at least 2023. Victims have tried for two decades to win back their power to sue, and Democrats have long preferred to restore that right by changing state law. In 2018, Senate Republicans again blocked passage of such a measure, saying it would be unconstitutional. But they agreed to an alternative, to allow the two-year window to go through the multiyear constitutional amendment process to get to the ballot. By MARK SCOLFORO and MARC LEVY Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Riot police line up during a protest against the military coup. Photo: Reuters Thousands of young protesters took to Myanmar's streets yesterday in the country's biggest demonstrations since Monday's coup as authorities tightened an internet blackout. The outage, described as "a near-total internet shutdown" that rendered social media inaccessible and mobile lines blocked, failed to dissuade thousands of demonstrators from gathering in Yangon. "Down with the military dictatorship," crowds yelled in Myanmar's biggest city, many donning red headbands - the colour associated with Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party. Myanmar's 10-year dalliance with democracy was brought to an abrupt end following a military takeover in the early hours of Monday. Though the powerful military had promised for weeks a coup would not take place, Ms Suu Kyi and other senior figures from the ruling party were detained in a dawn raid. A party spokesman said last Friday that Ms Suu Kyi was under house arrest and "in good health" - but she has not been seen in public since. An Australian economic adviser to Ms Suu Kyi said he too had been detained, making him the first foreign national confirmed to have been arrested by the new military junta. "I'm just being detained at the moment, and perhaps charged with something. I don't know what that would be," Professor Sean Turnell, a long-time adviser to the Nobel laureate, told the BBC. Attempts to contact the Macquarie University professor have been unsuccessful since communications went dark. Twitter connectivity has fallen to 16pc of ordinary levels, according to monitoring group NetBlocks Internet Observatory, while witnesses report a shutdown of mobile data services and wifi. Facebook was blocked last Thursday and the crackdown extended to Twitter and Instagram yesterday. Social media is thought to be the country's most popular method of communication and has helped to spread displays of defiance nationwide. Each night people bang pots and pans from windows, while doctors and teachers refuse to work. In the capital Naypyidaw, drivers and crowds were spotted raising a three-fingered salute. The gesture of rebellion is inspired by the Hunger Games film series and was first spotted during Thailand's 2014 anti-military protests. As thousands of demonstrators united in Yangon, riot police and two water cannons stationed nearby gave a silent warning to dissenters. Further north in Mandalay, as many as 2,000 people were also protesting. Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won elections on November 8 in a landslide, a result the generals have refused to recognise, claiming fraud. Demonstrators have vowed to return today. "They don't respect our people's votes and I think they are betraying the country," one said. "Our revolution starts today." Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] 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. Kolkata, Feb 7 : As West Bengal's East Midnapore district gears up to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP workers coming from West Midnapore's Keshpur area were allegedly attacked by Trinamool Congress activists on Sunday. The incident took place at Darma as Trinamool activists allegedly ransacked a few vehicles that were carrying BJP supporters to Haldia for attending Modi's public rally. They pelted stones at the vehicles. A few BJP activists were also injured in the attack. A number of posters and banners of Modi were torn off at Nandakumar high road last night. Local BJP supporters pointed fingers at the ruling Trinamool for the act. However, the state government denied the allegations. In a separate incident, at least five BJP workers were injured, of whom one is critical, during a clash with Trinamool supporters at East Midnapore's Nandigram. The injured BJP workers were taken to Maheshpur primary health centre and two of them were admitted to Tomluk Hospital last night. One person who was critically injured in the attack was referred to a private hospital in Kolkata. According to sources, the BJP activists were holding a party meeting for preparations of Modi's Haldia rally on Sunday. A group of TMC-backed miscreants alleged attacked them on Saturday evening in the area. Meanwhile, Haldia industrial township was cordoned off with tight security ahead of a series of events by the Prime Minister. Modi is set to visit West Bengal's East Midnapore district on Sunday to inaugurate a number of infrastructure projects in Haldia. During his visit, Modi is slated to address a public rally in Haldia at 4 p.m. on Sunday, making it his first election rally in the run up to the high-voltage Assembly election. He will also lay foundation stones for key infrastructure projects such as a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) import terminal built by Bharat Petroleum at an investment of around Rs 1,100 crore and has a capacity of 1 million metric tonnes per annum. He will also open the 348-km Dobhi-Durgapur natural gas pipeline section. Apart from these, Modi is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of the second Catalytic-Iso-dewaxing unit of the Haldia refinery of the Indian Oil Corporation which will have a capacity of 270,000 metric tonnes per year. Dormitories in two schools in Bomet County have been torched in fire outbreaks Saturday night. A dormitory at Kabungut Boys High School in Bomet Central Constituency and another one at Chebunyo Boys High School in Chepalungu Constituency were reduced to shells by infernos that broke out after 9pm. The two schools are the latest boarding facilities to experience fires in the South Rift region in the last one month. The fire at Kabungut High School broke out at around 9pm as students were attending their night studies and less than an hour later, a similar incident occurred at Chebunyo High School. "Fire broke out at a dormitory in Kabungut High School, but was contained before it could spread further," said Mr Stanley Mutai, the Bomet County disaster officer. Out of control But in Chepalungu, the destruction was huge as the fire went out of control quickly with few items being salvaged. Bomet Central Sub-County Police Commander Musa Omari said there were no injuries reported in connection with the fire at Kabungut Boys. A month ago, a fire outbreak was also reported at Kimulot Boys High School in Konoin Sub-County, still in Bomet County. At the same time, two suspects have been arrested in connection with a fire incident at Tengecha Boys High School in the neighbouring Kericho County last Thursday. During the incident, 21 students who sustained minor injuries were treated at the nearby Kapkatet Sub-County Referral Hospital and discharged. Fire put out The fire burnt down two dormitories at the school in Bureti Sub-County before it was extinguished through a combined effort by students, teachers and the public. "Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident and are helping police with investigations," said Ms Felicias Nafula, the Bureti Sub-County police commander, said at the time. Ms Nafula said the students sustained injuries as they fled their dormitories for safety when the fire broke out. A senior security officer at the school, Mr Cosmas Kiplangat, is said to have found a mattress along an electricity line outside one of the dormitories as he patrolled the compound. The watchman is said to have removed the mattress and went about securing the compound but noticed at 1.20am that smoke was billowing from one of the dormitories. 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. He raised the alarm, attracting police officers from Kapkatet Police Post who rushed to the scene and coordinated efforts to put out the fire. Property destroyed Property of unknown value was destroyed in the inferno with students losing mattresses, bedding, uniforms, books and other personal effects. One of the dormitories affected had been burnt in a similar incident in 2016, which led to the closure of the school for several weeks. Education officers, the school's board of management and senior security officers were held up in a meeting at the school on Thursday afternoon. The school was, however, not closed as the management sought a stop gap measure for the affected students to be accommodated. In Narok County, a dormitory was also razed at Oloomirani Secondary School as cases of fire outbreaks continue being reported in learning institutions. Rwenzururu King Charles Wesley Mumbere has asked the State to withdraw cases against him and his royal guards. The Omusinga's request was made by the kingdom attorney general, Mr Alfred Makasi, during a pre-trial session presided over by Justice Eva Luswata of the International Crimes Division of the High Court at Kirinya Main Prison in Jinja on Thursday. "The government has pardoned many people, I don't see why they don't pardon us; and four years in prison is enough punishment," Mr Makasi said. King Mumbere and his co-accused are facing charges of treason, terrorism, murder, aggravated robbery and being in possession of illegal firearms. The former acting kingdom prime minister, Mr Johnson Thembo Kitsumbire, who is also among the accused, asked court to relax the bail conditions given to him, the king and the six juveniles. "I would like to thank court for recently bailing out 132 suspects, but I would also ask the same Court to relax the bail terms that were given to me, the king and the juveniles. We were confined to only Kampala and Wakiso and this has infringed on our freedom of movement," he said. Mr Kitsumbire further asked court to allow them to go back to Rwezururu Kingdom, but keep reporting to Kampala. Justice Luswata adjourned the case to March 30 to give the State time to produce a nolle prosequi (sheet which will include only the names of the suspects whom the prosecution have evidence against). 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. "The State can withdraw the charges against some of the 207 suspects whom they don't have evidence against because it is professional," she said. Justice Luswata also ordered prosecution to amend the charge sheet to remove the five dead suspects, include those missing who are in other courts and omit those it thinks are innocent. She also ordered the prison department to produce certificates of the deceased within two weeks, and evidence of eight suspects who are lunatic after defence lawyer Mr Daniel Mudhumbusi submitted the issue. According to Justice Luswata, on March 30, only the lawyers, registrars and the Judge will appear to set the date for pre-trials, effectively barring the accused from attending. The State has been represented by Ms Roy Kalungi, Ms Lilian Omara and Mr Joseph Kyomuhendo. Charges King Mumbere and his co-accused are facing charges of treason, terrorism, murder, aggravated robbery and being in possession of illegal firearms. He was arrested on November 26, 2016, during an army raid on his Buhikira palace in Kasese Town. 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. Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms mainly during the evening. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Apart from limiting sitting days from four to two a week, Parliament on Friday announced additional measures to firm up the observance of Covid-19 protocols. The measures have become necessary after a number of Members and Staff of the House tested positive in a recent health screening exercise. Speaker of Parliament Alban Sumana Bagbin had earlier on Thursday informed the House that 15 Members of Parliament (MPs), 56 Parliamentary Staff had tested positive to Covid-19, in a recent test done by the Noguchi Memorial Centre for Medical Research in the House. Speaker Bagbin in the announcement said the MPs and Staff had been contacted and advised to self-isolate and had been given prescriptions to facilitate their recovery. He further announced that the House has generously accepted to do a mop up tomorrow, Friday 5th February 2021 and urged members who had not done the screening to do so. As part of measures in line with COVID-19 protocols, Speaker Bagbin announced that in consultation with Leadership and the Clerk, had taken a decision for the House to sit on Tuesdays and Thursdays to curb a further spread of the virus. And, only Members of Parliament and members of staff who are needed for the business of the House on those days will be allowed into the precinct of Parliament from next week. This excludes members and staff who have tested positive and those who are yet to present themselves for the test, Speaker Bagbin added. Speaker Bagbin had earlier in the week threatened to publish names of MPs who have tested positive, but were still coming into the chamber; and urged those who tested positive to isolate themselves and observe all the necessary protocols. Despite consistent reminders, 50 MPs had still not made themselves available to the test, a situation that made Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak to demand that the Chief Whips of both the Majority and the Minority Side were supplied with the names of members of their caucuses who tested positive so that they could ensure they did not come into the chamber. The Minority Chief Whip requested each MP should be given the results of his or her test, arguing that it was not enough to transmit the results of the test by telephone calls. Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, urged MPs and staff as well as journalists who covered Parliament to take the test or risk being barred from coming to the House. As he read the Business Statement for next week ending February 12, 2021, Mr Osei Kyei- Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader and Chairman of the Business Committee, cautioned Members and Staff that visitors were not allowed in the House or into their offices. Also visitors are not allowed into the public gallery of the House to observe proceedings in the chamber. Meanwhile, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu announced in the Business Statement that the Appointments Committee would begin vetting of proposed Ministers from next week Wednesday. He said the Appointments Committee would soon be dissolved, and renamed subject to the pending approval of the new Standing Orders of Parliament. And the House would have to sit for an extended time next week Thursday at plenary to approve the composition of members of various committees of Parliament. He also informed the House that an induction seminar for new MPs had been scheduled to last from later in the day, to Monday at the Aqua Safari Resort at Big Ada. Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu urged the Leadership of the House to take part in the seminar and added that re-entrants into the House would have their turn next week. 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 Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has said President Muhammadu Buharis silence on the illegal activities of herders across Nigeria shows that he is complicit. Mr Soyinka said he wonders why Mr Buhari has failed to address the nation especially as the buck stops at his desk. He said the current situation particularly across the country, particularly in the Southwest, may develop into a civil war. The Professor of Comparative Literature and Nobel Prize winner for Literature in 1986 disclosed this while speaking with BBC pidgin in an interview broadcast on Saturday. He pledged to support whatever decision is taken to secure peoples rights to live in dignity. What do they expect of us now that the war is on our doorstep? Of course there will be mobilisation and if we keep waiting for this to be centrally handled, we are all going to become, if not already slaves in our land. That to me is personally intolerable. It is not an acceptable condition. And whatever it takes, I stand ready to contribute in any way and I have made my governor understand this, that we are here not just to live in but to live in dignity. Right now, our dignity is being rubbished. My forest is being taken over, its been shrinking, my normal hunting ground is shrinking. My family tells me that if I go in depth again, they will have me institutionalised. Many Nigerians have condemned President Buhari for not doing enough to check the criminality by armed herdsmen. Many have suggested the presidents inaction is because he is also Fulani and a patron to the main herders association, Miyetti Allah. In his interview, Mr Soyinka said the first solution to the recurring menace is for Mr Buhari to address the nation on the level on insecurity and the way forward. He noted that the president should say openly that yes, I know I am the patron of the cattle rearers association etc., and I am a cattle rancher myself and it is a business. And I do not run my business by killing people. I do not run my business by raping, by displacing, by torturing. I do not run my business by occupying land that does not belong to me and I am warning a business people in the food commodity, all cattle reared, whatever comes to you for illegal occupation for trespassing on other peoples property is your business and I am ordering the army, I am ordering all the security forces to back citizens efforts in flushing you out. Mr Soyinka said he expects nothing else at this stage from Mr Buhari than the statement he suggested. It is very late already but it is not too late. This is a language that we expect from President Buhari and as much as that language does not come, I must consider him as quite complicit in what is going on because the buck stops at his desk. We may enter a phase of serious skirmishes which get more and more violent and may develop into civil war and a very untidy mercy one. Thats my biggest fear. Unless action is taken I am very glad that the governors are coming together and are discussing in all seriousness. Im happy they are pulling in groups like Miyetti Allah, obviously knocking some sense into the head of their leaders and they are talking about accepting the decision of governors and agreeing to obey. Asked whether he is in support of the action of a Yoruba warlord, Sunday Igboho, he said, Weve never met, I hope people will always report things properly. I saw a byline of one media report that Wole Soyinka calls Igboho a hero, I never made any such thing. Sunday Igboho has responded to the situation in the way he knew how. Now you will see that hes trying to work with others. Somebody one day reaches an explosion point and he says I cannot take this any longer and he takes unilateral action. It may be excessive, it may be wrong but what matters is that somebody has responded to an unacceptable situation. Any error which he makes is for the rest of us to correct by calling him and I know that a number of people are doing that. Many states in Nigeria, and their residents, have lamented the activities of armed herdsmen who not only graze their cattle on peoples farms but also engage in criminality like kidnap and murder. Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State recently issued an ultimatum to herders in Ondo forests to leave because the forests were being used as bases for criminal activities. Also, a Yoruba warlord, Sunday Adeyemo, led residents of Igangan in Ibarapa area of Oyo State to evict Fulani leaders in the area after giving them an ultimatum. He accused them of harbouring the Fulani herders who perpetrate criminality in the area. Mr Igboho also led a similar action in Ogun State. As the tension escalated, the six governors in South-west states met with leaders of Miyetti Allah cattle rearers where they reached an agreement to ban open grazing, child grazing and ensure criminals among the herders are identified and published according to the law. ADVERTISEMENT Since the onset of the pandemic, millions of Americans have been struggling with paying rent and utility bills, putting a strain on power utilities' revenues and raising the question about who and when will foot the bill for the billions of U.S. dollars in energy bills arrearages. More than half of U.S. states introduced moratoriums on electricity and gas utility shutoffs in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 emergency as millions of Americans lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic impact on businesses and the economy. Those moratoriums eased households' fears that they would be left without lighting or heating while also struggling to pay rent or put food on their tables. Winter and COVID-19 utility shut-off moratoriums are set to end in 28 states between February and March 2021, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA). At the same time, home energy use data provider Sense found that during the lockdowns and stay-at-home orders in the spring of 2020, the average home electrical usage increased by 22 percent compared to 2019, and most consumers would have to pay 22 percent more on their April electricity bill compared to April 2019. For utilities, the higher household bills would have offset lower industrial use of electricity if many customers had not fallen behind in their energy bills payments. Duke Energy, for example, has estimated that the lower COVID load would dent its 2020 earnings per share by around $0.20 to $0.25. "And when coupled with waived fees and non-deferred COVID costs results in COVID related earnings headwinds of $0.25 to $0.35 in 2020," Steven Young, Duke Energy's executive vice president and chief financial officer, said on the Q3 earnings call in November. Utilities have waived fees and stopped shutoffs, but those billions of dollars of unpaid energy bills still must be paid one way or another. Meanwhile, debts continue to pile up. Related: Canada Oil And Gas Deals Surge 468% "A moratorium just kicks the can down the road. By the time the pandemic is over, these families may have a year's worth of utility bills," NEADA's executive director Mark Wolfe told Utility Dive in December. According to an analysis by Moody's Analytics, as of the January 2021 rent payment, "the typical delinquent renter" would have been "almost four months and $5,600 behind on their monthly rent and utilities," of which $290 is utilities. "Utilities across the nation are reporting significant increases in the numbers of households falling behind on their utility bills," NEADA and other organizations, including the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the National Consumer Law Center, wrote in a letter to Congress at the end of January, requesting an additional $10 billion funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Electric and natural gas arrearages are expected to have reached $32 billion by the end of 2020, based on an analysis of utility arrearages by NEADA. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 provided $25 billion for rent relief and utility bills. However, NEADA and the other organizations do not expect a significant portion of these funds to be used for utility bills, while those funds can only help renters, not homeowners, millions of whom are also behind in their energy bills. More funding to LIHEAP would be a better choice than other options such as repayment plans, which could take years to repay and further delay households' ability to recover, or utilities raising rates to all customers, according to NEADA. Moreover, the unpaid energy bills could result in many smaller, less well-capitalized municipal and cooperative utilities facing "serious economic shortfalls," the organizations said. "Given the urgency of these needs, it is imperative that Congress include LIHEAP in the next funding bill for coronavirus relief and fund the program at $10 billion to address the emergency heating and cooling needs of all eligible American families," they noted. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Hoppo, who has appeared on 14 seasons on the hit Channel Ten show, said simply floating and not fighting against rips can avoid drowning Bondi Rescue lifeguard Bruce 'Hoppo' Hopkins has shared life-saving advice for swimmers if they find themselves caught in a rip. Hoppo, who has appeared on 14 seasons of the hit Channel Ten show, said simply floating and not fighting against rips can save people from drowning. 'I want to pass on the patrolling strategies [used in Bondi Rescue]... and educate as many people as possible with the one message which will make a difference if you're struggling in the water,' he told The Age. 'That is, stop swimming, conserve your energy and float to survive. Rips don't drown people, people drown in rips.' At least 55 people have died as a result of drowning this summer alone, compared to just 43 at this time last year. Last week British gym manager, Jake Jacobs, 32, and his friend Julia Boika, 29, tragically drowned at Broadbeach in Queensland while going for a late night swim on Thursday night. At least 55 people have died as a result of drowning this summer alone, compared to just 43 at this time last year Twenty-one people drown on average each year either caught in rips or trying to rescue someone in one. So far this summer the rip casualty sits at 16 Ms Boika's body washed ashore at Kurrawa Beach an hour later but Mr Jacobs wasn't found until late on Friday night floating at Main Beach. TV weatherman Luke Bradnam stripped off and dove into the water to pull Mr Jacobs' body from the surf with the help of a boogie boarder on Friday night. On Saturday another swimmer drowned at Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast on Saturday morning, marking the third death at the popular spot in just two days. Paramedics desperately performed CPR on the sand but tragically the swimmer, believed to be an adult, was unable to be saved. Twenty-one people drown on average each year either caught in rips or trying to rescue someone in one. So far this summer the rip casualty sits at 16. British national Jake Jacobs, 32, was last seen entering the surf at Kurrawa Beach, Broadbeach - on the Gold Coast - about 9.20pm on Thursday night Shane Daw from Surf Life Saving Australia advised swimmers not to panic if they get into trouble in the water Experienced swimmer Scott Folkard was at Manly Beach with his son over the weekend when he noticed a man who appeared distressed while swimming. Mr Folkard rescued the swimmer before a nearby lifeguard towed the man to shore. Hoppo said that if the man didn't try to swim against the rip and instead floated, the small rip would have likely left him on a sandbar where it would have been easier to come to shore safely. Shane Daw from Surf Life Saving Australia advised swimmers not to panic if they get into trouble in the water. 'Any swimmer should float and signal or call for assistance. It doesn't matter how good a swimmer you are - rips are too powerful to fight. We need people to be aware most rip currents are recirculating and will bring you back to a sandbar, or to shore,' he said. Former lifesaver Kenny Jewell said rips can be spotted while still on the sand. 'The easiest thing to remember is that often the safest/calmest most enticing looking area along a beach is usually a rip,' Mr Jewell wrote 'A rip is usually the area void of wave activity and appears darker and deceptively calmer. Hoppo said that if the man didn't try to swim against the rip and instead floated, the small rip would have likely left him on a sandbar where it would have been easier to come to shore safely. Pictured with his wife Karen 'Always take 5-10 mins when you get to the beach to observe surf conditions and identify where these areas are.' If you can't pick danger until it's too late, according to Mr Jewell the most important thing to do is to remain calm. He says rips can move at three times the speed of an Olympic swimmer, so trying to fight against the water is useless. 'If you are caught in a rip, DO NOT PANIC. Go into floating mode and raise one arm as a distress signal when possible,' the former lifesaver wrote on Facebook. 'See which direction the rip is taking you... once you have determined this, and if you have the energy, swim to the right or left of the direction of flow, never against. In this image the main rip runs down the centre of the waves, with a second 'feeder' rip giving it power from the side Former lifesaver Kenny Jewell said rips can be spotted while still on the sand 'Most rips won't take you out very far, and will usually spit you out not long after they take you, so keep calm and save your energy.' The team at Surf Life Saving Australia shared with the public how difficult rips are to spot. An instructional video the group uploaded not only does it showcase the different types of rips but it also explains which telltale signs parents and individuals alike should be looking for when frolicking in the surf. In this image the main rip runs down the centre of the waves, with a second 'feeder' rip giving it power from the side. Dark patches of water, fewer breaking waves, a rippled surface and anything - like sand - floating beyond the waves are all indicators that a rip might be close by. press release The African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government has re-elected Chadian Moussa Faki Mahamat as the African Union Commission Chairperson for another four year term. The election took place during the ongoing 34th Ordinary Session of the AU virtual Summit today 6 February 2021. Chairperson Faki will be Deputized by Dr. Monique Nsanzabaganwa from Rwanda who secured a two-thirds majority votes of forty two (42) votes during the election, in a highly contested position from another two female candidates. Dr. Monique becomes the first female to occupy the position of the Deputy Chairperson. Faki sought a second term mandate for the position following the lapse of his first term of the Commission's leadership that came into office in January 2017. According to the Constitution Act of the OAU now AU, the Chairmanship of the AU Commission is for a period of four years mandate renewable once. The 2021- 2024 elections of senior leadership for the AU Commission also filled the positions of some Commissioners. (The complete list of elected officials will be posted on the AU website: www.au.int ) . Worth noting that, election is by secret ballot and a two-thirds majority of Member States eligible to vote. The Assembly elects the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson while the Executive Council elects the Commissioners, who are appointed by the Assembly. The Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission assists the Chairperson in the execution of his functions to ensure the smooth running of the Commission and is in charge of administration and finance. The new Commission members' terms are for four years, renewable once. The newly appointed six Commissioners will govern various portfolios as follows; From Angola, H.E. Josefa Sacko was re-elected to head the Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment docket. From Zambia, Amb. Albert Muchanga was re-elected to the post of Economic Development, Trade and Industry and Mining docket. From Egypt, Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid was also re-elected to continue serving in the Infrastructure and Energy docket. Amb. Bankole Adeoye was voted unanimously with 55 votes to take the helm of the Political Affairs, Peace and Security docket. Elections for the posts of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development; and Education, Science, Technology and Innovation were postponed to the next meeting of the Executive Council. The incumbent Commissioners H.E. Amira Elfadil and Prof. Sarah Agbor respectively, will continue to serve in their current positions until the elections are conducted. The elections demonstrate progress on the implementation of the Institutional Reforms of the Union adopted in 2018 directing that from 2021, the Commission shall be composed of eight members - the Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and six Commissioners from the previous ten member Commission. The reforms also included decisions to enhance the transparency and meritocracy of the Leadership selection process, with a Panel of Eminent Africans tasked with the Pre-Selection process of the Senior Leadership Positions of the African Union Commission. The selection principles were based on equitable regional representation, gender parity, predictable rotation, attracting and retaining Africa's top talent, accountable and effective leadership and management, and transparent and merit-based selection. This is the first time, in the history of the African Union, that the elections have been held virtually occasioned by the containment measures instituted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines 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. Relatedly, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), H.E. Felix Tshisekedi officially assumed the chairmanship of the African Union for year 2021, taking over from H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa and AU Chair for year 2020. Find the African Union Commission End of Term Report 2017-2021 on the past four years of the AU Commission and recommendations for the Union in charting the future. Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it. I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends. More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it. The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity. About me: I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS. Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line). Age: 42 Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed. I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it). The Welsh Government is in talks to buy the Horizon nuclear power plant site from Hitachi in a last-ditch effort to secure the future of the project. The Labour-led administration has approached Hitachi about buying the site and keeping on staff to safeguard it until a new developer can be found. The Japanese group scrapped plans to build a 20billion power station at Wylfa, on the island of Anglesey, last year. The Horizon project is due to close next month. Talks: Hitachi's commitment to Horizon had been under question for some time after it wrote 2billion off its value in 2018 Hitachi's commitment to Horizon had been under question for some time after it wrote 2billion off its value in 2018. One of the major obstacles for the Welsh Government has been the cost of the land, the Sunday Times reported. The UK has struggled to get nuclear projects off the ground. The only plant in construction is Hinkley Point C though ministers may approve a power station at Sizewell in Suffolk. Gunfire starts the morning news cycle and pushes the Kansas City homicide count higher during the dead of Winter. The latest . . . KSHB: Man killed in shooting on Wabash early Sunday morning KMBC: Man found dead inside home early Sunday morning Deets . . . "One man was killed in a shooting in the 4000 block of Wabash early Sunday morning. Officers were called to a reported shooting shortly after 4:00 a.m. Upon arrival officers located a man inside the home. He was pronounced dead at the scene." This is the 14th homicide so far this year compared to 18 at this time last year. After the jump we have more news on local crime, police action and criminal complaints KCMO Suffers High Speed Crash KCPD: 4 injured in 7-vehicle crash KANSAS CITY, Mo. - At least four people were injured -- one critically -- in a seven-vehicle crash Saturday afternoon in Kansas City, Missouri. Police said a blue Chrysler was seen in the area of East 59th Street and Troost Avenue driving northbound in a southbound lane of Troost, reaching speeds "in excess of 100 mph." Po-Po Rescue Reported St. Joseph Police rescue 8 human trafficking victims late Friday night ST. JOESPH, MO (KCTV) - St. Joseph Police, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol have successfully completed a human trafficking operation Friday night. The operation was completed at St. Joseph's, Bucky's and Love's Travel Stop. St. Kansas Gun Head Check Proposed Kansas law would prevent those with severe mental illness from owning, buying guns KANSAS CITY, Kan. - There's a proposed law in Kansas that some say would close a loophole that allows people with severe mental illness to own and buy guns. This isn't necessarily the same as the controversial red flag law, which allows the police or family members to ask a judge to take away a [...] Show-Me Insurrection Evidence Missouri man charged in riot seen with Pelosi nameplate The uncle of a Missouri woman accused of participating in the riot at the U.S. Capitol last month is now facing charges himself.A federal complaint against William Merry Jr. of St. Louis County was unsealed late Thursday. Merry is the uncle of Emily Hernandez, 21, of Sullivan, who was charged on Jan. Local Cold Case Crash Recalled Family seeks justice in deadly hit-and-run crash 1 year later KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Thursday marked one year since a hit-and-run driver in a stolen vehicle killed Judy Morris and Virgil Dixson, whose loved ones continue to honor their memories and hope the driver will be held responsible. Morris' nieces said their Aunt Judy was heading to get her nails done to celebrate the Chiefs' victory in Super Bowl LIV. More Deets On Missouri Political Push Back Against Activists Wife of Sen. Josh Hawley takes criminal action after 'anti-fascist' group targeted family's personal residence The protest group claims they were holding a 'candle light vigil' outside the Hawley residence Feds File Love Warning FBI warning residents to be mindful of romance fraud as Valentine's Day approaches FBI Courtesy Image The Federal Bureau of Investigation is advising residents to be mindful of where they seek true love throughout the month of February. The FBI Kansas City Division is using the month of love to highlight the dangers of romance fraud. Developing . . . Anthony Albanese has urged his shadow cabinet to ensure all new policy proposals are offset with spending cuts, according to leaked documents that reveal the extent of the Opposition Leaders plan to dump Labors big tax-and-spend agenda in favour of a smaller platform. The documents obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reveal Mr Albanese is preparing Labor for a potential early election by ordering his top team to help restore the partys economic credibility as it readies its pitch to form government. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has struggled to get attention. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen In an email to his cabinet colleagues on Friday, deputy leader Richard Marles said the leaders office would this week begin working on priority policy development areas that had been identified by its policy review committee. The leak comes amid growing internal unrest over Labors direction under Mr Albanese and criticism over his performance during the past 18 months. It also suggests both major parties will head to the next election without a major reform agenda, focusing on the economic and health challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ministers have accused Historic England of 'putting down' Britain's past after the public body linked villages, halls, churches and pubs to slavery in a sweeping 157-page report. An audit of pre-existing work by Historic England, an arm of the Department for Culture which is given 88.5million to preserve buildings and monuments, tied rural communities to 'money made in transatlantic slavery'. The body cited the patronage of figures including Edward Colston, William Gladstone and Francis Drake as part of the 'money trail' linking buildings to the wealth generated from slavery. Its report also notes that less well-known families invested this wealth to improve infrastructure - causing villages to be included in the audit for funding for church repairs and road works in the 18th and 19th centuries. Historic England say the information will be used to 'enrich' its records and provide topics for more in depth research in the future. However MailOnline can reveal the project - which even audited chapels where slave profiteers and their relatives were buried - has been slammed by ministers who are 'frustrated' at the way public bodies focus on 'divisive parts of Britain's history rather than celebrating our shared heritage'. A source in the Department for Culture told MailOnline: 'Ministers are increasingly frustrated with public bodies focusing on divisive parts of Britain's history rather than celebrating our shared heritage. St Nicholas's Church in Deptford was listed due to its memorials of those involved in slavery, including the slave trader Edward Fenton and John Julius Angerstein, who co-owned plantations in Grenada and established Lloyds of London Among the many sites which have been linked to the transatlantic slave trade include a school in Nunnington, North Yorkshire built by William Rutson, grandson of the cotton merchant and slave trader William Rutson of Liverpool The statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston being dumped in Bristol Harbour during a Black Lives Matter protest rally last summer Why is the Government 'frustrated' with Historic England? Ministers are 'frustrated' with public bodies including Historic England because they believe that they are taking partisan positions in a live debate on culture and history. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden wrote to the department's 'Arm's Length Bodies' - including Historic England - outlining how they are not allowed to engage in 'activism'. In a letter sent on September 22, 2020, he wrote that as 'publicly funded bodies' the likes of Historic England should not 'erase' contentious parts of British history but instead 'seek to contextualise or reinterpret them in a way that enables the public to learn about them in their entirety'. Mr Dowden called on Historic England to remain 'impartial' in the debate, largely fuelled by the sudden global Black Lives Matter protests. He wrote: 'History is ridden with moral complexity. Statues and other historical objects were created by generations with different perspectives and understandings of right and wrong. 'Some represent figures who have said or done things which we may find deeply offensive and would not defend today. But though we may now disagree with those who created them or who they represent, they play an important role in teaching us about our past, with all its faults.' The Culture Secretary continued: 'Historic England, as the Government's adviser on the historic environment, have said that removing difficult and contentious parts of it risks harming our understanding of our collective past. Rather than erasing these objects, we should seek to contextualise or reinterpret them in a way that enables the public to learn about them in their entirety, however challenging this may be. 'Our aim should be to use them to educate people about all aspects of Britain's complex past, both good and bad. 'As set out in your Management Agreements, I would expect Arm's Length Bodies' approach to issues of contested heritage to be consistent with the Government's position. 'Further, as publicly funded bodies, you should not be taking actions motivated by activism or politics. The significant support that you receive from the taxpayer is an acknowledgement of the important cultural role you play for the entire country. 'It is imperative that you continue to act impartially, in line with your publicly funded status, and not in a way that brings this into question.' Advertisement 'We should face up to the challenging parts, but this needs to be done in a balanced way rather than constantly putting down our past.' The audit was completed last summer, shortly after the toppling of Colston's statue and its dumping in Bristol Harbour by Black Lives Matter protesters. The report, which is available online, states: 'The transatlantic slavery economy was invested in the built environment of the local area in housing, civic society organisations, churches, village halls, farms, shooting lodges, hotels.' Among the many sites which have been linked to the transatlantic slave trade include a school in Nunnington, North Yorkshire built by William Rutson, grandson of the cotton merchant and slave trader William Rutson of Liverpool. Rutson also funded a school, refurbishments to a church and for the rebuilding of houses in the quaint village, as well as buying Nunnington Hall in 1839 as a shooting lodge. A small pub in Brockenhurst, Hampshire called the Morant Arms made the audit due to its connections to the Morant family, which owned extensive sugar plantations in Jamaica and invested in the village. The report says Edward Morant moved to England from Jamaica and bought Brockenhurst House and estate in 1770, subsequently rebuilding the house as a large Georgian mansion with extensive grounds. His son John Morant purchased the Manor of Ringwood in 1794. Brockenhurst House was greatly extended in 1865. Later demolished, a new house was built in 1960. Historic England noted in its report, completed last year, that 'many English churches are the burial sites of local families with slavery connections' and sites of internment including rural places of worship and London chapels are included. A gravestone in Dorset's Holnest has been reviewed because it commemorates slaver John Samuel Wanley Sawbridge, who married Jane Frances Grosvenor, a member of the slave-owning Drax family of Barbados. The report states Sawbridge took possession of Charborough House and also owned an estate at Holnest, where he built an elaborate mausoleum besides the parish church. This was demolished in 1935 and replaced by a flat memorial stone. And St Nicholas's Church in Deptford was listed due to its memorials of those involved in slavery, including the slave trader Edward Fenton and John Julius Angerstein, who co-owned plantations in Grenada and established Lloyds of London. The report is more comprehensive than the National Trust review, which was limited to stately homes. However, it does not address all 'tombs, monuments and memorials of individuals and families made wealthy from associations with the Atlantic slave economy'. Historic England said the audit would: 'Identify significant gaps in knowledge that can be targeted through new collaborative research in order to produce a more complete picture of the impact of Atlantic slavery on the built environment in England. 'This new knowledge will over time facilitate Enriching the List entries and enhancements to the National Heritage List for England as well as providing a vehicle for greater engagement with heritage among under-represented audiences.' Historic England told MailOnline that the audit 'will absolutely not be used to delist structures' in its drive to diversify. BROCKENHURST: A small pub in Brockenhurst, Hampshire called the Morant Arms made the audit due to its connections to the Morant family, which owned extensive sugar plantations in Jamaica and invested in the village HOLNEST: A gravestone in Dorset's Holnest has been reviewed because it commemorates slaver John Samuel Wanley Sawbridge, who married Jane Frances Grosvenor, a member of the slave-owning Drax family of Barbados In a statement, a spokesperson said: 'In early 2020, we commissioned an audit which brings together previous research into the tangible traces of the transatlantic slave trade in England's built environment, mostly carried out over the last thirty years by universities and community groups. 'The audit has also identified gaps in knowledge and makes suggestions for future research. 'This knowledge will absolutely not be used to delist structures, but it will be used to enhance the National Heritage List for England and tell a fuller story of England's rich and complex history. 'As a separate piece of work in November we published our Inclusion, Diversity and Equality Strategy following two years of development and consultation. 'It reaffirms our commitment to delivering our work in a way that benefits a broader range of people, places and communities which better represent the diversity of England and our rich heritage. 'Heritage is for everyone and we want our work to ensure that a diverse range of people are able to connect with, participate in and enjoy the historic environment.' The rollout of vaccines across the U.S. has finally given hope to many employers of a return to some form of normality. Although the program has gotten off to a faltering start, the promise that hundreds of millions of employees could soon be vacinated could provide a lifeline to businesses that rely on face-to-face customer service, such as restaurants, and also allow the reopening of offices across the U.S. But can a company mandate its staff to be vaccinated? And what happens if an employee refuses to take the shot, citing their religious beliefs? These are not just hypothetical questions. A number of U.S. companies including airlines and restaurants have said theyll require mandatory vaccines for their workforce. And as a law professor who has written about vaccination laws, I believe that in some circumstances, employers could find themselves on the hook for religious discrimination if their vaccination policies fail to offer a religious exemption. What do the guidelines say? In December, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission the body responsible for interpreting and enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws issued guidelines addressing employees rights and COVID-19 vaccinations. It was the first time that the commission has provided an update on vaccines since the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. Then, it advised employers that they should consider encouraging employees to get the influenza vaccine rather than requiring them to take it. Under the new guidelines, employers are allowed to adopt mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies. But the commission warned that any such policy would be subject to certain anti-discrimination laws. In terms of religion, the commission points toward Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This legislation requires employers to reasonably accommodate an employees sincerely held religious belief, practice or observance but only if the accommodation can be made without undue hardship on the employers business. The new guidelines echo earlier court rulings that take a broad definition of religion as including moral or ethical beliefs as to what is right and wrong that are held by the believer with the same sincerity as that of traditional religions. As such, opposition to mandatory vaccines could be made from members of smaller faith communities as well as from adherents of more mainstream religions. For example some Christian Scientists and members of the Dutch Reformed Church are opposed to vaccination. There have also been legal challenges brought where employees state that their Christian beliefs require they avoid inoculation. What is undue hardship? Whether an objection on religious grounds is accepted will depend on whether it is deemed to not cause the business undue hardship a phrase that has long been the subject of court interpretation. On this, the new guidelines abide by the standard established in a 1977 landmark Supreme Court case, TWA v. Hardison. In that decision, which focused on an employees request for time off for religious observance, the Supreme Court defined undue hardship as any cost greater than de minimis, or too small to merit consideration. In other words, in the case of COVID-19 vaccines, employers would not be required to incur even a minimal cost in accommodating an employees religious objection to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. But there remains ambiguity. The guidelines do not provide specific examples of what constitutes a de minimis cost. Previous court decisions make clear that undue hardship should be determined on a case-by-case basis. In terms of COVID-19 vaccinations, workplaces such as bars, gyms and restaurants could conceivably claim undue hardship in accommodating religious exemptions to vaccinations on the grounds that doing so increases the spread of infection among their customers and employees. Similarly, health care facilities and hospitals could claim undue hardship due to the greater risk an unvaccinated workforce poses toward the vulnerable populations they serve. In consumer-based businesses such as retail and restaurants, there could be an additional cost since the presence of unvaccinated workers could decrease the number of consumers or customers likely to frequent the businesses. But at jobs in which employees work fully remotely and from home, employers might find it far harder to claim undue hardship. In such circumstances, employers are not likely to incur any cost in accommodating the religious employees objection, unless the employee themself becomes ill. In providing its guidance, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission stresses that it has authority to interpret only federal law. It warns employers to check if state and local laws provide additional protection for religious employees. For example, in New York, employers must accommodate an employees request for religious observance when it can be done without the employer incurring significant difficulty or expense. [Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversations newsletter and get expert takes on todays news, every day.] The risk of litigation The cost of potential litigation alone may be cause for employers to think twice about not providing religious exemptions from any mandatory vaccine requirement. During the H1N1 flu pandemic, employees brought over a dozen cases challenging hospitals mandatory vaccination policies on religious grounds. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission brought an additional three lawsuits. The lawsuits were generally unsuccessful. But some plaintiffs were able to successfully persuade hospitals to settle, with the EEOC settling cases for amounts ranging from approximately US$74,000 to $300,000. While the current guidelines are more permissive of vaccination policies than the guidelines issued during the H1N1 pandemic, it is impossible to know the exact approach that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will take regarding religious exemptions. But confronted with the worst public health crisis to hit the United States in a century, I believe the commission may be hesitant to bring litigation that broadly advocates for religious exemptions from vaccination. There is a final wild card to note. In two recent cases brought to the Supreme Court, employees have asked the justices to overturn the courts too small to merit consideration interpretation of undue hardship and instead define it as meaning a significant difficulty or expense. The cases do not revolve around vaccinations, and the Supreme Court has not yet decided if it will hear either. But if it does and decides in favor of the employees, then employers will eventually face a higher burden when it comes to accommodating religious objections to mandatory COVID-19 vaccination. Debbie Kaminer, Professor of Law, Baruch College, CUNY This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Haiti - Social : Black History Month, Message by Lesly Conde As part of "Black History Month" Lesly Conde Former Consul General of Haiti in Chicago (August 2004 - May 2018), delivered a message of thoughts that we invite you to read and share. Message from Lesly Conde : "Dear fellow citizens and friends everywhere, I have the distinct privilege of greeting you very warmly as we all welcome this month of February 2021 with all its challenges and all its apprehensions. This month, which is the shortest of the year, is also Black History Month. It is a period during which we will talk about the relatively recent contribution of certain black people in various fields. As our education systems fail to clearly highlight these contributions, Black History Month is a condescending, often pleasantly surprising, parenthesis. I must say, first of all, that February of each year is far from sufficient to cover all aspects of the experience of the black race on this planet. I am afraid those who have thought of dedicating this month to black history have made the mistake of believing that black history began with slavery. If Africa is the cradle of humanity, if the arts, science and organized societies originated on the African continent, black history simply cannot be a month's business. The history of blacks is indeed a history that colonization and slavery have skilfully falsified for centuries. Today, scientific evidence has established beyond any doubt that Egypt in the time of the pyramids was black. This kind of information has its place in our classrooms. The history of blacks is alas, a story of usurped heritage and brave visionaries cowardly murdered. To find themselves, the black people need to discover their true history and to believe in it. We cannot talk about black history without mentioning Haiti, the first black state in the New World. Our identity is not celebrated around the world, but we know it is precious and we care about it. In closing, I wish you all a safe and enjoyable February. Take care of each other. Whatever you do, think about Haiti." Please note that the Embassy of Haiti in Canada honors 21 historical figures during Black History Month in Canada. Visit the virtual exhibition at : https://ambassade-haiti.ca HL/ HaitiLibre By Kim Hyun-bin Samsung Electronics has expressed that it may to pursue large-scale acquisitions within the next three years. But it remains to be seen if the tech giant will do so as it faces some uncertainties, including the imprisonment of Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong. During a conference call announcing fourth-quarter earnings, CFO Choi Yoon-ho said Samsung will actively utilize its capital assets to conduct acquisition deals in a bid to solidify its market-leading position and bolster growth. "For the past 10 years, we have been very carefully reviewing our M&A options," he said. "We think a significant deal could be sealed in the next three years." Samsung currently has cash reserves totaling 116.2 trillion won as of the third quarter of last year. Even though Samsung plans to use 50 percent of its free cash flow for dividends, the rest will be kept for future investments. Samsung Electronics has said it is likely to take over another firm within the next three years. And industry insiders believe a large-scale acquisition may be in the works considering the fact that the electronics giant will seek to invest in the semiconductor and display sectors. Last year, the tech giant announced its "system semiconductor 2030" vision through which it aims to become a global leader in the system semiconductor sector by that year. In order to accomplish this, Samsung needs to further enhance its investments and competitiveness in the market. Samsung Electronics has secured a substantial market share and level of competitiveness in the DRAM and NAND Flash sector, but lags behind in system semiconductors. Some industry watchers believe the company will acquire a system semiconductor and foundry company to quickly catch up with global rivals. The last big deal Samsung Electronics was involved in was the $8 billion acquisition of vehicle component manufacturer Harman in 2016. Rivals bulking up Samsung's global rivals recently conducted large-scale takeovers to enhance their competitiveness and to better meet an expected surge in future demand. Many industry insiders expect Samsung's next large-scale acquisition to be in the semiconductor sector as its competitors have been busy bulking up their sizes by acquiring well-known brands in the industry. According to market researcher IC Insights, the value of M&A deals in the semiconductor industry reached a record high of $118 billion last year. Major deals include top names, such as Nvidia's acquisition of British processor-design firm Arm Holdings for $40 billion and U.S. Advanced Micro Devices' acquisition of Xilinx for $35 billion. Korea's No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix also sealed a deal to acquire Intel's NAND business for $9 billion last year, which includes the U.S. chip giant's solid state drive (SSD) business and a NAND flash chip plant in Dalian, China. SK hynix aims to triple its NAND flash sales in the next five years with the acquisition. Acquisitions are an effective way to drastically enhance a company's competitiveness over a short period of time and Samsung Electronics can no longer sit back and watch as its competitors continue to bulk up. In recent weeks, speculation has been mounting that it may spend big money to construct production facilities in the United States to catch up with foundry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC). Bloomberg reported that Samsung is considering building a $10 billion chip plant in Austin, Texas, which would be capable of fabricating chips with 3-nanometer technology. According to the report, the plans are in their preliminary stage and are subject to changes. But construction could commence this year, with major equipment installation beginning in 2022, and operations as early as 2023. The New York Times also reported that Samsung was thinking about building a semiconductor plant, either in Arizona or New York, further fueling speculation. TSMC announced plans to spend 30 trillion won this year, so Samsung has no choice but to come up with large scale investment plans of its own. However, Samsung has denied all speculative reports and said nothing has been decided about any new U.S. plant construction. But during a recent conference call it said that an optimum utilization plan is being reviewed considering all locations. Lee's imprisonment to become risk All deal possibilities were most likely discussed with Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who is serving a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence following a Jan. 18 court ruling. "No matter what my circumstances may be, Samsung will need to continue on its path," Lee had said. "We will fulfill our duty to invest and create jobs as part of our corporate responsibility." Industry insiders believe the latest comments indicated the company would continue pursuing large-scale investments even in his absence. Although Samsung Electronics is willing to engage in investment deals, there will be uncertainties with its chief, who has the final say, stuck behind bars. Industry insiders believe it will be difficult for a company head to make mid-to-long term decisions and especially large-scale deals while in confinement. When Lee was first imprisoned in February 2017 through February 2018, there were no large deals. Samsung completed the acquisition of Harman in March 2017, but all of the groundwork had been completed soon after the deal was announced in November 2016. In August 2018, Samsung said it will invest 180 trillion won and hire 40,000 people. And in April 2019, Samsung unveiled the system semiconductor vision 2030 that targets 133 trillion won in investments and hiring 15,000 workers, which was all decided when the vice chairman was free. "Although Samsung Electronics has announced plans for a deal within the next three years, they will face some difficulties as Vice Chairman Lee is in jail," an industry official said. The escalating U.S.-China strategic competition is resulting in unprecedented diplomatic challenges for Korea. One of the most pressing questions it faces is whether to join the Quad plus. Gettyimagebanks Korea's bigger role for stability in Indo-Pacific region to be highlighted under the Biden administration By Do Je-hae Korea's reticence about joining a possible expansion of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), involving the U.S., Japan, Australia and India, is increasingly being called into question, and triggering concerns that the country could be isolated from the U.S.' Indo-Pacific strategy. According to White House readouts, U.S. President Joe Biden did not use the term "Indo-Pacific" during his first phone call since taking office with President Moon Jae-in, Feb. 4, instead describing Korea as a "linchpin for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia." Biden used the term Indo-Pacific in both his calls with the leaders of Japan and Australia. The need for Korea's participation in a possible "Quad plus" network is gaining attention in the local policy community, particularly as the new Biden administration is expected to expand the Quad as a foundation for its Indo-Pacific strategy and is highly interested in working together with allies to counter China. New U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and Kurt Campbell, who is Biden's "Asia czar," are reportedly in favor of expanding the Quad. Regarding this, Sullivan said during a virtual event; "I think we really want to carry forward and build on that format, that mechanism which we see as a foundation upon which to build substantial American policy in the Indo-Pacific region." The possible expansion of the Quad under the Biden administration is presenting a fresh diplomatic challenge for Korea, which wants to solidify the alliance with the U.S. but also wants to improve relations with China. Bilateral relations have yet to fully recover from the dispute over the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), a U.S. anti-missile defense system, on Korean soil a few years ago. The Moon administration has placed high priority on improving relations with China, as shown in his phone call with President Xi Jinping, Jan. 26, even before the Korean leader had a chance to speak with the new U.S. president. More experts are saying that it is time for Korea to end its policy of ambiguity on the Quad and to start playing a bigger role for stability in the Indo-Pacific region. "Korea should do more with like-minded states to reinforce stability in the Indo-Pacific," Michael J. Green, senior vice president for Asia and Japan at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told The Korea Times. "'Strategic ambiguity' is not a winning strategy for Seoul since it looks like weakness to Beijing. If Korea joins the Quad, the Biden administration would be impressed and indebted to Korea. China will be unhappy but Seoul would need to stand firm. If Korea cannot find a way to stand up to Chinese pressure now, it will find itself in a much weaker position later when Beijing makes even bigger demands for example, when China insists on a neutral Korea with no alliances after unification." Brad Glosserman, senior advisor to Pacific Forum, underlined that Korea should absolutely participate in an expanded format of the Quad upon a U.S. request, which would enable the middle power to play a role commensurate to its global stature while engaging in broader cooperation with participating nations. President Moon Jae-in speaks on the phone with U.S. President Joe Biden, Feb. 4. The new U.S. leader did not mention Korea's role in the "Indo-Pacific" during their first phone call since Biden's inauguration last month. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae "The Quad is intended to support the rule of law, regional stability and security," Glosserman told The Korea Times. "Joining the group would allow South Korea to participate more fully in regional security mechanisms and play a role commensurate to its status and capability. It signals Seoul's respect for a rules-based order and its readiness to support and sustain it. Inclusion in the Quad would also promote cooperation more broadly with participating nations." Other experts said joining the Quad plus is a good idea for Korea, given the framework focuses primarily on cooperation among like-minded partners rather than being openly anti-China. "I think that it would make sense for Korea to join an expanded Quad if it isn't openly anti-China. The Quad plus format, for example, has not been anti-China but rather pro-cooperation among its members," Ramon Pacheco Pardo, KF-VUB Korea chair, Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, told The Korea Times. "Thus, if the Biden administration presents the expanded Quad as an initiative to cooperate among those countries that share similar views about the future of Asia and the Indo-Pacific, I think that it would make sense for Korea to join. Also, an expanded Quad including Korea and others such as, for example, New Zealand, and perhaps Indonesia would look less anti-China than the current Quad. This is because these countries have a more balanced approach toward Beijing, instead of being antagonistic toward it. In a sense, a Quad plus could be an Asian version of the expanded G7, which isn't openly anti-China but rather pro-cooperation among like-minded partners." China factor A major consideration hampering Korea's decisiveness on joining the Quad plus is how it will affect relations with China. China has protested the Quad and has been keen to ensure that Korea does not become a part of U.S.-led anti-China coalition in Asia. In this regard, China has made an unprecedented level of diplomatic outreach to Korea, sending two of its top diplomatic policymakers Yang Jiechi, a member of China's Politburo and a senior advisor to Chinese President Xi, and State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Korea last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the intensifying U.S.-China competition, Korea has shunned making a clear position on the Quad. Korea participated in a meeting of Quad members and a few other countries in May 2020 on a COVID-19 response, but has generally been reluctant about the Quad concept so as not to provoke China. "South Korea has already participated informally in discussions with Quad country members which have been dubbed the Quad plus so Seoul has not rejected the Quad entirely. A key concern for South Korea is if its participation in a more formalized Quad plus that focuses directly on China will result?in repercussions from Beijing. Of course, the U.S. would most welcome Seoul's participation," Andrew Yeo, professor of politics and director of Asian Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., told The Korea Times. "China may express displeasure with Seoul's participation in the Quad, but even if South Korea stays out of the Quad, China might still exercise economic coercion and advance its interest at the expense of South Korea anyway. The concern with Chinese influence in the maritime domain is not just a South Korea concern, but a regional one." President Moon Jae-in receives Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Cheong Wa Dae, Nov. 26, 2020. China has made an active diplomatic outreach to Korea amid its escalating strategic competition with the U.S. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier has cautioned against linking Moscow's treatment of jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny to the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. In remarks published on February 7 by the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, Altmaier voiced support for continuing construction of the nearly finished pipeline. "Business relationships and business projects that have existed for decades are one thing and serious human rights violations and our reactions to them are another," Altmaier said. He was echoing remarks on February 5 by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who also said she did not want to see the two issues conflated. Navalny was sentenced on February 2 to nearly 3 1/2 years in prison after a Moscow court ruled he had violated the terms of his parole, a charge he rejected. The 44-year-old anti-corruption crusader was arrested on January 17 after returning to Russia from Germany, where he was treated for a nerve-agent poisoning that he says was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin. More than 1,400 people were detained by police in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other Russian cities after the court ruling on February 2. More than 10,000 were rounded up by police during nationwide protests in more than 100 Russian towns and cities on January 23 and January 31. Rattled by some of the biggest anti-government protests in years, Moscow has accused the West of hysteria and double standards over Navalny and told it to stay out of its internal affairs. Meanwhile, the company behind the Nord Stream 2 project said on February 6 that it was continuing construction of the gas pipeline, laying pipes south of the Danish island of Bornholm. The company said that the work was proceeding in line with permits that have been issued. The pipeline-laying vessel Fortuna started work in the Danish exclusive economic zone on January 24, and after testing and preparation has begun construction, the company said. The pipeline is intended to carry 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year from Russia to Germany, but work was halted in December following the threat of sanctions from the United States. Washington opposes the effort to bypass Ukraine in delivering gas to Europe, denying Kyiv a lucrative source of revenue. The United States has also said the pipeline will increase dependence on Russia for energy supplies, with President Joe Biden calling Nord Stream 2 a "bad deal for Europe." About 150 kilometers of pipe transiting Danish and German waters must be laid to complete pipeline controlled by the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom. On February 5, Merkel said Berlin would continue to support the completion of the pipeline despite Russia's recent crackdown on anti-government protesters and Moscow's expulsion of European diplomats from Russia. With reporting by dpa and Bild am Sonntag I love that quote from Maya Angelou, When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. Some of my friends have become quite anxious about legislation introduced so far in this 117th Congress. When it comes to what the Democrat majority is saying, its echoing pretty closely the Democratic agenda and platform. Hoping to calm their fears, I remind my friends that only a few percent of introduced legislation ever makes it into law. In the case of the 111th Congress, the last time Democrats held both the White House and the Legislature, only about 3% of proposed legislation, about average, passed into law. A quick review of those bills shows that around half of them were for naming post offices and other memorial activities. Another goodly chunk extended and funded bits of temporary legislation passed in previous sessions. The other 97% died in committee. This is common. However, as weve all been reminded recently, past performance is no indication of future returns. In its first month, what is the 117th planning to give us? H.R. 669 To restrict the first-use strike of nuclear weapons. This would have been more appropriate as an amendment to the War Powers Resolution, but theres not enough Dem juice to override a presidential veto. Just looking at the title, though, one might speculate that Mr. Lieu is about 76 years too late on this one. S. 130 Giving authority over the National Guard of the District of Columbia, which currently resides with the President, to the mayor. Cant see any president, not even Ol Joe, relinquishing such power. S. 85 Reinstating the full state and local tax deduction that President Trump limited. Democrats have a precarious hold on this Congress. Forcing regular Americans to resume footing the bill for the extremely lavish lifestyles of the ultra-rich, and to send their hard-earned money, not to their banks or even their own state capitals, but to the likes of profligate New York, New Jersey, and California, just seems to be a nonstarter across Middle America, regardless of party affiliation. Several gun control bills Most egregious is one of several submitted by Ms. Shirley Jackson Lee, H.R. 127 requiring licensing of firearms owners prior to purchasing many guns and ammo. Others can talk more legally about how this abridges our Second Amendment rights and still others about how FBI and CDC statistics simply do not support limiting access to rifles. Im not even going to get into the weirdness and the cost of the mandatory psych eval of license applicants, including interviewing their families and friends. What alarms me most is that all the information collected on those licensed will be publicly available information. This is a clear violation of the Privacy Act, that will put all gun owners and their families at risk of doxing, abuse, and attack, not just from the cancel culturists, but from those who want their guns. Even more menacing is Lees proposed H.R. 137 which provides $500 million to expand mental health services to the up to one-half of all Americans who at some time in their lives could use such a service, and to assist the reporting of relevant disqualifying mental health information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Stalin, who weaponized psychiatry, would have approved. Theyve put forward seven bills to initiate amendments to the Constitution, all most likely DOA given the current legislative make-up of the states, especially H.J.Res. 14 (abolishing the electoral college), H.J.Res. 21 (giving Congress the right to regulate campaign contributions, a prima facie limitation of First Amendment rights), and H.J.Res. 23 (giving 16-year-olds the vote). There are also lots of Covid-19 related bills, greenie bills, bills related to voting, and sixteen bills to name a post office or take other commemorative action. On the other hand, the 111th Congress did give us Obamacare, so maybe Im wrong, and now is the time to organize to oppose all this proposed legislation. Authors credit Anony Mee is a retired public servant. IMAGE: Image by forcal35 from Pixabay. A joint team of Manipur Police and Assam Rifles have seized brown sugar worth Rs 2 crore and arrested three persons from Bishnupur district, police said on Sunday. The contraband was seized during checking at Tangjeng near Ibudhou temple in Bishnupur district. The security personnel found a 34-year-old man identified as Thangkohsat Guite hiding the brown sugar in soap cases in a large backpack on Saturday night, they said. The security forces also arrested two other persons 41-year-old Thangsei Guite and 46-year-old Warepam Ramesh Singh who were with Guite. The arrested persons and the seized items were handed over to Kumbi police station and a case has been registered, the police added. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Prominent friends of an Australian economist detained in Myanmar say the man has devoted his life to helping the developing country and should be immediately released by police. Sean Turnell, an associate professor at Sydneys Macquarie University and economic adviser to deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was detained following the military coup last Monday that has led to mass protests and a near-total internet blackout in the country. Sean Turnell, has long provided advice to Myanmars elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Over the weekend, Myanmars citizens and global diaspora have rallied to denounce the coup and demand the release of Suu Kyi and other political figures taken prisoner by the junta. Dr Turnell, a leading expert on Myanmars economy who has worked as an official adviser to Suu Kyi since 2017, appears to be the only foreigner detained in the upheaval so far and it is not clear what, if any, charges he is facing. 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 wife of Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley reportedly filed a criminal complaint against the leader of a protest outside the couples suburban Washington, D.C., home last month. A Fairfax County, Virginia, magistrate decided there was probable cause to charge protest leader Patrick Young of Washington, D.C., with a misdemeanor for violating the tranquility of a home, ABC News reported. The summons, which Young denies knowing about, came after Erin Hawley complained that leftist protesters frightened her and the couples newborn child while GOP Sen. Josh Hawley was out of town on Jan. 4. Based on a citizen, the magistrate issued a summons for a defendant for a violation of Virginia Code 18.2-419 (picketing or disrupting tranquility of home), a Vienna, Virginia, police spokesman told ABC. Erin Hawley also asserted the protesters vandalized their property, but the judge apparently found no grounds for that complaint. ShutdownDC, the group that organized the protest, called it outrageous that a summons was issued. Police on the scene found no evidence of any crime and called the rally a harmless minor event. A crowd of about two dozen people attended the rally outside the Hawleys home to protest the Republican senators support for overturning the presidential election. Erin Hawley was home with the couples newborn baby while Josh Hawley was back in their home state of Missouri. The protesters chanted and knocked on the door claiming they wanted to deliver a message about the unconstitutionality of his actions. Erin Hawley says she was frightened and called police. At the time, cops found nothing amiss and said the crowd dispersed without incident. Josh Hawley angrily blasted antifa scum for scaring his wife. Two days later, Hawley was pictured pumping his fist in encouragement as Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to block Congress from certifying President Joe Bidens victory. Even after the Capitol riot, Josh Hawley voted against accepting the results of the election from some states that Trump lost. Josh Hawley now faces calls to resign for inciting the crowd, but he has refused to apologize or step down. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. According to the IMARC Group, Automotive electric fuel pump is utilized to pump gasoline or fuel from the gas tank to the injectors in the engine. It primarily generates positive electrical pressure in the fuel lines that drive the fuel to the internal combustion engine. Automotive electric fuel pumps are usually installed in passenger cars, light and heavy commercial vehicles. They are configured to send signals to the engine regarding the required quantity of fuel in the tank. As compared to the conventionally used mechanical pumps, automotive electric fuel pumps provide longer service life, improved fuel supply, minimal noise generation, and higher interference suppression. The expanding automotive industry, coupled with the growing demand for passenger vehicles, is currently driving the market for the automotive electric fuel pump. Additionally, the widespread adoption of these pumps for delivering an adequate amount of fuel and maintaining optimal pressure between the carburetor and pump, while mitigating overheating and vapor lock, is also propelling the global market. Moreover, the rising integration of multi-port fuel injection systems in modern automobiles is further augmenting the demand for automotive electric fuel pumps. In line with this, the rapid development of lightweight and cost-effective product variants will continue to spur the global market for automotive electric fuel pumps in the coming years. Request to get the sample pages: https://www.imarcgroup.com/automotive-electric-fuel-pumps-market/requestsample Breakup by Motor Type: Brushed DC Motor Brushless DC Motor Breakup by Technology: Turbine Style Sliding Vane Roller Vane Breakup by Pump Type: Low Pressure Electric Fuel Pump Inline Electric Fuel Pump Others Breakup by Application Passenger Cars LCVs HCVs Breakup by Region: North America United States Canada Asia Pacific China Japan India South Korea Australia Indonesia Others Europe Germany France United Kingdom Italy Spain Russia Others Latin America Brazil Mexico Others Middle East and Africa Competitive Landscape: The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined with some of the key players being ACDelco, Aisan Industry Co., Ltd., Continental AG, Daewha Fuel Pump Ind., Ltd, Delphi Automotive PLC, Denso Corporation, Federal-Mogul Corporation, General, Motors Company, Pricol Limited, Robert Bosch, Visteon Corporation, etc. About Us IMARC Group is a leading market research company that offers management strategy and market research worldwide. We partner with clients in all sectors and regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their businesses. IMARCs information products include major market, scientific, economic and technological developments for business leaders in pharmaceutical, industrial, and high technology organizations. Market forecasts and industry analysis for biotechnology, advanced materials, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, travel and tourism, nanotechnology and novel processing methods are at the top of the companys expertise. Contact Us IMARC Group Tel No: +1-631-791-1145 Email: sales@imarcgroup.com Website: https://www.imarcgroup.com Follow us on twitter: @imarcglobal Joseph Mary Flood was born on March 28, 1882, in the town of Longford. His father Peter Flood and mother Marcella Atkinson had a business at No 1 Main Street, Longford. Both parents were from the parish of Legan in South Longford. Joseph Flood first attended St Michael's and then Stonepark where his name appears in Master Quinn's roll book of 1893. In 1894 he entered St Mels College, initially as a day boy, and one year later as a boarder. Leaving St Mel's College in 1898, the young man decided to become a priest, a tradition in the Flood family. Little is known about Josephs student career in Paris, except that he spent the usual two years studying Philosophy and three years Theology, something which was to have a major influence on his later writings. About the year 1903, Joseph Flood abandoned his vocation and returned home. In April 1917 he offered himself as a candidate to replace the late John Phillips as MP of South Longford, he stood aside later in deference to Joseph McGuinness who was duly elected. He travelled to Indonesia, Genoa, Lisbon and Buenos Aires in the years from 1928 to 1936 according to the shipping records. In January 1938 at Nenagh court as District Justice he pledged his allegiance to the new Constitution of Ireland which came into force on December 29, 1937. The Irish Independent of June 14, 1940, describes him, as handsome debonair Joseph Mary Flood, always a litterateur and a scholar, was for a number of years Hon Secretary of the Catholic Truth Society, while at the same time teaching English and Roman Law at University College Galway. A bachelor he found time to make himself proficient at everything he touched. He studied law to practice it as a barrister, teach it as a professor, administer it as a Justice. He has written a score of books, Cardinal Newman and Oxford a work of love amongst them. A champion swimmer and walker he is equally ardent a devotee of the arts. The Limerick Municipal Gallery is the finest monument to his taste and civic zeal. In June 1946, the Limerick Leader reported that Joseph was presented with a portrait in oils of himself by the people of Limerick for his work in the field of cultural endeavour. In 1948 a street in the city was named Flood Street in his honour, the same year he was made a freeman of the city. He married late in life and in 1954, according to the same paper, he visited Limerick with Mrs Flood. All his life he was a writer, below are listed some of his most important works, some of which are still readily available. l Ireland: its Saints and Scholars l Ireland: its Myths and Legends l Cardinal Newman and Oxford l The Mind and Heart of Augustine, a Biographical Sketch l Ireland and the Early Church l Irene; a selection of prose and poetry relating to Ireland l The Northmen in Ireland l The sieges of Limerick l Poets of the Faith He died on March 15, 1970 at St Josephs Nursing home, Kilcroney, Bray Co Wicklow, in his will he bequeathed his estate to his wife. 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). USC researchers have developed a new method to counter emergent mutations of the coronavirus and hasten vaccine development to stop the pathogen responsible for killing thousands of people and ruining the economy. Using artificial intelligence (AI), the research team at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering developed a method to speed the analysis of vaccines and zero in on the best potential preventive medical therapy. The method is easily adaptable to analyze potential mutations of the virus, ensuring the best possible vaccines are quickly identified -- solutions that give humans a big advantage over the evolving contagion. Their machine-learning model can accomplish vaccine design cycles that once took months or years in a matter of seconds and minutes, the study says. This AI framework, applied to the specifics of this virus, can provide vaccine candidates within seconds and move them to clinical trials quickly to achieve preventive medical therapies without compromising safety. Moreover, this can be adapted to help us stay ahead of the coronavirus as it mutates around the world." Paul Bogdan, Corresponding Author, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, USC Viterbi The findings appear today in Nature Research's Scientific Reports When applied to SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes COVID-19 -- the computer model quickly eliminated 95% of the compounds that could've possibly treated the pathogen and pinpointed the best options, the study says. The AI-assisted method predicted 26 potential vaccines that would work against the coronavirus. From those, the scientists identified the best 11 from which to construct a multi-epitope vaccine, which can attack the spike proteins that the coronavirus uses to bind and penetrate a host cell. Vaccines target the region -- or epitope -- of the contagion to disrupt the spike protein, neutralizing the ability of the virus to replicate. Moreover, the engineers can construct a new multi-epitope vaccine for a new virus in less than a minute and validate its quality within an hour. By contrast, current processes to control the virus require growing the pathogen in the lab, deactivating it and injecting the virus that caused a disease. The process is time-consuming and takes more than one year; meanwhile, the disease spreads. USC method could help counter COVID-19 mutations The method is especially useful during this stage of the pandemic as the coronavirus begins to mutate in populations around the world. Some scientists are concerned that the mutations may minimize the effectiveness of vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna, which are now being distributed. Recent variants of the virus that have emerged in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil seem to spread more easily, which scientists say will rapidly lead to many more cases, deaths and hospitalizations. But Bogdan said that if SARS-CoV-2 becomes uncontrollable by current vaccines, or if new vaccines are needed to deal with other emerging viruses, then USC's AI-assisted method can be used to design other preventive mechanisms quickly. For example, the study explains that the USC scientists used only one B-cell epitope and one T-cell epitope, whereas applying a bigger dataset and more possible combinations can develop a more comprehensive and quicker vaccine design tool. The study estimates the method can perform accurate predictions with over 700,000 different proteins in the dataset. "The proposed vaccine design framework can tackle the three most frequently observed mutations and be extended to deal with other potentially unknown mutations," Bogdan said. The raw data for the research comes from a giant bioinformatics database called the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB) in which scientists around the world have been compiling data about the coronavirus, among other diseases. IEDB contains over 600,000 known epitopes from some 3,600 different species, along with the Virus Pathogen Resource, a complementary repository of information about pathogenic viruses. The genome and spike protein sequence of SARS-CoV-2 comes from the National Center for Biotechnical Information. COVID-19 has led to 87 million cases and more than 1.88 million deaths worldwide, including more than 400,000 fatalities in the United States. It has devastated the social, financial and political fabric of many countries. Handout eligibility reassessed BANGKOK: The Finance Ministry is preparing to reconsider the eligibility criteria for receiving financial aid under the Rao Chana (We Win) scheme, which stipulates recipients should have a taxable income of no more than B300,000 per year. COVID-19Coronaviruseconomics By Bangkok Post Sunday 7 February 2021, 10:00AM Basic public transportation costs, including trishaw fares, are included in the governments new financial relief scheme, called Rao Chana (We Win). Photo: Pattarapong chatpattarasill / Bangkok Post Approved in January, the We Win scheme aims to provide B210 billion of financial handouts for 31 million people to alleviate hardships caused by the recent outbreak. Friday (Feb 5) was the first day the ministry began transferring money to 13.8 million state welfare cardholders, with a combined disbursement sum of B9.4bn, reports the Bangkok Post. Citizens who are not state welfare cardholders can check their eligibility for the We Win scheme through www..com. The key criteria for those receiving the B7,000 financial remedy for two months, with B1,000 disbursed per week, consist of a taxable income of no more than B300,000 per year, or a monthly income not exceeding B25,000. Money in bank deposit accounts must not exceed B500,000. Registration started on Jan 29 and will end on Feb 12. Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said many people laid off from their jobs last year because of the first wave might not be able to receive the We Win assistance because their taxable incomes filed in 2019 may exceed B300,000 per year. The ministry will allow these unemployed individuals to submit their annual income review through www..com starting on Feb 8. The ministry uses the 2019 tax filing data as the main reference point because the tax database is not fully complete. The Revenue Department extended the 2020 tax filing deadline to June 30, 2021, said Mr Arkhom. For those who have been laid off this year and are not covered by Section 33 of the Social Security Act, they will have to register at a later stage, he said. Mr Arkhom reiterated the government is willing to help every segment affected by the pandemic crisis, but they will have to register themselves. The government aims to provide financial relief to cover 41 million people. Of the sum, 13.8 million are state welfare cardholders, 17 million are recipients via the Pao Tang app, 9 million are those covered by Section 33 of the Social Security Act and the remaining 1.2 million are classified as other groups. The 9 million people covered by Section 33 are expected to receive a weekly payment of B1,000 starting next month, up to a maximum of B3,500-4,500. This package is scheduled for Cabinet approval next week. The world knows that the US invaded Iraq based on a lie that former President Saddam Hussein had possessed the Weapons of Mass Destructions (WMD), but the US finally failed to trace the weapons even after destroying and occupying the entire country. Adrian Zenz (Photo: Screenshot of an online video) The world would later learn that there was a man behind the lies about the WMD. He was Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, better known by his cryptonym Curveball given by his US and German intelligence services. He defected from Iraq in 1999 as an arrest warrant was issued against him for embezzling money of Iraqi government, and was later granted asylum by the German government after arriving in Germany. Curveball claimed that he had worked as a chemical engineer at a plant that manufactured biological weapons as part of an Iraqi weapons of mass destruction program. His lies were presented as "facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence" by Colin Powell at the UN Security Council in 2003. Many other dignitaries of the then Bush administration also used the lies to make the case for invading Iraq. The media outlets also joined hands in spreading his statements as truth. It eventually came to light how the US employed Curveball to justify the invasion. Likewise, there is a man behind the lies about the so-called Muslim oppression in Xinjiang, China, named Adrian Zenz. An anthropologist, Zenz is coincidentally also a German citizen like Curveball. He is a senior fellow in China studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, D.C. Beyond all of his identities, Zenz has risen to prominence for his studies of so-called Muslim oppression in Xinjiang. His research outcomes are the main and favorite sources of false and fictitious reports about Xinjiang run by Western media. Though he has never been to Xinjiang, his studies on the region have long been enjoying uncritical coverage from the media. If we scrutinize his studies, we can realize how authentic and factual they are. For example, in 2019, Zenz published a study mentioning that some 1 million Uygurs were detained in Xinjiang at any time since late 2016. He claimed to have estimated the number based on extrapolations from food allowance subsidy figures of the Chinese government. Newsweek Japan divulged the secret of his studies by reporting that Zenz's estimates were sourced by Istiqlal TV, a Uygur exile operated media organization based in Turkey. The Japanese media report made it crystal clear that Zenz is spreading the statements of Uygur separatists in the name of independent studies. In the same vein, Zenz published another study drawing a conclusion that the Chinese government is running a forced birth control surgery program in Xinjiang. Several public health experts found many flaws in the study. They questioned the correctness of his research methodology and the authenticity of its outcomes, because Zenz interviewed only eight women who too are living in the US. The experts also questioned if it's rational to jump to conclusions about an entire ethnic group based on the interviews of only eight people who live abroad. Western media doesnt bother to take those questions into account, but are indifferently disseminating the flawed studies of the German researcher. It's very natural to question why Zenz would try to establish the fake statements and baseless claims of Uygur separatists as research findings. If we look back at his identities, as I mentioned before, we can easily get the answer to this question. First, he is a senior fellow in China studies at the notorious Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, an organization that was established in 1993 by an Act of Congress signed by Bill Clinton. The foundation blames the Chinese government for the outbreak of COVID-19. Given the information, it's not difficult to understand the foundation is an anti-China entity. As its senior fellow, Zenz has been smearing China by spreading lies about Xinjiang in the name of research as part of his job. Secondly, Zenz disseminates the lies about Xinjiang, because he thinks it's his religious duty. The German researcher is a born-again far-right fundamentalist Christian, who often states that he has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Zenz has also stated that he feels led by God in his research on Chinese ethnic minority groups. Based on the aforesaid discussions, I have no option other than to conclude that the anti-China forces have employed Zenz to establish the lies about Muslim oppression in Xinjiang as academic findings. Zenz is spreading the lies as part of his job being imbued by his religious beliefs. Thus, the anti-China forces have been using his research as the salient source of their propaganda about Xinjiang to slander China. The author is a Bangladeshi journalist and columnist now based in Beijing, China. Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer An off-duty Harris County sheriffs deputy exchanged gunfire Saturday evening with a person he believed was breaking into cars in the Katy area, authorities said. The deputy, whose name was not immediately released, encountered a male at an apartment complex at 23615 Western Centre Drive, said Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, citing preliminary information. The deputy believed the person was breaking into vehicles. The person left the scene after the shooting and it was not clear whether he was injured. EYOTA, Minn. Firefighters battled flames and sub-zero temperatures Sunday morning in rural Olmsted County. The Rochester Fire Department says units were called to the 7000 block of 30th Street SE around 9:45 am. Crews arrived at the scene to find a detached two-car garage consumed by flames. Rochester Fire Department send four engines and a tanker to the scene and were assisted by two tankers from the Eyota Fire Department. Freezing cold impeded the flow of water and firefighters also had difficulty getting to the garage due to snow drifts and its location behind the house and next to a wind row of tall trees. There was no fire hydrant in the area. The Rochester Fire Department says one civilian at the scene was assessed for smoke inhalation and taken from the scene the Eyota Ambulance Service. Estimated damage to the garage, its contents, and mature trees close by is $105,000. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The Olmsted County Sheriffs Office also assisted at the scene. 4. Cautious optimism: The worst of the current wave of coronavirus infections seems to be behind us. The seven-day rolling average of new cases in the U.S. is trending down in almost every part of the country. Still, that number is 104 percent higher than the summer peak on July 25, when the seven-day average was 66,784. At the same time, the number of coronavirus tests administered daily in the U.S. has been trending downward for more than two weeks, raising the possibility that testing has reached a ceiling or that the ramping up of vaccine distribution is fostering complacency. One thing is certain: The scramble for inoculations is getting intense, with vaccine hunters crossing state lines in quest of a shot. A group of disgruntled Instagram models working together to uncover the identity of the woman behind an anonymous 'snark' account have whittled down their suspect list to two people. The influencers are convinced they've worked out who is behind Celeb Spellcheck - a profile dedicated to spreading gossip and correcting bad spelling - after piecing together clues the account's administrator has shared online. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the social media stars believe the prime suspects are two Melbourne-based publicists from the Mornington Peninsula. Closing in! A group of disgruntled Instagram models working together to uncover the identity of the woman behind an anonymous 'snark' account have whittled down their suspect list to two people. Pictured: Rozalia Russian, one of the influencers trying to out Celeb Spellcheck One of the women is dating a former AFL star, while the other is close pals with a contestant from Australia's Next Top Model. Celeb Spellcheck's identity was apparently the main topic of conversation at a ritzy pre-Australian Open event hosted by Piper-Heidsieck in Melbourne on Thursday. But while the influencers believe they're close to finding the truth, the account's administrator told Daily Mail Australia she isn't either of the suspects. She clarified the account is only run by one person, and also revealed she isn't a publicist - although she does work in the media. The mystery deepens: According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the influencers believe the prime suspects are two Melbourne-based publicists from the Mornington Peninsula. However, Celeb Spellcheck's administrator told Daily Mail Australia she isn't either of the suspects Celeb Spellcheck explained Celeb Spellcheck began a few years ago as an account making fun of Instagram models' poor spelling, but has since become a platform for holding influencers to account for their lies and irresponsible behaviour. The profile is also a hub for user-submitted gossip about influencers. Celeb Spellcheck has attracted criticism in recent months, with the likes of Skye Wheatley and Tayla Damir accusing the page of 'bullying'. Advertisement It comes after Rozalia Russian, the ballerina-turned-socialite who is married to nightclub owner Nick Russian, revealed last month she was aware of a 'few people' who claim to know Celeb Spellcheck's real name. When asked for her thoughts on the account, Rozalia - who was one of the guests at the Piper-Heidsieck dinner last week - told fans on Instagram: 'Most of it's funny. I have the worst spelling so I have been on there and had a laugh. 'Thought she went a bit below the belt at times when the page wasn't about bad spelling anymore. I know a few people who have figured out who she is...' Clues: It comes after Rozalia Russian (pictured), the ballerina-turned-socialite who is married to nightclub owner Nick Russian, revealed last month she was aware of a 'few people' who claim to know Celeb Spellcheck's real name At the time, Celeb Spellcheck claimed she was aware some people were trying to 'out' her, but insisted the person they'd identified was the wrong woman. When asked about Rozalia's post, the anonymous admin said in an Instagram Q&A on January 11: 'I think I know what she's talking about. 'A few months ago, I know there were rumours going around about my identity (my age, occupation, location and favourite cocktail apparently matched this person) and I got DMs saying, "We know it's you. I'll be telling your employer." 'I obviously let the girl in question know what was going on. So I think she [Rozalia] thinks I'm someone else.' 'Rozalia thinks I'm someone else': At the time, Celeb Spellcheck claimed she was aware some people were trying to 'out' her, but insisted the person they'd identified was the wrong woman Hitting back: The account has attracted criticism, with the likes of Skye Wheatley and Tayla Damir (pictured) accusing the admin of 'bullying' them by correcting their spelling Who is Celeb Spellcheck? The Celeb Spellcheck admin has never revealed her name, but has offered bits of biographical information in her weekly Q&As, including that she is a woman in her late twenties (she turned 28 in December) works full-time in PR/media - but is not a publicist hails from the Mornington Peninsula but now lives in Melbourne's south-east is in a long-term relationship her boyfriend and 'three or four friends' know she's Celeb Spellcheck isn't friends with influencers and gets her gossip from followers Advertisement Celeb Spellcheck began a few years ago as an account making fun of poor spelling on sponsored Instagram posts, but has since become a platform for holding influencers to account for their lies and irresponsible behaviour. The profile is also a hub for user-submitted gossip, with one notable example being the claim a high-profile couple from Victoria is on the verge of divorcing. Celeb Spellcheck has attracted criticism in recent months, with the likes of Skye Wheatley and Tayla Damir accusing the page of 'bullying' them by correcting their spelling. The admin has denied bullying the influencers she features on the account, saying: 'This page is meant to be lighthearted and fun. I have definitely posted things in the past that I'm not proud of, but I do try to never cross the line.' The account previously made headlines when it shared a screenshot of model Elyse Knowles misspelling 'voila' as 'wallah'. The gaffe went viral in December when it was picked up by U.S. social media sensation Joshua Ostrovsky, a.k.a. The Fat Jewish. The National COVID-19 Vaccination Coordination Committee (CNCAV) announces that the eighth tranche of Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, of 163,800 doses, arrives in the country on Monday, by air, at Otopeni, Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara airports, informs CNCAV in a press release sent on Sunday to AGERPRES. According to the cited source the transport to the storage centers is provided by the manufacturing company, including by land. The vaccines are transported safely in special containers with carbonic ice and sealed foil. The vaccination process continues both in the centers in Bucharest and in the country, the doses being distributed to the Bucharest National Storage Center (53,820 doses), the Brasov Regional Storage Center (19,890 doses), the Cluj Regional Storage Center (23,400 doses), the Constanta Regional Storage Center (16,380 doses), the Craiova Regional Storage Center (16,380 doses), the Iasi Regional Storage Center (22,230 doses), and the Timisoara Regional Storage Center (11,700 doses).The vaccination centers will use both doses received by Romania in the current tranche and in the previous tranches, based on the requests sent to the National Center and the regional storage centers, through the county and Bucharest public health directorates.According to the delivery schedule, the next vaccine tranche should be brought to Romania on Monday, February 15, and the official confirmation is currently being expected in this sense from the manufacturing company.In Romania, the allocation of vaccine doses is conducted according to the delivery schedule provided by the manufacturing company, meaning that, weekly, our country receives the vaccine tranches necessary to immunize the population. As the new tranches arrive in Romania, the scheduling application is updated and allows the scheduling process to continue for the current stage eligible population, CNCAV mentions.In terms of dose delivery schedule, Pfizer has announced that it will increase the number of doses around February 15.CNCAV is an inter-ministerial body, without legal personality, under the direct subordination of the General Secretariat of the Government and the coordination of the Prime Minister. The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. (CNN) Thousands of Amazon warehouse workers at an Alabama facility will be able to cast their votes on whether to unionize by mail-in ballots beginning next week after the National Labor Relations Board rejected the company's latest attempt to stall the vote by pushing for it to be held in-person, despite the pandemic. In a decision posted Friday, the NLRB denied Amazon's motion filed in late January to review its earlier decision to hold the milestone vote for workers by mail. The NLRB said Amazon's request "raises no substantial issues warranting review." Ballots are set to be mailed out Monday, February 8, and eligible workers at the Bessemer, Alabama facility will be able to vote over the course of nearly two months instead of through an in-person event, which may take place over one or several days. "Once again Amazon workers have won another fight in their effort to win a union voice. Amazon's blatant disregard for the health and safety of its own workforce was demonstrated yet again by its insistence for an in-person election in the middle of the pandemic," said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), which is conducting the union drive, in a statement. "Today's decision proves that it's long past time that Amazon start respecting its own employees; and allow them to cast their votes without intimidation and interference." The union vote is a landmark moment for the Alabama facility and Amazon. While some Amazon workers are unionized in Europe, the company has so far fended off unions in the United States. A union election was held in 2014 at a Delaware warehouse, but resulted in workers largely rejecting the effort. "Our goal is for as many of our employees as possible to vote and we're disappointed by the decision by the NLRB not to provide the most fair and effective format to achieve maximum employee participation," said Amazon spokesperson Maria Boschetti in a statement to CNN Business Friday. "We will continue to insist on measures for a fair election that allows for a majority of our employee voices to be heard." The NLRB's earlier decision determined that approximately 6,000 employees at the Bessemer facility would cast their votes by mail, noting the health risks from the pandemic. "A mail ballot election will enfranchise employees who cannot enter the voting location for health reasons or due to positive COVID tests," the NLRB decision stated. "In addition, a mail ballot election will protect the health and safety of voters, Agency personnel, the parties' representatives, and the public during the current health crisis." Amazon had pushed back on the NLRB decision, stating it didn't specify what is considered an "outbreak," as well as citing that a mail election could "disenfranchise dozens or hundreds of voters" because it is imperfect. It cited that "mail ballots may be and frequently are lost or delayed, causing a prolonged election process." In a statement to CNN Business at the time, Amazon spokesperson Heather Knox said the company believes "the best approach to a valid, fair and successful election is one that is conducted manually, in-person, making it easy for associates to verify and cast their vote in close proximity to their workplace." "Amazon provided the NLRB with a safe, confidential and convenient proposal for associates to vote onsite which is in the best interest of all parties -- associate convenience, vote fidelity, and timeliness of vote count," Knox said in the statement. " We will continue to insist on measures for a fair election, and we want everyone to vote, so our focus is ensuring that's possible." The union push comes as Amazon's warehouse working conditions have come under heightened scrutiny during the pandemic. The company has hired hundreds of thousands workers globally to support a surge in demand. A number of warehouse workers have spoken out about safety concerns since the start of the pandemic. Workers at the Bessemer facility first filed a notice in November with the NLRB about holding an election to unionize with RWDSU. "Having a union at Amazon would give us the right to collectively bargain over our working conditions including items such as safety standards, training, breaks, pay, benefits, and other important issues that would make our workplace better," reads a website in support of unionizing Amazon's Bessemer workers. This story was first published on CNN.com "Amazon loses attempt to delay milestone union vote at Alabama warehouse". 404 DISPUTE: The new childrens hospital is under construction at St Jamess Hospital in Dublin Builders at the new children's hospital site have been in dispute with local residents about ongoing construction work during Level 5 restrictions, amid concerns about the potential spread of Covid-19. Residents living near the building site at St James's Hospital have appealed for work to be paused while strict lockdown restrictions are in place, saying the project should not be deemed essential because the expected completion date is almost 18 months away. Locals are concerned builders coming to the area for work increases the risk of Covid-19 spreading, with many workers using shops, parking facilities and local amenities visited by residents. It comes as the contractor at the site, BAM Ireland, confirmed it will test staff for Covid-19 on a weekly basis. The Department of Health included the new children's hospital in a list of essential health projects that are exempt from the current Covid-19 restrictions regarding the closure of construction sites. However, residents in the area surrounding the site are unhappy with this decision and have made complaints to the contractor, citing that work was halted last year when restrictions first came into effect at the start of the pandemic. Chair of Ceannt Fort Residents' Association, Joe McPartlin, said there is concern in the area about builders congregating while travelling to and from work. "It defeats the purpose of the restrictions if the builders are travelling here, sometimes from well outside Dublin, and going in and out of the site. Some of them have to park outside people's homes on their doorsteps, and it means we are in close proximity to them on paths or in shops," he said. "Ideally, we would like to see the project halted temporarily. That is something we say reluctantly, because any delays mean we must put up with the inconvenience caused by the project for longer - but a delay seems safer and the lesser of two evils. People are worried about the virus spreading." BAM said it has been engaging with local residents regularly, complying with Covid-19 guidelines, and prioritising the health and safety of all stakeholders. A spokesman said the introduction of Covid-19 testing for staff will bolster these efforts. "It is expected to identify small numbers of positive cases prior to any symptoms appearing, further reducing the risk of transmission and giving even greater security and confidence to all stakeholders involved in the project," he added. A spokeswoman for the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, which is responsible for overseeing building of the new hospital, said it is in ongoing communication with BAM about its responsibilities with respect to local residents about their concerns. She said the ongoing work means the seventh and highest floor of the building will be topped out before the end of March. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. (Newser) "There shouldn't be one billionaire," former Gov. Jesse Ventua says. "There shouldn't be one person worth a billion dollars." He has a plan to take care of that, per LADbible. "Everybody talks about a minimum wage, a minimum wage, a minimum wageI say it's time for a maximum wage." It should be $12 million a year, Ventura said, and it should be enforced. "If you can't live on $12 million a year, $1 million a monthmaybe we should bring back capital punishment." Ventura, 69, made the comments on RT, the Russian news channel, and he sounded disenchanted with capitalism. "And I know that's shocking to hearing it come from me, but the older I get the more flaws I see in capitalism," he said, "and the more good things sometimes I see in more socialism." story continues below Ventura cited his first job out of high school: working a jackhammer for the Minnesota State Highway Department bridge crew. "That is the hardest job on the planetyou find me one that's physically or mentally tougher, and I was barely making above minimum wage." Ventura said the billionaires who are now "doubling their wealth" don't work any harder than he did. The nation's wealthiest have been taking heat lately, especially in light of the pandemic struggles of other Americans. With Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on his way to becoming a trillionaire, lawmakers have accused him of "atrocious greed" and called it immoral to pile up wealth like that during a pandemic. Between mid-March of last year, when the pandemic took hold, and the end of 2020, 56 Americans became billionaires, per NBC. (Read more Jesse Ventura stories.) Heather Wilson describes herself as a freethinker. Hailing from a Protestant family in North Belfast, in 2017 the 29 year-old became the first woman from a Unionist background to stand for election for the SDLP, the nationalist party instrumental in the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. She may not be alone. A generation ago, Protestant nationalists were almost unheard of, but a LucidTalk poll for the Sunday Times in January suggests a few other freethinkers are breaking through. Over 47 per cent of all voters backed the status quo against 42 per cent who support a united Ireland, and 11 per cent who were undecided. Among 18-44 year olds, a boundary that stretches the term young voter, 47 per cent supported reunification, while 46 per cent back staying in the UK. The remaining 7 per cent are undecided. Theres change coming and its very exciting, Wilson says. It gives young people in particular the chance to be part of something bigger. Heather Wilson believes the issues around the Northern Irish Protocol have engaged people who would generally consider themselves apolitical (Supplied) Though a slim majority said they want a border poll, the margins are tight and the majority in favour of reunificationwho otherwise needed for the Northern Ireland Secretary to trigger a referendum, as stated in the Good Friday Agreement, remains elusive. But it is an encouraging trend for nationalists like Wilson. And, while traditional political leaders address coronavirus and the Brexit fallout, new civic groups are stepping up to woo the wavering. Ireland's future? Niall Murphy, the secretary of one of these civic groups, Irelands Future, knows better than most that at the moment, Northern Ireland faces more pressing issues. Back in March, he spent 16 days on a ventilator with coronavirus and a further six months off work. I dont want a border poll during Brexit or the pandemic, he says. Thats irresponsible. But we want the planning to start now. The group is pushing forward conversations on Irish unity, led by academics, business people, senators, journalists, historians and legal professionals like Murphy, a respected Belfast solicitor known for representing families of victims of The Troubles. The professional image projects competence, strengthened by their position outside Northern Irelands fraught political scene. Founded in 2019, Irelands Future has run high-profile events in Belfast and elsewhere, while Murphy has garnered support from Irish Americans in New York. Forced online during the pandemic, their video meetings, including one with young Protestant nationalists like Wilson, have attracted thousands of followers, Murphy says. The plan is to accelerate progress towards a border poll and to shape preparations. Civic movements are often ahead of politics, Murphy explains. 'Brexit has given us an impetus' Last month, Irelands Future released a document calling on the Irish government to arrange citizens assemblies, as it did before gay marriage and abortion referendums in 2015, and to conduct research into a new, united Ireland. This, Murphy says, would avoid situations like the constitutional nuclear bomb that is Brexit. Rather than go into a referendum without knowing what a united Ireland would entail, he says, we want the economic models to start now, we want the proposals to be shaped in that direction in a referendum campaign. For all nationalists opposition to Brexit, it has provided us with the impetus to encourage the conversations on Irish Unity, a representative for Think32, an online civic nationalist group says. Set up in 2015, Think32 has welcomed Unionist speakers and contributors to their blogs who, following Brexit and the three year breakdown of the Northern Irish parliament Stormont, now see unity as a viable option. Anti-Brexit protesters at the Carrickcarnon border crossing in October 2019 (AFP via Getty) Under the Northern Irish protocol, the country continues to follow some EU rules and the checks and controls on goods travelling from Great Britain to the country, has contributed to empty supermarket shelves in Northern Ireland and fuelled acrimonious debates in Stormont. These issues are drawing non-political voters into constitutional discussions. Wilson says: My normal friends dont have an interest but as soon as the Protocol shut down peoples lives and you cant get your Amazon parcel on time or my sister cant bring her dog home for Christmas [from Great Britain], I think that engages people. Political parties staying out Cultural issues, meanwhile, are turning voters away from political unionism. The DUP, UUP, and TUV have nothing to offer me or any young person I know, one 22 year-old Protestant student wrote on Twitter this week. In the real world, Philip Smith, a UUP councillor, acknowledges the challenge. The traditional unionist message isnt landing with that demographic. We need to move on from the spitfires over the White Cliffs of Dover imagery to something that will appeal to a younger generation. Smith has co-founded his own new civic group, UnitingUK. Though he doesnt want a poll, he says Unionism cannot keep its head in the sand. He wants to target the middle ground people who neither feel one way or the other particularly stronger. In focus groups with women and young people from mainly unionist backgrounds, he found a comfort with Irishness and a rejection of political Unionism. Theres no need to put a label on yourself, Scarlett Reid, a 19-year-old Belfast student who took part at the start of January, says. My mum would talk about growing up in the Troubles and how it was weird to have that stance back then, but Im just Northern Irish. You cant make a new Ireland with a broken Northern Ireland. Its not going to work Heather Wilson If a referendum were to happen, Smith, once a Liberal Democrat councillor in Wokingham, thinks voters like Reid would appreciate a more liberal and internationalist sell of British values. Respondents in his discussion groups praised Britains diversity, its role in countering climate change, the energy of Britains Black Lives Matter protests, and its international aid as British selling points, though this final asset has been stripped back by the Conservatives recent cuts to foreign aid. Few of Smiths team are active politically and their style has gone down well. One participant said: We dont want bald, middle-aged men coming to talk to us. We want people that look like us, we want to see younger people and more diverse people being involved. Former DUP First Minister Peter Robinson has called on Unionists to prepare for a border poll and Smith is among the first to take a step, with another group, WeMakeNI launching on 10 February. While DUP and UUP figures have congratulated him privately, party political figures wont be engaging with conversations on Irish unity for some time. Theyre canny enough to realise that for a campaign like this to be successful the last thing they need is for front-line Unionist MPs to be involved, Smith says. The realpolitik of a referendum For both sides of the argument, Wilson says, taking the politics out of it is very important. Instead, it is realpolitik issues that are likely to influence a referendum campaign. She asks: Will people be genuinely better off in a united Ireland? Will it be better to bring up their family? As a young person, what will growing up in a new Ireland look like with university fees? They need to answer all these big things, which Irelands Future is starting to do. The NHS remains a trump card for Unionists, despite its problems in Northern Ireland. 1 in 6 Northern Irish people are on a waiting list but free healthcare is likely to provemore appealing than the Irish system. Recommended The clash between the UK and EU over Northern Ireland is a precursor to confrontations that will last decades While Reid uses free services at university in Glasgow, friends studying at Trinity College Dublin have paid 20 for a prescription for an ear infection. Patients without insurance - about 60 percent of people - routinely pay up to 60 to visit their GP. Though Irelands Future and others want universal healthcare, free at the point of service, this remains a myth, Smith says. People are putting forward proposals for an all-Ireland NHS but its nothing more than a proposal. On the economy, discussions could prove more interesting. Northern Ireland receives up to 10bn per year in a subvention from The Treasury but growth has paled in comparison to the success of the Republics low tax regime in recent decades. Conor Devine, a Belfast entrepreneur who backs unification, says the country is very quickly becoming an economic backwater, incapable of fiscal autonomy. In contrast, he references 2015 modelling by a Canadian consultancy, which found that unification could increase Northern Irelands GDP per capita in the long run by 4 to 7.5 percent. Fix Northern Ireland first Momentum will build behind these competing visions. For now, the atmosphere is almost collegiate and amicable. Irelands Future and Think32 have welcomed Unionist voices to participate in its discussions. Smith praises Irelands Future as a serious organisation, though he thinks some civic nationalists are preaching to the choir. In the end, a logical rather than emotional approach could win out. Reid says: Id like to see a poll and see how it goes and how people actually feel about it. Ive no idea how I would vote, I have to do a lot more research. That poll, if it happens at all, could be a decade away and, as Smith says, Northern Ireland has other problems to resolve: economic development, public services reform and infrastructure improvements. Wilson, who is likely to stand for election again, says: I dont know where people are getting five years from [for another poll]. Making Northern Ireland work should be the absolute priority for everybody. You cant make a new Ireland with a broken Northern Ireland. Its not going to work. The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Bagbin, has called on Members of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic to build more consensus than before. The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Bagbin, has called on Members of the Eighth Parliament of the Fourth Republic to build more consensus than before. He said though Parliament had always built consensus on many matters, the uniqueness of the current legislature should not be lost on members. We need to build more consensus than before, we need to build bridges and discuss more national issues than before. You are all aware that the tolerance of Ghanaians to unbridled and unashamed partisanship is reaching breaking points, the Speaker said. The earlier we respond appropriately to that tipping edge the better for multi-party parliamentary democracy in Ghana and the African Continent. Speaker Bagbin said this at the orientation and induction seminar for the new Members of Parliament (MPs) at Ada in the Greater Accra Region. The four-day seminar is to introduce members to the processes and practices of Parliament as well as equip them with the rudiments and tenets of the House to enable them to function successfully. The Speaker mentioned that the Eighth Parliament had 123 first time members, which constituted about 45 percent of the membership, and was unique in many aspects in terms of equal representation of 137 members each for both the NPP and NDC, as well as having 20 female MPs each for both parties. He urged the MPs to put the nations interest above their partisan political considerations and charged Parliament to lead Ghanaians to consolidate the democratic cultures of the country. The current Parliament has no option than to lead Ghanaians to build and develop a by-partisan inclusive justice and free society in accordance with Article 31(1), 34(1) of the Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in the 1992 Constitution, he said. The Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, explained the duties and obligations of an MP to comprise representation, deliberation, power of the purse, as well as oversight functions. He said for MPs to sustain the demands of their office the Constitution, in Article 24, imposed certain obligations on them. The Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, stated that the uniqueness of the Eighth Parliament imposed some responsibilities on members to ensure that the way business was conducted would lead to a new turning point for the Legislature. He, therefore, challenged the new MPs to join the Speaker and the leadership to set a new paradigm, which strengthened Parliament as a responsive, transparent, and accountable institution. It is my view that the people of Ghana voted for more consensus and cooperation because they are tired of our polarisation, divisiveness and petty partisanship, 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 People protest against the Abraham Accords in Washington (file photo) - DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images Palestinians stand to reap major benefits from Israels peace agreements with the Arab world, the Jewish states first official ambassador in the Gulf has claimed, as he began his historic posting in Abu Dhabi. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Eitan Naeh, the new Israeli ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, said the accords could lead to major investments in Arab-majority towns in Israel and in East Jerusalem, the home of many Palestinians. When you connect the dots from the Emirates to Israel there are a few more people along the way, and Palestinians are on the way, and will be there to benefit, he said. Signed in September on the lawns of the White House, the Abraham accords set up full diplomatic ties between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, as well as direct flights and a raft of trade deals. Israeli officials say one of their major goals is to bring more wealth to the Arab population on their side and heal tensions between Jews and Muslims, though Palestinian leaders have strongly condemned the treaty as act of betrayal. Its early now but when you...create jobs, and people are starting to work together, rather than against each other, the increase in trade and investments in areas such as infrastructure, energy, [it] will affect Palestinians too, Mr Naeh said. The Ambassadors remarks are likely to irritate Palestinian leaders, who have described the peace deals as a stab in the back that, they say, severely undermined their hopes for a viable Palestinian state. They comes as the International Criminal Court has ruled that it has jurisdiction over the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, paving the way for the tribunal to open a war crimes investigation into Israel. Mr Naeh also claimed that he even received a call from a Palestinian business owner from Nablus, in the West Bank, who asked to be connected with investors. People are calling, telling me, Ambassador I am from Nablus, can we be in touch, Ive got some business propositions he said. Story continues Its getting across the message that this peace is not just between leaders [but] a peace between people. The spectrum of that is evident. We are discussing dozens of areas of cooperation in various fields at a pace not known before. Since signing the accords, Israel and the United Arab Emirates have created a network of trade bodies to foster investment and business partnerships. Last week, the Dubai government released figures from September 2020 to January 2021, claiming trade between the new allies had reached nearly 200m and around 6.2k tonnes in goods. Some of the projects hope to inject wealth into East Jerusalem, which is controlled by Israel but claimed by the Palestinians as their own capital. A former ambassador to Turkey, Mr Naeh is no stranger to navigating the choppy waters of Israels relations with Muslim countries. In 2018 he was abruptly expelled by Ankara during a flare-up of violence between Israeli forces and Palestinians in Gaza, which is controlled by the Hamas militant group. He is likely to require a substantial security team in the United Arab Emirates, amid fears that Iran-funded terror groups are plotting to infiltrate the Gulf state to launch an attack on the embassy. But the veteran diplomat says he wants Arab critics of Israeli to realise that he has the Palestinians best interests at heart. Im also pro-Palestinian. I wish them to live in peace, security and prosperity, so winning the hearts and minds is through cooperation and building bridges of peace, which is my mission here in Abu Dhabi, he said. Palestinian officials, along with Turkey and Iran, reject this claim. They say that the new friendship between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain spells disaster for people in the West Bank. This is partly because the Palestinian leadership has long argued that Arab nations should only embrace the Jewish state after the creation of a Palestinian state. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 17:48:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- A gala night was staged at SkyCity Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand to celebrate the Chinese New Year on Sunday. The Festival of Spring Huaxing Gala Night, organized by the New Zealand Huaxing Arts Troupe, was performed by over 300 local artists, featuring singing and dancing performances, symphony orchestra, chorus, and a traditional Chinese Qipao show. The gala night event was attended by celebrities, politicians and community leaders along with more than 700 audiences from across New Zealand. Li Fen, president and art director of the Huaxing arts troupe, was excited to see such a big turn-out at the annual event. "As artists, New Zealand Huaxing Art Troupe would like to show support to the world's fighting against COVID-19 by our performances. We also wish to embrace the Year of Ox with our warmest hearts and best spirits," said Li. An interactive exhibition of intangible Chinese cultural heritage was staged in the theatre foyer before the gala night performances by the event organizer. Spectators actively participated in the Chinese paper cutting, Chinese tie making, Chinese calligraphy, the Peking Opera facial masks drawing, and the Spring Festival couplets writing. New Zealand is currently at COVID-19 Alert Level One with no restriction on gatherings. Enditem Group asks Congress to add gemstones to Burma Democracy Act of 2003 Jewelers of America (JA) has appealed to Congress to amend the Burmese Freedom & Democracy Act of 2003 by specifically including all gemstones mined in Myanmar (a.k.a. Burma.) Currently the Act bans the "importation of any article that is a product of Burma." The Union of Burma was changed to the Union of Myanmar in June 1989 and recognized as Myanmar by the United Nations, but not by the government of the United States. Since August 18, 2007, civil unrest and protests against the current leaders in Myanmar have resulted in at least a dozen deaths due to a military crack down on protesters. Myanmar has an estimated 50 million residents and shares borders with India, China, Thailand, and one small stretch of Laos. "In light of the continuing lack of democratic freedoms in Burma, as evidenced by recent events in the country, JA has asked Congress to amend the Burmese Freedom & Democracy Act of 2003...so that it includes gemstones mined in that country. JA also has asked that this amendment remain effective until such time as Burma agrees to the democratic reforms articulated in a proposed January 2007 resolution put before the United Nations Security Council," the group told its 11,000 members through a mailing. The Security Council resolution, which did not pass, called for national reconciliation and democratization in Myanmar, the release of all political prisoners, an end to human-rights abuses in the country, and the inclusion of opposition and ethnic minorities in dialogue leading to a genuine democratic transition. While nine member states on the Security Council voted for passing the resolution on January 12, Russia and China vetoed the measure although the two nations acknowledged Myanmar had serious problems. Jewelers of America has also taken immediate steps to inform its members about the situation in Burma and to advise them to source their gemstones in a manner that respects human rights, said JA president and CEO Matthew A. Runci. According to Rapaport, some of the steps JA has asked its members to take include contacting their suppliers to ascertain whether any of the gems they supply are from Myanmar / Burma, and seek (on all future orders) written assurances from their suppliers that they will not knowingly supply any gems mined in Myanmar / Burma, until the process of democratic reform has started in that country. Rough&Polished WE WENT to Newport for three days last week, two Minnesotans long married, to rediscover the fact that ocean air is delicious and invigorating and can even make you happy. That surely is why the Vanderbilts built their monstrous mansion on the shore: sinking into decadence in a fake palace w A contingent American soldiers has reached Rajasthan to take part in a fortnight-long Indo-US joint military exercise along the Pakistan border, starting Monday, a defence official said. The contingent of 270 US soldiers reached Suratgarh in a special aircraft and left for Mahajan Field Firing Range where the joint ''war exercise'' will start on February, Defence spokesperson Lt Col Amitabh Sharma said on Saturday. This will be the 16th edition of the US military exercise under the military exchange program at the Mahajan Field Firing Range, he said, adding the exercise will continue till February 21. The Indian soldiers taking part in the exercise belong to the 11th Battalion of Sapt Shakti Command of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, Lt Col Sharma said. The American soldiers taking part in the exercise belong to the US Army's 2, Infantry Battalions, 3, Infantry Regiments and 1-2 Striker Brigade Combat Team, he added. On reaching Suratgarh, the gave a warm welcome to the US Army contingent and the commanders and soldiers of the troops of the two countries greeted each other, the Lt Col said. In his statement, Lt Col Sharma said it is one of the largest military training and defence cooperation efforts between India and the United States. The joint exercise is another step in the growing military cooperation between the two countries which shows the continued strengthening in Indo-US relations, 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.) ADVERTISEMENT Suspected armed bandits have attacked Birnin Gwari community of Kaduna State killing 18 people. The attack happened around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday when the bandits stormed the community killing some residents and robbing others. A resident of the community told PREMIUM TIMES that 10 people sustained injuries during the attack. They came here in the evening just some minutes before sunset, he said, adding that the gunmen started firing sporadically immediately they entered the community. Theyve robbed all the shops out there and stolen peoples money and mobile phones, the resident who only asked to be identified as Ibrahim said I dont know exactly how many people died but we buried about 18 people this (Sunday) morning, Mr Ibrahim told PREMIUM TIMES in Hausa Sunday morning. Kaduna Police Confirm Killings In a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES Sunday morning, the Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Jalige, confirmed the killings. He said there was an attack yesterday evening and 18 people were killed. Our men visited the scene of the incident Sunday morning and we are on top of the situation to prevent further occurrence of the event. Communities in Kaduna, like those of other states in the North-west, have been repeatedly attacked by bandits leading to the deaths of several people and kidnap of others. The attacks have continued despite the heavy deployment of security operatives including soldiers to the states. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 20:52:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A woman makes handicrafts at the Future Generation Center for Education (FGCE) in Giza, Egypt, Jan. 21, 2021. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) by Marwa Yahya CAIRO, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- On the top floor of a three-storey educational building for refugees in Egypt gathered a group of African women of different nationalities, where they drank Sudanese coffee and ate Eritrean and Somalian deserts, with fragrant incense and traditional music. The building serves as the Future Generation Center for Education (FGCE) which was established by a Sudanese refugee family in 2017 to support their peers in Gaza Province's Barageel, a rural district that suffers from poor infrastructure and services. "The center provides educational services and psychological support for the children of refugees and asylum seekers," said Maysoun Abdel-Salam, a 36-year-old Sudanese refugee who established the center with her husband. The FGCE, founded and maintained through individual efforts and logistic aid of some of the UN Refugee Agency's partner organizations in Egypt, has been working on educating refugees from Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, and other African countries for the past three years. "I chose Egypt in 2016 because the living conditions here were affordable ... But I didn't imagine I would stay for four years," Abdel-Salam said. "Since the duration of my stay became unknown, I had to find a job with a fixed income to secure my renting and living fees," she said, noting this center began as a nursery. "Barageel is full of migrants and lacks many essential services, especially education, so turning the nursery into an educational center was very suitable," the Sudanese refugee told Xinhua. On the first floor of the building, Asmaa Aly, a 38-year-old Sudanese teacher, was teaching 11 students the COVID-19 distancing measures by drawing and painting. "I also teach them how to make a face mask or shield, and give them much information about the virus life and the protection measures, such as not shaking hands or hugging," Aly said, while roaming the small class to check the students' work. The center, which compromises 250 registered students aged from three to 17, teaches all subjects ranging from kindergarten to high school with accredited books provided by the Sudanese Embassy, according to the teacher. In the summer holiday, the center promotes activities of drawing, brushing, cooking, reading and others to help the students improve educational and cultural skills, Aly noted. At least 20 full-time teachers as well as other volunteers are working in the center that offers each student 150 U.S. dollars annually for their learning, while the rest of the expenses are paid by parents, she said. "I joined the class four months ago, and I learn science, maths as well as art," said Riyad Gafer, a 13-year-old Somalian student. "The teachers helped me overcome my fears about reporting child harassment and bullying and taught me means of defending myself," he added. The FGCE also teaches the female adult refugees how to make bed sheets and leather bags as well as sessions for psychological therapy, with the logistic support of some non-governmental organizations. "I was trained for a month to cut the sheets for large and small beds and then festoon them with strings," said Aliya Abdel Rahman, a woman in her 50s from Eritrea. In 2019, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt hosts 6 million refugees. Enditem New Delhi, Feb 7 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday expressed concern over the situation that arose in the wake of glacier burst and floods in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district and urged his party workers to help the affected people. Taking to Twitter, Gandhi said: "The disaster in Chamoli district is sad and my heart goes for the people of Uttarakhand. The state government should immediately help the affected people, even as the Congress party workers will help those in need." A glacier broke off in Joshimath in Chamoli district on Sunday, causing a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and endangering the lives of people living along its banks. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) officials said that there was some cloudburst or breaching of the reservoir at around 10 a.m. which resulted in the flooding in Dhauli Ganga -- one of the six source streams of the river Ganges. The 85km river meets the Alaknanda river at Vishnuprayag at the base of Joshimath mountain in Uttarakhand. Several labourers working at the Rishi Ganga hydroelectric power project were feared missing after the disaster. ITBP and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel have been rushed to the affected areas to evacuate the stranded people. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has convened an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation and to supervise rescue and relief operations. Here what to do in Ocean City on rainy days Even on rainy days Ocean City has a host of indoor activities like shopping, movie theaters, wineries and breweries to entertain. New Delhi, Feb 7 : Tamil superstar Suriya tweeted on Sunday night to inform that he is undergoing Covid treatment and is better now. "I am undergoing treatment for Covid-19 and am better now. Let us all realise that life hasn't returned to normalcy yet. We cannot be filled with fear and let life come to a standstill. We still need to be careful and safe. Lots of love and gratitude to the dedicated doctors and medical staff standing by my side," ran an English translation of the actor's Tamil tweet on the fan site, @SuriyaFansTeam. Soon, wishes of fans flooded the comment box, wishing the actor the best of health. Suriya's last release, Soorarai Pottru, dropped on Amazon Prime in November. The Tamil film, directed by Sudha Kongara, co-stars Paresh Rawal, Aparna Balamurali, Urvashi and Mohan Babu. The film is based on the life of Air Deccan founder GR Gopinath. Suriya's next film is Vaadivasal. The first look of the Vetrimaaran directorial was unveiled on the occasion of the actor's 45th birthday on July 23 last year. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text By Choe Chong-dae It has been 50 years since my first visit to Yongsan Garrison in the early 1970s. I was there to attend a welcoming reception in honor of a senior United Nations Command (UNC) official. Arriving at the main gate of the base, I explained to a security guard that I was going to the UNC party at Hartell House, an officers' club on South Post, and showed the invitation. However, he called the secretary of the general hosting the party and asked him to escort me to Hartell House because I looked so young as a man in his early 20s. I managed to join the reception on time and had the honor of meeting many distinguished guests who were diplomats, Korean government officials and UNC delegates. Back then, I was unfamiliar with foreign cultures and diplomatic events. That first cross-cultural experience will stay with me forever. Standing in front of Hartell House, I glanced at the signboard with four stars on a flag. Hartell House was a single-story building used as the main club for U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) and UNC senior officers and generals. To me, it and other sprawling facilities at Yongsan Garrison were a portal to a mysterious and exotic world. During the 1960s, 70s and 80s, when Korea was still a developing country, many Korean people felt proud of visiting facilities such as Hartell House, the U.S. Embassy Club and U.S. Officers' Club inside Yongsan Garrison. Today, Dragon Hill Lodge in the compound continues to be a popular venue to deepen friendships between Koreans and Americans as much as when it was built in 1991. Even outside Yongsan Garrison, there have been other facilities such as the UNC Officers Mess (Club) in the United Nations Compound in Dongbinggo-dong, the USAF Seoul House in Chungjeongno, and a club in the Naeja Hotel in downtown Seoul for U.S. military personnel. These clubs in Seoul were created to foster cross-cultural understanding and promote international relations between Koreans and Americans as well as other foreigners. Furthermore, because a considerable number of USFK personnel resided within Yongsan Garrison, the compound played a significant role in creating jobs for many Koreans. It contributed towards the development of modern and post-war Korea by introducing Koreans to a wide range of Western culture such as music, the English language, art, fashion, cuisine, engineering and literature. These remarkable influences on Korean society deserve to be recognized. Over the past seven decades, Yongsan Garrison in the heart of Seoul has served as the most important strategic U.S. military base for defending against North Korea's threat. It has been home to the headquarters for UNC, USFK and the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC). However, the compound is filled with a sense of shame because it previously housed the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese colonial regime in Korea from 1910 to 1945. Today the CFC headquarters remain in the compound while the majority of facilities are closed, ever since the USFK moved its headquarters to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek in 2018. Yongsan Garrison is expected to be transformed into an urban park that will require the demolition of a majority of the existing buildings constructed in different periods. I urge the Korean government to pay special attention to preserving some unique buildings even if they symbolize our shameful past. No matter what, these buildings are cultural gems because they carry colorful memories and valuable lessons for future generations. Choe Chong-dae is a guest columnist of The Korea Times. He is president of Dae-kwang International Co., and director of the Korean-Swedish Association. He can be reached at choecd@naver.com Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Law Offices of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP If you would like to know more about the Kone Inc. lawsuit, please contact Attorney Nicholas J. De Blouw today by calling (800) 568-8020. The San Francisco employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a lawsuit against Kone Inc., alleging the company violated California Labor Code. The lawsuit against Kone Inc., is currently pending in the San Francisco County Superior Court, Case No. CGC-20-588225. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here. According to the lawsuit filed, Kone Inc. allegedly (a) failed to pay minimum wages, (b) failed to pay overtime wages, (c) failed to provide legally required meal and rest periods, (d) failed to provide accurate itemized wage statements, and (e) retaliated in violation of labor code, all in violation of the applicable Labor Code sections listed in Labor Code Sections 226, 226.7, 510, 512, 1102.5, 1194, 1197, 1197.1, and the applicable Wage Order(s), and thereby gives rise to civil penalties as a result of such alleged conduct. Cal. Lab. Code 226 provides "that every employer shall furnish each of his or her employees with an accurate itemized wage statement in writing showing...the corresponding amount of time worked at each hourly rate." From time to time, DEFENDANT allegedly failed to provide wage statements to employees that identified the correct gross and net wages earned, the applicable number of hours worked and rates of pay, which resulted in DEFENDANT allegedly violating Cal. Lab. Code 226. If you would like to know more about the Kone Inc. lawsuit, please contact Attorney Nicholas J. De Blouw today by calling (800) 568-8020. 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*** Sudden cardiac arrest is more often fatal in people with COVID-19, a new study shows. Those responsible for the research see the results as a wake-up call for the public and care providers alike. The survey now published in the European Heart Journal is a register-based observation study. It covers all 3,026 cases of sudden cardiac arrest that were reported to the Swedish Registry for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in the period from 1 January to 20 July 2020 -- that is, both before and during the pandemic. The Registry's statistics show that, in Sweden, there are 6,000 cases of sudden cardiac arrest annually in which the person is not admitted to hospital. Some 600 of these people survive. The corresponding figures for cardiac arrest during inpatient care are 2,500 cases and 900 survivors. The study results indicate that mortality from sudden cardiac arrest is higher if the person has COVID-19, but that different patient groups show divergent differences in mortality rates. During the study period, 1,946 cases of sudden cardiac arrest outside of hospitals were registered. In 10 percent of the cases in this group, the person had COVID-19, and the risk of a fatal outcome proved to be 3.4 times higher for these people than for the other group members. Of the 1,080 cases of sudden cardiac arrest that took place in hospitals, COVID-19 was present in 16 percent. Among the patients with COVID-19, mortality was 2.3 times higher than for the others in this group. The largest mortality difference was noted in the group of women who were already receiving inpatient care at the time of their cardiac arrest. In these women, ongoing COVID-19 infection was associated with nine times the risk of a fatal outcome during the initial months and a sevenfold risk from April onward. The study, carried out by researchers at the Swedish Registry for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and the University of Gothenburg, received financial support from the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation. This Foundation's prompt funding action was crucial for the implementation, emphasizes Araz Rawshani, registrar and researcher at the Faculty of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, who also works at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. We hope our results can help to raise awareness of COVID-19 complications among the public, care providers, and decision-makers. That could improve care and mobilize resources for high-risk patients." Araz Rawshani, Researcher, Faculty of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy Kristina Sparreljung is the Secretary-General of the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation. "We hope these results will help to enable more lives to be saved. This study is a direct result of the emergency grant provided by the Heart-Lung Foundation for research on COVID-19 connected with cardiopulmonary disease back in spring 2020," she says. The survival rate for cardiac arrest has risen successively in recent years, but mortality remains high. Surviving a sudden cardiac arrest outside of hospital requires, pending arrival of an ambulance, immediate action in the form of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use of an automated external defibrillator (AED). 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 Sorry, no valid subscriptions were found for this Publication. Please select from an option below to start a subscription. SUBSCRIBE TODAY! 24 Hour Access Magdalena Krakowiak, chairwoman of the International Quality Medicines Generic and Biosimilar Sector Committee (IQMED) at the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam In 2020, Vietnams pharmaceutical market grew around 4 per cent compared to the previous year. The growth was, however, lower than predicted. But bearing in mind the pandemic, it was still a great result compared to other world markets. While the EU, the United States, and other countries have struggled to find a coherent response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Vietnams government took strict measures to stop it effectively. The industry faced two different types of challenges reduced procedures due to patients refraining from visiting hospitals as well as logistical challenges due to the reduced flow of goods and workforce. These circumstances supported a digital revolution in the pharmaceutical industry, shifting educational programmes for healthcare professionals from offline to online. Foreign experts continued to provide education for Vietnamese healthcare professionals. Most importantly, pharmaceutical businesses could maintain production stability. Companies put in place comprehensive business continuity and risk management plans to avoid a shortage of drugs and deal with the negative global impact on the supply chain. Despite the unpredictability of the pandemic, the pharmaceutical market in Vietnam is expected to continue growing significantly in terms of both capacity and value. In addition, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has unlocked more opportunities, both for overseas as well as domestic companies. With the EVFTA in effect, approximately half of EU pharmaceutical imports are now duty free, with the rest exempted after seven years. Foreign pharmaceutical companies are allowed to establish foreign-invested enterprises to sell pharmaceuticals imported by them to distributors or wholesalers, build their own warehouses, provide information to healthcare practitioners and do clinical studies and testing. There are also changes in terms of intellectual property rights brought by the EVFTA. The regulatory data protection has been established for pharmaceutical products for five years and a patent protection is extended up to two years (if the approval process takes more than 24 months). The existing clinical trial requirements on ethnicity have been withdrawn due to their lack of compliance with international standards. Probably the most important benefit of the EVFTA is the controlling mechanism against the protectionism of local governments. As much as we understand the governments rationale behind the aim of increasing the share of locally-produced pharmaceuticals to 80 per cent, one has to remember that Vietnams pharma industry still relies on imports, as domestic output can only meet around half of the total demand. Therefore, our industry still needs more incentives for further investment in Vietnam as well as a stable legal framework. Foreign pharmaceutical companies bring innovative and traditional medicines in improved application forms such as pre-filled syringes and sublingual tablets and other high-quality generics to Vietnam. This results in the availability of improved additional treatment options for Vietnamese patients and doctors, which leads to additional benefits for healthcare budgets as well as direct and indirect pharmaceutical spending. The IQMED Generic and Biosimilar Sector Committee was established in 2016. With the aim of pooling viewpoints and superior practices towards providing solutions for an affordable, high-quality and sustainable supply source for branded generic drugs in Vietnam, the committee has created a platform where issues and solutions can be discussed among like-minded business professionals in the industry. At IQMED, we welcome several legal changes made recently by the Ministry of Health. The situation leading to thousands of pending market authorisations has been temporarily solved after addressing the issue at the top authorities level. However, further analysis and potential streamlining of the drug registration policy in Vietnam is required, particularly in avoiding creating new barriers to import. We see further potential to maximise benefits arising from the EVFTA for all participating countries in three main areas. Firstly, all EU member states need to be treated equally in the regulations of Vietnam. Secondly, the registration process of medicinal products within the Vietnamese market should be strictly aligned with international standards. And thirdly, to increase patient safety as well as create a sustainable framework for operations, international codes of ethics and business integrity must be applied. These changes will support Vietnam to become even more sustainable and a desired investment destination for foreign firms with benefits for a flourishing domestic market. ALBANY Eight Albany residents, all under the age of 30, were arrested for having handguns and marijuana in two separate instances this week, Albany police said. Both groups were arrested after detectives obtained search warrants and searched two homes in the investigations. CHARKHI DADRI : Asserting that the agitation against the Centres farm laws is a peoples movement that will not fail, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday said there will be no "ghar wapsi" till protesting farmers' demands are met. Tikait lauded the role of "khap panchayats" (caste councils) and their leaders in supporting the farmers' stir. Addressing a "Kisan Mahapanchayat" near here, Tikait said the government should rollback the contentious farm laws, frame a new legislation to assure the continuation of the minimum support price (MSP) for crops and release the farmers arrested recently. "There will be no 'ghar wapsi' till farmers' demands are met," he said. "Yeh jan andolan hai, yeh fail nahi hoga (this is a people's movement, this will not fail)," he added. Tikait claimed the campaign against the agriculture laws is going strong. With many "khap" leaders present at the mahapanchayat", Tikait lauded their role in strengthening the stir. Independent MLA from Dadri and chief of the Sangwan Khap, Sombir Sangwan, who in December withdrew his support to the BJP-JJP government in Haryana, dubbing it anti-farmer", was present at the event. Earlier on February 3, Tikait had addressed his first Kisan Mahapanchayat" in Haryana's Kandela in Jind. The BKU leader from Uttar Pradesh has been camping at Ghazipur on the Delhi-UP border as part of a campaign by farmer unions against the central laws enacted in September. Tikait said that khaps" go back to the days of King Harshvardhana and have been playing their role in society ever since. The BKU leader said when the farmers' stir started, attempts were made to divide it by calling it the agitation of Punjab and Haryana. Seeking to project unity among farmer unions, Tikait said the "manch (stage) and panch (leaders leading the stir) will not change". The BKU leader, whose emotional appeal recently had revived the protest that was losing momentum after the January 26 violence in Delhi, said people from different section of society were leading and part of the stir. Cautioning the protesting farmers, Tikait said "Some people will try to divide you as Sikh, non-Sikh" but they should remain united. Tikait again praised BKU leader from Punjab, Balbir Singh Rajewal, who was present on the occasion, for providing a sound leadership to the stir. "Rajewal is our big leader, he is very wise. We will fight this battle strongly," he said. Tikait also made a mention of the tragedy caused by a glacier burst at Joshimath in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, leading to a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and causing large-scale devastation in the upper reaches of the ecologically fragile Himalayas. "A big tragedy has struck Uttarakhand. I appeal to the BKU family and other farmer organisations to lend a helping hand and assist the local administration," he said. He appealed to all to conserve water and plant trees to protect the environment. Meanwhile, taking a lesson from the Jind Mahapanchayat where the stage had collapsed, the organisers had brick-lined the stage this time. Thousands of farmers have been protesting since late November 2020 at Delhi's 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 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. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillorys administration is shutting down councilmembers direct access to department directors, a move it says is necessary for efficient operations. All future departmental requests are to be routed through the chief administrative officer, Cydra Wingerter, according to Wingerters Jan. 25 email to councilmembers. This is the approach the administration has been working towards over the past year, our first year, Wingerter wrote. If departments are receiving direction and requests from multiple sources, not only is there a breakdown in the chain of command, its distracting and inefficient in accomplishing our priorities. DDA needs to take leadership role to resolve downtown parking issue, CEO says Downtown Lafayette officials want to set up a steering committee regarding parking downtown and establish a parking benefit district. Wingerters email addressed conflicting priorities that arise when elected officials issue instructions apart from the administration, which by charter is the supervising authority over Lafayette Consolidated Government departments. But the new policy also appears to apply to requests for information about existing projects. The issue arose after City Councilperson Nanette Cook's attempt to set up a meeting with the drainage and public works directors to discuss drainage updates, according to an email from a council secretary to departmental staff. Cook would send along a list of projects that she wanted to inquire about, the secretary wrote. The drainage department director, Brian Smith, replied that all future inquiries should be sent to Wingerter, who then followed up with the email explaining the policy. It was not immediately clear if Cook was able to schedule the meeting. She did not respond to queries on Saturday. Wingerter did not respond to a reporters text requesting to discuss it further. City Councilperson Andy Naquin said there was no problem with the new policy, given that the administration supervises city-parish departments. "I look forward to sharing concerns with those that may assist in providing solutions. There is nothing wrong with transparency and cooperation. It will usually provide direction for the common good," Naquin said in an email. Top stories in Acadiana in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Naquin was responding to an email on Saturday to all 10 members of the City Council and Parish Council. None of the other councilmembers responded. Two former councilmembers, Bruce Conque and Kenneth Boudreaux, said the previous two mayor-presidents, Joel Robideaux and Joey Durel, allowed unfettered access to department heads. That enabled quick responses to constituent concerns, they said. It was effortless communication with the department head, be it public works, be it LUS, be it the police department, Conque said. In most cases, in a matter of a couple hours at most, I could turn things around in terms of communicating with my constituent. Boudreaux said he relied on lower-level managers, in addition to directors, in helping constituents get information. Our Views: A timid public library in Lafayette scared of criticism, hardly worthy of its name Quick action at the University of Louisiana this week may save the Lafayette community from itself, in the wake of an indefensible political d There were numerous occasions where I was out in the field with the drainage superintendent or the drainage foreman, looking at a project, getting an explanation with a constituent, Boudreaux said. I mean the mayor-president or the CAO aint coming out there to do that, right? But Durel said he considered limiting departmental contact with councilmembers when district-to-district service requests became overwhelming. Such requests were completely inappropriate, Durel said, especially because directors need council approval for their budgets. Our directors would get a little frustrated. We have this councilman calling us to do this, but we are booked up for six months to get this other stuff done, Durel said. Ultimately, Durel said he managed to avoid any restrictions by talking individually with councilmembers, who usually understood that directors cannot report to multiple elected officials. We came pretty close, I have to say, a few times to pulling that trigger, but we knew when we did that it was just another wedge. So we just tried to massage it and talk to various councilmen, Durel said. This post has been revised to reflect City Councilperson Andy Naquin's comments Mumbai, Feb 7 : Actress Gehana Vasisth aka Vandana Tiwari, who has been arrested on allegations of shooting and uploading pornography videos on her website, is being falsely implicated, claimed her publicist. A statement issued by Gehana's publicist Flynn Remedios on Sunday evening, claimed that the videos produced and directed by Gehana's company GV Studios "at most can be classified or categorized as Erotica". The statement read: "Gehana Vasisth aka Vandana Tiwari is totally innocent. She is not involved in any porn film racket etc. As the producer and director of her company GV Studios, she has only produced and directed films that are permissible in law and at most can be classified or categorized as Erotica. She is being falsely implicated and trapped or made a victim by vested interests and business competitors who are out to defame her." It further said: "We have full faith in the judiciary and the Indian legal system. Unfortunately, Mumbai Police, which is otherwise the best police force in the world has mixed up and clubbed together Gehena's Erotica film making work with hard porn and hard porn makers in India. There is a legal difference between Erotica or sensual or bold films and hard core porn, but unfortunately, we are really saddened by the fact that the cops have clubbed both together. We hope the courts will identify the difference and give Gehana justice in the coming days." "Gehana Vasisth was arrested on Saturday and will be produced in court today," a senior police official confirmed to IANS on Sunday morning. Miss Asia Bikini winner Gehana is known for featuring in the Alt Balaji web series Gandii Baat. Apart from this, she has also featured in Hindi and Telugu films and commercials. The actress has reportedly shot 87 pornography videos, which she uploaded on her website. Former prime minister Theresa May called her husband to warn him that pictures of Donald Trump holding her hand would be published worldwide, it has been revealed. Mrs May had travelled to Washington in 2017 in a bid to persuade the then-president to make a supportive statement about Nato and to discuss his relationship with Vladimir Putin. A new three-part BBC series, Trump Takes on the World, gives documentary maker Norma Percy unprecedented access to observers of the president. Former US deputy national security adviser, KT McFarland, revealed that the former president believed Mrs May was 'not strong'. Mrs May had travelled to Washington in 2017 in a bid to persuade the then-president to make a supportive statement about Nato and to discuss his relationship with Vladimir Putin Former joint chief of staff at No 10, Fiona McLeod Hill said: 'He held her hand going through the colonnades, which took us all by surprise, and as it turns out, took Theresa by surprise. 'She couldn't really take her hand back, so she was stuck... And the first thing she said was ''I need to call Philip just to let him know I've been holding hands with another man before it hits the media''.' However, before she was able to contact Mr May she had to attend a lunch hosted by Mr Trump where she was subjected to one of the former president's stream-of-consciousness rants. A new three-part BBC series, Trump Takes on the World, gives documentary maker Norma Percy unprecedented access to observers of the president US undersecretary for political affairs, Thomas Shannon, revealed that Mrs May was treated to the 'full bloom', which he described as running 'the gamut from his own inauguration to his disdain for the press'. When Trump denied having spoken to Russian leader Vladimir Putin his chief of staff told the president that Putin had called but had not been put through. This allegedly sent him into a 'toe-curling' outburst in which he 'flipped'. He scolded his advisers in front of Mrs May according to Mr Shannon. Former US deputy national security adviser, KT McFarland, revealed that the former president believed Mrs May was 'not strong' He said that Trump seethed: 'You're telling me that Vladimir Putin called the White House and you're only telling me now during this lunch? Vladimir Putin is the only man in the world who can destroy the United States and I didn't take his call.' Former French president Francois Hollande also revealed what he told Emanuel Macron about Mr Trump: 'Don't expect anything from Donald Trump. Do not think you'll be able to change his mind. 'Don't think that it's possible to to him or seduce him. Don't imagine that he won't follow through with his own agenda.' Trump Takes on the World begins on Wednesday at 9pm on BBC Two AIM-listed Vast Resources said in September 2019 that it had concluded a joint venture with Chiadzwa Mining Resources, a company designated to represent Chiadzwa Community interests in the Chiadzwa Community Diamond Concession. The joint venture resulted in the establishment of Katanga Mining, which will in turn partner with the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) to mine diamonds in Marange. Vast also revised an agreement with Botswana Diamonds, which will see the latter acquire a 2.5% interest in the cash flows generated from Vast's share in the Chiadzwa concession in exchange for providing "know-how for all aspects of exploration, mining, processing and marketing". In March 2020, Vast Resources said it was expecting to conclude the joint venture agreement with ZCDC for the Chiadzwa community diamond project, before the end of that month. The company said at the time that it had received official communication from the mines ministry that all internal processes leading to the conclusion of the joint venture were expected to be finalised end of March 2020. Nothing happened at the end of March 2020 and the situation was further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Zimbabwe government declared a 21-day lockdown in response to the pandemic, which commenced on 30 March 2020. It later said that the Chiadzwa deal had been put on halt as a result of the lockdown to curb the spreading of the coronavirus. "As a result of this the finalisation process was not completed in March, but finalisation remains expected to complete shortly," Vast said at the time. When nothing happened "shortly" as Vast told its shareholders, it later said that it remains confident that despite the COVID-19 lockdown and other delays that had arisen due to matters unrelated to the relationship between the company and Harare, the project will be continued to the benefit of all stakeholders. At this point, it resisted the temptation of stating timelines as to when the deal would be sealed. The year 2020 came to an end with no deal in sight. ZCDC rather snatched Vast's man responsible for diamonds, Mark Mabhudhu, to become its chief executive. "Whilst we are of course sad to see Mark (Mabhudhu) leave Vast Resources PLC, we are extremely excited that we will be able to continue to work with him in his new role within the diamond mining sector in Zimbabwe," said Vast chief executive Andrew Prelea in September 2020. "We are confident that with Mark in his new role, the diamond mining sector in Zimbabwe will be set for a new high." Vast said Mabhundu's new position will not pose any impediment to the finalisation of a joint venture agreement with the ZCDC. It would, however, be naive for the AIM-listed company to think that its former diamond division head now heading ZCDC then the joint venture would be concluded in no time. The government bureaucracy in Zimbabwe slows the conclusion of such deals and COVID-19 was a perfect scapegoat for last year's delay. We have seen several government programmes in Zimbabwe going ahead despite the further spreading of the virus. So the pandemic can no longer be attributed as the cause of the delay. Even the ZCDC and ALROSA joint venture took some time before it was concluded, so the Vast deal is not an exception in Zimbabwe. That said, it should be stated that Vast has so far shown patience exhibited by fictional characters, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo) in Samuel Beckett's famous play, Waiting for Godot. Unlike the two characters who continued waiting for Godot who never arrived, one hopes that Vast will be rewarded for its patience. The project is unique as it for the first time directly benefit the community as shareholders in a diamond company. The Marange community previously complained that the diamond companies that were initially awarded licences after the 2006 rash excluded them from sharing the proverbial cake. Thousands were driven away from their ancestral land, while a few benefitted from houses built by some of the diamond companies. I do not doubt that the deal will come to fruition, but it will not be concluded "shortly" as the AIM-listed company expected. Government bureaucracy is real and with that in mind, all the best waiting for Godot, Vast! Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished -- With the global vaccination drive having begun, a limited vaccine supply has frustrated rollout efforts in the European Union (EU) and the United States. -- The widespread frustration has raised concerns about international competition for limited vaccine supplies, especially among wealthy nations, which have rushed to secure vaccine deals. -- China has decided to provide COVID-19 vaccine doses to COVAX to meet the urgent needs of developing countries, at the request of the WHO. LONDON, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19 vaccines are key to bringing life back to normal around the world. Yet, a fair and efficient rollout of the vaccines was never going to be easy. With the global vaccination drive having begun, a limited vaccine supply has frustrated rollout efforts in the European Union (EU) and the United States, while gaps in access, especially huge disparities between the developed and developing world, have become glaringly evident. Undated photo shows a vial of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. (BioNTech/Handout via Xinhua) SLOW ROLLOUT The EU's vaccination programs have been plagued with supply issues. Italy recently filed a complaint with the bloc against Pfizer, BioNTech and AstraZeneca, for failing to deliver the vaccines quickly enough. Various EU member states have also experienced similar issues as pharmaceutical companies are supplying vaccines slower than anticipated. On Jan. 15, Pfizer and BioNTech said in a statement that their facility in Puurs, Belgium will experience a temporary reduction in the number of doses delivered in the upcoming week due to "certain modifications of production processes." The two companies then said in another statement released on Monday that they are back to the original schedule of dose deliveries to the EU. However, the EU's vaccine supply issue is far more complex. "Shortfalls in COVID-19 vaccine deliveries from U.S. drugmaker Moderna have spread across Europe," Reuters reported. Meanwhile, the EU has been frustrated by AstraZeneca's previous announcement that it might deliver considerably fewer doses than promised for the first quarter. In the United States, the situation is similarly fraught. "All 50 states in the U.S. are reporting shortages as America's fragmented administrative and health care systems struggle to distribute even the limited vaccine stocks that have been produced," NBC News reported late last month. The former U.S. administration's vaccine distribution plan was blasted for leaving it up to county and city administrators, who have zero experience with vaccine distribution plans, especially of this magnitude. HUGE DISPARITIES The widespread frustration has raised concerns about international competition for limited vaccine supplies, especially among wealthy nations, which have rushed to secure vaccine deals, analysts said. According to a Bloomberg COVID-19 deals tracker updated on Jan. 30, 8.56 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines have already been reserved, which would be enough to cover more than half the world's population if the shots were distributed evenly, with most vaccines comprised of two doses. People wearing face masks walk past the Vaccination Centre at ExCel exhibition centre in London, Britain, Jan. 12, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan) However, "rich countries have accumulated extensive supply deals. Some countries may have to wait until 2022 or later before supplies are widely available," the media outlet said. Speaking at a press briefing on Jan. 29, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "vaccine nationalism might serve short-term political goals. But it's ultimately short-sighted and self-defeating." More worryingly, the WHO chief last month warned of the moral consequences of the lack of COVID-19 vaccines for poorer countries, calling higher-income countries more privileged compared to developing countries. Some experts also voiced concern over the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. People wait to enter the vaccination center to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Hawalli Governorate, Kuwait, Feb. 4, 2021. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua) "Unfortunately, it is going according to the principle of the strongest: the richer countries like the U.S., Canada, also many EU countries secure the vaccines in bilateral negotiations. In a global pandemic, such behavior is reckless," said Maximilian Gertler, an expert at the Institute for Tropical Medicine and International Health in Berlin, in an interview with the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel. GLOBAL COOPERATION Vaccine shortage has also prompted more to consider diversifying vaccine supply. "There's a bit of the developing world that produces vaccines and does so very efficiently and provides them to the rest of the world; India and China in the pharmaceutical value chains are right up there," Uma Kambhampati, professor of economics at the University of Reading in Britain, told Xinhua. The EU and its member states have also expressed their openness to vaccines from developing countries like China. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that vaccines from Russia and China could be approved for use in the EU if they "show all the data," AFP quoted the bloc's lawmakers as saying. German Health Minister Jens Spahn said recently that he is open to the use of vaccines from Russia or China in Germany. For now, Hungary is the only EU member state that has authorized the use of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine and a Russian vaccine. On a global scale, the WHO chief has stressed that COVAX needs to "receive extra doses soon, and not the leftovers many months from now." The WHO-led initiative aims to accelerate the development and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world. For its part, China has decided to provide COVID-19 vaccine doses to COVAX to meet the urgent needs of developing countries, at the request of the WHO, the country's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. A handover ceremony of a batch of China-donated COVID-19 vaccine is held at Noor Khan Air Base near Islamabad, Pakistan, Feb. 1, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Tian) "We hope that capable countries in the international community can play an active role and take concrete actions to support COVAX as well as the WHO's work," spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, "so as to help developing countries receive vaccines in time and contribute to the global defeat of the pandemic at an early date." Mrs Hinch has revealed her second pregnancy has been much easier than her first, which left her in and out of hospital before she welcomed her son Ronnie, 20 months. The influencer, 30, whose real name is Sophie Hinchcliffe, is expecting her second child with husband Jamie and said she is 'grateful' she is enjoying this pregnancy. Speaking to Fabulous magazine, she said: 'With Ron it almost got to the point where I was in hospital more than I wasn't. Exciting times: Mrs Hinch has revealed her second pregnancy has been much easier than her first, which left her in and out of hospital before she welcomed her son Ronnie, 20 months 'So I'm just so grateful for a pregnancy that I'm quite enjoying, instead of being in a lot of pain and worrying all the time.' However, the social media star admitted she still has concerns around the Covid pandemic but does feel the 'vibe' of her second pregnancy is different. She wrote: 'Obviously I'm worrying about different things, like Covid, and the vibe is very different this time understandably, but generally I can't complain one little bit.' Sophie suffered a series of painful attacks in her back and groin while pregnant with Ronnie which eventually caused her to collapse and be rushed to hospital. Family: The influencer, 30, whose real name is Sophie Hinchcliffe, is expecting her second child with husband Jamie and said she is 'grateful' she is enjoying this pregnancy The star also had emergency surgery at seven months pregnant to move her inactive but displaced gastric band which had been causing a blockage. Sophie explained she is now being monitored closely by doctors to ensure the same thing doesn't happen again. Sophie has a blood disorder which makes her prone to clotting which she admitted she is concerned about, but added: 'you learn to live with it'. The cleaning sensation previously discussed her emotional struggles after giving birth to Ronnie in her autobiography This Is Me. The star said she found herself questioning her abilities as a mother and was in a general state of despair, although she did not label it postnatal depression. Sophie said: I'm just so grateful for a pregnancy that I'm quite enjoying, instead of being in a lot of pain and worrying all the time' (pictured with her son Ronnie) Sophie told the publication she now wishes she had got help sooner but added that a 'weight' was lifted by sharing her story. The influencer added she plans on being a lot more open with her followers when her next child is born. Sophie explained she is still on antidepressants and NHS doctors are watching closely to make sure everything is 'balanced'. Sophie boasts over 4million followers on Instagram and the success of her account means she now has two phones, one for her personal life and the other for running her influencer business. The Essex native has had to deal with trolls in the past and previously revealed she went on antidepressants last year while struggling to cope with the abuse. Lockdown: The social media star admitted she still has concerns around the Covid pandemic but does feel the 'vibe' of her second pregnancy is different However, she now tries to focus on the positive messages her fans send her, which far outweigh any negative comments. Sophie admitted she has barely left the house during lockdown and Covid restrictions have meant her husband Jamie was only able to accompany her to one doctors appointment during her pregnancy. The star announced she was expecting her second child with a heartwarming post on New Year's Day. She penned: 'It is often in the darkest skies that we see the brightest stars Baby Hinch Number 2, We cant wait to finally meet you . Difficult: Sophie admitted she has barely left the house during lockdown and Covid restrictions have meant her husband Jamie was only able to accompany her to one doctors appointment during her pregnancy 'Happy New Year everyone... from our little family to yours... We hope your 2021 is filled with hope, health and happiness. We love you all.' The star looked radiant as she shared a first glimpse at her blossoming bump under doting Jamie's hand in the sweet post. However it was Ronnie who stole the show as he sat grinning in front of the perfectly decorated Christmas tree holding a sign board. It read: 'New Year's Resolution. Be the best big brother. 2021'. New Delhi: The US state department on Sunday (February 7) expressed condolences over the loss of life and people affected due to the glacier burst at Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district which triggered flash floods in the region. The US state departments Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs said in a tweet, Our deepest condolences to those affected by the glacier burst and landslide in India. We grieve with the family and friends of the deceased and extend our hopes for a speedy and full recovery for the injured. Our deepest condolences to those affected by the glacier burst and landslide in India. We grieve with the family and friends of the deceased and extend our hopes for a speedy and full recovery for the injured. State_SCA (@State_SCA) February 7, 2021 Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron, replying to Prime Minister Narendra Modis tweet on the disaster, expressed solidarity with India. He tweeted, France expresses its full solidarity with India, after a glacier burst in the Uttarakhand province, leading to the disappearance of over 100 people. Our thoughts are with them and their families. France expresses its full solidarity with India, after a glacier burst in the Uttarakhand province, leading to the disappearance of over 100 people. Our thoughts are with them and their families. Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 7, 2021 Nepal Foreign Ministry said they are saddened by the tragic news and condoled the lives lost due to the disaster. We are saddened by the news of death and missing of many individuals due to flash flood caused by an avalanche in #Uttarakhand. We express deep condolences to the bereaved family members of the deceased & pray for the safety of those missing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal said in a tweet. We are saddened by the news of death and missing of many individuals due to flash flood caused by an avalanche in #Uttarakhand. We express deep condolences to the bereaved family members of the deceased & pray for the safety of those missing: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal pic.twitter.com/ZrQforBzhH ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 The glacial burst led to the rising of water levels in the Rishiganga river and washed away the Rishiganga small hydro project of 13.2 MW. PM Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for the next of kin of those who died due to the tragic avalanche. He also approved an amount of Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured. As per the latest update, at least 7 people have died while over 170 are still missing. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), are involved in the search and rescue operations that will continue throughout the night as several people are still missing. Male, Feb 7 : Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt set the internet on fire on Sunday morning with beautiful photographs of herself in a bikini posing on a beach here in the Maldives. The actress is currently vacationing in the Maldives with her sister Shaheen Bhatt, close friend and actress Akansha Ranjan Kapoor and her sister Anushka Ranjan Kapoor. Sharing her sun-kissed photo from the beach where she flaunts a colourful bikini and sunglasses, Alia wrote on Instagram: "Blue seas and a pisces." Commenting on Alia's post, mother Soni Razdan wrote: "Hello little fishy." Alia has also posted a selfie clicked together with Akansha on her Instagram story which she captioned: "Hangies with my honey." During an interactive session with her fans on Instagram, Alia had recently shared that she is eager to go on a vacation but not solo. Asked by a fan if she wanted to go on a vacation, Alia stated she is not in the mood for solo outings. "You kinda wanna leave everything and go on a solo vaca," asked the fan. "True but not solo," Alia replied. She made several other admissions in the course of the session. Among these was a revelation that she was not a big fan of shopping or cooking. On the work front, Alia's upcoming projects include Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Gangubai Kathiawadi, a film reportedly revolving around the life of a brothel owner and matriarch. She is also a part of S.S. Rajamouli's RRR and Ayan Mukerji's Brahmastra, where Alia shares screen space with rumoured beau Ranbir Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan. Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday denounced the dastardly terror attack that killed seven Amarnath pilgrims in Kashmir and reaffirmed Bangladeshs pledge to work with India in fighting extremism. Seven Amarnath pilgrims were killed and 19 others were injured in a terrorist attack in south Kashmirs Anantnag district last night. The bus, bearing Gujarat registration number, was on way from Baltal to Jammu when the attack took place. I am deeply shocked to learn about the dastardly terror attack on a bus carrying pilgrims to Amarnath in Jammu and Kashmir that killed several pilgrims, including women, and injuring many others on Monday, she said in a letter sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She added: As a close friend and neighbour, we would continue to work together in our common endeavour to eradicate this menace from this region and beyond as Bangladesh maintains zero tolerance policy against terrorism and violent extremism in all forms and manifestations, and condemns such heinous acts. Hasina conveyed her deepest condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for early recovery of the injured pilgrims. Also read: Amarnath Yatra Terror Attack: This is how celebrities reacted on Twitter Also read: Amarnath terror attack: Gujarat govt announces Rs 10 lakh compensation to kin of deceased; injured to get Rs 2 lakh For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Jussie Smollett isnt the only Empire star in legal trouble. His on-screen brother, actor Bryshere Gray, was arrested on charges of domestic violence in the summer of 2020. A newly leaked police interview with Gray shows him in a bizarre state trying to explain his version of events. Jussie Smollett, Bryshere Gray, and Trai Bryers of Empire | FOX Image Collection via Getty Images Who is Bryshere Gray? Gray, also known by the stage name Yazz The Greatest or Yazz, is an actor and rapper. The Philadelphia native is best known for his role as Hakeem Lyon, the middle son of the infamous Lyon family in the FOX musical drama Empire. Source: YouTube Related: Who Is Empire Alum Bryshere Grays Wife? Gray has also had other prominent roles, including his portrayal as Michael Bivins in the 2017 BET miniseries The New Edition Story. His performance on Empire landed him several award nominations, including two NAACP Image Awards, three Teen Choice Awards, and one BET Award. Bryshere Gray arrested for an alleged domestic violence incident with his wife A July 2020 report from Billboard reveals that 26-year-old Gray was arrested following a domestic dispute with his wife, Candice Jimdar, in Arizona. Per the report, a call was placed to 911 revealing that Jidmar alleged she was assaulted by her husband at their home. Source: YouTube A press release regarding the situation claims the woman made the call after being given a ride by someone she flagged down at a gas station. She told the driver Gray assaulted her for several hours. Per BOSSIP, Jidmar alleged Gray abused and held her hostage for hours before she got away. Gray was later arrested after a standoff with an Arizona SWAT team. Per the release from Billboard, Jidmar had numerous visible injuries on her body and said that Gray strangled her to the point where she once lost consciousness. Bryshere Grays police interview leaks with Gray behaving bizarrely Gray has been out of the spotlight since his arrest but BOSSIP recently reported on Grays police interview being released. Despite the two being married, Gray initially tells police that is his best friend. When asked by police if the two were married, Gray responds, In a way, explaining that the two have an open relationship, with Gray telling police, We have an open relationship as well so I allow her to have a boyfriend because Im really busy. Gray alleges Jidmar threatened to harm herself. Jidmar confirms such to the police, explaining she threatened to hurt herself in the past to try to stop Gray from beating her. Per Jidmar, Gray abused her more than a dozen times. Gray alleges to police that another person could have assaulted Jidmar, telling police a man named Mark came over to their home after he left to go to a friends house. But Jidmar tells police that Gray uses the name Mark for his own alias. He just says his name is Mark. Thats like his little fake name. Jimdar said. Jidmar also tells police that Gray has bipolar disorder and ADHD but refuses to take his medication. New12 of Phoenix reports on the incident and has Grays two-hour police interview available for viewing. WASHINGTON - Lou Dobbs is out at Fox Business, just a day after the voting machine company Smartmatic filed a $2.7 billion lawsuit against him, the cable news network and several purveyors of the debunked theory that its technology was used to commit massive voter fraud. The ouster of Dobbs, who was Fox Business's top-rated host, is merely the latest evidence of the very real impact of the legal threats from Smartmatic and another voting machine company, Dominion. After the initial threats were made, Fox News and Fox Business ran deposition-esque segments on the shows of the three anchors now sued by Smartmatic - Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro - downplaying the evidence for such claims. Newsmax read a statement on air saying pretty much the same thing, and it has since awkwardly tried to shut down MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell when he made such claims. One America News has ridiculed its far-right competitor for "censoring" Lindell, but it has quietly removed several stories about Dominion from its website. And the station carrying Rudy Giuliani's radio show on Thursday played a disclaimer distancing itself from claims made on the show, to Giuliani's chagrin. Also reinforcing the potential legal jeopardy: Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel recently acknowledged that, during a particularly far-flung news conference held by Giuliani and then-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell at the RNC, she was "concerned it was happening in my building" and thought about "what is the liability of the RNC if these allegations are made and unfounded?" We're about to find out - not for the RNC, which hasn't been sued, but for the parties it hosted and for the media companies that provided often-credulous airwaves to them. Along with Smartmatic suing Fox and its three hosts, both it and Dominion are suing Giuliani and Powell. And Dominion has signaled its legal action could expand significantly. The question from there is how legally problematic the claims were. Defamation litigation is intensive and requires meeting certain thresholds. Those who made such claims themselves, for instance, could face more jeopardy than those who provided a forum for them to do so. Some claims involved citing others who made allegations or simply raised the theories as questions, while others more forcefully and definitively alleged nefarious activity. Dobbs arguably erred more toward actually embracing the theories than his fellow Fox hosts, for example. (Fox News said prior to Dobbs's ouster: "Fox News Media is committed to providing the full context of every story with in-depth reporting and clear opinion. We are proud of our 2020 election coverage and will vigorously defend against this meritless lawsuit in court.") Given the sheer volume of claims - many of which are detailed in Smartmatic's lawsuit - I thought it was worth looking at some of the biggest and most consequential that could be at issue in the coming litigation. Below are a few of them, virtually none of which have been substantiated in courts. Most of them have been debunked by fact checks. And many of them will be parsed extensively in the lawsuits. What Rudy Giuliani has said: - "They were founded as a company to fix elections. They have a terrible record and they are extremely hackable." (Nov. 13, Fox Business) - "They [committed fraud] absolutely in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Republicans were shut out from enough of the county so they could accomplish what Smartmatic wanted to do. And what you - that pattern that they have there, we have evidence that that's the same pattern Smartmatic used in other elections in which they were disqualified. In other words, this is their pattern of activity." (Nov. 15, Fox News - Maria Bartiromo's show). - "It's Smartmatic, which is a company that was founded in 2005 in Venezuela for the specific purpose of fixing elections. That's their expertise: how to fix elections." (Nov. 18, Fox Business - Lou Dobbs's show) - On Smartmatic (Nov. 15, Fox News - Bartiromo show): BARTIROMO: One source says that the key point to understand is that the Smartmatic system has a backdoor . . . that allows the votes to be mirrored and monitored allowing an intervening party a real-time understanding of how many votes will be needed to gain an electoral advantage. Are you saying the states that use that software did that? GIULIANI: I can prove that they did it in Michigan. I can prove it with witnesses. We are investigating the rest. ... Now, they didn't do it everywhere. They did it in big cities where they have corrupt machines that will protect them. - "They were being notified by Smartmatic in Frankfurt [Germany], that Biden was way behind and they better come up with a lot more ballots." (Nov. 19, Fox News - Sean Hannity's show). What Sidney Powell has said: - "It's the Smartmatic and Dominion systems that were built to do this very thing, for changing the results of elections." (Nov. 16, Mark Levin's radio show) - "And President Trump won by not just hundreds of thousands of votes, but by millions of votes - that were shifted by this software that was designed expressly for that purpose. We have sworn witness testimony of why the software was designed. It was designed to rig elections. . . . It was exported internationally for profit by the people that are behind Smartmatic and Dominion. They did this on purpose. It was calculated. They have done it before." (Nov. 15, Fox News - Bartiromo show) - "We've detected voting irregularities that are inexplicable and aligned with these problems in other states that think they have valid systems, but the people who bought the Dominion system for sure knew exactly what they were getting." (Nov. 15, Fox News - Bartiromo show) - "We now have reams and reams of actual documents from Smartmatic and Dominion, including evidence that they planned and executed all of this. . . . We have evidence of how they flip the votes, how it was designed to flip the votes." (Dec. 10, Fox Business - Dobbs show) - "The software itself was created with so many variables and so many back doors that can be hooked up to the Internet or a thumb drive stuck in it or whatever. But one of its most characteristic features is its ability to flip votes. It can set and run an algorithm that probably ran all over the country to take a certain percentage of votes from President Trump and flip them to President Biden. . . . And that's what caused them to have to shut down in the states they shut down in." (Nov. 18, Fox Business - Dobbs show) - "People can admittedly go in and change whatever they want. They can set the ratio of votes from one thing to another. They can say that a Biden vote counts as 1.25, and a Trump vote counts as 0.75, and those may be the numbers that were actually used here. It's not just the swing states that were affected; the algorithm was likely run across the country to affect the entire election." (Nov. 19 news conference at RNC) - "We're talking about the alteration and changes and millions of votes, some being dumped that were for President Trump, some being flipped that were for President Trump, computers being overwritten to ignore signatures - all kinds of different means of manipulating the Dominion and Smartmatic software, that of course, we would not expect Dominion or Smartmatic to admit." (Nov. 14, Fox News - Jeanine Pirro's show) What Lou Dobbs has said: - "I am alarmed because of what is occurring in plain sight during this 2020 election for president of the United States. The circumstances and events are eerily reminiscent of what happened with Smartmatic software electronically changing votes in the 2013 presidential election in Venezuela." (Nov. 18, Fox Business) - "And this president is demonstrating, once again, he is the wrong guy to cross - the wrong guy to think you can overthrow, upend and somehow stop with a vicious campaign, whether it's verbal, whether its physical, whether it is what we have seen here: a cyberattack on our election, those voting machines and software." (Nov. 21, Fox News - "Watters World") What Maria Bartiromo has said: - "Well, I mean, who's to stop this from happening again? I mean, if you've got Democrats in charge from here on out, they're in charge of the machines, you'll never see a Republican in the White House again." (Nov. 17, Fox Business) - "Look, I want to show this graphic of the swing states that were using Dominion and this software, the Smartmatic software. . . . The voting machines were used, Dominion voting machines were used in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. And I have a graphic showing the states where they stopped counting, which I thought was also strange - to stop counting in the middle of election night." (Nov. 15, Fox News) What Jeanine Pirro has said: - "The president's lawyers [are] alleging a company called Dominion, which they say started in Venezuela with Cuban money and with the assistance of Smartmatic software, a backdoor is capable of flipping votes. And the president's lawyers alleging that American votes in a presidential election are actually counted in a foreign country. These are serious allegations, but the media has no interest in any of this. But you and I do, as we should, because 73 million Americans voted for Donald Trump." (Nov. 21, Fox News) What OAN has said: - "Election systems across the country are found to have deleted millions of votes cast for President Trump. According to an unaudited analysis of data obtained from Edison Research, states using Dominion Voting Systems may have switched as many as 435,000 votes from President Trump to Joe Biden, and the author also finds another 2.7 million Trump votes appear to have been deleted by Dominion including almost 1 million truckloads in Pennsylvania alone." (Lilia Fifield, Nov. 12) - "In the early 2000s, the election technology market had over 20 competitors. Twenty years later, Dominion and two others dominated the voting technology market in America. This is a problem - especially if their antifa-drenched engineers are hellbent on deleting half of America's voice." (Chanel Rion, Nov. 21) - "But Dominion captured headlines when it was discovered it had 'glitched' 6,000 votes, giving Biden a fraudulent win. This was a not an isolated event." (Rion) What Mike Lindell has said: - "I want Dominion to put up their lawsuit because we have 100 percent evidence that China and other countries used their machines to steal the election." (Jan. 18) - "The biggest fraud is the Dominion machines." (Dec. 22, Newsmax show hosted by Sebastian Gorka, who cut Lindell off) - "Biden got, like, 1.2 votes for every vote, and our president got, like, 0.66, okay? When that happened, all of us voting - it was probably 80 million votes who came in for our great president - and because of you, guess what? They all broke the algorithms and the machines, so there wasn't enough time . . . so they had to quick stop everything, because he would've won the election in spite of the fraud." (Dec. 12 speech in Washington) A card bearing the address 'somewhere at top of town' has miraculously made it to the right house. Tracey Fitzharris, 43, revealed the card was posted by her friend from Duror in Scotland who was unsure of her address and decided to make up her own version. The envelope, which was shared online by the recipient, read: 'Somewhere at top of town, St Ives, Cornwall.' On the back of the envelope, the friend had added: 'Big love to the postie X'. The card received by Tracey Fitzharris, 43, was sent bearing the address: 'Somewhere at top of town, St Ives, Cornwall' Ms Fitzharris, who received the card on February 4, told Cornwall Live: 'Just before Christmas my friend moved to Duror a few miles down the road (from Ballachulish). 'So I got her new address and sent her a Christmas card. She rang me up and said she felt bad because she hadn't sent any and could I send my address. 'I laughed and said no, I didn't need a card and FaceTime and wine is much better and our only option nowadays. 'Anyway, last week I had spinal surgery at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth which was delayed due to Covid. 'The surgery happened two days before my birthday so I spent most of the day sleeping. 'I hadn't reminded any of my friends about my birthday, but because she knew I wasn't great she decided to send me a card and literally thought ''bugger it'' and sent it without an address. 'Anyway it arrived yesterday and it made me smile, she was amazed it actually arrived. We spent some time laughing about it on the phone yesterday. On the back of the envelope, the friend, who had recently moved to Duror, had added: 'Big love to the postie X' 'She didn't tell me she sent it in case it didn't arrive. 'I'm glad she put a stamp on it.' St Ives, which lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne, is divided into the Upalong region, the upper part of town where most year long residents now live, and the Downalong area - the lower part of St Ives. The Upalong area, known to some as Up'long, covers areas including Penbeagle, St John's In The Fields and Hellesveor on the outer western edges of the town. Unlike the central and Downalong parts of the town, the upper region has very few shops, galleries or bars. In 2015, figures released by the Office of National Statistics found St Ives, which has three ward areas, had a population of 12,436. Last November, the coastal town, which was once commercially dependent on fishing, was crowned the happiest place to live in Britain in a survey by the property website Rightmove. Rightmove's 2020 study, with over 21,000 respondents, found that coastal areas in general were where people felt happiest. Also on the list were Falmouth, Weymouth, Plymouth, and Poole all located in the South West. Children in Amber Alert found safe near Mitchell The missing children were recovered and are safe, according to the Davison County Sheriff's Office. Restaurants will no longer be allowed to sell pre-packaged meals through arrangements with supermarkets and other outlets, as Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley definitively closed this loophole yesterday. Rowley said this would not be allowed to continue, as it defeats the purpose of the public health regulations. Restaurants and street food vendors were among those businesses ordered to close to limit the movement of people and curb the spread of Covid-19. A mum who brutally killed her three children inside their home had been obsessed that people saw her as a bad mother. Katie Perinovic, 42, murdered her children Claire, 7, Anna, 5, and Matthew, 3 one by one before taking her own life inside their Tullamarine home, north west of Melbourne, on January 14. Their father Tom Perinovic had been out buying his family a new television set when the atrocity happened. Katie Perinovic, 42, murdered her children while their father was out on a shopping trip Tom Perinovic had been texting his wife asking her for an opinion on television sets he was looking to buy for the family Detectives arrive at the crime scene on January 14. The carnage inside was later described as 'gruesome' A source has told Daily Mail Australia the children were dispatched by their mother 'quickly and brutally', without sedation, sometime before midday that day. The doting dad had been texting photographs of televisions to his wife asking for her opinion as she went about her murderous rampage. He received several messages back that police believe must have been sent midway through the attack. On returning to their Burgess Street property, Mr Perinovic, 48, immediately suspected something was amiss when he observed all of the curtains had been closed. It had been a mild summer's day, with a top temperature reaching just 22C. He raised the alarm with a harrowing triple zero call at 12.20pm that afternoon. Detectives have described what Mr Perinovic saw next as 'gruesome'. A source has told Daily Mail Australia Mr Perinovic had become increasingly concerned about his wife's mental health in the months before the murders. In November, psychiatrists had diagnosed Perinovic with paranoid schizophrenia. By then, she had become convinced that someone had installed covert CCTV cameras inside the family home and were watching her every move. 'She believed that everyone was judging her as a bad mother,' the source said. By the new year, the mentally unwell mum had withdrawn from society and descended into a paranoid schizophrenic episode. A view of the backyard where the Perinovic family was killed. People continued to leave flowers outside the Tullamarine property for weeks on end Her husband had taken her for numerous health assessments, as had a worried neighbour. 'She was totally not in control of what she was doing,' the source said. 'She believed there were people spying on her to see what type of mother she was, and to her, they all thought she was a terrible person and even worse a mother.' It is understood police believe Perinovic was so mentally unwell she could not tell the difference between reality and her paranoid thoughts. The mum had unexpectedly left her job at Glenroy Physiotherapy Centre about three months ago as she become increasingly unwell. 'She had received mental health care, but clearly not enough,' the source said. 'Her friends, family and neighbours all tried their best, but somehow, somewhere, they were all failed.' Daily Mail Australia has been unable to make contact with the devastated dad, who remains under the care of his extended family. So horrific was the crime scene that seasoned paramedics who attended the scene were left deeply traumatised. The bodies of the deceased have all been released from the coroner and are believed to have been farewelled in private services. Curtains at the property can be seen closed. Tom Perinovic suspected all was not well inside. He was right Long time neighbours of the family had told media at the time that they had noted seeing nothing out of the ordinary in the weeks and months leading up to the atrocity. The first indication they supposedly had that something was wrong was seeing emergency services rushing to the street. 'We saw Tom sitting on the chair with his hands behind his back,' a neighbour told The Australian at the time. 'He was quiet numb. 'And then they took him in the police car. He was really stressed, believe me.' Another neighbour had claimed perhaps there had been warning signs missed. 'On November 29, I got her to come across and help celebrate my daughters birthday with my kids,' a neighbour said at the time. 'She was only there for a short period her two older girls were very similar to my younger daughters, they were chatting and laughing typical seven-year-olds, they were beautiful kids. 'On that day she did seem to be a bit withdrawn that was not usual she was very quiet in retrospect maybe that was a pointer.' Officers who were called to the scene in Tullamarine stand with police tape outside the home on January 14 Father Tomislav Perinovic (left), the children and Ms Perinovic. Mr Perinovic has been left devastated by the tragedy Police said there was no history of family violence involving the family. Pictured: Katie and Tomislav Perinovic with their daughter Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on Friday signed an order which rolled back COVID-19 restrictions, lifting the state's mask mandate and capacity limits in bars and restaurants. The conservative lawmaker 'strongly encouraged' residents with medical conditions and those over the age of 65 to limit activities outside of the home as she signed a new Public Health Disaster proclamation to ease existing public health measures from Sunday. As well as ending the requirement for masks in public spaces, the order lifts the capacity limit of 15 people for indoor gatherings and 30 people for outdoor gatherings across the state. Iowa also no longer calls for businesses to limit the number of customers or keep them socially distanced. Despite the easing of the state regulations, Reynolds still encouraged businesses to take health measures as advised by the Iowa Department of Public Health, which has warned that the governor has pulled back the restrictions prematurely. It is not known why Reynolds has decided to relax the regulations now, less than a week after the new, more transmissible version of the coronavirus from the U.K. was confirmed in three Iowa residents. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on Friday signed an order which rolled back COVID-19 restrictions, lifting the state's mask mandate and the limit on capacity in bars and restaurants Reynolds only brought in the mask mandate in November and still received pushback Daily cases in Iowa have been dropping since the November peak but the positive test rate still remains at 5.6 percent as three cases of the U.K. variant are confirmed in the state The state has also led one of the slowest rollouts of the vaccine in the country. Iowa is currently ranked 47th in the country in per capita vaccine distribution from the federal government, according to Reynolds. It is 46th in the rate of administering vaccines to residents. As of Saturday, only 7.1 percent of residents had received one dose of the vaccine and 2.6 percent had received two doses. Despite the new variant and the slow vaccine distribution, Reynolds is also easing the restrictions just after she announced that students could be brought back for in-person schooling. On January 29, Reynolds signed legislation that allowed parents the option to send their children back to school full-time. It means that from February 15, all K-12 schools in Iowa will be required to offer 100 percent in-person instruction to all students. Prior to this schools had been operating entirely online or through a schedule of instruction days alternating between online and in person. New daily cases of the coronavirus in Iowa and the state's hospitalizations from the virus have dropped since its peak in November. Yet 804 new infections were still reported on Friday, just a day after its death toll reached 5,000. 'I don't think it's a good idea, to put it bluntly,' Lina Tucker Reinders, executive director of the Iowa Public Health Association, told the Des Moines Register of the easing of the restrictions. 'We have so many people wanting a vaccine, which is fantastic,' she said. 'This isn't the time to let our guards down. This is the time to just, head-down, trudge on as we have been to make sure we get everybody through it.' Iowa has also led one of the slowest rollouts of the vaccine in the country. Pictured, pharmacist Hayley Perrin administers a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination in Iowa in January As of Saturday, only 7.1 percent of residents had received one dose of the vaccine and 2.6 percent had received two doses. It ranks 46th in the country for vaccine administration Rep. Cindy Axne, the only Democratic member of Iowa's congressional delegation, also argued that the governor's move is 'short-sighted, ill-conceived, and dangerous.' 'In recent weeks, I've spoken to the governor and our federal health partners about increasing Iowa's vaccine allocations to bring us closer to ending this crisis,' Axne said in a statement. 'But this new proclamation undermines all of those efforts disregarding the lagging vaccinations of our seniors and other vulnerable populations and skipping ahead to a return to normalcy that is unwarranted.' Reynolds is a supporter of former President Donald Trump and claimed in a video posted to social media last week that 'the far left is taking over Washington D.C.' 'President Biden is signing executive order after executive order and now it is conservative governors who are the last line of defense,' she claimed. Reynolds had first introduced a mask mandate in November - behind many other states in doing so - which required Iowans two years of age and older to wear masks if they were in indoor areas or were spending more than 15 minutes with people not in their household. Hospitalizations have also fallen in Iowa since the November peak and are now at 336 The state reached more than 5,000 deaths from coronavirus on Thursday Thirty-six states still require people to wear masks. North Dakota's requirement expired last month, however, and Mississippi's mandate only covers counties with high virus infection rates. The relaxing of the rules in Iowa was criticized by some residents, earning Reynolds the nickname COVID Kim, which began trending on social media on Friday evening. 'We all know Kim Reynolds lifted restrictions because she has a Super Bowl party to throw this weekend. Let's see how Iowa is doing in 3 weeks or so,' wrote one Twitter user. 'Today, Gov. Reynolds signed a new proclamation removing the mask requirement, gathering limits, and restrictions on businesses effective this Sunday,' said TV producer Sarah Beckman. 'This, as the U.K. variant has been confirmed in Iowa & districts are required to offer 100% in-person learning option this month.' Residents in nearby states were also unhappy that they could be exposed to the virus due to their neighbor's abandonment of the restrictions. '@GovPritzker can you please close all inbound traffic from Iowa into IL starting Sunday please?' one Illinois resident asked. 'Kim Reynolds shouldn't be allowed to kill us, just because she doesn't give a s*** about Iowa'. Gov. Reynolds order was criticized on Twitter where she earned the nickname Covid Kim However, the governor's order was welcomed by Jessica Dunker, president, and CEO of the Iowa Restaurant Association. 'Quite frankly, it allows us to go back to doing business at a really critical time,' she said. 'We are one day before the Super Bowl, which opens up a lot of businesses for crowds to come in and safely watch the big game.' Some restaurants and businesses have said that they will continue with a mask mandate on their own premises as entities can still institute their own rules. 'I'm not a doctor and (not) a disease specialist, so I don't know all these things, but I can say that the strength of the restaurant and bar business depends on us coming out of this the right way,' Jeff Bruning, co-owner of Full Court Press told the Register. Shannon Breyfogle of Quarter Barrel Arcade & Brewery told KCRG, 'I thought it was kind of premature, but we are going to continue wearing our masks and trying to ask customers to as well.' Iowa has had more than 324,000 coronavirus cases and 5,108 deaths. Nationwide, there have been 26.8 million Americans infected and 461,262 fatalities. If more vaccines in more arms will end this pandemic, Alabama still has mountains to climb. Vaccine rollout in the state started slow and sputtered since, with low distribution rates, confusing messaging and overwhelmed hotlines. And now Alabama faces a new chokepoint, as the state brings online eight new mass vaccination sites, none of which will have enough supply to run full-speed for long. On Monday, Alabama makes about 1 million more people eligible to receive the vaccine. Thats people over 65 and teachers and others in 1b, the second wave of the rollout. Yet the state is only getting about 60,000-70,000 first doses per week. At that rate, Alabama would be stuck in this second phase until June. Meanwhile, many vaccine seekers are stuck trying to navigate the chutes and ladders of changing eligibility requirements, clinics that arent taking new appointments, and/or not knowing who to contact to get an appointment in the first place. State vaccine registries show hundreds of thousands of doses delivered to Alabama that havent been given yet, and new faster-spreading variants of the virus have already been detected in and around Alabama. Those variants are now the dominant strains in the United Kingdom and experts are worried the more transmissible strain will soon take over here. Thats creating a call to vaccinate faster and faster to stay ahead of the new variants. Right now, you know, we are in an arms race, no pun intended, said Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, head of the University of Alabama at Birminghams Division of Infectious Diseases. But weve got to get enough people vaccinated before these new variants really take hold. That I think is the goal. [Cant see the chart? Click here.] Getting faster Most health experts say herd immunity will require about 70 percent or more of the population to take the vaccine. In Alabama, as of late Thursday, 6.9 percent of the population has received at least one dose so far. But theres some optimism and the pace appears to be picking up, as Alabama managed to pull out of last place and pass Idaho, Missouri, Kansas and Iowa in terms of percentage of the population getting first jabs. Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris admitted this week that the states initial vaccine rollout had been slow, as the CDC at one point last month listed Alabama as dead last . But the state has started to open more sites and improve record-keeping. I think its improving, Harris said. Were still limited primarily by the amount of vaccine we have coming into the state, but weve gotten much more efficient in trying to reallocate vaccine thats not moving quickly. Supply increasing Vaccine shipments to Alabama increased last week, enough for the Alabama Department of Public Health to launch those eight drive-through clinics across the state beginning next week that are each expected to give up to 1,000 shots per day. Those clinics in Birmingham, Anniston, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, Huntsville, Dothan, Mobile and Selma are expected to open this week, if they havent already. Most require appointments in advance, a change from previous announcements that the clinics would be first-come, first-served. Still those new clinics are expected to distribute about 40,000 total doses per week. Weve developed some expertise in doing larger-scale clinics that allow us to dispense vaccine much more quickly, Harris said. Many of the vaccine doses for those sites are coming from new shipments from the federal government and wont have to be pulled from the amounts already going to the 883 hospitals, pharmacies, clinics and health departments in Alabama that are already fighting for limited vaccine doses. Many of the providers that signed up to distribute the vaccine havent actually received any doses yet, due to the low number the state gets from the feds every week. Harris, a grandfather from Talladega whose father was the local pharmacist and uncle was a small-town doctor, is as eager as anyone to accelerate the pace of vaccine rollout. He was reportedly issued a bullet-proof vest and law enforcement protection detail after receiving death threats in the wake of Alabamas mask mandate. He compared Alabamas current situation with COVID vaccines to testing in the early months of the pandemic, when few tests were available and confusion reigned about where and how to get tested. Its ironic in a way, Harris said. This is exactly like it was eight or nine months ago, when we were trying to ramp up our testing program. There was never enough testing available, and people were upset and angry about it. They always thought some other county got more testing than their county got, and, you know, were dealing with exactly the same dynamics now. But I think were, overall, doing fairly well right now. Doses with a name on them Alabamians struggling to make appointments might not share Harriss optimism after spending hours getting busy signals from the state hotline or a web portal that shows no appointments at all available in their county. The rage may grow when they check the state vaccine dashboard that shows hundreds of thousands of doses delivered to Alabama that have not been given yet. As of Friday, Alabama reported administering less than half of the doses its received. The Health Departments social media channels have been inundated with complaints. When will people with chronic health conditions be able to get the vaccine? Facebook user Teani Parker said Friday. I am 57 and have heart failure, i think we should have already gotten ours. Im in Florence, Facebook user Sandra Bowles said. The nearest one (Huntsville) was already filled from the waiting list. I have gotten on waiting lists all over north Alabama but have not been contacted for an appointment. It's an obstacle course! It's unnecessarily opaque, confusing, and scattershot. Meadowbrookwoman (@alcacountry) February 3, 2021 Harris said, as he has before, that most of those doses that have not been given have someones name on them. Theyve been distributed to a clinic or hospital and that facility has already scheduled an appointment for someone to receive the vaccine. He also said that Alabama has roughly 1.5 million people who will be eligible to receive the vaccine on Feb. 8, and the state has received 923,750 doses, enough to fully vaccinate 461,875 people. In the early stages of the vaccine rollout, many providers, from small pharmacies to UAB Hospital, were not scheduling appointments until they physically received the vials. That slowed down everything. State allocations were made week-to-week, and no one could be assured they would actually get the number of doses they were expecting if they did schedule more appointments. But one of the first moves by the Biden Administration was to begin guaranteeing shipments three weeks ahead of schedule. Second dose guaranteed Both COVID vaccines available in the United States right now require two doses to be fully effective, and so far the state and federal authorities say everyone who receives the first dose should receive the second as well. Many have assumed that means the clinics are holding half of their doses in reserve for second shots instead of offering their full supply immediately. But, Harris says that isnt the case. He said clinics that receive first doses of the vaccine are signed up to receive the second dose about a week before the time to give it. Thats 21 days after the first dose for the Pfizer vaccine and 28 days for Moderna. [Cant see the chart? Click here.] Walmart to the rescue Another reason for Harriss optimism is that the cavalry is coming, and the cavalry in this case is Walmart. Last month, Harris announced the state was working with Walmart to distribute vaccine, especially in rural parts of Alabama. Originally those doses were thought to come from the states allocation, meaning every dose at Walmart wouldnt be going to a hospital or clinic. But now, the long-dormant federal pharmacy program has come to life, and Harris said the Walmart operation will get doses from federal stockpiles and not the states allocation. And while not all 131 Walmart stores in Alabama will offer the vaccine, the ones that do will provide easier access to the vaccine for people who live far away from large hospitals or medical centers. The federal government has announced that the federal retail pharmacy plan that they had talked about for months, suddenly was going to come alive much sooner than we thought, Harris said. And in fact, its going to be active by at least next week, perhaps even by the end of this week. That is expected to equal about 15,000 more total doses coming to Alabama and more places where people can get the vaccine. Harris said the federal program recommended Walmart as a distribution partner after mapping holes in the states health care system, and that the state agreed with that recommendation. Thats a win-win for everyone, he said. Its doses we wouldnt otherwise have. Update on Alabama COVID-19 vaccine rollout Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris gives an update on the COVID-19 pandemic and the latest on the vaccine rollout. Posted by al.com on Friday, February 5, 2021 Rescuing unused doses Harris said the state is also negotiating with the big-chain pharmacies that administered the vaccine to Alabamas nursing homes. The long-term care pharmacy program was given an allocation that was, basically two shots for every nursing home resident and for every nursing home staff member in the state, Harris said. And theres just not 100% uptake, you know, not even among residents, but certainly not among staff. Uptake in this case, means staff or residents at long-term facilities who were offered the vaccine and did not take it. Thats particularly been a problem among staff members. The CDC found last week that while 78 percent of long-term care residents had received at least one dose of the vaccine, only around 38 percent of staff members at those facilities had been vaccinated. According to Alabamas state vaccine dashboard, that program received 83,850 doses and has administered 47,955. Its possible some of those are second doses that havent been given yet, or that some doses given havent been logged in the states computer system yet, but Harris is hopeful some of those 35,895 unadministered doses will be going back into the states pool of available vaccine. There are certainly some doses that are allocated to that program that were not allowed to touch, that arent being given yet, because of uptake issues, Harris said. Were working out a way to make sure we get that back into the pool that we can distribute elsewhere. When does it end? Herd immunity might be a lofty goal, especially for Alabama. Many health experts are aiming for the 70 percent threshold, but some have suggested that as much as 85 percent of the population may need to gain immunity, either from a vaccine or from natural antibodies after theyve had the disease in order to truly stop the spread. Marrazzo said that the 70 percent threshold could take two years or more under current vaccination pace. If thats going to be the level that were going to need to get to in Alabama, you can see how long its going to take, its going to be at least a couple of years, which is not something that people really want to hear, she said. So thats why we have to really ramp up the rate. Harris remains hopeful that Alabama might reach or approach that 70 percent threshold sooner, if the state starts receiving more vaccine supplies on a weekly basis. The easiest way to do that, he said, would be for additional vaccines to be approved for emergency use and get another company manufacturing doses that could be sent to the state. Johnson & Johnson applied for FDA emergency use authorization of its one-dose COVID vaccine on Thursday. The FDA is set to evaluate that clinical trial data for that vaccine leading up to a meeting of the FDAs vaccine advisory committee on February 26. Authorization could come shortly after that, releasing a third vaccine option into the market by March. Another COVID vaccine, this one developed by Novavax, is progressing through the approval process and could be available by June. So far, the vaccines seem to be effective against the new, emerging strains of the COVID virus, although there is less data on well they work against the new mutations. But, if the vaccines continue to work against the new strains, each person who gets the vaccine now is giving less fuel to the COVID fire thats been burning through Alabama for nearly 11 months. In places like UAB Hospital, where significant percentages of employees have already received the vaccine, Marrazzo said case numbers are already falling. Our number of cases in employees has plummeted like a stone, she said. We have really seen very few, thank goodness, in the last couple of weeks, and weve pretty much immunized as many employees as want the vaccine and can get it. So I think it is speculation to say that we might already be seeing an effect, but I and others are really hopeful that thats what were seeing. [Cant see the chart? Click here.] Will it be soon enough? Case numbers in Alabama have dipped from post-holiday spikes, but now new variants that may spread more easily could make the situation more precarious. And Alabama continues to report dozens of deaths every day from COVID-19, more than 8,400 since the beginning of the pandemic. Harris said that while the vaccine is another tool to limit the spread, its imperative that Alabamians adhere to the same old techniques of masking and social distancing until the pandemic is brought under control. We need to reduce transmission as quickly as possible, Harris said. Ill say that all the emphasis on the speed of the vaccine rollout is correct, and we need to continue emphasizing that, but the way to interrupt disease transmission has not changed. I mean, weve known for a year now that staying home -- or wearing masks and distancing when you go out -- is the way you interrupt disease transmission. We still have all those tools, and the vaccine, you know, is another tool. Reaching rural Alabama Reaching the far-flung corners of Alabama will continue to be a challenge, particularly places where there is not a hospital or even county health department. Were relying on our states healthcare infrastructure -- not just public health infrastructure, but states healthcare infrastructure -- to deliver the vaccine, and its strained as well, Harris said. We have counties without hospitals, we have some counties that have one or two physicians at most, we have a county without a county health department. Its difficult to get vaccine to people when you dont have providers there to give it. Marrazzo at UAB said that states like Alaska have been able to succeed at least in part because they have better public health infrastructure to start with. Alaska has a very strong public health history, Marrazzo said. Because theyve had some pretty amazing infectious disease outbreaks, they have a very good public health service. Harris said the state is trying to distribute the vaccine as quickly as possible while also reaching the people who are most at risk, which includes a lot of people far outside Alabamas largest cities. Its both, Harris said. I mean, we need to get our vaccines in arms as quickly as possible, but it needs to be to the groups were trying to reach. The whole idea is to protect people who are at risk. And I think we could certainly just run, you know, half a dozen enormous drive-through clinics in the state and not have vaccine anywhere else. And we would have much higher numbers. But that wouldnt really be reaching, in a lot of cases, the groups were trying to reach. Right now, Alabama still cant find enough vaccine for all the people that want to take it. Eventually, that wont be the case. That is going to completely flip by the summer, Harris said. And supply wont be the problem. Then itll just be trying to make sure people take it. Year 3 bullies led kindergarten children to a toilet block and ordered them to mimic sexual acts in a horrific incident on school grounds. The young children took the kindergarteners from their classroom during lesson time a NSW primary school in June 2019. The shocking incident follows other reported incidents of bullying and inappropriate playground behaviour at the same NSW school. Horrified parents to withdrew their children from the school's kindergarten when they found out, but what happened was never made public. Kindergarten kids were led to the toilets by third-graders, told to mimic sex acts (stock image) The principal took leave two months later and is now at another school, and the Year 3 children were also moved to different school. The school, which cannot be named, hosts many children from an underprivileged 'high-needs' demographic. It was accused of lax supervision after young students were seen wandering around when they should have been in class. The school's regional director wrote to parents last August asking them not to refer to the incident as sexual assault, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. An extra teacher was put on playground duty especially to monitor the toilets, but furious parents said it wasn't enough 'While I acknowledge the incident was serious and the behaviour was potentially harmful, I ask that everyone remembers such language is stigmatising to the children involved, and may unintentionally traumatise people who have been sexually abused and receive communications of that kind,' he wrote. He also said it wasn't a crisis. The school's principal told the parents of the children involved of what had happened. The rest of the school community found out about the 'incident' in a general letter a few days later without specific detail other than that police were notified and the students involved were counselled. A week later, the principal said staff were not allowed to let students out of class unless they had a hall or toilet pass. They also had to keep their classroom doors closed and had to avoid sending children 'on messages' in class time. An extra teacher was tasked to playground duty to monitor the toilets, while students were given an anti-bullying pamphlet from Bravehearts. Angry parents have said this was not enough and blamed the school for mismanagement. The regional director said the Department of Communities and Justice and the Department of Education are investigating. Tips to stop bullying Teach your child to be an 'upstander' not a 'bystander'. A bystander watches bullying but says nothing. An upstander offers support to the person being bullied. Say something kind to the person who was bullied eg: 'Do you want me to come with you to the office to tell a teacher about this?' 'I know you must feel pretty bad but they're the one with the problem.' 'Just ignore what they said. They're doing it to feel better about themselves.' Do something to help the person being bullied: * Take them away from the person doing the bullying. * Encourage them to ask for help, for example go with them to get help. * Include them in your group and introduce them to your friends. * Suggest safe places for them to go. * Show them how to set their privacy settings on social networking sites and mobile devices. Teach your child to avoid joining in with bullies Don't make the problem worse: * Don't join in harassing or hurting someone. * Don't reinforce the bullying by encouraging, cheering or laughing, even if it's from a distance or when you hear about it later. * Don't re-send or respond to messages or photos that may be upsetting someone. * Don't harass, tease or spread gossip on social media. Source: NSW Department of Education website Advertisement An Education Department spokesman told the Sydney Morning Herald that schools took incidents of harmful sexualised behaviours seriously and managed them promptly. 'The need to notify the broader community about a child's harmful sexual behaviour will depend on what has occurred,' the spokesman said. 'We must balance the privacy rights of all of the children involved and avoid stigmatising children.' School staff were given extra training and the children involved were given ongoing counselling. Parents of children who engage in harmful behaviours are given strategies to manage ongoing risk and to support their child. Ethiopia Advocacy Network and Ethio- American Citizen's House of Federation launched today a media campaign titled 'Unity for Ethiopia' aimed at countering the intensified disinformation of TPLF activities about the current situation of the country. Seyoum Assefa, the campaign's committee member, told local media that the disinformation campaign should be countered before it instigates violence. Seyoum explained that TPLF sympathizers are using manipulated contents to give a false representation of the situation in Tigray State. Noting that the Diaspora's Twitter campaign is intended to counter this misrepresentation of facts, Seyoum indicated that every Ethiopian has the responsibility to take part in the media campaign. The organizers of the movement called on Ethiopians around the world to participate on the twitter campaign. Ethiopians need to meaningfully partake in the campaign regardless of ideological differences. As to him, the campaign is an action plan set out in response to the call made by Premier Abiy (PhD) to Diaspora's active involvement in countering the misinformation and disinformation attempts of TPLF associates. The campaign would help lessen the problems being observed in the country due to the propaganda, he noted. The Ethiopian herald February 7/2021 ORANGE, Ohio Disturbance, resisting an officer, simple assault on a police officer, warrant served, having weapon under disability: Orange Place Police responded to the Extended Stay South on the evening of Jan. 30, where the manager reported that a smoke alarm had gone off in a guests room. The guest then threatened to hurt the manager. The manager returned with police to evict the guest. When the guest attempted to shut the door on them, officers gave him several blasts of pepper spray through the opening. A struggle ensued inside the room, with the Cleveland man, 30, attempting to choke one of the officers, then grab him in the groin area to cause further harm. A Taser was applied in order to get handcuffs on the man, then wash the pepper spray off his face. He was first taken to Ahuja Medical Center for medical clearance, then turned over to Cuyahoga County sheriffs deputies on an outstanding felony warrant. He faces additional charges from a Canik 9mm crack pistol and a 12-round magazine being found in the room. Domestic violence: Orange Place A Laconia, Ind., man, 33, was arrested after Orange police made two trips to the Drury Inn & Suites starting around 2:30 a.m. Jan. 30, when a woman called Warrensville Heights dispatch and reported that the man had abducted her daughter and young grandchildren, then called the grandmother threatening to harm them. The daughter met with police and explained that she had gone with the man willingly, that they were engaged and that she is pregnant with his child. Orange officers returned to the hotel after the grandmother called back and said the suspect had just contacted her again, saying he was going to kill them all because she had called police. The daughter still did not want to prosecute, but police filed a domestic-violence charge after noticing bruises on her. She said the suspect had told her to explain that those resulted from her children throwing their toys at her, which she did admit was not the case and that he had caused them. Theft from auto: East Meadow Lane A resident reported late morning on Jan. 30 that she had gone out to pull her Porsche Cayenne into the driveway around 3 a.m. and thought nothing at the time of the drivers side door being ajar. When she asked her boyfriend about it later, they went out to investigate and found that her Notary stamp was missing, along with his duffel bags containing a wallet, money, jewelry, iPhone, car titles and folders full of important documents. A neighbor with a Ring camera had footage in the same time frame of someone trying unsuccessfully to get into their locked car before leaving westbound in a white sedan. Left of center, drunk driving, improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, auto towed: Brainard, Emery roads At 3:15 a.m. Jan. 27, a Mercury Grand Marquis crossed the center line numerous times, continually braked without cause, made a right turn onto westbound Emery, stopped in the intersection, then continued in the wrong lane. An officer stopped the car. Police said the driver -- a Cleveland Heights man, 44 -- showed signs of impairment. He said he had consumed only two hard lemonades and refused to submit to a Breathalyzer test. He alerted police to a Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun, a magazine with 11 rounds and a 35-round box of Blazer Brass ammo in the glove box, for which he was also charged. Identity theft: East Orange Hill Circle A doctor, 55, with Faith Medical Associates reported Jan. 28 that he had received mail saying that someone had used his identity to file for unemployment benefits with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Another physician he works with received the same email and filed a report with Richmond Heights police. Both are believed to have filed online complaints with the state as well. Driving in a weaving course, driving under suspension, drunk driving, open container: Harvard Road A patrol officer noticed a Chevrolet Malibu traveling at a high rate of speed while weaving back and forth in the westbound lanes around 2:30 a.m. Jan. 31. The driver -- a Cleveland man, 29, who already had his license suspended on a drunk-driving charge -- showed more signs of impairment, telling police he had been drinking Patron. Officers found a bottle in the passenger seat that was three-quarters gone. The man had prior impaired-driving convictions in 2009, 2015 and 2019. That, along with a Breathalyzer refusal this time, may elevate the current charge to a felony. A relative came to pick up the car, as well as about $140 found on the driver at the time. Recovered vehicle: Orange Place A patrol officer ran the license plate on an unoccupied 2019 Chevrolet Trax parked at 1:20 p.m. Jan. 26 outside the Beachwood Inn (formerly Super 8 motel) and found that it was listed as stolen out of Cleveland. Police there confirmed the status and requested that it be impounded. Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday stood by her backing for a German-Russian gas pipeline project despite the Navalny case and the threat of U.S. sanctions As The Independent writes, Merkel said her governments position on Nord Stream 2 is still unaffected by tensions over Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who recovered in Germany from his alleged poisoning last summer. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would bring Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, also faces bipartisan opposition in the United States. Washington has said that the project would make Europe more dependent on Russian gas and hurt European energy security. The Kremlin has responded by accusing the U.S. government of trying to promote sales of its own liquefied natural gas. Nord Stream 2 is owned by Russian state company Gazprom, with investment from several European companies. The project is close to completion, though the threat of U.S. sanctions has caused delays. Merkel insisted that the European Union is able to ensure that it wont become unilaterally dependent on Russia but pointed to a long history of gas deliveries from Russia and the former Soviet Union. Merkel has said she wants to talk to the new U.S. administration about the issue but objects to extraterritorial sanctions. Speaking after a videoconference with French President Emmanuel Macron, Merkel downplayed differences on the issue between the two European heavyweights. It's clear that this is a controversial project that is being discussed in Europe," she said Friday. But I think that, with the framework I have named, we can reach common solutions. Macron indicated that he at least won't oppose the pipeline project. "I had questions at the beginning, we coordinated, a decision has been made and I am in full solidarity, he said. HYDERABAD: TRS chief and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has set an enrollment target of 50,000 members in each Assembly constituency for party leaders in the upcoming party membership drive that is slated to begin on February 12. He asked party leaders and cadre to strive to surpass the previous record of 60 lakh overall membership across the state. He was addressing the party's state executive committee meeting at Telangana Bhavan here on Sunday. The 150-minute meeting elaborated on various issues pertaining to party membership, constitution of party committees from village to State-level, election of party president and the plenary scheduled for April 27. He asked party leaders to make arrangements for the constitution of party committees at all levels, followed by election of the party president. The partys annual plenary on April 27 will be followed by a massive public meeting, he said. Rao discussed the upcoming elections to two MLC graduates constituencies, Nagarjunagar by-poll and also municipal elections in six Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). He expressed confidence that TRS would win all of them with a landslide. Data collected on the first rollout of the Covid vaccine justifies the Government's decision to delay the second dose, according to an expert. Professor Anthony Harnden, of the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation, says those already given the jab are experiencing high levels of protection from their first dose. And the data, set to be published next week by Public Health England, shows infection rates in those over the age of 80 have fallen in the past month. It comes as the number of people given the jab rises above 11million. Professor Harnden said in the Sunday Times: 'The Covid-19 vaccine rollout in the UK is nothing short of a triumph. 'The Government's strategy to extend the interval between the two doses means we have been able to protect more people and undoubtedly save more lives.' Professor Anthony Harnden described the UK's rollout as 'nothing short of a triumph' Last week Boris Johnson praised the NHS for its 'colossal' effort to vaccinate 10million Brits against Covid. Saluting 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 on track to hitting its goal of giving the first vaccine dose to the 14million most vulnerable Brits by February 15. And with cases and deaths easing and the rollout of jabs surging ahead of schedule, Boris Johnson is said to have ordered a ramping up of preparations for children to get back in classrooms from March 8. Question Everything! Purpose and Intent of this website: 'The EU is an unreliable partner' Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov: Bashing Russia When One Needs It Doesn't Work Well By Moon Of Alabama February 07, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - Russia had recently said that it would take a more assertive stand against the sanctions and Navalny nonsense the 'west' is throwing at it. Today the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell visited Moscow. He had a talk with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. It was showtime: Borrell said he had conveyed the EUs unhappiness about the jailing of Navalny. I have conveyed to Minister Lavrov our deep concern and reiterated our appeal for his release and the launch of an impartial investigation of his poisoning, he said. But his remarks were overshadowed by Lavrovs forceful rebuke, in which he repeated his doubts about the Wests conclusion that Navalny was poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent a conclusion that German Chancellor Angela Merkel personally announced in Berlin, where Navalny was treated. Laboratories in France and Sweden, as well as the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, confirmed the German findings. Overall, it was a disastrous performance by Borrell, who acknowledged that the EU had not taken any step toward imposing new sanctions on Russia over the Navalny case. Borrell, a former foreign minister of Spain, then stood by silently and semi-smiling as Lavrov took the last word to slam the EU as unreliable and to say he hoped EU heads of state and government use a planned discussion about Russia at their March European Council summit to adopt a new path. We are getting used to the fact that the European Union are trying to impose unilateral restrictions, illegitimate restrictions and we proceed from the assumption at this stage that the European Union is an unreliable partner, Lavrov said. I hope that the strategic review that will take place soon will focus on the key interests of the European Union and that these talks will help to make our contacts more constructive. Adding an exclamation point to Borrells troubled visit, Russia expelled three EU diplomats from Germany, Poland and Sweden for attending demonstrations in support of Navalny, an EU diplomat said. The Politico writer above has missed the point of today's visit. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Newsletter Borrell could say little to defend his position as it is Europe that needs Russia. The EU, under the ever incompetent leadership of Ursula von der Leyen, has screwed up the common purchase of vaccines against Covid-19. Van der Leyen has bought too little too late. Called out for that she reacted with panic and nearly started a trade war over the issue: The EU's bulk purchase of vaccines had been agreed by member states in June last year, but press coverage in Germany had been turning hostile since late December. The knives were out for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The commission went into fight mode, wading into a highly public row with AstraZeneca, which lasted throughout last week. However, by Friday the vaccine issue took an explosive turn, when the commission triggered Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol. In the space of a few hours, the commission was on a collision course with the Irish Government. Unionists, who had already called for Article 16 to be invoked, were outraged. Brexiteers gloated that the true nature of the EU had been laid bare, and even die hard supporters of the European project were left scratching their heads. Since Friday, the commission has been trying to explain what happened. However, it appears a sizeable amount of goodwill has been burned at a time when Ms von der Leyen has been desperate to steer the EUs vaccine policy on to an even keel. And within the commission a blame game is under way. Von der Leyen has personally screwed up the vaccine purchase. She needs to get hundreds of millions of vaccine doses and she needs them fast. Otherwise she has little chance to stay in her job. Russia has developed an excellent vaccine: From 21 days after the first dose of vaccine (the day of dose 2), 16 (01%) of 14 964 participants in the vaccine group and 62 (13%) of 4902 in the placebo group were confirmed to have COVID-19; vaccine efficacy was 916% (95% CI 856952). Russia's Sputnik V vaccine is still not approved for use within the EU but that will soon happen. It could be produced relatively fast if Russia would give licenses to EU companies. Van der Leyen sent Borrell to Moscow to ask for that and to thereby save her ass. Lavrov of course took the chance to give the EU a well deserved dressing-down. Borrell could say little to counter him. He later released a rather lame statement that condemned the expulsion of the diplomats but announced no counter move. The U.S. should expect a likewise assertive treatment from Russia. Yesterday President Joe Biden gave an aggressive (and stupid) pep talk at the State Department in which he also bashed Russia: I made it clear to President Putin, in a manner very different from my predecessor, that the days of the United States rolling over in the face of Russias aggressive actions interfering with our elections, cyberattacks, poisoning its citizens are over. We will not hesitate to raise the cost on Russia and defend our vital interests and our people. And we will be more effective in dealing with Russia when we work in coalition and coordination with other like-minded partners. Trump did not 'roll over' with regards to Russia but constantly took very aggressive actions against it. Russia did not interfere in U.S. elections, it did not launch cyber attacks and it did not poison its citizens. Making such false claims will not help to gain Russia's help when it is needed. It will be impossible for Biden to solve issues in Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, Syria and elsewhere without Russia's cooperation. It will take more than saying 'pretty please' to get that. Biden added this nonsense: The politically motivated jailing of Alexei Navalny and the Russian efforts to suppress freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are a matter of deep concern to us and the international community. Mr. Navalny, like all Russian citizens, is entitled to his rights under the Russian constitution. Hes been targeted targeted for exposing corruption. He should be released immediately and without condition. Navalny is in jail because he has constantly violated, since April 2020, the conditions of his probation. The case goes back to a lawsuit a private company, the exclusive distributor for Yves Rocher in Russia, had brought against him ten years ago. Back than Navalny and his brother ran a transport business that bilked the company out of several hundred thousand dollar. In another case Navalny defrauded a state owned timber company he worked for by channeling it's purchases through a company he owned. Several regular courts have found him and his brother guilty. The dude is a fraudster who should serve his time. As for 'Russia's' handling of 'peaceful protests' take a look here. Russia's Foreign Ministry first reaction to Biden's talk shows that it knows what the 'west' is really attempting. Russia in RSA @EmbassyofRussia 9:42 UTC Feb 5, 2021 #Zakharova: We took note of the Western comments on social & political situation in Russia. It's an attempt to contain our country, interfere in its domestic affairs. Russia isn't the only one who West has its sight on: it is concerned about everyone who can compete with it. Russia will take care that these plans will end in failure. Biden should stop bashing Russia and President Putin. He can only lose by competing with him. Biden's approval rating is only at 61%. Putin latest approval rating is 64%. Time to declare a winner? - " Source " - Post your comment below Registration is necessary to post comments. We ask only that you do not use obscene or offensive language. Please be respectful of others. See also Russia: Remarks by High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell at the joint press conference with Foreign Minister Lavrov https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en/92661/Russia:%20Remarks%20by%20High%20Representative/Vice-President%20Josep%20Borrell%20at%20the%20joint%20press%20conference%20with%20Foreign%20Minister%20Lavrov Washington: With China reporting just 25 new cases of coronavirus cases on the mainland, experts have accused Beijing of continuing to lie and being opaque about information pertaining to the virus. Fox News cited views by a University of Southern California professor who specializes in Chinese politics to understand whether the communist government, which has been widely accused of downplaying the virus when it first came out of Wuhan in late 2019, and of trying to hide its origin and suppress its numbers, could still be lying about the actual number of cases. Professor Stanley Rosen told Fox News in an email that "any inaccuracies would likely be coming from local officials who report to the central government." "I would think that even if the statistics are not completely accurate, they do suggest that China is doing a reasonably good job of controlling further outbreaks," said Rosen. The China specialist added that Beijing government does not include asymptomatic cases as confirmed cases, but even those numbers have been very low. "China is very opaque when it comes to transparency, so it's always hard to know how accurate their reported statistical data is, and there seems to be little question that when Covid first broke out in Wuhan, and for a considerable time afterwards, the number of deaths from Covid was seriously underreported," he said. Dr Stephen E. Hawes, the chair of the University of Washington's epidemiology department expressed that China was "rightfully criticized for withholding information globally" early on in the pandemic "and also for suppressing information and being slow to respond to the outbreak within China." "Throughout most of the pandemic, reported numbers from China have included only confirmed cases, as opposed to a more broad case definition including clinically diagnosed (but not laboratory-confirmed) cases; this also would lead to an undercounting and underreporting of cases," he added in an email to Fox News. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week reiterated his predecessor Mike Pompeo's call to hold China accountable for the spread of COVID-19 across the world saying, Beijing has to step up and make sure it is being transparent about the deadly virus. In an interview with Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC 'Andrea Mitchell Reports', Blinken said that the Chinese government's 'failure' in sharing and providing pertinent information regarding the deadly virus is something "we must address". "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," he said in the interview according to an official transcript provided by the US Department of State. "China has to step up and make sure that it is being transparent, that it is providing information and sharing information... Its failure to do that is a real problem that we have to address," he added. Then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, previously, said that the pandemic was avoidable adding that Beijing did not reveal vital information about the virus, which would have helped scientists to save the world from the disease. China has been criticised widely across the world for its alleged role in the spread of the novel coronavirus that has infected over 100 million people across the world. More than two million people have lost their lives to the virus. While some accuse it of being complicit, others deem it culpable in the spread. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 00:38:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Saturday welcomed the announcement of U.S. intention to revoke the designation of the Houthi movement in Yemen as a terrorist organization. The revocation will provide profound relief to millions of Yemenis who rely on humanitarian assistance and commercial imports to meet their basic survival needs. It will help ensure that much-needed essential goods reach them without significant delays, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a note to correspondents. At a time when Yemen is at significant risk of famine, maintaining commercial imports and humanitarian assistance in adequate quantities is essential, said the note. "We hope this positive development will contribute to UN efforts to resume a Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned political process to reach an inclusive, negotiated settlement to the conflict." The designation came at the very last days of the previous U.S. administration led by Donald Trump. The new administration said Friday that it would revoke the designation. The move came one day after President Joe Biden announced an end to U.S. support for offensive operations in Yemen and his decision to step up diplomacy and support UN-led initiative to end the war. Yemen has been mired in civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemen conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi's government. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed the country to the brink of famine. Enditem Actress Gehana Vasisth Placed Under Arrest After Being Accused Of Shooting & Uploading Pornographic Content Online Actress Gehana Vasisth has been arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Staurday over allegations of shooting and uploading adult content online. Popularly known for her web series Gandii Baat, Gehana will be produced before the court on Monday. Acoording to report the Police conducted a raid on Madh Island based apartment on Friday where five people were placed under arrest for shooting adult films on mobile phones and uploading them on apps and websites. Among those arrested were two male actors, a female photographer, a light technicians and a graphic designer. They all accused of shooting these films with struggling models and actors before Gehanas arrest. Reporting the actresss arrest ANi tweeted, "Actress Gehana Vasisth has been arrested by Property Cell of the Crime Branch for her alleged role in shooting and uploading porn videos on a website. She will be produced before a court in Mumbai today: Mumbai Police." Actress Gehana Vasisth has been arrested by Property Cell of the Crime Branch for her alleged role in shooting and uploading porn videos on a website. She will be produced before a court in Mumbai today: Mumbai Police ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2021 The case in question came to light after an FIR was filed with the Mumbai police about struggling actors being duped into exposing for adult films while they are lured in by commitments of getting work in a web series. The police is still on the lookout for a few more models and production houses linked to the case. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form A seventy-five-year-old woman died after being engulfed in a horrific fireball after gardai fear a large container of flammable liquid exploded in a friend's car. The revelation came as a 62-year-old man, who was rescued from a nearby river, was being questioned by detectives in a Cork garda station on suspicion of the unlawful killing of grandmother and mother-of-three Mary O'Keeffe. Central to the garda investigation is how the car fire started - and Mrs O'Keeffe's cause of death. One garda source said the SUV owner has insisted the tragic fire was accidental and may have been triggered by a cigarette. Detectives also want to determine how Mrs O'Keeffe, a widow, ended up sitting in her friend's Dacia Duster at the isolated north Cork woodland with her own vehicle, a Ford EcoSport, parked a short distance away. The man, from south Limerick, was arrested minutes after he was discharged from Cork University Hospital (CUH) last Friday where he had been treated for hypothermia for 24 hours, having been rescued from the River Awbeg outside Castletownroche. The man, who has worked in the forestry industry, was also found to have minor burns. His rescue followed a distraught phone call he had made to a family member a short time earlier. The man was located and dragged from the freezing waters by gardai. He was rescued just a few kilometres from the isolated Dromdeer woodland outside Doneraile where Mrs O'Keeffe's body was found on Thursday afternoon. He was detained at Fermoy garda station. A senior garda source said they were making "very significant progress" with their investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mrs O'Keeffe's death. However, he admitted it will be several days before the full results of forensic tests and the post-mortem examination will be available. "These test results will be absolutely crucial to our investigation going forward," he said. "This investigation is being allocated all the resources of a serious criminal operation." A post-mortem examination was conducted at CUH last Friday by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster, who had also visited the scene of the blaze. The examination was complicated by the intense heat generated by the fire. The heat was so great the Dacia was burned to a shell. Formal identification of Mrs O'Keeffe relied on dental records and DNA. Forensic experts removed the Dacia and the Ford for further tests. Detectives are also examining telecommunications data, including calls and texts exchanged between Mrs O'Keeffe and her friend, over the 72 hours before the tragedy. Gardai want to know why Mrs O'Keeffe was at the remote woodland which, neighbours told the Sunday Independent, was not her usual exercise spot with her dog. Detectives have appealed for anyone who was in the Dromdeer or Doneraile areas on Thursday and who spotted anything unusual to contact them. A trawl of CCTV security camera footage from business premises in Doneraile, Mallow, Dromahane and Castletownroche remains ongoing. A family member, speaking at Mrs O'Keeffe's home, was too distraught to comment. Tributes were paid to Mrs O'Keeffe from her shocked neighbours. The widow was hailed as an energetic, hardworking woman who adored her family and was a stalwart supporter of her Dromahane community. Councillor Frank O'Flynn said the entire north Cork community "was heartbroken and deeply shocked" by the tragedy. Dromahane resident Ann O'Shea said she couldn't believe the news of Mrs O'Keeffe's death. "I was only talking to her two days ago," she said. "She was such a lovely woman - she lived around the corner from me and I've known her and her family for 48 years. "She loved dancing and I know she used to travel locally to listen to music and to dance - travelling to the Hazel Tree (hall) and the like. "Years ago I used to also meet her playing cards up in Dromahane hall." Mrs O'Shea extended her sympathies to Mrs O'Keeffe's three sons - Christy, Donal and Ger - and the extended O'Keeffe family. She hailed the family as highly respected in north Cork. Ger is well known locally for his role in the popular north Cork band Big Generator. Christy worked in the motor trade. The pensioner was noted as a very hardworking person - regularly helping out with the cooking at a north Cork sheltered housing complex. Mrs O'Keeffe's next door neighbour, John Cavanagh, described her as "a lovely lady and a great neighbour". "I have known her for 40 years here in Dromahane," he said. "She was a wonderful woman and she raised a great family. "She was a very private person but always had a smile for you when you'd meet her. I'd often see her or meet her when she was out walking her dog." The pensioner was devoted to her dog, which was taken into the care of one of her sons on Thursday evening. Mr Cavanagh said Mrs O'Keeffe was very proud of her children. "They are a lovely family and I would like to offer them my sincerest sympathies at this tragic time," he said. Dromahane parish priest Fr Gerard Coleman said the entire community was saddened by the tragedy. "People are feeling very shocked," he said. "She was a quiet, hardworking woman who lived in the community for many years. "We are behind the family to support them with all our prayers and be there for them." Cindy Nemser, an art critic and historian who, half a century ago, began calling out sexism in the art world, decrying the way women artists were treated and how their work was evaluated, died on Jan. 26 at her home in Brooklyn. She was 83. Her daughter, Catherine Nemser, said the cause was pneumonia. Ms. Nemser was already writing for arts publications in 1969 when someone invited her to an early meeting of Women Artists in Revolution, a New York coalition that pushed back against the marginalization of women in the art world. At the time few women had gallery representation or were being shown in major museums. A visit with that group changed my life, Ms. Nemser recounted in an autobiographical essay. I became an avid feminist, determined to help erase stereotypes about women artists and raise their status. Toward that end, in 1972 she and Patricia Mainardi founded The Feminist Art Journal, which for the next five years published essays, interviews, historical research and more aimed at correcting the imbalance. The magazine was fearless about spotlighting chauvinism, often naming names, and about excavating its underlying presumptions, as Ms. Nemser did in an essay published in April 1972. As COVID-19 finally shows signs of relenting, it is interesting to see what shape it has left the worlds biggest cities in. Planners in several major metros did use the lockdowns and the general lowering of vehicular movement to push through more pedestrian pathways as well as green corridors. Cities such as Paris, Milan and Madrid have even proceeded on visionary plans like the 15-minute cities. While city administrators in India have been way too occupied with managing the pandemic, in this years Budget the finance minister did show the way forward to a newer, cleaner and better face of urbanisation with plans for eight new cities, support for public transport in existing ones, a vehicle scrappage policy that could clean up our air and provisions for safer drinking water for all. Yet, this is bare bone stuff and not the kind that will catapult Indian cities into the ranks of the worlds great metropolises. Over the centuries, the title of the world city has at various times been shared by the likes of Babylon, Rome, Constantinople, Vienna, London, Paris and for the last 70 years by New York. The question is will the Big Apple lose its pre-eminence as the capital city of the world in the coming decades? The pandemic revealed the city's many frailties as thousands of people died in the first few months of the virus. Lacking enough beds and ventilators to care for the seriously ill and protective kits to protect its healthcare workers, the city administration floundered when it mattered most. With its streets still wearing a desolate and deserted look even as swathes of small businesses are going bankrupt, experts fear the days when the city was the magnet for urbanites from across the world, may be drawing to a close. Even before the virus struck, New York was shrinking with its first population decline in any decade over the last 50 years, according to US Census Bureau estimates. Coupled with the rising power of China whose economy is slated to surpass that of the US by 2028, New York's allure as the socio-cultural capital of the world may be dimming. So where will the party shift next? Several cities are in the fray. Real estate and tourism adviser Resonances Best Cities 2020 ranking which looks at parameters such as culinary experiences, museums, sights and landmarks, the number of Global 500 corporations, direct flight connections and mentions each city has on Instagram, ranked London, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Moscow, Dubai, Singapore, Barcelona, Los Angeles and Rome as the top 10. It was the same ranking which earned a tweet from Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. It did improve its ranking from 81 last year to 62 this year. It bears mentioning though that the city was cited with the introduction 'Vans, scooters, rickshaws, street food sellers, beggars, cows and even monkeys come together in the Indian capital'. Not quite the factors that will attract the worlds best to flock to the city to stoke their creativity and imagination. While Delhi has centuries-old forts, tombs, shrines and mosques, it lacks the effervescence of even a Mumbai or a Kolkata and is too defined by its political and bureaucratic stiffness. What determines a citys ability to attract, nurture and retain the most creative and talented people in different fields of human endeavour is its cosmopolitanism, cultural, social and political vibrance, as well as opportunities for people to monetise their various talents. The worlds great cities have constantly provided the ursprung for something new and innovative whether in the arts, literature, culture, science or technology. Another critical factor is an inherent openness which makes the outsider no matter who, feel like an integral part of the city. It is this that rules out, at least for the moment, a place like Shanghai despite its growing geostrategic importance as well as economic muscle. The sad case of Hong Kong shows that authoritarian regimes arent too fond of places which encourage independent thinking. So, where does that leave us in our search for the next capital city of the world? Perhaps, New York will regain its mojo and extend its lien on that coveted status. Or maybe, we will get our act together and in this the Indian century, an Indian city will emerge as the next big thing. Good morning. My friend Gilbert was talking about baguettes the other day, about how the really good ones have this shatteringly crisp crust that can cut the roof of your mouth, and how soft and airy they are within, and how good they smell, and I was suddenly filled with longing and amazement: I havent had a good baguette in more than a year. I havent had a platter of char siu. I havent had a New Jersey bar pizza or a proper lobster roll or a fried grouper sandwich or a slab of hot foie gras. Ive cooked more than I ever have and eaten fantastically well. Ive made new recipes, hacked recipes, come up with no-recipe recipes. (Last night: coins of hot Italian sausage crisped in brown butter with artichoke hearts, then deglazed with a splash of chicken stock, tossed with cavatelli and showered with Parmesan. If you try that, brown the sausages whole before you coin them. It gives the slices structure.) Im not living in hardship. Ive got work. But its strange what I miss, what Im looking forward to, when all this is over. How about you? Tell me about it. Im at foodeditor@nytimes.com. Heres what to cook tonight, if youre not making my pasta or setting yourself up for the Super Bowl with a platter of game-day nachos (above), or crisp chicken schnitzel with a lemony herb salad. Read the notes below the recipe. Theyre invaluable. On Monday, get out of your breakfast rut with one of these super-fast breakfast ideas, have a leftover schnitzel sandwich at lunch, and give these vegetarian Swedish meatballs a try for dinner. Uttarakhand glacier blast: Rawat announces Rs 4 lakh for kin of deceased India oi-Deepika S Dehradun, Feb 07: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Sunday announced Rs 4 lakh compensation for those killed by floods in the state, after a Himalayan glacier broke and swept away a hydroelectric dam down the Dhauli Ganga river valley on Sunday. Rawat said seven bodies were recovered and at least 125 were missing. Homes along the way were also swept away as the waters rushed down the mountainsides in a raging torrent. There were fears of damage in human settlements downstream, including in heavily populated areas. Many villages were evacuated and people taken to safer areas. By evening, it became clear that downstream areas were safe. A 13.2 MW small hydro project on the Rishi Ganga was swept away in the glacier burst but there was no danger of floods in downstream areas as the water level had been contained, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, was informed at an emergency meeting in the national capital. The NCMC was also told that people trapped in project tunnel were rescued by the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) while efforts were on to rescue those trapped in another tunnel. Glacier Breaks: 10 dead bodies found, atleast 125 feared dead| Oneindia News Radical Sikh outfits, Pak-based Twitter handles fomenting trouble: Rawat on farmers' stir The operation was coordinated by the Army and the ITBP, an official spokesperson said. The flood also affected the downstream hydro project of NTPC at Tapovan on the river Dhauli Ganga, the spokesperson said. There is also no threat to neighbouring villages, according to information given by the Central Water Commission (CWC). Connectivity with some border posts was "totally restricted" due to a bridge collapsing near Reni village, close to the project site, an ITBP spokesperson said. The border guarding force has units based in Joshimath,a short distance away, and managed to reach the spot within an hour of the first alert at about 10.45 am. Several districts, including Pauri, Tehri, Rudraprayag, Haridwar and Dehradun, were put on high alert and forces of the ITBP and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed in to help with the rescue and relief effort. The personnel were seen rappelling down steep mountainsides to aid in the rescue work. Groups of people were seen sitting along the high altitude roads, waiting for news of their loved ones. As details of the disaster came in, President Ram Nath Kovind said he was deeply worried about the massive glacier burst at Joshimath, about 295 km from Dehradun. "Praying for wellbeing and safety of people. Am confident that rescue and relief operations on ground are progressing well," he tweeted. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was constantly monitoring the situation in the state. "India stands with Uttarakhand, prays for everyone''s safety," he said. Addressing a rally in West Bengal later in the day, he assured all help in fighting the calamity and said he was in constant touch with the Uttarakhand chief minister and Home Minister Amit Shah on the rescue and relief efforts being carried out. Shah also spoke to Rawat and assured him of all possible support to deal with the situation arising from the glacier burst and the resulting floods. In a series of tweets in Hindi, Shah said teams of the NDRF were deployed for rescue and relief operations of the affected people while additional troops of the force were being airlifted from Delhi. "I have spoken to Chief Minister @tsrawatbjp ji, DG ITBP and DG NDRF regarding the natural disaster in Uttarakhand. All the concerned officers are working on a war footing to secure the people. NDRF teams have left for rescue operations. Every possible help will be provided to ''Devbhoomi''," he said. Shah said the central government is constantly monitoring the situation in the state. "Some more teams of NDRF are being airlifted from Delhi and sent to Uttarakhand. We are constantly monitoring the situation there," he said. A Home Ministry spokesperson said four NDRF teams (about 200 personnel) were airlifted to Dehradun and would head to Joshimath. One column of the Engineering Task Force (ETF) of the Army, with all rescue equipment, has been deployed. The chief minister also appealed to people to not spread rumours through old flood videos. At the NCMC meeting, concerned agencies of the central and the state governments were asked to keep a strict vigil on the situation. A team from the DRDO, which monitors avalanches, was being flown in for surveillance and reconnaissance. Besides, NTPC managing director was asked to reach the affected site immediately. Two teams of the NDRF were sent and three additional teams flown in from Hindon airport in Ghaziabad. The troops are expected to reach the affected region tonight. Indian Navy divers are also being flown in and aircraft and helicopters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) are on standby, the spokesperson said. In some good news, the India Meteorological Department informed that there is no rainfall warning in the region for the next two days. News that about 150 labourers were affected had come in the early in the day. "Representatives of the power project have told me that they are not being able to contact around 150 of their workmen at the project site," said State Disaster Response Force DIG Ridhim Aggarwal. The waters in the Dhauli Ganga was flowing two to three metres above normal,the official added. Cities around the globe held marches, flew flags, and made other symbolic gestures in a show of support for pro-democracy demonstrators in Belarus. It came after Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya designated February 7 as the Day of Solidarity with Belarus. Since August's presidential election, which was widely seen as rigged, Belarusian protesters have faced violent crackdowns and mass arrests after demanding the resignation of strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka. VietNamNets Pham Cong visited Field Hospital No.1 in Chi Linh city of Hai Duong province, Vietnams Covid-19 hotspot, where 164 Covid-19 patients are treated. Some serious cases have been transmitted to the Hanoi-based Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases for treatment. Every morning, doctors visit every room to provide medical checks. Dr. Le Trong Tuan (Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Chi Linh City Medical Center), who directly treats 27 patients, said that these patients are workers at POYUN Company, the first Covid-19 outbreak in Hai Duong. They are young, without underlying disease, so they recover quiet well. Each day, the patients have to take medicines twice and measure temperature and blood pressure. "Patients have been here for 8 days and they have been treated carefully. Each room in the department has about 5 patients", said Dr. Tuan. Every morning, the patients go out to do morning exercise, enjoy fresh air but they have to keep a distance from each other. Patient T.V.T said that when he first got a positive test result, he had headache, fever and cough. After being put on isolation and treatment, he has so far been in stable condition. He can walk normally and wash clothes and exercise by himself. Patient N.T.H is very optimistic about her conditions. "We are fully provided with food and water. Every day we get medical check-ups. I hope that all patients will quickly recover to reunite with their family," H wished. In the isolation ward of the Department of Infectious Diseases, there are two special cases H.T.S, a pregnant woman and Mrs. N.T.M.H and her baby. browser not support iframe. On the campus of Field Hospital No. 1 in Chi Linh city. Covid-19 patients do exercise in the quarantine zone Each room has 5 patients Doctors guide their patients from afar Doctors come to each room to visit and encourage Covid-19 patients Orange syrup is supplied to patients with Covid-19 The patients are examined daily The medical team of the Department of Infectious Diseases is on duty 24/7 to monitor the patient's health Patient T.V.T, a pregnant woman A patient calls home to inform his health situation 27 patients of the Department of Infectious Diseases are healthy now, without symptoms of fever and cough Covid-19 patients are examed and monitored of lung damage Pham Cong Inside the quarantine zone with nearly 900 F1 cases in Chi Linh City VietNamNet's Pham Cong went to Chi Linh City, Hai Duong Province, the countrys largest Covid-19 hotspot to learn about the situation there. Egypts National Council for Women (NCW) will sign a cooperation protocol with the Savola Foods Company, a member of Saudis Savola Group that aims to launch an awareness campaign titled Al-Moaadla Al-Sah (The Right Equation) in various governorates to educate women about proper nutrition, a press release said on Sunday. The door-to-door campaign will focus on raising awareness among women about proper nutrition and how to choose products that are better for their health and the health of their families. It, according to the statement, will target Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Qalioubiya, Beheira, Gharbiya, Ismailiya, Dakahliya, Minya, Assiut, and Sohag. Head of the NCW Maya Morsy expressed her deep pride to cooperate with Savola to raise awareness among Egyptian women about the importance of healthy nutrition. Egyptian women are responsible for their families health and hence they are responsible for the health of society at large, Morsy said. Im always delighted to witness businesses dedication to fulfill their social responsibilities towards achieving sustainable development goals. The protocol came in line with the councils strategy to reinforce Egypts endeavours to empower Egyptian women, she noted. Moreover, Morsy explained that the protocol would comply with the presidential Womens Health Initiative, which is part of the 100 Million Healthy Lives campaign that has reached millions of women to create the right atmosphere to achieve the states economic, political, and health goals. From his side, Chief Strategy Officer at Savola Foods Company Mohamed Badran expressed Savola Foods pride for this aspiring cooperation with the NCW for its renown impact on Egyptian women empowerment. Through Al-Moaadla Al-Sah campaign, Badran said we will be able to educate women about proper nutrition and methods to identify safe food products, reinforcing Egyptian families health. Hydrogenated oils and trans-fat damage health, especially when daily intake exceeds 2% of total energy intake. This harmful substance increases the risk for stroke, thrombosis, coronary heart disease, paraplegics, and total paralysis. Also, it increases the risk of hypercholesterolemia, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and other fatal diseases, he explained. Since its launch in 2000, the NCW has always been committed to handling issues of women health through its health and population committee. The council also works on raising womens awareness through implementing door-to-door campaigns in all of Egypts governorates to communicate directly with large number of women at their homes. Short link: The Associated Press checks out some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. This one is bogus, even though it was shared widely on social media. Here are the facts: CLAIM: U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, falsely claimed she faced rioters in the main Capitol building during the Jan. 6 insurrection. THE FACTS: Ocasio-Cortez never claimed she was in the main Capitol building, nor did she claim she was face-to-face with a mob of violent rioters. In a Feb. 2 Instagram Live video where the congresswomen opened up about the Capitol attack and her past sexual assault, she explained that she was in her office in a neighboring building on the Capitol complex, where she experienced a frightening encounter with a Capitol Police officer who she said didnt announce himself. Days later, viral social media posts falsely accused her of lying about the details. Sooo is Twitter going to fact-check AOCs fake story about imaginary mobs in her hallway? read one Facebook post viewed more than 66,000 times on Thursday. Or do they only do that to conservatives Another Facebook post viewed more than 100,000 times read, AOC wasnt even in the Capitol Building during her near-death experience. One big lie. #AlexandriaOcasioSmollett. The hashtag #AlexandriaOcasioSmollett, which appeared in multiple social media posts this week and was trending nationwide on Twitter Wednesday night, appeared to liken the congresswoman to former Empire actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a racist, anti-gay attack against himself in 2019. But in her video explaining her experience of the insurrection, Ocasio-Cortez made a point to clarify that she was in her congressional office in a different building nearby. For you all to know, theres the Capitol Hill complex, she told her Instagram followers. But members of Congress, except for, you know, the speaker and other very, very high ranking ones, dont actually work in that building with the dome. Theres buildings like right next to the dome, and thats where our actual offices are. Other social media posts falsely attributed a quote to her to undermine her account of an interaction she had with a Capitol police officer on Jan. 6. A Facebook post with more than 50,000 views on Wednesday features a picture of the congresswoman overlaid with the quote: And then the Capitol police officer said This is MAGA country! But Ocasio-Cortez never made this claim. In the Instagram video, Ocasio-Cortez said she was in her office in a building near the Capitol building when she heard repeated bangs on the door, like someone was trying to get in. Her legislative director told her to hide, and she went into the bathroom. She then heard a male voice yelling, Where is she? She came out after her legislative director told her to, and a Capitol police officer was in the office. She said the officer told them to go to another building, but didnt say specifically where or escort them, leaving her feeling unsafe. She said the officer did not loudly announce himself and seemed angry, leaving her uneasy. It didnt feel right, because he was looking at me with a tremendous amount of anger and hostility, Ocasio-Cortez said in the video. She didnt quote the officer saying anything else. The next celebrity from Hollywood to stand with the protesting Indian farmers is Susan Sarandon. The celebrated actress took to her Twitter handle on Saturday and wrote to her 690k followers, "Standing in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India. Read about who they are and why theyre protesting below." Standing in solidarity with the #FarmersProtest in India. Read about who they are and why theyre protesting below. https://t.co/yWtEkqQynF Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) February 5, 2021 Even Actor Jameela Jamil extended support for the farmers' protest in an Instagram post. In the same post, she also shared that she has been bombarded with rape threats, abuses, and insults for supporting farmers. "I have *repeatedly* spoken about the farmers in India over the past few months and what is happening there at the moment, but each time I do I am met with death and rape threats. so while you are pressuring me in my DMS please keep in mind that I am a human being who has some limitations as to what I can handle," she wrote in a message on Instagram. As a response to high-profile celebrities tweeting about the farmer's protest that led to International Media covering it, The Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement saying it is unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them. Other celebrities who have also tweeted on the farmer's protest are Lily Singh, Jay Sean, and Amanda Cerny, and activist Greta Thunberg. By Ling Shengli The US and Iran have tested each other on whether to return to the Iran nuclear deal recently. In an interview with CNN, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif proposed that Iran and the US choreograph the actions required to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). However, US State Department spokesman Ned Price responded coldly and called it premature. The current personnel in the Biden administration seem to be version 3.0 of the Obama administration, and therefore inheriting the important diplomatic legacy of the Obama administration-the Iran nuclear deal is also logical. But after all, time has changed, and it is not easy for the US and Iraq to return to the past. During the Obama administration, the US vigorously promoted the Iran nuclear deal. According to the deal, Iran promised to restrict its nuclear program, the international community lifted sanctions against Iran, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is responsible for monitoring Irans implementation of the deal. However, after Trump took office, he repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the Iran nuclear deal and even unilaterally announced the withdrawal from the deal in May 2018. This behavior was also retaliated by Iran. Iran believed that the US breached the contract first and then began to suspend the implementation of the deal as well. The previous Iran nuclear deal was relatively weak. On the one hand, there are differences in the US on this issue. The divergencebetween political parties make it difficult for the US Congress to sign the Iran nuclear deal with a high level of legal effect. As a result, the Obama administration only implemented the deal in the form of an executive order, which means that the US has a relatively low cost to break it. On the other hand, although the major powers in the world, especially the permanent members of the UN Security Council, have participated in the deal, they still has limited instrument to punish breaches of the contract. Meanwhile, other countries in the Middle East have not participated. Saudi Arabia and Israel are eyeing this with hostility. The contradiction between the worlds major power and regional powers restrict the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal. It has been over two years since the US unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and Iran has also taken the opportunity to strengthen its nuclear power. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a huge impact on the international community. It can be said that time has changed. It is not easy for the US and Iraq to re-enter the deal. After all, the conclusion of any international agreement is closely related to the time and space of the parties involved, and their bargaining space will also fluctuate. Judging from the current moves by both parties, it is clear that they have a hard time accepting each others asking price. The US and Iran have recently opened terms for their re-entry, but it is clear that the room for reasonable bargaining between the two sides has not appeared yet. Both sides will not make concessions first. For old rivals like the US and Iran, the level of trust between them is extremely low. In the past, short-term reconciliations between them have mostly fallen into the dilemma of measure for measure. There is a certain degree of a zero-sum game between the US and Iran regarding who makes concessions first. However, both the US and Iran have a need for reconciliation. For the US, it is obvious that the Biden administration will focus on domestic issues, mainly dealing with the pandemic and restoring the economy in the early stage. But in terms of foreign policy, the Biden administration will also try to find low-cost ways to maintain its international leadership. If the development of Irans nuclear capabilities is unrestricted, it will inevitably reduce the influence of the US in the Middle East, which in turn will affect its global leadership. For Iran, economic sanctions and the impact of the pandemic have crippled its economy and increased social conflicts. The lifting or partial lifting of the US sanctions against Iran will be beneficial to Irans economy. However, negotiations need complicated bargaining after all, and both parties need to compromise for a reasonable bargaining space. As far as the current situation of both parties is concerned, it depends on the level of urgency. Whoever is more urgent will make compromises, and that maybe leads to a breakthrough. Although the Biden administration has stated many times during the campaign that it hopes that the Iran nuclear deal can be implemented, it has never clearly announced that it will soon rejoin the Iran nuclear deal after taking office. For the Biden administration, the Iranian nuclear issue is not its priority, and the issue faces pressure from many parties at home and abroad. The Biden administration is concerned with the increasing nuclear capability of Iran without the constraints of the Iran nuclear deal. Therefore, the US is considering to stabilize Iran and suspend its nuclear capability development. To this end, the US has released some reconciliation signals or gestures. For example, the USS Nimitz, previously deployed in the Middle East, has left the Gulf and will be placed with the Indo-Pacific command. Judging from the statements made by officials appointed by the Biden administration at the Congressional hearing, both Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Director of Intelligence Avril Haines said that the US would not return to the Iran nuclear deal unconditionally, but they did not completely deny it. The US hopes to exchange its own marginal concessions for major ones from Iran and to buy time to solve the Iranian nuclear issue. Obviously, it is not easy for the US to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue in the face of problematic domestic issues and deteriorating relations with major powers. "Slowing the process to wait for opportunities" is only a makeshift by the US, which will ultimately lead to nowhere. Compared with the unilateralism adopted by its predecessor, the new president will probably embrace multilateralism and try to win the support of its allies in Europe and the Middle East on the Iranian nuclear issue. However, there has never been a simple solution to complex international issues. Lack of trust and necessary compromises will probably make the Iranian nuclear issue unsolvable. (The author is Secretary-General of the Center for International Security Studies at China Foreign Affairs University.) (This article is originally published on www.china.com.cn and translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.) New Delhi: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modis intervention may help resolve the farmers crisis. He asserted that if any senior BJP minister takes up on the farmers issue then the crisis is likely to be resolved, he added that he meant no disrespect to the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Pawar also urged the farmers staging a sit in protest at Delhi borders to look for ways to end the deadlock with the Centre over the three agricultural laws. In my opinion, the central government should take an initiative and a senior-level minister should intervene, he was quoted as saying by The Hindustan Times. I dont want to disrespect Narendra Singh Tomar but the Prime Minister or Union Defence Minister should intervene then the issue may be resolved. The senior leader criticised the police crackdown on farmers protest sites at the borders of the national capital. The protest sites have been heavily barricaded, with nails dug into the roads. At some places the government has suspended internet. It has never happened in the country since independence... The government took extreme measures which also shows their attitude. Whenever farmers come out on streets like this then the government is expected to show some consonance, he was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times. Further, Pawar took a dig at the Centre for saying that global criticism of the clampdown on the farmers protest was an attempt to intervene in Indias internal matters. I remember when the Prime Minister was on a US tour, he declared that Trump will be elected for a second term and a few sections appreciated him, he said. Today, people from abroad are also reacting the same way because of the same reason. Live TV Mumbai, Feb 7 : Bollywood star and icon Amitabh Bachchan on Sunday offered the definition of a good friend. The actor said a good friend could be compared to white colour and explained why he feels this way. "Good friends are like white colour, if you mix any colour in white, a new colour can be formed. But even if all colours of the world are mixed together, it cannot create white," Amitabh Bachchan wrote in Hindi. Last week, the veteran actor took to social media to celebrate his film "Black" completing 16 years of its release date. Talking about the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial, Big B (also referred to Amitabh Bachchan) said "Black" is a movie which was made way ahead of its time. "It has been 16 years... since Debraj Sahai. "Black"...a movie way ahead of its time. Every dialogue, every instance in the movie was so beautifully crafted that it has engraved its existence in everyone's heart, including mine. #16YearsOfBlack #RaniMukerji #SanjayLeelaBhansali," Amitabh Bachchan recently shared on Instagram. In the critically acclaimed film, Big B played Debraj Sahai, teacher of a differently-abled girl 'Michelle McNally' born with visual and hearing impairment. The character of Michelle was played by actress Rani Mukerji. On the work front, Bachchan is currently shooting for the Ajay Devgn directorial film "MayDay". Directed and produced by Devgn, "MayDay" also stars actress Rakul Preet Singh. 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. Rafael Nadal admitted Sunday he had been "suffering" for 15 days with a sore back and could not guarantee he'll play the Australian Open, with the injury threatening to derail his bid for a record 21st Grand Slam. The world number two sat our Spain's ATP Cup campaign in warm-up week, and he hasn't played a competitive match since the ATP Finals in London in November. His only appearance since was an exhibition game against Dominic Thiem in Adelaide nine days ago, where he first experienced stiffness in his back. "Not great obviously," he said of the back injury on the eve of the first Grand Slam of the year. "It's true that for the last 15 days I have been suffering. "In the beginning, the muscle was just a little bit tired but I feel (now) a little bit more stiff than usual." The 34-year-old has been hitting the practice courts at Melbourne Park in a desperate bid to be fit and firing for the Australian Open, which starts Monday. Nadal insisted the injury was "not serious" but remained unsure whether he would take to the court for his first-round match against Laslo Djere of Serbia which is scheduled for Tuesday. "The muscle is still tight, so it is difficult to play with freedom of movement," he said. "We are doing everything. My physio is here, the doctors here, everybody is helping me in all possible ways. I hope to be ready, that's all. I know sometimes things change quick." Nadal, who has a history of back problems, refused to be drawn into whether the 14-day mandatary hotel quarantine players endured on arrival in Australia contributed to the injury. There has been a mounting injury toll ahead of the year's opening Grand Slam, with Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and defending champion Sofia Kenin among those carrying niggles. "I'm not a big fan of finding excuses," he said. "When things happen, you need to find a way to get through." Story continues Nadal is looking to edge ahead of Roger Federer who also has 20 Slam titles to his name, with the injured Swiss not playing in Melbourne. He plans to return to the ATP Tour at Doha next month. Nadal, the 2009 Australian Open champion, said being healthy was his top priority. "The only thing that I can do is stay positive, work on recovery and do all the things that I can," he said. "Then I hope the situation will improve. Let's see." If he does take his place in the draw, Nadal is on course to meet Greek rising star and fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals. tl/mp It would be hard to overstate how much changed in 2020. The global pandemic tested our resolve, forced lightning-speed adaptation in nearly every aspect of life, and the topic of energy catapulted to the top of political conversations. However, one thing did not change in 2020 and should be more evident than ever: Oil and natural gas are essential and irreplaceable. While oil prices plummeted in the wake of the pandemic, the need for products made from oil and natural gas skyrocketed. Nearly every in-demand product we need to be safe, to save lives and to power our economy from face shields and hand sanitizers to high-speed internet connections and computers is made possible by oil and natural gas. Even before the pandemic, 96 percent of products we use every day like pharmaceuticals, electronics, cosmetics and clothing are made from oil and natural gas. There is no substitute for oil and natural gas in our lives or for our economy. As challenging as last year was, the Texas oil and natural gas industry paid $13.9 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties funds that directly support Texas schools, teachers, roads, infrastructure and essential services. This total equates to about $38 million a day that are put to work for every Texan. In 2020, Texas independent school districts directly received more than $2 billion in oil and natural gas property taxes. Counties received $688.4 million. Our states Economic Stabilization Fund (commonly known as the rainy day fund), the Permanent School Fund and the Permanent University Fund are funded almost exclusively with taxes and state royalties paid by the oil and natural gas industry. Last year, the PUF received $771 million and the PSF received $942 million. The rainy day fund received $1.66 billion from oil and natural gas taxes, bringing the balance to more than $10 billion funds that will be vital to meeting our states budget deficit due to the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. In addition to its economic impact, the oil and natural gas industry is the nations leading investor in pioneering emission-reducing technologies, and as a result, Americans are breathing the cleanest air in decades, and the U.S. leads the world in reducing energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. Methane emissions rates were down nearly 70 percent in five of the nations largest oil and natural gas producing regions between 2011 and 2019, according to data from EPA and EIA. All this, while the United States enjoys more energy security than ever and American-made energy is powering economic prosperity and environmental improvements around the world. This progress and ways to build on it must be part of more rational discussions about the future of our energy, our environment and our economy. Thanks to continued technological breakthroughs, driven largely by oil and natural gas companies themselves, our energy choices to do not have to be either/or. Oil, natural gas and alternate sources will all be part of our cleaner energy future. As the Texas Legislature begins its work in earnest, we are encouraging lawmakers to consider a three-part policy Roadmap to Recovery to drive oil and natural investment to power Texas economic recovery and provide critical state and local tax revenue Texans need. Texas lawmakers must ensure continued, responsible development of the essential infrastructure that is needed to meet the demands of our booming population. Every Texan relies on electric transmission lines, roads, high-speed internet, drainage and flood control and pipelines for water, oil, natural gas and transportation fuels, and the expansion of this infrastructure is essential to the states continued growth and success. The Legislature should embrace smart tax policy such as renewing the economic development program known as Chapter 313, which attracts investments and jobs to Texas, and resist calls to increase taxes on an industry that pays 6.3 times more in taxes on a per job basis than the average of the rest of the private sector. Finally, we are urging lawmakers to maintain their commitment to science-based policy and rational discussions related to environmental issues, with the leading oil and natural gas innovators at the table. Smart policies will encourage investment in and innovation by the oil and natural gas industry and will power us toward the cleaner, stronger and better future every Texan deserves. Todd Staples is president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association and former Texas Agriculture commissioner. Tyreke Key matched his season high with 31 points as Indiana State won its seventh straight game, edging Northern Iowa 61-57 on Saturday. Key made 12 of the Sycamores (11-7, 8-5 Missouri Valley Conference) 23 field goals. Down 30-27 just after halftime, Key made a layup and pair of jump shots on three straight possessions and Indiana State never trailed again. Trae Berhow had 11 points for the Panthers (5-12, 3-8 Missouri Valley Conference), Austin Phyfe scored 11 points with 10 rebounds and Noah Carter had 10 points and nine rebounds. ___ For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25 ___ This was generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.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. THE proposed new events centre and arena at Thomond Park has been hailed as a game changer for the local community. As exclusively revealed in the Limerick Leader last year, the massive 40m development could see a 5,000-capacity arena and hotel open beside the home of Munster Rugby. In a move facilitated by Limerick City and County Council, Thomond Park Stadium has put together a series of exciting proposals which may deliver up to 300 new jobs. In a statement, Thomond Park stadium director John Cantwell said: Not only will a multi-functional event venue significantly enhance and contribute to the infrastructure that is required to make the city liveable and indirectly attract investment, but a multi-functional event centre at this location will also contribute to the significant social and physical regeneration of the Moyross area. In a week where the proposed Coonagh to Knockalisheen Road is a major topic of conversation, the spokesperson pointed out that connectivity between Moyross and the Limerick Institute of Technology will be enhanced, with the investment also heralding a significant improvement to the public realm between the college and the stadium. With the population from LIT, surrounding businesses and housing, the proposed works will contribute to the critical mass necessary to accommodate further public transport infrastructure in the area, with the provision of the infrastructure for a potential commuter rail station in Moyross, Mr Cantwell said. The 40m project is subject to a current application by Limerick City and County Council for grant aid from the Urban Regeneration Development Fund under the National Development Plan 2018 2027. If all goes to plan, some 10.5m will come from this, with the balance coming from matched funding. Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc is betting on expanding in Africa to grow the power-systems division after its main business building and maintaining wide-body jet engines was derailed by the coronavirus. The continents abundant natural resources, fast-growing economies and increasing urbanization make it a promising market for the unit, Rolls-Royce Strategic Marketing Director Ben Story said in an interview on Thursday. Weve got our eyes open, looking out for opportunities, he said by phone. M&A is certainly part of that. The bid to grow in Africa comes as Rolls-Royce seeks to pivot away from a focus on aircraft engines, with Chief Executive Officer Warren East saying the company wants revenues to be more evenly split between all of its business segments. The company currently has a presence on the continent through subsidiary MTU, as well as relationships with airlines such as Egypt Air and a deal to power South African trains. Rolls-Royce would favor small, bolt-on deals, Story said, such as its purchases of power companies Qinous and Kinolt. Those acquisitions cost a combined 100 million pounds ($137 million). Rolls-Royce employs 150 people across Africa, mostly in power systems, and sees an opportunity to develop hydrogen power and small nuclear reactors. The company made just 246 million pounds in sales from the continent in 2019, according to its annual report, compared with 4.7 billion pounds in the U.S. and 5.3 billion pounds in Europe. Source: Bloomberg 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 class 8th student from Mohali has set a new world record with his first self-published non-fiction book, Explore the New YOU. Prabhsimrat Gill has made it to the Asia Book of Records for being the youngest non-fiction self-published author. Earlier, he broke the national record for the same in OMG Book of Records, The Tribune said in a report. The book has been international best-seller on Amazon in USA and Canada. Explore the New YOU talks about values like purpose, goals, beliefs and habits that are essential to achieve success and live with joy and happiness. The first part of the book explains finding meaning and purpose of life. In the second part, the young author talks about ways to set the right goals to have a clear direction, preparing the mental foundation by overcoming fears and building confidence and some key behaviours that accelerate the path to success, the report said. It was during the lcokdown time that the 14-year-old boy realised the importance of mental health and the idea of inspiring people occurred to him. That is when he compiled his thoughts and solutions in a book. I want to inspire people to live up to their potential and lead extraordinary lives by reinventing themselves and following their dreams, Gill was quoted as saying by The Tribune. He completed writing the first draft of the book in 15 days and in another, he had the refined, edited draft of the book ready. The book became number 1 and the best seller on Amazon. Gill terms his journey of writing the book as amazing which made him learn to be courageous, ambitious, creative, and open-minded. His school is extremely happy with his achievement. I am very happy and proud to see Prabhsimrat as an author. All through his school years at Oakridge I have seen how the elements of our curriculum and our teachers contributed into nurturing his talent. I wish him the very best, he definitely is bringing laurels to our school, the principal of his school Ramanjit Ghuman was quoted as saying by the newspaper. Experienced aviation veteran Ulick McEvaddy has become a director of China International Aviation Leasing Service (CALS), the company that employs the Irish businessman trapped in China for the last two years. Company filings confirmed McEvaddy had become a director. He had taken on the role in a bid to help broker a solution with the Chinese government to allow father-of-four Richard O'Halloran return home, he told the Sunday Independent. Police in Shanghai have subjected CALS employee O'Halloran to interrogations without legal or consular representation and demanded in recent weeks that he personally pay $36m. Grief Persists for Spouses of First Responders, Soldiers Killed in Line of Duty OTTAWAAngela Gevaudan recalls the first year after her RCMPofficer husband was killed on duty as a whirlwind of responsibility and emotion that offered her little time to process her grief and loss. Const. Fabrice Gevaudan was one of three Mounties shot and killed during a gunmans rampage in Moncton, N.B., in June 2014. In the aftermath, investigations and reviews were launched, memorial services were held and lifesize statues commissioned. Angela was there for all of it, representing her late husband and their family, even as she worked to keep paying the bills while trying to support the couples daughter in her own grief. So it was early on that I went into survival mode, she says. And it took a long time for me to really allow myself to fully experience this as a personal loss, as the loss of a spouse. Angela Gevaudan, whose husband was one of the RCMP officers killed in the Moncton shootings in 2014, is shown in a handout photo with her emotional support animal. (The Canadian Press/HO-Angela Gevaudan) More than six years later, Gevaudan is still working through her grief. Which is why she and a handful of other women who have lost spouses in uniform are coming together at a Torontoarea hotel to talk about their shared experiences and try to heal. This will finally be an opportunity for me and for the other participants to really focus on ourselves, and to have a space that is safe to do so. The gathering is the first iteration of a support program created by Wounded Warriors Canada, an organization that provides mentalhealth services to first responders and veterans, to help Canadians whose spouses have been killed in the line of duty or by suicide. Wounded Warriors executive director Scott Maxwell says the program combines peer support with professionally trained therapists, a version of which has been used to help veterans deal with psychological trauma. Ive heard from spouses who have lost their spouse as a result of their service to Canada for a long time now saying: Ive tried this, I went here, Ive looked there, theres nothing culturally appropriate for what Ive been going through, Maxwell says. There is a common misconception that grief is linear, says Gevaudan, but its not like theres a starting point and a finish line and you just keep working towards it and done. There is also the everpresent risk of new trauma as events such as other police shootings hit close to home. Gevaudan says she was particularly affected by last years mass shooting in Nova Scotia in which a gunman killed 22 people, including RCMP Const. Heidi Stevenson. We can all be impacted by trauma, but some of us are injured, so were more susceptible to further injuries, she says. Its part of it that makes it more difficult to rebuild your life and feel some sense of normalcy. Maxwell says that has also been a common experience for spouses of fallen first responders and veterans, who are often left to pick up the pieces on their own after the initial waves of public attention and outpouring of sympathies and support have subsided. The common refrain is: People keep telling me its going to get better, but I feel the opposite, Maxwell says. And they often feel unsupported in terms of the tools that they would need to process and manage all these things. The RCMP says bereavement counselling is available to the families of officers who have died while on duty or through suicide. That includes therapy and case management until family members have the tools needed to deal with the grief on a goforward basis. Yet while she has been able to access some mentalhealth support since her husband was killed, Gevaudan says it hasnt always been easy. She says there was a period when promised support from the government was cut off for more than a year before it was eventually restored. That left a mark, including persistent fears that her support could be cut off again. One of the things they say is that were not to worry ourselves with expectations, and that theyll always be here to support us, she says. But thats so far from what it has been like for us. Many of her late husbands colleagues and other members of the community have also tried to provide what assistance they can, for which Gevaudan says she is extremely grateful. Yet she says most people cant understand or relate to the unique experience that comes with having lost her husband in the line of duty, and that she is looking forward to meeting other women who understand her pain and talking to them with the help of trained therapists. Not only is the combination of peer support and therapists in one forum one of the unique aspects of the Wounded Warriors program, Gevaudan suggests the presence of those mentalhealth workers will be critical. Every chance that you have to sort through anything, whether its a memory or a physical item or any of it, it just brings up other things and that allows you to process something else, she says. And it takes you down a path that you dont know where youre going to end up. So its really important to have the support of the psychologist or mentalhealth professionals, of your peers, of people who get it, in order to be able to do this kind of grief work. While the session starting in Toronto next weekend is the first for Wounded Warriors, Maxwell says there are plans to hold others in British Columbia, Atlantic Canada and other parts of the country. That will be easier once the COVID19 pandemic is over. We know that these spouses are out there, often feeling very alone and unsupported from a mentalhealth perspective, Maxwell says. And if we can begin to address that, then well have accomplished our aim here. By Lee Berthiaume Seeing cities in lockdown was the push Jancine and Steve Harrison needed to pack up and move to Kalbar a regional Queensland town, population about 2000. When the Brisbane lockdowns happened, I just worked from home so it didnt affect me much, but COVID-19 was definitely the push for us to move, Ms Harrison said. New Kalbar residents Jancine and Steve Harrison. We were looking at what was happening in other cities, with constant lockdowns, and we didnt want to get caught up in it all so we just thought no, we love the country, so lets move out there. Theres a sense of community in Kalbar that you didnt really feel in Brisbane its like you really belong somewhere. 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 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 NEW DELHI A Himalayan glacier broke and caused sudden, massive flooding in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand on Sunday, smashing two dam projects and forcing the authorities to scramble to evacuate villages and try to save more than 100 lives. Trivendra Singh Rawat, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, said that seven bodies had been recovered and that about 125 people, many of them workers at the two hydroelectric dam projects that were largely swept away, were unaccounted for. An avalanche came and completely broke the Rishiganga power project, and almost all the workers there are missing, said Ashok Kumar, the chief of police in Uttarakhand. By the time the water came downstream, we had alerted people. The scenes were reminiscent of floods in Uttarakhand in 2013, when heavy rain over several days led to landslides that killed thousands of people and washed away entire villages. New Delhi: After a flag bearing resemblance to Khalistani Bhindranwale was seen on a tractor in Ludhiana during the Chakka jam movement, Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said the locals will have to explain the incident. He said if the incident happened then it was wrong and clarified that since it was banned, it should not have been displayed. We will talk (to the people there). If it is indeed the case, it is wrong. This should not be done. If something is banned, it should not be displayed, Tikait told ANI. #WATCH: A flag with a portrait bearing resemblance to Bhindranwale seen on a tractor at a Chakka jam protest in Ludhiana pic.twitter.com/d6lFT0IoPC ANI (@ANI) February 6, 2021 It was reported that a flag with a portrait resembling Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was seen on a tractor in Punjabs Ludhiana during the countrywide Chakka Jam on Saturday. Bhindranwale was the head of the Sikh religious sect Damdami Taksal and joined the Khalistani movement in 1984. Later, he was killed along with his armed followers during Operation Blue Star launched by Indian Army at Golden Temple Complex. Meanwhile, on Saturday Tikait reiterated that the central government has time till October 2 to repeal the three farm laws failing which the farmers will intensify their ongoing agitation against the controversial laws. Live TV New Delhi, Feb 7 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia for next of the kin of all those who have lost their lives in the massive flash flood caused by a glacier breach near Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. The Prime Minister also announced Rs 50,000 compensation for those who were seriously injured in the disaster. These amounts will be provided to the victims from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF)-- which is utilised to render immediate relief to families of those killed in natural calamities like floods, cyclones and earthquakes. "PM Narendra Modi has approved ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from PMNRF for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to the tragic avalanche caused by a Glacier breach in Chamoli, Uttarakhand. Rs 50,000 would be given to those seriously injured," Prime Minister's Office (PMO) tweeted. Earlier, the Prime Minister, in a tweet, said that he is constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation in Uttarakhand. "India stands with Uttarakhand and the nation prays for everyone's safety there. Have been continuously speaking to senior authorities and getting updates on NDRF deployment, rescue work and relief operations." Nearly 150 people are missing and several suffered injuries in the incident that occurred after the water level in Dhauliganga river, one of the six sources of the Ganga river, suddenly surged on Sunday morning following an avalanche near the Rishi Ganga power project. The 85 km river meets the Alaknanda river at Vishnuprayag at the base of Joshimath mountain in Uttarakhand. The flash flood occurred in Rishi Ganga at around 10.45 a.m. due to a glacier falling into it and exponentially increasing the volume of water. Due to this, the Rishi Ganga hydro project was completely devastated. As Rishi Ganga meets Dhauliganga near Reni village, the second river also got flooded. Five to six houses of the village were also washed away in the flood and an NTPC project on river Dhauliganga near Tapovan was completely devastated. Two 'Jhula' bridges connecting villages on the other side of the river were also washed away. Around 250 personnel of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Army and NDRF teams are carrying out rescue and search operations on the site. Source: Reuters Twitter's India public policy head Mahima Kaul has resigned citing personal reasons, according to a senior executive of the social media firm. Kaul had joined Twitter in 2015 from the think tank, Observer Research Foundation. As Public policy Director for India and South Asia, her job entailed overseeing Twitter's relationships with policymakers, elected officials, government agencies, and NGOs in India and direct policy programmes in these areas. According to a statement by Public Policy VP Monique Meche, Kaul will be stepping down to 'take a well-deserved break'. He said she will continue her role till the end of March and will support the transition. The company has also listed the job opening on its website. However, Kaul's resignation comes at a time when Twitter has been facing backlash from the Indian government for 'violating Indian law'. The firm was threatened with penal consequences if over 250 accounts and posts that were flagged by the government werent blocked. The accounts in question were criticised for promoting derogatory content against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to the government, the posts were not only factually incorrect but were also designed to provoke and create tensions in society. Incitement to genocide is not freedom of speech, but a threat to law and order, said the government. The firm, which blocked the accounts on Monday, restored them shortly stating them as free speech and being newsworthy. The microblogging site has been in the eye of the storm over several issues around fake news, hate speech, fake profiles and bots menace. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 02:27:08|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TEHRAN, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Saturday that Iran is losing patience with the new U.S. administration's "recent signals to retain illegal sanctions" on the Islamic republic, Press TV reported. Zarif criticized the United States for what he called "not moving fast to rectify wrong steps" taken under former president Donald Trump, saying that "the more they hesitate, the more the United States will lose." If the new U.S. administration do not distance itself from the policies of its predecessor, it would be "dangerous" for the United States, he said. The Iranian foreign minister urged Washington to get back to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), by honoring its commitments. Zarif also noted that Iran's reduction of its nuclear commitments was a reaction to the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018. Iran has had to take "compensatory measures" in the face of U.S. failure to adhere to its commitments, he said. "We will stop our compensatory measures (reducing the nuclear commitment) as soon as they (the U.S. administration) return to the JCPOA," he stressed. Enditem Suspected Islamists killed 10 people in a raid on a village in eastern Democractic Republic of Congo and kidnapped several others, local authorities and a witness said. The attack, in which assailants used machetes, occurred on Friday night in the village of Mabule, around 25 km (16 miles) south east of Beni, the sources said. 'They killed 10 people here without any reason,' said Muhindo Mbela, a survivor of the massacre. It was not yet clear who carried out the attack, though local authorities blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan armed group active in eastern Congo since the 1990s. The group killed around 850 people last year, according to UN figures. 'They simply finished off the victims with machetes,' said Mambo Kitambala from a local civil rights group. Reprisal attacks against civilians increased sharply since the army began an operation against the ADF in November 2019, dislodging it from several bases in mountainous jungle near the Ugandan border. 'We confirm the attack on the village of Mabule by armed men we have identified as the ADF,' said Donat Kibwana, the administrator of Beni territory. Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for several suspected ADF attacks in the past, but UN experts have not found any direct link between the two groups. Short link: The statue of Cecil Rhodes which stands on the facade of Oriel College in Oxford may be allowed to stay under plans for a compromise A controversial monument to the imperialist Cecil Rhodes may be allowed to remain at Oxford University in a compromise deal which will see him joined by a black philosopher. Governors at Oriel College said last year they wanted to remove the statue, after a long-running campaign was given a boost by widespread Black Lives Matter protests. However, they fear the move might now be blocked by new laws protecting historic monuments. An independent commission set up to examine the legacy of Rhodes is said to be considering a new tribute to the first African-American to win a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford as a concession. Alain LeRoy Locke is viewed as the father of the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement in the 1920s and 1930s that championed black intellectual and artistic production. He was denied entry to several Oxford colleges because of racial prejudice before eventually being admitted to Hertford College in 1907 under the Rhodes scheme. The scholarship was set up in 1902 through Rhodess will to enable outstanding young people from around the world to study at Oxford. However, the mining magnate, who founded Rhodesia in southern Africa, is a controversial figure who believed in white supremacy. Sources told the Daily Mail that officials are believed to be looking at commemorating Mr Locke. Another option the commission is said to be exploring is the possibility of relocating the Rhodes statue to Oxfords Pitt Rivers Museum. An independent commission is considering introducing a tribute to Alain LeRoy Locke - the first African American to be awarded a place at Oxford under the Rhodes scholarship scheme Large protests have been held outside Oriels Rhodes Building, on the facade of which the statue stands, 50ft above the street. The statue has come to symbolise the culture wars which have seen scores of monuments with links to slavery removed in the wake of the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests. But a number of dons at Oxford have already vowed to block its removal and have threatened to refer matters to the Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick, who is fast-tracking new laws to protect generations-old monuments. The legislation which follows the toppling of slave trader Edward Colstons statue by protesters in Bristol last summer will mean full planning permission is required before any historic monuments can be removed. It would allow the Government to intervene and ensure the law was followed with a retain and explain policy expected to be applied in most cases. Nigel Biggar, regius professor of moral and pastoral theology at Oxford, told The Sunday Times: I will be among a number of us who will appeal to the minister to intervene. 'The commission will vote to remove the statue but I hope that Robert Jenrick will stop it. The Rhodes statue in terms of the culture wars is iconic. If that goes, all manner of things will go. However, another Oxford academic said: We are determined to remove the statue in the teeth of a super-conservative government. Oxford has followed due process and it will not be stopped from doing this. Large protests have been held at Oriel College over the presence of the Cecil Rhodes statue as demonstrators have called for it to be removed over Rhodes' links to Britain's colonial history The commission was due to publish its findings last month but the report had been delayed until mid-March due to the pandemic. It advises Oriel Colleges governing body, which has voted in favour of removing the statue and will have the final say. The independent inquiry into the monument was launched last year following the long-running Rhodes Must Fall campaign, which started in 2015. Other universities are taking actions on controversial statues. Kings College London has announced plans to remove statues of Robert Clayton and Thomas Guy, the founder of Guys Hospital, in its duty to address the legacy of racism, colonialism and slavery. Edinburgh University has renamed its David Hume Tower in response to the philosophers comments on matters of race. Cambridge University has launched its own inquiry into the ways in which the university contributed to, benefited from or challenged the Atlantic slave trade during the colonial era. French president Emmanuel Macron is being urged to scrap celebrations for the 200th anniversary of Napoleon Bonapartes death because the dictator restored slavery in the colonies in 1804 after it had been outlawed there in 1794. 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. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Religion is a major character in the story of New Mexico. From Spanish missionaries, to religious traditions and tribal ceremonies, to the beautiful cathedrals and chapels that remain the center of many communities, New Mexico is as much a reflection of faith, as it is a tale about striking out to build a new life in the wilds of the West. There are plenty of cities, buildings and roads in New Mexico bearing names that reflect our devotion to the spiritual world. One of the states most prominent historical, religious figures was French native Jean Baptiste Lamy. The proper French pronunciation of his name is lah-MEE but it has become LAY-mee in New Mexico. He was the Archdiocese of Santa Fes first archbishop and he came to the region to provide guidance to a group of priests and bishops some believed had become corrupt or strayed too far from the teachings of the church. One of the allegations was that the clergy were engaging in intimate relationships with the locals. Wild New Mexico, indeed. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Lamy was a controversial figure but there is no denying that he left his mark on our history. His name appears all around New Mexico. Theres a road in Santa Fe, a lodge and most prominently a small northern New Mexico town, known for its train station and legendary Legal Tender Saloon. The village of Lamy is located approximately 18 miles southeast of Santa Fe along U.S. 285. The Santa Fe Railroad passes through Lamy and its depot is a stop along the Amtrak Southwest Chiefs Los Angeles to Chicago route. The track is like the last pulsing vein of a bygone era when the railroad infused life into small communities around the country. There has been some effort recently to revive the stop to make it a tourist destination for New Mexicans and those visiting the state. In May of 2020, novelist and screenwriter George R.R. Martin; Violet Crown Cinema co-owner Bill Banowsky; and Catherine Oppenheimer, co-founder of New Mexico School for the Arts, announced they had purchased the Santa Fe Southern Railway Inc. in hopes of reintroducing excursion trips along the 18-mile spur between Lamy and Santa Fe. Their goal is to have the service operating by 2022. The railroad bypassed Santa Fe when it was being built in the late 1800s because of the challenging terrain. But local leaders, including Lamy, banded together to raise enough funds to build 18 miles of additional track that would connect Lamy with Santa Fe. Lamy, one of 11 children born to Jean and Marie Die Lamy in Lempdes in Auvergne, France, undertook a harrowing journey to New Mexico from Ohio and arrived here in 1851, just a year after New Mexico became a territory of the United States. Before his arrival, the priests in New Mexico existed with little supervision from their boss, aka bishop, because he was all the way south in Durango, Mexico. Lamy initially received a warm welcome, but that wore off pretty quickly. A 1974 piece in the Santa Fe New Mexican written by Clifford Stevens, recalled Lamys arrival. the ecclesiastical situation in the new territory was critical. There were few priests, little clerical discipline and many of the priests were acutely sensitive to the changing political atmosphere. Many of the clergy resented the change of government and looked upon the new bishop as the political arm of the United States. One of his most vocal critics was Taos priest Father Antonio Jose Martinez, who had successfully abolished tithing in New Mexico, arguing that the population was too poor to give the required 10% to the church. Not only did Lamy reinstate tithing, he punished those who did not tithe by denying them the sacraments. He then went on to take action against a well-liked Albuquerque priest and former student of Martinez. According to a piece by William H. Wroth on newmexicohistory.org, which is maintained by the Office of the State Historian, that did not go over well. He also suspended the popular New Mexico-born priest Father Jose Manuel Gallegos who was the pastor of the San Felipe Neri Church in Albuquerque and a former seminary student of Father Martinez. Gallegos was accused of living a too worldly life. Lamys action produced a powerful backlash; not only did Martinez come unsuccessfully to Gallegoss defense, but over 900 citizens signed a petition in support of him. The conflict even played out in the pages of the Santa Fe Weekly Post, with those in support of Lamy or Gallegos arguing their side with long letters. Gallegos would go on to have a successful career in politics, even becoming New Mexicos first Hispanic delegate elected to the U.S. Congress. Lamy also set out to disband the Penitente Brotherhood, who had fallen out of favor with the Catholic Church. He did not achieve this goal, but he did force the order underground. Despite these controversies, Lamy remained in good standing with the pope and the Catholic Church. When it created the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1875, Lamy was named its first archbishop. Lamy is also responsible for the construction of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, also known as Saint Francis Cathedral, in Santa Fe. The cathedral is a favorite subject of local artists and a popular stop for tourists. A bronze statue of Lamy stands in front of the church. Lamy retired in 1885 and died three years later in 1888 at the Bishops Lodge, which sat on land he had purchased and is now home to a luxurious resort. According to newspaper reports on his death, 6,000 sorrowing people and a 50-person choir attended his service at the Saint Francis Cathedral. He is buried there in a crypt beneath the cathedral floor. Curious about how a town, street or building got its name? Email staff writer Elaine Briseno at ebriseno@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3965 as she continues the monthly journey in Whats in a Name? Editors note: The Journal continues Whats in a Name?, a twice a month column in which staff writer Elaine Briseno will give a short history of how places in New Mexico got their names. Kathmandu, Feb 7 : Leaked documents of correspondence between Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu show that Beijing had put pressure on the Himalayan country to accept its Covid vaccine without its efficiency and efficacy being established. Nepali media on Sunday published stories on the basis of the leaked correspondence which show how China made Nepal accept its Sinovac vaccine produced by Sinopharm without any further delay. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a telephone conversation with his Nepali counterpart Pradeep Kumar Gyawali on Friday and put pressure to accept the vaccines first under the condition that the details about the vaccines will be sent afterward; a topsy-turvy way of vaccine procurement. Necessary documents will be provided later, but take the vaccine immediately, as per the letter the Chinese Embassy sent to the Nepal government, warning that otherwise the country may need to wait quite long to get the vaccine. The Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu is yet to confirm the validity of the letter but Nepali officials confirmed that it was genuine. With Nepal raising concern about the Chinese vaccine, China told Nepal to transport the Sinopharm vaccines immediately and that the relevant documents, including the legal disclaimer, may be provided simultaneously or later. Earlier, the Nepali side had sent a letter to the Chinese Embassy in Nepal saying that the company supplying the vaccine had not provided the required documents. The Embassy was told that two Chinese companies -- P&G Holdings Pvt Ltd and Hospice Enterprises Pvt Ltd -- had sought permission to supply vaccines to Nepal and the country wanted clarification as to which company is the official company for importing vaccines. In its reply, the Chinese Embassy said that the Nepali side is suggested to transport the Sinopharm vaccines to be donated to Nepal under grant assistance immediately. "The Sinopharm vaccines are currently in high demand and short supply. In order to provide the vaccines to Nepal at the earliest and help Nepali people's fight against the pandemic, the Chinese side has again made arrangements to this end in coordination with Sinopharm. "The relevant documents including legal disclaimer may be provided simultaneously or later," it said. The letter went on to say: "If the Nepali side could not collect this batch of the vaccine as soon as possible, it will be redistributed by other commercial orders and the manufacturing of the vaccines for Nepal will have to be put on a much later list." "The Embassy hopes that relevant Nepali authorities could facilitate the early approval and registration of Sinopharm vaccine for the emergency use in Nepal for the benefit of the Nepali people." On January 31, the Chinese Embassy in Nepal stated that it would provide 300,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine produced by its own state-owned company Sinopharm to Nepal. However, according to Foreign Minister Gyawali's statement on Friday, during a telephone conversation between his Chinese counterpart, China agreed to increase the quantity to 500,000 doses. There is a provision that the Nepal's Department of Drug Administration should give permission for a vaccine after studying whether it is suitable for use. The Nepal government has not given permission for the use of Chinese vaccines yet. Nepal had been promised two million Covid vaccines by India and another two million vaccines by the UK. The third phase trials of the Sinovac vaccine, developed by Sinopharm, was found only 50.4 percent effective in Brazil. A CORK City Councillor has called for punitive fines to be enforced in a bid to deter illegal dumping throughout the city and county. Damien Boylan made the comments following a recent incident of illegal dumping near the Waterloo tunnel. It is so disappointing to see and it is awful for the residents. This happened on a walkway which is very popular with locals out exercising. It is a beautiful place. There is such pride amongst the people in Waterloo. As a community, there is such unity. They do everything to make the place so appealing. It is so demoralising and upsetting. I can sense their frustration, he said. Mr Boylan more issues of illegal dumping than ever before are occurring. Lower Killeens is another black spot. The place is just riddled with dirt. It has got worse in recent months. The only way to deal with it is to give punitive fines and enforce strict control with strict regulations. It is a pandemic at the moment. It is so sad. The problem we face in Cork City Council is there is only one person going out looking at these incidents. This is due to budget constraints. If the fines are big enough and people are being caught on a regular basis, it could be self-financed going forward, Mr Boylan added. The Fine Gael Councillor said current regulations with regards to GDPR is hindering their ability to install CCTV in various black spots throughout Cork. Mr Boylan and his colleagues in Cork City Council will maintain the pressure he said. GDPR is hindering us because if we put cameras up, we have to have signs up letting people know the cameras are there. This will just ensure they will dump somewhere else and we wont catch them. It would be great to put cameras up and nail them in the act, Mr Boylan said. We will keep the pressure on the council. Their hands are tied in lots of ways unfortunately. We need to catch these people and make an example of them, he added. Cllr Boylan appealed for people to remain vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour. It would be great to appeal to these people to stop illegally dumping, but these people have no conscience. I cant understand their mindset. PM inspect combat readiness at public security units Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc Prime inspected combat readiness of some units of the Ministry of Public Security on February 7, ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tet) festival. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc inspects combat readiness at Public Security Guard High Command under the Ministry of Public Security. (Photo: VNA) Visiting and extending New Year greetings to officers and soldiers of the Criminal Police Department, the Prime Minister praised their achievements in recent times. 2021 is the first year implementing the 13th National Party Congresss Resolution, he said, underlining the importance of ensuring safety for the people in implementing the Resolution, he said. PM Phuc asked the department to step up the fight against crime, especially during the Tet festival, while highlighting its target of reducing by at least 5 percent of the number of crime compared to 2020. In the coming time, the department need to grasp the situation to give advice to the Central Public Security Party Committee, the Ministry of Public Security and local Party committees and authorities in order to promote the strength of the entire political system and people in crime prevention and combat. He stressed the need to continue to step up crackdowns on crime, while building the well-trained, modern criminal police force. On the same day, the PM visited officers and soldiers of the Home Security Department, saying that they well performed the task of giving advice to the Party, State and Ministry of Public Security in building institutions and policies on security, including ensuring security and safety for the 13th National Party Congress. He emphasised heavy missions for the peoples public security force in 2021, including the implementation of the 13th National Party Congress Resolution, the entry into force of free trade agreements, and the elections of peoples councils at levels and the National Assembly. Visiting the Public Security Guard High Command the same day, the PM praised the force for its coordination in ensuring safety for 1,740 activities of Party and State leaders, 21 international high-level delegations visiting Vietnam, 141 political events this year. Notably, they guaranteed security and safety for activities within the ASEAN Year 2020, AIPA 41, Party Central Committees meetings, National Assembly sessions and the 13th National Party Congress. He asked the force to build and improve protection methods, and apply advanced science and technology in their work, while building the well-trained, modern guard force - a key force in protecting Party and State and important targets. Axios Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Days after made comments in the wake remarks of some celebrities on the protest by farmers, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief on Saturday asked the former Indian skipper to "exercise caution while speaking about other fields". "Many people (celebrities) have reacted sharply to the stand taken by them (farmers). My suggestion to is he should be cautious while commenting on fields other than his domain," Pawar told reporters here. Tendulkar had said after comments by a few international celebrities on farmers' protests that India's sovereignty cannot be compromised and external forces can be spectators but not participants "India's sovereignty cannot be compromised. External forces can be spectators but not participants. Indians know India and should decide for India. Let's remain united as a nation. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda," Tendulkar had tweeted on Wednesday. Pawar accused the central government of trying to defame the farmers' agitation. "The Central Government is trying to defame the farmers' agitation by calling them Khalistani and terrorists. It is not a good practice to insult the 'annadata' of the nation," he said. Pawar said if senior leaders like the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Nitin Gadkari come forward and speak with agitating farmers, a solution can be found. "If senior leaders take initiative, farmer leaders also need to sit with them," he said. "Since independence, it has never happened that protesters are stopped by putting nails on the streets. Earlier, people across the country were supporting protesting farmers. Now, people outside India are also showering their support to protesting farmers. The Government must introspect," he added. Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the capital since November 26 last year against the three new farm laws: Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A critical mass appears to be forming over how to better regulate utilities in Virginia in order to reduce costs for customers, who in 2019 paid the sixth-highest energy bills in the nation according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While a work in progress, it is a necessary step toward reining in Dominion Power, which has benefited from a generously written regulatory framework at the expense of Virginia families. On Monday, Meade Browder, the head of the utilities regulatory division of the attorney generals office, argued in support of legislation that would strengthen oversight of Virginias power companies, restoring authority stripped from the State Corporation Commission in 2015. Weve been aggressively representing ratepayers interests before the SCC for many years, but weve done so with one hand tied behind our back, Browder told lawmakers, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. And thats due to legislation over the last six or seven years ... thats been drafted by Dominion to serve Dominions purposes, rather than having the regulator regulate on a level playing field. This may seem like a stern rebuke to what is effectively the commonwealths power monopoly, but it would instead mark a welcome return to the type of thorough and needed oversight of utilities that would help protect the public. It used to be that the SCC conducted biannual reviews of utilities that looked at a companys books its earnings, spending and utility rates with an eye toward protecting customers interests. The companies could be profitable, of course, but the law required that profit greater than 10% must be returned to ratepayers (i.e. you). That ended in 2015. The Obama administration was pushing its Clean Power Plan, that would have increased costs for utilities such as Dominion. The company successfully urged state lawmakers to suspend regular SCC reviews. In exchange, the company would freeze its base utility rate for customers and prepare for the expected cost of complying with federal regulatory changes. Story continues Of course, the Obama Clean Power Plan went up in smoke when a new administration took office in 2017. But that sweetheart deal remained on the books, meaning that Dominion enjoyed a huge windfall as stricter federal rules never materialized. A report by the SCC last year found that Dominion collected $502 million in excess profits between 2017 and 2019. During that same period, the average power bill paid by customers jumped $26.10 (28.81%) from July 1, 2007, to July 1, 2020, according to the SCC. For its part, Dominion says it is using that money for investments in clean energy, including energy storage, nuclear relicensing, transmission, distribution undergrounding, distribution grid modernization, and renewable-enabling quick start generation, again according to the SCC. But suspending regular SCC regulatory review rendered that agency all but toothless to protect customers. And while Dominion is right to work toward a clean-energy future something most ratepayers support the absence of oversight is troubling, especially when the company has a de facto monopoly on the market. Dominion has for years treated the legislature as its playground, pouring money into the campaign coffers of state lawmakers from both parties and reaping the benefits of those investments through favorable legislation. The 2015 law was the most egregious example. In recent years, a new generation of lawmakers have rejected Dominions contributions and sought to expel the company from the political process. They have moved bills hostile to the utility and sought to establish a regulatory protocol that better serves consumers, not shareholders. There is worry the pendulum may swing too far, but its certainly welcome to see Virginia putting people, families and ratepayers first. Yes, Dominion has a duty to its shareholders, but fair pricing and bills more in line with the national average ensures affordability while still maintaining a healthy profit margin. Restoring balance to this relationship should be a priority in Virginia, and the legislation before the legislature should help provide it. This is a welcome, if overdue, move for the commonwealth. The National Guards deployment of thousands of troops to protect the inauguration of a new president was prompted by the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing radicals. But its removal of 12 of its own soldiers from that duty underscored a rising concern: how far has radicalization permeated the armed forces? None of the guardsmen had ties to extremists, but two of them made inappropriate comments and texts, the National Guard Bureau said. It was enough to chill those already worried about domestic terrorism. The armed forces have rules to weed out extremism in the ranks. The question now is whether commanders will be paying closer attention, some observers said. Military leaders at every level are supposed to remain alert for signs of future prohibited activities, and are encouraged to quickly intervene, preferably through counseling. All military personnel, including members of the National Guard, have undergone a background investigation, are subject to continuous evaluation, and are enrolled in an insider threat program, said Gary Reid, the Pentagons director for defense intelligence. Simply put, we will not tolerate extremism of any sort. The crowd that attacked the Capitol, though holding a common belief that President Donald Trump, not Joe Biden, was the rightful winner of the Nov. 3 election, came from a variety of right-wing tendencies and groups, including white supremacist and anti-government paramilitaries and Q-Anon conspiracy adherents. Some were affiliated with no group at all. Almost one out of five of those facing charges stemming from the riot are military veterans, news organizations have found. But actual data on how far extremist ideology has permeated the armed forces is in short supply. The FBI investigated 68 cases of domestic extremism in all branches of the military last year, but beyond that, the Pentagon is unable to say how many have been disciplined or kicked out for that reason in any recent year. The vast majority of those in the military serve with honor and dont espouse these sorts of dangerous beliefs, said Pentagon press secretary John Kirby when asked about it Thursday. But that doesnt mean that we dont think that there might be a problem. The problem is, we dont understand the full scope of it. The Air Force pointed to a decision in August in which Master Sgt. Corey Reeves was reduced to technical sergeant and administratively discharged for activity in a supremacist organization. The 17-year veteran was assigned to Shriever AFB near Colorado Springs, Colo.. I think its been an open secret for a while that theres a lot of white power stuff in the cops and the military, said war correspondent, author and documentary filmmaker Sebastian Junger. Obviously its hard to know how deliberately Trump tapped into that. The armed rally at the Michigan statehouse (on April 30) did seem like a trial run for January 6, though. People have always used violence to achieve ends that they couldnt otherwise. None of it surprises me except how disorganized and inept the whole thing was. An unscientific Military Times poll of readers last year found more than one-third of all active-duty troops and more than half of minority service members said they had recently witnessed white nationalism or ideologically-driven racism among other service members. Mark Pitcavage, a specialist on far-right groups with the Anti-Defamation League and a 1988 Trinity University graduate who has studied extremism since the mid-1990s, cautioned against reading too much into the poll because the magazine didnt define the term white nationalist. The new National Defense Authorization Act has ordered a survey on the issue, he said. But theres no question that extremists can be found in uniform, said Pitcavage, who testified about the subject last year before a House Armed Services Committee panel on military personnel. This is nothing new, either, he said. It does exist. Its been going on for decades. Were not talking about a large number of people total, but its well documented that it doesnt take very many people either outside the military or inside the military with those extreme views to cause serious problems. How to respond Tasos Katopodis /Getty Images The FBI scrutiny of National Guard soldiers came amid concerns that Trumps supporters would attack President Joe Bidens inauguration Jan. 20 in a repeat of their attempt to stop the certification of his election at the Capitol. But it sparked a backlash, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott expressing outrage on Twitter. This is the most offensive thing Ive ever heard. No one should ever question the loyalty or professionalism of the Texas National Guard, he wrote Jan. 18. I authorized more than 1,000 to go to DC. Ill never do it again if they are disrespected like this. The FBI provided the names of suspect guardsmen to the Guard Bureau, which sent the troops back to their home states but would not say which states. It also wasnt clear how the FBI was able to vet 25,000 troops in a matter of a week or less. It all seemed reasonable enough, and legal, to Geoffrey Corn, a professor at South Texas College of Law in Houston. I dont know how they did it, but the suggestion there is something improper or illegal about a federal agency responsible for ensuring security at the inauguration harvesting information from social media accounts that are in the public domain, I think it would be unreasonable not to do that, said Corn, a retired Army lawyer. My response to the governor would be, why would you be upset about learning this? he added. You should be thanking the FBI. Texas Take: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday Troops can join political parties, participate in rallies and protests (but not in uniform), sign petitions and contribute to candidates campaigns. They cant join criminal gangs or wear gang clothing and prohibited insignias. And they cant actively advocate racial supremacist, extremist or criminal gang doctrine, ideology or causes. The Defense Department policy says those in the military cant support causes that encourage or advocate illegal discrimination based on race, creed, color, sex, religion, ethnicity, or national origin or those that advance, encourage, or advocate the use of force, violence, or criminal activity or otherwise advance efforts to deprive individuals of their civil rights. The Army updated its guidance in September with a lengthy chapter on extremism. It forbids soldiers from participating in activities advocating or teaching the overthrow of the government by force or violence, or seeking to alter the form of government by unconstitutional means, which it defines as sedition. The most prominent example of domestic terrorism committed by a U.S. military veteran was former Army Sgt. Timothy McVeighs 1995 bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people, including children in a day-care center, and wounded more than 680. His motivation: an anti-government desire to avenge federal law enforcement action at Ruby Ridge in Idaho and the Branch Davidian compound near Waco. The bombing came on the second anniversary of the fire that ended the Davidian siege, killing 76 people, 25 of them children, as officers closed in. A decorated Gulf War veteran, McVeigh had been honorably discharged after psychological testing deemed him unfit for Green Beret training. The active duty service members who committed insider attacks on fellow soldiers in more recent decades were motivated by personal grudges and in some cases Muslim religious fanaticism, the deadliest being Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who killed 13 and wounded 31 at Fort Hood in 2009. Hasan and two others, Sgt. Hasan Akbar and Sgt. William Kreutzer Jr., are on death row. Akbar killed two men in a Kuwait camp in 2003 while Kreutzer killed one GI and wounded 18 others in 1995 at Fort Bragg, N.C. Spc. Ivan Lopez killed himself after gunning down three others and wounding 14 at Fort Hood in 2014. On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas GOP fires staffer who posted video from Capitol riot, spread false conspiracy theories Some argue that rigorous vetting of service members, including the surveillance of social media posts as the FBI did with the guardsmen in Washington, is overdue. One of them, retired Army Col. Mike Jason, a veteran of Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Kuwait, said those in active duty that he talks to, with few exceptions, have tried harder to stay apolitical even as America has gotten so polarized and so partisan. Ive watched social media, Im in contact with former soldiers that are now NCOs, a lot of officers, and most of them that are still in, really seem to have embraced the professionalism of being apolitical. In private conversations, especially with peers, they were very disturbed by a lot of things they were seeing, very frustrated, but they kind of kept their head down and tried to maintain the shared values in the formations they had control over. I have not been able to see an increase in radicalization but, again, Im not there. The kids that are in the formations, they go back home if their peer group, their parents, are into this stuff, some of it could bleed over. Weve seen enough incidents. Those incidents, which have included racist posts from Marines and soldiers, and an Army lieutenant who made jokes on social media about the Nazis killing Jews, were dealt with severely, Jason said. Diversity a firewall? J. Scott Applewhite /Associated Press Even if radical politics follows soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines from their hometowns into the service, the militarys diversity remains a hedge against the problem, some say. Those joining the armed forces come from too many places to be unified in their beliefs or identities while serving, said Ross Ritchell, an author and Army special operations veteran. The difference these days, he said, is the nations supercharged politics. People may be scared or angry or misinformed and manipulated, so agitators might latch on to anyone vulnerable to persuasion or incitement/persecution, Ritchell said in an email. What is unique to the (presidential election and its aftermath) was the nature of trying to weaponize service and patriotism with delusion, partisan politics and conspiracies. Concern over the potential that radicalized troops could strike at Bidens inauguration was so strong, the Joint Chiefs of Staff signed a letter reminding troops of their duty. Some of the veterans interviewed for this story called that extraordinary. As service members, we must embody the values and ideals of the nation, the chiefs wrote. We support and defend the Constitution. Any act to disrupt the constitutional process is not only against our traditions, values and oath, it is against the law. Enforcing that isnt so simple. Retired Army Col. David Maxwell, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said countering extremism and insider attacks is probably one of the most complex and difficult issues the military must address. On the one hand, extremism in the ranks absolutely cannot be tolerated. On the other hand, the appearance of witch hunts and purges and unfounded and mistaken allegations will undermine good order and discipline of military units, he said in an email. This issue is a leadership issue, a law enforcement investigation issue, and even a counterintelligence issue. Leaders must be able to identify and deal with extremists while recognizing legitimate political views that might be distasteful to some, Maxwell said. Theres a balance between McCarthyist behavior and letting Nidal Hasan get to the point where he executes a mass shooting, agreed Texas National Guard Maj. Travis Pendleton, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think it was pretty well documented that there were multiple red flags with Hasans interactions with other personnel public statements, written statements, email traffic, things like that. He was on everybodys radar. Corn, the law professor, said the military doesnt have to justify scrutinizing social media because those posting on platforms like Facebook and Twitter have no privacy protections. But unlike social media, email messages are protected by the Fourth Amendment unless its an official government account. Troops with security clearances submit to background investigations, he said, so theres no legal impediment to screening them. Charges filed: Bakery owner is third Houston-area man arrested in connection with Capitol riot Theres no rampant extremism in the military, but the military is like the rest of our society where youre inevitably going to have a small percentage of individuals to either covertly sympathize with these groups or more directly become involved with them, Corm said. But its complicated because theres a fine line between constitutionally protected freedom of expression and association, even in the military, and conduct that compromises your fitness to continue to serve in the armed forces. Maxwell, a 30-year Army veteran, said ideology and beliefs cant be blocked by gates and checkpoints, especially in the information age. If the Pentagon tries to actively monitor online activity, he argued, it would play into extremist propaganda and offer a way for enemies overseas to tap into domestic discontent. If I was advising a foreign intelligence organization, I would start creating and providing false information about service members beliefs, Maxwell said. I would create deep fakes to implicate service members in extremist activity to cause overreactions by unit chains of command. This would be one of the most subversive actions that could be taken against modern military organizations in western democracies. sigc@express-news.net Its been a tough few weeks for restaurants, one of the states top sources of jobs. The usual slow season has combined with high levels of COVID and public perceptions that indoor dining rivals cliff-diving and ice-climbing as a death-defying activity. February brings hope on a few fronts. Many establishments now have their second installments of Paycheck Protection Program loans; Congress and President Joe Biden appear headed toward $25 billion in targeted aid to the industry. The best news of all, COVID-19 illnesses have fallen in Connecticut since the peak in mid-December. Gov. Ned Lamont extended a 10 p.m. nightly curfew by an hour. Normally the month that brings us the Super Bowl, Valentines Day and school vacations would deliver a least some highlights to restaurant owners and staff. But that perception gap remains huge. The state has made it worse, unfairly to restaurants, with a report on outbreaks that came out last month, which is still making waves. Simply put, the actual danger of eating inside a restaurant is not zero but its a whole lot less than what most people think it is. And that gap is keeping restaurants way less full than the law allows even as the economy recovers. Oh, Brian Jessurun can tell you all about that gap in his small group of restaurants in Mansfield, Pomfret and Putnam. Big media play Theres absolutly no evidence of significant outbreaks or community spread among restaurant customers outside their own groups. There isnt even publicly documented evidence of spread within restaurant customer groups friends and family from different households who sit at the same table though we suspect thats happening. And yet, on Jan. 4, two days before the siege on the U.S. Capitol, a major Connecticut news outlet had this headline in huge letters, played with maximum prominence: Restaurants still a top infection spot. It was based on a state report that appeared to show exactly that after epidemiologists looked at a very small sample of COVID clusters. Trouble is, the report showed nothing of the sort. Two of the four national network-affiliate TV stations in Connecticut ran stories about the report. Restaurants and workplaces top the number of clusters, one well-known, veteran news reporter said on the air. She then talked about risky behaviors, and interviewed a prominent infectious disease expert who warned people to wear masks in restaurants unless theyre actually eating and drinking. At another TV station, an anchor introduced a story: The Department of Public Health just released a report that takes a closer look at the coronavirus outbreaks here in our state and it shows restaurants, the workplace, nursing homes and child care facilities account for the highest number of clusters. The anchor then said the report was based on a small sample of cases and threw to a reporter who said the state is not making any policy decisions based on the data, and is not drawing any conclusions because the numbers were so small. By then, the damage was done. Not a scientific study Headlines like that are impactful, really impactful, said Jessurun, whose restaurants include Dog Lane Cafe at the Storrs Center across from the University of Connecticut campus. They erode our customer base, theres no doubt about it. The report from the state documented 84 clusters of COVID-19 cases, each one ranging in size from two to 67 cases. Restaurants accounted for 21 of those clusters, ranging in size from two cases to 16 cases. The median among the restaurant clusters was five cases. In all, the report looked at somewhere between 800 and 1,100 cases, according to my calculations it doesnt give totals, only medians within categories. Restaurant cases amounted to about 135 cases, maybe a bit more, maybe less. During the period of the report, from mid-July to Dec. 23, the state documented more than 120,000 cases. So the restaurant cases in the report amounted to perhaps one-tenth of 1 percent of the total. Well, you might say, all of social science research is based on taking tiny samples and making informed assumptions about the population, right? Election polls, unemployment numbers, attitudes toward religion or highway tolls all of it is based on small samples. True, but research is based on random samples of people, scientifically designed to reflect the whole. The state COVID outbreak report was not scientific, it was not randomized, it was not at any point ever intended to even be a study. It was just a collection of outbreaks that happened to bubble up to the state Department of Health. Restaurants are coming up a lot partly because the local health departments have purview over restaurants, said Dr. Lynn Sosa, deputy state epidemiologist. It is what came to our attention and so we would never say that this was representative of what was out there. An unintended wildfire I spoke with Dr. Sosa back in November, when an earlier version of the same report, containing 69 total outbreaks, showed a similar proportion in restaurants. There was a round of media coverage for that report, too, including an online story on the Hearst Connecticut Media websites. Hearst did not report on the January version that added 15 clusters for a total of 84. Large categories werent even included, such as schools, colleges and nursing homes. Think about this. Local health departments sent in examples of outbreaks they knew about. Local health departments regulate restaurants, so thats what they know. Ask me as a news columnist to name five examples of errors, and Ill list headlines that went on the wrong stories. Ask a doctor and shell cite medical errors. Ask a town health director where hes seeing COVID and, lo and behold, restaurants pop up. Thats not science. Science is a more rigorous study done by the state of Massachusetts, cited by the Connecticut Restaurant Association, which showed less than one-half of 1 percent of cases came from restaurant spread. Were trying to work hard in the winter months to build peoples confidence, Scott Dolch, head of the restaurant association, said in response to the report and coverage of it. That just starts a wildfire....Theres many restaurants that are extremely frustrated over this report. And those restaurants, Dolch and Jessurun said, are following all the state and federal guidelines for safety, with pretty good results. An accident of democracy What happened is an unfortunate result of democracy. People who work with information, including state health officials in a pandemic, gather lots of it and decide what to do with it later. Thats all that happened here. Sosa and her colleagues collected and compiled information. Sosa told me the vast majority of restaurant outbreaks were among employees, mostly back of the house, not customers. I cant say that there was a restaurant outbreak where a worker gave it to a patron, she said. An enterprising news reporter found out about the report in reality, just a compilation of arbitrary cases and demanded to see it. Under open-government laws, the department handed it over. During a public health crisis, its important to be as forthcoming as possible with information, public health department spokeswoman Maura Fitzgerald said in an emailed statement explaining the release of the report. This report was created for internal reporting purposes and was never intended for public consumption. However, when the information was requested, the decision was made to release it, along with a heavily caveated explanation of the report and how it should be interpreted. Rather than informal caveats, some of which were reported, Id have rather seen the department say something like, This collection of arbitrary cases is not even a report. It may help us do our jobs but it has zero statistical value, period. Instead, the report and the headlines it generated improperly hammered an industry trying to survive under conditions that are bad enough without errors of democracy. Jessurun at one point had half his staff quarantined at the Fenton River Grill in Mansfield and it turned out to be based on what might have been false positive tests. That, he could not have avoided. This report was a different story. dhaar@hearstmediact.com A recently released economic report confirmed what many people already, that the private sector lost a lot of money and as a result either fur Read more While the advice itself was much more lackluster than the mockery in both cases the wisdom the couple passed on was borderline dismissive while the one-liners and jabs were consistently sharp the premise itself is a solid one. The couples' therapy comedy structure not only plays into the self-centered indulgence of audience members looking for the limelight, it creates an opportunity for reality show voyeurism for everyone else. It also highlights the relative rarity of a comedic couple with equally sharp chops sharing a stage. Press Release February 6, 2021 Gatchalian weighs in on 'no fail policy' in distance learning A 'no fail policy' in schools? The policy's long-term impact may do more harm than good to the academic performance of learners, Senator Win Gatchalian stressed. "Hindi ako sang-ayon diyan dahil may mga bata talagang mahina, halimbawa, sa Math, Reading, o sa Science. Dapat nating malaman 'yun para matulungan natin sila. Kung ipapasa mo lahat, paano mo malalaman kung saan siya mahina?" Gatchalian asked. "Imbes na matulungan natin sila, lalo lang natin silang pahihirapan pag-akyat na sa susunod na baitang. Yung mga pagsasanay sa iba't-ibang mga subjects ay para malaman kung saan po sila mahina," he added. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture emphasized that the goal of continuing education, even amidst challenging conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, is to ensure that the country's more than 25 million learners in the basic education sector are learning enough and will be adequately prepared for their next level of schooling. Gatchalian also reiterated that the assessment of learners should focus not only on the competencies that they are acquiring, but also in areas where they are struggling. This would help schools target learners in rolling out remedial programs to address learning gaps and losses. Learners who proceed to the next grade level without receiving interventions in areas where they are weak will continue underperforming, the lawmaker warned. Gatchalian recalled that K to 12 learners are already struggling in mastering basic competencies before the COVID-19 pandemic, recalling the results of three international large scale assessments: the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) 2019, and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019. Filipino learners trailed behind their global counterparts in all three assessments. In a recent hearing at the House of Representatives, officials from the Department of Education (DepEd) rejected the proposal anew to implement a no fail policy system. # # # Gatchalian: 'no fail policy' makapipinsala sa distance learning Imbes na makatulong sa mga mag-aaral, maaaring maging hadlang pa ang "no fail policy" sa epektibong pagkatuto ng mga mag-aaral sa pagpapatupad ng distance learning. Ito ang payahag ni Senador Win Gatchalian sa kabila ng mga panawagang ipasa ang lahat ng mga mag-aaral sa kalagitnaan ng pandemya ng COVID-19. "Hindi ako sang-ayon diyan dahil may mga bata talagang mahina, halimbawa, sa Math, Reading, o sa Science. Dapat nating malaman 'yun para matulungan natin sila. Kung ipapasa mo lahat, paano mo malalaman kung saan siya mahina?" ani Gatchalian. "Imbes na matulungan natin sila, lalo lang natin silang pahihirapan pag-akyat na sa susunod na baitang. Yung mga pagsasanay sa iba't-ibang mga subjects ay para malaman kung saan po sila mahina," dagdag na pahayag ng senador. Ayon sa Chairman ng Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, ang layunin ng sektor ng edukasyon sa pagpapatupad ng distance learning sa kabila ng mga hamong dinulot ng pandemya ay tiyakin ang kahandaan ng mga mag-aaral para sa susunod na antas ng kanilang pag-aaral. Binigyang diin ni Gatchalian ang papel ng assessment upang matukoy ang mga aspeto kung saan natututo ang mga mag-aaral at saan nila kakailanganin ng tulong. Kapag nasuri nang husto ang kaalaman ng mga mag-aaral, matutukoy ng mga paaralan kung sino ang mga dapat lumahok sa mga remedial program. Para kay Gatchalian, ang mga mag-aaral na umakyat sa susunod na baitang nang hindi natututo ng husto ay lalo lamang mahihirapan. Paalala ng mambabatas, ipinakita ng tatlong international assessments na hirap na ang mga mag-aaral ng bansa bago pa tumama ang pandemya. Ang mga pag-aaral na ito ay ang 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), ang Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) 2019, at ang Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Batay sa resulta ng mga naturang pag-aaral, nahuhuli ang mga mag-aaral na Pilipino kung ihahambing sa mga mag-aaral ng ibang bansa. Kamakailan naman ay ipinahayag ng mga opisyal ng Department of Education (DepEd) sa isang pagdinig sa Kamara na hindi sila pabor sa no fail policy. 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 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. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Samuel Corum/Getty In 1964, historian Richard Hofstadter published a prescient essay titled, The Paranoid Style in American Politics. Hofstadter was writing in the days of the John Birch Society and conspiracy theories about fluoridation of municipal water supplies. He states at the outset that he purposefully chooses the word paranoid ... because no other word adequately evokes the qualities of heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy that I have in mind. Fast forward to December 2020 to witness 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives lend their names in support of a whack-job state of Texas lawsuit to obliterate the election results of four other states. Or, three weeks later, see 139 GOP House members vote to invalidate Pennsylvanias certified election results after the assault on our Capitol. Advertisement The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South African mutated variant, early data from a small study claimed to show last night in a development that will raise anxiety about global inoculation efforts. A small trial of just 2,026 people in South Africa found the jab had 'limited efficacy' in protecting against mild and moderate disease caused by the mutant strain, which has been found in 11 people in the UK who have not recently travelled from abroad. However nobody died or was hopitalised during the study by South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University, which has not yet been published but has been seen by the Financial Times. The pharmaceutical giant said scientists have already begun adapting the vaccine to kill the new variant, with hopes a booster shot will be ready by autumn if required. Astrazeneca said it remains confident that its vaccine can prevent severe disease caused by the variant- and pointed out that the trial could not measure its effectiveness at preventing severe disease caused by the mutant strain because the median age of participants was 31. Nevertheless, the announcement will increase global government's temptation to introduce stricter border controls to control the spread of coronavirus variants - at least until updated vaccines are available or the threat is shown to be manageable. Experts also said that T-cell immunity - which was not measured by the South African trial - may remain intact against the South African variant. The UK is currently conducting mass testing in eleven areas where the variant has been found. An AstraZeneca spokesman said: 'In this small phase I/II trial, early data has shown limited efficacy against mild disease primarily due to the B.1.351 South African variant. 'However, we have not been able to properly ascertain its effect against severe disease and hospitalisation given that subjects were predominantly young healthy adults.' Half the trial were given a placebo in the trial, meaning the effects of the vaccine were tested on just 1,113 people. A testing blitz is underway in parts of the country after 11 cases of the South African variant were identified in people who had no links to travel - suggesting it may be spreading in communities Staff instruct a person on how to carry out a Covid-19 test at a mobile testing unit during a testing blitz to track the South African variant The median age of the trial's participants was 31, an age at which one is very unlikely to fall seriously ill with Covid-19. A spokesman also told the FT: ' We do believe our vaccine could protect against severe disease, as neutralising antibody activity is equivalent to that of other Covid-19 vaccines that have demonstrated activity against more severe disease, particularly when the dosing interval is optimised to 8-12 weeks'. Coronavirus has mutated thousands of times during the course of the pandemic which is normal behaviour for a virus. But scientists are concerned in particular about three variants which evidence suggests are highly transmissible; the ones first detected in Kent, South Africa and Brazil. The South African variant, which has been detected across the world including in the UK, appears to be proving the most immune to vaccines. American pharmaceutical firms Johnson and Johnson and Novavax have both reported their shots are less effective against the strain. Similarly, Moderna is manufacturing a booster shot to its vaccine regimen to tackle the variant, while the Pfizer-BioNTech jab was also reportedly less effective. Britain has bought 100million doses of the home-grown Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and is currently rolling it out to millions. At the same time a testing blitz is underway in parts of the country after 11 cases of the variant were identified in people who had no links to travel - suggesting it may be spreading in communities. Worcestershire become the latest area to start surge testing after the South African coronavirus variant was detected locally. Worcestershire County Council has set up surge testing in the WR3 postcode after cases of the variant with no links to international travel were identified. A mobile testing unit has been set up at The White Hart pub in Fernhill Heath, near Worcester, for adults with no symptoms living within walking distance. A drive-through testing site is planned to open in the coming days, and door-to-door testing will also be made available. Worcestershire County Council said: 'Working in partnership with NHS Test and Trace, every person over the age of 18, living in the WR3 postcode and some WR9 postcodes, is strongly encouraged to take a Covid-19 test this week, even if they are not showing symptoms.' Dr Kathryn Cobain, director for public health in the county, said: 'I urge everyone offered a test to take it up to help us to monitor the virus in our communities and to help suppress and control the spread of this variant.' Door-to-door and mobile testing began at the start of the month as part of urgent efforts to swab 80,000 people. 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 Worcestershire County Council has set up surge testing in the WR3 postcode after cases of the variant with no links to international travel were identified Testing of around 10,000 people in Maidstone, Kent, was completed on Thursday night. In Surrey, testing in Woking was expected to finish on Friday with door-to-door deliveries in Egham and Thorpe due to begin on Saturday. Sefton Council said efforts to identify the variant in the Norwood area of Southport in Merseyside would continue into the weekend. Testing in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, is being rolled out for another week until February 12, the council said. Around 10,300 people in Walsall have been tested so far and some 560 tests had been conducted in the affected areas in Birmingham, the West Midlands Combined Authority was told. Mobile testing units and home testing kits were also deployed this week to Hanwell, west London and Mitcham, south London. Testing will also continue into next week in Tottenham, north London. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE SOUTH AFRICAN VARIANT? Real name: B.1.351 When was it discovered? Nelson Mandela Bay, in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, in mid-December. What mutations does it have? The South African variant carries 21 mutations, some of which change the shape of the spike protein on its outside. The two worrying alterations are known as E484K and N501Y. Why is it causing panic? N501Y appears to make it better able to stick to the cells inside the body and makes it more likely to cause infection and faster to spread. This is the same mutation found on the Kent variant, which is at least 50 per cent more infectious than regular Covid. The variant has mutations on its spike protein which scientists fear will make it difficult for the immune system to recognise, even in vaccinated people Scientists believe E484K may be associated with an ability to evade parts of the immune system called antibodies. Researchers suspect this is the case because strains with this mutation have been shown to reinfect people who caught and beat older versions of Covid. How many people have caught it in the UK? At least 143 Brits have been infected with this variant, though the number is likely to be far higher because PHE is only testing random positive samples. Will it affect vaccines? So far Pfizer and Moderna's jabs appear only slightly less effective against the South African variant. Researchers took blood samples from vaccinated patients and exposed them to an engineered virus with the worrying mutations found on the South African variant. They found there was a noticeable reduction in the production of antibodies, which are virus-fighting proteins made in the blood after vaccination or natural infection, but still enough to kill off the mutant strain. There are still concerns about how effective a single dose of vaccine will be against the strain. So far Pfizer and Moderna's studies have only looked at how people given two doses react to the South African variant, Studies into Oxford University/AstraZeneca's jab and the South African strain are still ongoing. Johnson & Johnson confirmed that its single shot jab blocked 57 per cent of coronavirus infections in South Africa, which meets the World Health Organization's 50 per cent efficacy threshold. Advertisement Covid infections must fall by another 95% to 1,000 a day before lockdown is lifted, says the NHS: Hospitals chief writes to Boris urging him to wait before easing restrictions after SAGE warned of FOURTH wave causing more than 1,000 deaths a day Boris Johnson must wait until there are fewer than 1,000 Covid infections a day before lifting lockdown, NHS bosses and scientists have warned. Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, is set to write to the Prime Minister and urge him not to lift the restrictions or face another unmanageable increase of infections - despite 22% of all over-18s in the UK now having been vaccinated. SAGE modelling has also predicted a fourth wave of more than 1,000 deaths a day in Spring if restrictions are lifted completely - or eased too quickly - when the rules are set to be reviewed on March 8. The governments scientific advisers believe there could be a further 130,000 deaths between now and June next year, taking the total close to 250,000. The scientists fear that although the most vulnerable Britons will have received a dose of vaccine by the time restrictions are lifted, the virus could still hospitalise a large number of un-vaccinated younger people. And although the government is on track to vaccinate the over-70s by February 15 they believe infections could prove severe in the small percentage of recipients in whom the vaccine does not block symptoms. Hospitalisations are falling rapidly but there are still 29,326 patIents in hospital with coronavirus in the UK. Mr Hopson said in the Sunday Times: "We have crested the peak but we're only just beginning the descent. 'We're still at a dangerously high altitude where the NHS is under great pressure and the thing we know is the descent is going to be much slower because people are taking longer to recover. It's going to take months, not days and weeks.' The UK announced another 18,262 coronavirus infections yesterday meaning they would have to fall another 95% to bring the numbers down to the 1,000 case threshold. Currently infections are dropping at approximately 20% a week. But lockdown sceptic Tory MPs are pushing for the restrictions to be lifted as soon as possible - arguing that the vaccine will prevent most serious cases. Mark Harper, who chairs the Tory MP Covid Recovery Group (CRG), said: 'These top nine groups [of over-50s who should be vaccinated by Spring ] account for around 99 per cent of those that have died from Covid and about 80 per cent of hospital admissions. 'It will be almost impossible to justify having any restrictions in place at all by that point.' Mr Johnson is set to unveil his road map out of lockdown towards the end of the month, with hopes the return of schools from March 8 can be followed by allowing mixing outdoors, with bars and restaurants freed up over the summer. In other developments: Real-world data is set to show next week that infections among the over-80s are falling and those who have received one dose of vaccine have a high level of protection, according to the deputy head of the JCVI The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South African variant, early data showed last night in a blow to global inoculation efforts. Britain's daily death toll has also plunged - with 828 fatalities recorded today. The figure is 31 per cent lower than the 1,200 seen on this day last week. Ministers are drawing up a 'jabs at work' blitz to vaccinate millions of under-50s in rapid time, it emerged last night. Plans to deploy roving teams of vaccinators to workplaces across the UK were revealed to be under consideration in government. Sources said it would help accelerate the rollout, which is currently taking place in hospitals, GPs, and makeshift vaccination hubs. The Government this week revealed its ambition to have offered all over-50s their first dose by May - although insiders suggested this could be sooner. It would mean the nine priority groups of the 33million who account for 99 per cent of Covid deaths would have been inoculated and start gaining some protection against the disease. University of Warwick research published in January, before the current vaccination data became available, 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. But it predicts a large fourth wave if measure are eased too quickly Real life data shows the vaccine IS saving lives in the UK: Real-world data shows inoculations ARE reducing infections and deaths, top advisor reveals Data collected on the first rollout of the Covid vaccine justifies the Government's decision to delay the second dose, according to an expert. Professor Anthony Harnden, of the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation, says those already given the jab are experiencing high levels of protection from their first dose. And the data, set to be published next week by Public Health England, shows infection rates in those over the age of 80 have fallen in the past month. Advertisement The warning by the NHS chief coincided with one of the Governments most senior vaccine advisers saying there is promising evidence that justifies the decision to extend the gap between the first and second dose of the Covid jab from three to 12 weeks. Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said last night that people were showing high levels of protection from the first dose, which was reducing infections and saving lives. The Covid-19 vaccine rollout in the UK is nothing short of a triumph, he told The Sunday Times. The Governments strategy to extend the interval between the two doses means we have been able to protect more people and undoubtedly save more lives. We have seen promising evidence that people get high levels of protection from the first dose. Data from Public Health England, due for release within days, is expected to show infection rates in the over-80s has plunged in the past month. The World Health Organisation recommends that the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine be delayed for a maximum of only six weeks, while the European Medicines Agency says it should be only three weeks. Prof Harndens comments follow the latest figures show the Prime Minister is on course to hit his target of 15 million first vaccine doses by Valentines Day. As the Government said yesterday that a further 494,163 jabs have been given bringing the total to 11,465,210 there was growing confidence that Boris Johnsons ambition to vaccinate the most vulnerable priority groups before February 15 would be met. The average daily number of first vaccinations given over the past week is 440,896 meaning the 15 million landmark could be hit inside a week. Growing anticipation of reaching the milestone came as the number of reported deaths fell to 828, down 31 per cent on a week ago, and new infections dropped by a fifth to 18,262. WHERE IS DOOR-TO-DOOR TESTING BEING OFFERED IN HUNT FOR SOUTH AFRICAN VARIANT? Door-to-door testing has been ordered in 11 authorities London W7: Hanwell (South African variant) N17: Tottenham (South African variant) CR4: Mitcham (South African variant) West Midlands WS2: Walsall (South African variant) WR3: Worcestershire (South African variant) WR9: Worcestershire (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 Dr Clive Dix, chairman of the vaccines taskforce, said he was very optimistic of giving jabs to all over-50s by May. He added Britain would be ahead of the game in anticipating variants of coronavirus. However, concern about the impact of mutations of Covid-19 was underlined as so-called surge testing for the South Africa variant was extended to two areas of Worcestershire. Yesterday the UK has recorded 18,262 new coronavirus cases - down a fifth in just one week. In a sign that the UK's third national lockdown has slowed the spread of a highly-infectious Covid-19 variant, today's daily case total is down 21.5 per cent on the 23,275 seen last Saturday. How to quickly administer injections to the UK's remaining adults - and who should go first - remains a live discussion in Whitehall. According to the Telegraph, key workers such as teachers, supermarket workers and delivery drivers would be first in line for the second wave of jabs. Cabinet sources told the paper that mobile vaccination units would tour workplaces inoculating these essential staff. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is tasked with breaking down the remaining under-50s into priority order. Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said last week: 'This could include first responders, the military, those involved in the justice system, teachers, transport workers, and public servants essential to the pandemic response.' Teachers in particular are expected to be at the front of the queue for the second phase of the rollout as schools are due to reopen on March 8. But global inoculation efforts were dealt a blow last night as early data showed the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South African variant. A small trial of just 2,026 people found the jab had 'limited efficacy' in protecting against mild and moderate disease caused by the mutant strain. The pharmaceutical giant said scientists will now start adapting the vaccine to kill the new variant, with hopes it will be ready by autumn. Nobody died or was hopitalised during the study by South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University, which has not yet been published but has been seen by the Financial Times. An AstraZeneca spokesman said: 'In this small phase I/II trial, early data has shown limited efficacy against mild disease primarily due to the B.1.351 South African variant. 'However, we have not been able to properly ascertain its effect against severe disease and hospitalisation given that subjects were predominantly young healthy adults.' Britain has bought 100million doses of the home-grown Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and is currently rolling it out to millions. At the same time a testing blitz is underway in parts of the country after 11 cases of the variant were identified in people who had no links to travel - suggesting it may be spreading in communities. A million people in the North West of England have been told to take a Covid test if they have a runny nose, as part of a clampdown on the mutated virus detected in the region. A mobile testing unit has been set up at The White Hart pub in Fernhill Heath, near Worcester, for adults with no symptoms living within walking distance, a drive-through testing site will open and door-to-door testing will be rolled out. Worcestershire County Council said: 'Working in partnership with NHS Test and Trace, every person over the age of 18, living in the WR3 postcode and some WR9 postcodes, is strongly encouraged to take a Covid-19 test this week, even if they are not showing symptoms.' Meanwhile, residents in the Liverpool city region, Preston and Lancashire have been urged by health bosses to get swabbed if they have even the slightest suspicion they are ill. It comes after more than 40 cases of an altered strain of the original virus - which carries a mutation experts fear makes vaccines less potent - was spotted in the three areas. Yesterday, it was revealed that passengers arriving in Britain from countries not on the Covid hotspot list could have to take up to four tests during their at-home isolation period, it emerged last night. Earlier this week, the Government confirmed that all passengers from the 33 'red list' countries would have to quarantine for ten days in a hotel from February 15. And now, travellers arriving from countries not on the list - who have to isolate for ten days at home - face three mandatory Covid tests during their isolation. A fourth test taken half-way through quarantine could allow travellers to be let out early. All the tests must be paid for by the traveller. Those who fail to take the mandatory tests face fines. It is unclear how much the tests will cost, but private patients can fork out around 150 on one currently. It has also emerged that as ministers struggled to find accommodation for passengers forced to quarantine after arriving from virus hotspots, this newspaper found hundreds of asylum seekers housed at a large hotel near Heathrow Airport; In an article for the MoS, the bosses of Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester Airports Group issued a plea for financial support and revealed they are losing 50 million a week; Hundreds of school staff have been vaccinated by mistake after messages apparently inviting them for jabs were circulated on WhatsApp; In Israel, one of few countries to rival the UK for the speed and scale of its vaccine roll-out, officials revealed that coronavirus cases had plunged since it started to administer the second Pfizer dose on January 10. Daily case rates for over-60s have fallen by 46 per cent compared with the mid-January peak, while hospital admissions have dropped by 35 per cent. Professor Eran Segal, a biologist at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, said: We say with caution, the magic has started. Real life data shows the vaccine IS saving lives in the UK: Real-world data shows inoculations ARE reducing infections and deaths, top advisor reveals By Anthony Thrower for MailOnline Data collected on the first rollout of the Covid vaccine justifies the Government's decision to delay the second dose, according to an expert. Professor Anthony Harnden, of the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation, says those already given the jab are experiencing high levels of protection from their first dose. And the data, set to be published next week by Public Health England, shows infection rates in those over the age of 80 have fallen in the past month. It comes as the number of people given the jab rises above 11million. Professor Harnden said in the Sunday Times: 'The Covid-19 vaccine rollout in the UK is nothing short of a triumph. 'The Government's strategy to extend the interval between the two doses means we have been able to protect more people and undoubtedly save more lives.' Last week Boris Johnson praised the NHS for its 'colossal' effort to vaccinate 10million Brits against Covid. Saluting 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 on track to hitting its goal of giving the first vaccine dose to the 14million most vulnerable Brits by February 15. And with cases and deaths easing and the rollout of jabs surging ahead of schedule, Boris Johnson is said to have ordered a ramping up of preparations for children to get back in classrooms from March 8. Covid 'is a gift that keeps on giving': Labour shadow attorney general is caught on tape saying pandemic is GOOD for rich City lawyers - leaving Keir Starmer facing furious backlash By Glen Owen, political editor for the Mail on Sunday Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is facing a backlash after one of his most senior frontbenchers described the Covid pandemic as a 'gift that keeps on giving' for lawyers. Lord Falconer, the Shadow Attorney General, used the phrase during a briefing for a top City firm staffed by millionaire lawyers. The peer insists that he was referring to changes in the law triggered by the crisis, but a source close to the Labour grandee said that he regretted his choice of words. Last night, Lord Falconer's comments were seized on by the Conservatives, with party chairman Amanda Milling describing it as a 'troubling' example of Labour's approach to the pandemic. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is facing a backlash after one of his most senior frontbenchers described the Covid pandemic as a 'gift that keeps on giving' for lawyers. Lord Falconer (right), the Shadow Attorney General, used the phrase during a briefing for a top City firm staffed by millionaire lawyers As well as being a full-time member of the Shadow Cabinet, Lord Falconer who served as Tony Blair's Lord Chancellor is a partner at the international law firm Gibson Dunn, where his duties have included leading its Covid-19 UK Task Force. Labour declined to reveal details of Lord Falconer's pay at the company, although it was reported in 2019 that full partners at the firm took home an average of 2.5 million a year. The embarrassment comes after a torrid week for Starmer, who had to apologise to Boris Johnson for making false accusations in the Commons. The Labour leader had called it 'complete nonsense' for the Prime Minister to claim that Starmer had wanted Britain's vaccines to remain under the regulation of the European Medicines Agency post-Brexit. He later had to admit the charge was true. Constituency Labour parties have also reportedly been drawing up censure motions against Starmer as they lose faith in his ability to win a General Election. The most recent opinion poll put the Conservatives three points ahead of Labour, while one survey found that just 16 per cent of people thought Starmer would have done a better job in handling the pandemic than Johnson. The Labour leader had called it 'complete nonsense' for the Prime Minister to claim that Starmer had wanted Britain's vaccines to remain under the regulation of the European Medicines Agency post-Brexit. He later had to admit the charge was true As well as being a full-time member of the Shadow Cabinet, Lord Falconer who served as Tony Blair's Lord Chancellor is a partner at the international law firm Gibson Dunn, where his duties have included leading its Covid-19 UK Task Force. Labour declined to reveal details of Lord Falconer's pay at the company, although it was reported in 2019 that full partners at the firm took home an average of 2.5 million a year. (Above, Lord Falconer in 1997 when he was Tony Blair's Solicitor General) In a recording obtained by The Mail on Sunday, Lord Falconer can be heard introducing a Gibson Dunn 'webinar' on 'how the law has been changed by Covid' by saying: 'This is a gift that keeps on giving, the law keeps on changing, keeps on getting more complicated, and is always interesting.' By the time of the webinar, on June 29, in the UK some 43,575 people had died with coronavirus, with the country established as the worst-hit nation in Europe. Lord Falconer, who also once shared a flat with Mr Blair, inhabits a world which contrasts starkly with that of voters in those 'Red Wall' seats in the Midlands and the North which Labour hopes to reclaim from the Tories at the next Election. In September, Starmer's Shadow Education Secretary, Kate Green (above), called the pandemic a 'good crisis' which Labour could exploit Last year, three partners at Gibson Dunn, which has 20 offices worldwide, wrote an article for a legal journal which advised private equity firms on how to invest in the 'distressed environment' of Covid. It started: 'The current Covid-19 pandemic while providing unprecedented challenges for many portfolio companies will also present some unique investment opportunities to invest in distressed businesses.' The article suggested the 'strategic purchase of debt as a path to obtaining control' of failing firms. Lord Falconer, who was appointed to Labour's front bench last April, is a member of the Privy Council, which technically entitles him to receive sensitive Government information although there is no suggestion that he has ever used the privilege for commercial advantage. The source close to Lord Falconer said of his opening comments last night: 'Charlie was referring to the pace at which the Government is making changes to the law. 'He regrets his choice of words, which he understands could be misinterpreted.' A source present at the meeting said: 'Lord Falconer's comments to a group of legal advisers were solely about it being an interesting time to study the law.' In September, Starmer's Shadow Education Secretary, Kate Green, called the pandemic a 'good crisis' which Labour could exploit. She said: 'I think we should use the opportunity, don't let a good crisis go to waste. We can really see now what happens when you under-resource schools, when you under-resource families.' Last night, Ms Milling said: 'One Shadow Minister previously said this awful pandemic was a 'good crisis' for the Labour Party. Now these troubling comments by another Shadow Minister emerge. 'All of this sums up Labour's approach throughout the pandemic, which has been to play politics at every opportunity.' New Orleans' chief tourism promoter is blaming residents for Mayor LaToya Cantrell's new orders closing bars and major public gathering spots in the final days of the Mardi Gras season, and is encouraging visitors to come to town to celebrate Carnival. Our own residents created a dilemma for government, New Orleans & Co. CEO Stephen Perry said Friday in an email to the agency's members. It wasnt the small number of responsible tourists we have been hosting or the majority of our citizens and businesses. All New Orleans bars closed for Mardi Gras, access restricted to major streets under new rules Bars will be closed, people will have to pass through checkpoints to get to major Carnival gathering spots like Bourbon and Frenchman streets, Perry called Cantrell's decision to close bars, ban go-cup liquor sales and block off popular areas at night highly problematic, saying it will hurt small businesses and compromise his agency's brand with awkward city messaging. But this is where we are when locals do dumb things and compliance and quick response from the city is weak or nonexistent in real time, Perry wrote. In an interview Saturday, Perry said "95% of New Orleanians do a great job and conduct themselves well and listen to the mayor and have listened to national leaders." His said his email referred to households mixing and spreading the coronavirus, which fueled many outbreaks during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's holidays, and to large groups of unmasked people in bars popular among young adults. "What the mayor has been so frustrated with, we agree with," Perry said. "And that is that there are small groups of people in New Orleans [that] just continue to defy logic and won't wear masks. ... It's the mixing of households. Its getting together in large numbers without social distancing." In the email, Perry said it was unfortunate that young people, college students in particular, and many other area residents did not follow safety rules and held large, maskless gatherings. He referred to recent social media posts showing people gathering on Bourbon Street and in a favorite bar of all ours. 'Unacceptable': LaToya Cantrell condemns video of packed Bourbon Street amid coronavirus New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrells office Sunday called a video showing a large crowd of people packed onto Bourbon Street this weekend unac Perry said he meant Monkey Hill, an Uptown bar recently under fire when a private party for 40 people ballooned to a much larger event. "To me, getting together with large groups of people cramming into a space without safety protocols is a dumb personal decision," Perry said Saturday. "Its bad for the economy and disrespectful for family and friends." 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 New Orleans and Co. is a private tourism promotion company that is partly publicly funded and acts as a marketing agency for the city. Perry's email went to about 1,000 members, spokesperson Kelly Schulz said. Perry told members, which include hotel and restaurant executives, to encourage friends and customers to visit New Orleans for what remains of Carnival. He said tourists should still come and may even have more fun than ever. The email was sent the day after Louisiana officials warned that another coronavirus surge is likely because of a more infectious variant newly circulating in the state. At least one U.K. coronavirus variant case found at Tulane University, officials say Less than a week after Tulane University reported its highest-ever spike in daily coronavirus cases, the university said the recent surge has The variant, known as B.1.1.7, is thought to be as much as 50% more transmissible than the coronavirus that detected in the U.S. in early 2020 and has become the dominant strain in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Scientists are reviewing evidence suggesting it might be more deadly. Gov. John Bel Edwards on Thursday told Louisiana residents to enjoy Carnival but to limit gatherings to their own household members. Theres not much enjoyment when you find out that someone contracted COVID at one of these gatherings," Edwards said. "And then theres even less enjoyment the next time you gather and that individual isn't there because they're in the hospital or dead." +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 Louisiana recorded 1,000 COVID-19 deaths in three weeks because of gatherings, traveling and activities related to the fall and winter holidays, Edwards said. New Orleans & Co. will launch messaging between now and Mardi Gras on safety and responsible behavior, underlining that restaurants and hotels are still open. "Our overriding goal is to keep this city as safe as possible and at same time have our businesses operate in safest manner they possibly can," Perry said. KALAMAZOO, MI With so much snow falling on the west side of the state, some Kalamazoo residents set out to make the best of it Saturday. Maple Street Magnet School of the Arts in Kalamazoo has a sizable hill on its grounds, suitable for sledding, attracting families looking to get out in the snow. Its been nice being out here in the snow, said Brad Rowgo of Kalamazoo. It finally gave us an opportunity to get out of the house and get the kids out doing something. Rowgo and his two sons were among a handful of families who braved the cold weather to enjoy the site, which has a large open field for kids to play in as parents watch from atop the hill. View photos in the gallery above. More snow was expected Saturday night, up to 4 inches in some parts of West Michigan, with temperatures as low as 9 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. A bubble tea store where a young female employee was allegedly slapped and kicked to the ground has been dealt another blow with a late-night break in. Police are investigating whether the damage to the security shutter at the Fun Tea store in Adelaide's CBD just after midnight on Sunday was vandalism or an attempted burglary. 'Police searched the interior of the building, but no person was located and it's unclear if anything has been stolen during the break in,' police said. Investigations continue as police urge anyone with information to contact them. The latest incident occurred several days after shocking footage emerged of man allegedly assaulting a female employee, 20, which made national headlines. Police are investigating a break in at Fun Tea in Adelaide early Sunday morning. Pictured is the damaged roller security door A man, 39, has since been charged over the January 29 incident. The store is also at the centre of a Fair Work Ombudsman investigation following allegations of wage theft. Crowds have protested outside the store in recent days calling for urging better wage protections for vulnerable workers such as migrants and international students. Messages of 'Equalitea' written in chalk on the footpath outside the store remained on Sunday. The Fun Tea store broke its silence last week to deny the alleged attack was over a pay dispute. The business claims the man was a customer who had previously got into an argument with the female worker, 20. A man was charged with assault after he allegedly slapped and kicked a female worker at the Fun Tea store on Gouger Street, Adelaide on January 29 The store is also at the centre of a Fair Work ombudsman investigation following allegations of wage theft. Pictured are protesters outside the store last week 'During the incident, one of our four female employees was allegedly struck by a customer,' the statement from the business read. 'The incident arose following a previous verbal argument which the female employee had had with the customer. 'The management and owners of Fun Tea deplore violence of any sort, and have zero tolerance for assaults or violence. 'The person arrested is not an employee of Fun Tea or related to Fun Tea'. The Fun Tea store where the alleged assault took place claims the man charged over the incident is not a worker of the business Police 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 in Adelaide Magistrates Court on May 7. Police investigations into the alleged assault ongoing. 'The public would have perhaps seen the footage and may have been horrified by what the saw but let's wait for the court case and see how that pans out,' Assistant Commander Linda Fellows said. The one who left the people to the mercy of fate is the so-called 'power of the people', former Armenian Ambassador to the Vatican Mikael Minasyan wrote on his Facebook. A ghost is wandering around Armenia: it is the ghost of indifference. And while a part of the Armenian people continues to wait for a miracle, staying in a lethargic dream, with the psychology of a man "boiling in the cauldron" of his own grief, the bastard, clinging to the prime minister's chair, continues to give his homeland to the Turks," he said. "Three months after the surrender, when it seemed that there was nothing more to surrender, the enemy continued to freely occupy the heights of Syunik [province of Armenia - ed.], and the residents of Syunik was again left alone in front of the Azerbaijani military and their GPS." "And it's even unnecessary to talk about Artsakh: it de facto does not exist - When free Artsakh is now controlled by Russian and Turkish military personnel. The rest is lyrics." "I propose to honestly answer the question: do you know any other country whose capitulating prime minister, a few months after 5,000 victims, thousands of wounded and prisoners, lies and betrayal, is still trying to show signs of life, presenting on this path as a "major achievement" another sharp increase in public debt, or is it staging street shows to convince, first, itself, and then its ignorant circle that it enjoys "popular support"?," Minasyan added referring to the PM Nikol Pashinyan. "Do you know what a normal government would do? First, it would not allow the disaster to reach such proportions, then it would fight for every centimeter of land and every life, break down the doors of international organizations, and haunt foreign diplomats and allies." "What are they [the current authorities - ed.] doing? They cynically declare that one should forget about whose land it is, who started the war because for them the enemy and the issue of Armenia is not the Turks, but the opposition. They are ready to give up everything for the sake of their own chair, because they have neither past nor dignity, and after losing their chair they will also have no future," ex-envoy added. Days after Sachin Tendulkar made comments in the wake remarks of some celebrities on the protest by farmers, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday asked the former Indian skipper Sachin Tendulkar to "exercise caution while speaking about other fields". "Many people (celebrities) have reacted sharply to the stand taken by them (farmers). My suggestion to Sachin Tendulkar is he should be cautious while commenting on fields other than his domain," Pawar told reporters here. Tendulkar had said after comments by a few international celebrities on farmers' protests that India's sovereignty cannot be compromised and external forces can be spectators but not participants "India's sovereignty cannot be compromised. External forces can be spectators but not participants. Indians know India and should decide for India. Let's remain united as a nation. #IndiaTogether #IndiaAgainstPropaganda," Tendulkar had tweeted on Wednesday. Pawar accused the central government of trying to defame the farmers' agitation. "The Central Government is trying to defame the farmers' agitation by calling them Khalistani and terrorists. It is not a good practice to insult the 'annadata' of the nation," he said. Pawar said if senior leaders like the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Nitin Gadkari come forward and speak with agitating farmers, a solution can be found. "If senior leaders take initiative, farmer leaders also need to sit with them," he said. "Since independence, it has never happened that protesters are stopped by putting nails on the streets. Earlier, people across the country were supporting protesting farmers. Now, people outside India are also showering their support to protesting farmers. The Government must introspect," he added. Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 last year against the three new 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. (ANI) Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have arrived in Ireland this afternoon, the HSE has confirmed. The delivery of 21,600 doses has been welcomed by the Health Minister, Stephen Donnelly, who has previously described the vaccine as a "game changer" due to ease of storage. Mr Donnelly said the vaccine arrived this afternoon from Belgium and is in storage at national cold chain store in Dublin. Healthcare workers are to receive the first doses on Monday, he said in a post on Twitter. Big day. The @HSELive has just sent me this video of the first 21600 doses of AstraZeneca arriving this afternoon from Belgium to the national cold chain store in Dublin. First doses to be given to healthcare workers on Monday. well done to all pic.twitter.com/b6KsgljCFG Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) February 6, 2021 However, the arrival of the first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine follows a decision to only vaccinate those in the vulnerable over-70s group with Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines after advice that AstraZeneca could be less effective in older people, due to lack of data on the effectiveness for that age cohort. This has led to changes to in vaccination programme following advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC). Approximately 21,600 doses have been received with the next batch due to arrive the following week. Picture: Marc O'Sullivan The Taoiseach Micheal Martin has admitted the move away from using AstraZeneca, which can be easily stored and administered by GPs, will pose challenges. "That will mean change in terms of the operation of the plan and will be a significant logistical challenge to the Health Service Executive, and they're currently working through the implications of this," Mr Martin said. admitted the move away from using AstraZeneca, which can be easily stored and administered by GPs, will pose challenges. "That will mean change in terms of the operation of the plan and will be a significant logistical challenge to the Health Service Executive, and they're currently working through the implications of this," Mr Martin said. The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca was the subject of furious scrutiny by the European Commission (EC) due to fears around reductions in vaccine delivery plans. A political back and forth blame game followed over contract agreements and yield issues in factory production between the company and the EC. Today's 21,600 doses are the first to arrive of the 190,000 doses scheduled for the month of February. It remains unclear how much of the final quantity of the scheduled 600,000 doses for the first quarter would arrive. We are disappointed the resources will not be assisting with floor monitoring work in the non-COVID complex care hotel, the spokesperson said. This deployment will support the increase in Victorias cap of international travellers but it will not assist in reducing the impact of hotel quarantine on use of Victoria Police resources, as the ADF have again declined requests to assist with floor monitoring in hotel quarantine. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The ADF has committed 216 additional troops over the coming weeks to help with Victorias expanded quarantine scheme after the Andrews government requested military support from the Commonwealth late last month. About 200 troops are currently working across 12 Victorian quarantine hotels. On Friday national cabinet agreed to raise the cap on international passenger arrivals from mid-February, with Victoria lifting the number of returned travellers by nearly 200 to 1310 a week. NSW and Queensland will double the number of arrivals they accept into their state to 3010 and 1000, respectively. Loading Im always happy to hear how the ADF can contribute more to Victorias program, Mr Foley said. I do draw the distinction between the high levels of assistance the ADF are providing in Sydney say to the somewhat lower levels of assistance they are providing in Victoria. There are about 235 ADF troops supporting NSWs hotel quarantine program, despite the Berejiklian government accepting more than twice as many returned travellers as Victoria, a federal government spokesman said. Announcing a planned increase in the numbers of returned travellers last month, Ms Neville said that it might be possible to increase its cap if the ADF provided more support. I would say it would certainly take the pressure off Victoria Police if the ADF played some more of those roles, but were working on the basis that they said no previously. The use of defence personnel was a major flashpoint last year during Victorias deadly second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. In late June, as Victoria was on the brink of the pandemics deadly second wave, Premier Daniel Andrews said the military would not be required to assist with the hotel quarantine program. The following day, the government said up to 1000 military personnel would be called in to assist, but by that evening the state changed its position again, and downsized its request for assistance. In late January, a federal Defence spokesman said Victoria had initiated preliminary discussions over increasing ADF numbers in the revamped quarantine hotel program. However, the spokesman intimated that the ADF would not be able to supplement police officers because the military did not have law enforcement powers in Victoria. Defence support [currently] includes assisting authorities process international arrivals prior to their commencement of quarantine, and screening and temperature checking hotel staff as they enter and exit these facilities, the spokesman said. Victorias hotel quarantine scheme is now being managed by COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria, with Victoria Police supervising and enforcing compliance at all hotels, with the support of ADF personnel. Some of the ADF troops arriving over the course of this month will help with the expanded program to assist Victoria Police who are working with international travellers when they arrive or leave hotels, as well as registering staff movements and checking the temperatures of workers before their shifts. Others are expected to provide relief to some of the existing personnel in Victoria. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Victoria recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 on Sunday for the third day in a row. There are 1200 people isolating as a result of a 26-year-old hotel quarantine worker who contracted the virus, most likely at work. COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said the expectation was that the state would need to record 14 days of no community transmission before it eased restrictions on the use of masks and indoor gatherings, as well as resuming its plans to allow 75 per cent of office-based staff to head back to work. Victorian businesses are paying the penalty for having an Australian Open for quarantining that hasnt been entirely successful, said AI Groups Tim Piper. Loading In the short-term the restrictions are having a marked impact because theres no potential for a return to any sense of business certainty, and in the medium term these companies that are totally reliant on office workers are not getting them so theres a danger the longer these small businesses are unable to attract customers, the less likely they are to remain viable. Mr Foley revealed the government was investigating whether to fit-test all hotel quarantine workers with N95 masks, and follow NSWs lead to bring in a day 16 test for returned travellers. He said a further layer of protection could be implemented in light of a New Zealand woman testing positive to coronavirus after leaving hotel quarantine in Auckland last month. Over the course of the weekend ... we have worked with interstate colleagues, particularly in light of the New Zealand issue, he said. Loading We worked closely with particularly NSW to make sure a 16-day test arrangement will be rolled out consistently. All the states have to co-operate very closely in this matter. We have seen from the wildly infectious developments of the variants of COVID-19, we have to be eternally vigilant and as the virus changes ... we have to change to stay ahead of it, Mr Foley said. Mr Foley said the Victorian government was investigating the implications of a joint Queensland Health and Queensland Police Service report into the Brisbane hotel quarantine worker who acquired the mutant British strain of the virus in January, as well as transmission between residents at Melbournes Park Royal hotel this week. Saturday, February 6, 2021 at 11:40PM by Claudio Alves In the past decade, Middle Eastern cinema has been having a moment among Oscar voters. At the very least, the cinema of Asghar Farhadi has earned AMPAS' attention. The director's A Separation and The Salesman won the trophies for Best International Feature, and the first film got an additional nomination for Best Original Screenplay. As for other countries from the region, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon have each won at least one nomination in the past ten years. I'm excited to see if this trend continues in the 2020s. With that in mind, let's delve into the films submitted for the 93rd Academy Awards by Iran, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia SUN CHILDREN (Iran) Some films feel like novels, even when they're the fruit of original scripts. The cinema of Arnaud Desplechin often features that quality, and I'm starting to think the same about the work of Iranian cineaste Majid Majidi. His latest, Sun Children, often comes off as a cinematic variation on Dickensian themes, a story of child misery in a merciless urban environment where innocent dreams collide violently with the harsh realities of an uncaring world. It revolves around Ali, a 12-year-old street urchin who spends most of his time small-time scams for a neighborhood crime lord. It's through that older man that the kid knows of a treasure hidden within the sewage pipes and tunnels that run underneath a local institution for impoverished minors, the Sun School. The plot is far from surprising, but its byzantine twists, turns, and tonal variations delight even as they horrify. The visual mastery of Majidi adds to the cinematic grandeur as it delineates a universe where several incompatible realities meet each other. There's the gritty chaos of the school, the melancholy of empty streets painted into palimpsests of squalor, the darkness within the bowels of the earth, the dream of a mall filled with promises of inaccessible wealth. Holding this all together is a broad, but intelligently grounded, performance by young Roohollah Zamani. The jury at the Venice Film Festival awarded him with the Marcello Mastroianni Award in 2020, and it's easy to see why. His is a face made for movie cameras, halfway between a cherub and the stern visage of a judgmental icon, stoic lines undercut by an emotional vulnerability that burns, lacerates. Even as it speeds to a gloomy conclusion, Sun Children never loses sight of its humanistic love for all the lives that step in front of the camera. Such qualities allow its nightmares to transcend exploitation and reach toward something more profound. B+ 200 METERS (Jordan) Mustafa lives an odd day-to-day existence, split between two nations, his soul sliced through by a militarized border that keeps him from the majority of his family. The man's wife and children live on Israeli land, only 200 meters from where the patriarch takes care of his old mother on the Occupied Territories. His construction work allows him to gain access to the other side, a professional umbilical cord uniting this devoted father to his children. However, one fateful day, that cord is snapped. His permit has expired, he can't enter Israel, he can't see the rest of his family. The fact his son has been taken to the hospital only galvanizes Mustafa's strong will, taking him on a picaresque odyssey to gain illicit access to the Israeli land. Played with utmost intensity by Ali Suliman, this distressed pater familias makes for a great protagonist. His plight serves as a synecdoche for his countrymen's collective dilemma, but there's enough specificity in the performance to elevate the character above a symbolic vacuum. Seeing Suliman negotiate through the dangerous situations in the story is as exciting as watching his moments of tenderness, silent intelligence, and weary compassion, even for those whose interests are precariously distant from his own. I'd love to say that the rest of the picture is up to the standards of its leading man, but 200 Miles fails to impress beyond the character of Mustafa. There's a wealth of needless side plots, unsurprising twists, a myriad of tense situations that feel more contrived than earned. All in all, 200 Meters is an engaging experience, anchored by a robust feat of acting that often drains cloying sentiment from the tender moments and allows the bleaker scenes to shine with humane generosity. B- SCALES (Saudi Arabia) Like an old legend shared from generation to generation or a fairytale recounted across centuries, Shahad Ameen's Scales could start with "once upon a time." The setting here is that of a barren island where hungry people live and nothing grows. To spare their families from death by starvation, the men have made a pact with the sea-dwelling creatures that surround the insular land. Their daughters are given to the mysterious beasts, sacrificed so that the fishermen may catch some food. One night, a man is unable to drown his beloved child, and so she grows under the rancorous gaze of everyone, including her mother, who blame her existence for their misery. When, upon the birth of another sibling, the father decides to give his oldest progeny to the waters, our doomed heroine fights back. Though it's barely feature-length, Scales often feels like a short padded within an inch of its life, every moment stretched well beyond reason. The characters remain as blurred sketches, unfinished and undefined, and none of the actors can breathe complex humanity into a feminist parable with roots in folklore. It's a pity that the result of the filmmakers' efforts is so unrewarding because there's a lot of talent evident in the formalism of the piece. Ameen knows how to use natural landscapes and textures to evoke an ominous mood and Portuguese cinematographer Joao Ribeiro delivers another visual tour-de-force, rendering the tale in silvery monochrome, making the rocky wasteland and dark waves into more present characters than the so-called protagonists. The intentions are commendable, the ideas have merit, and the execution shows cinematic promise, but Scales is never as good as the sum of its parts. C After it made a splash at the Venice Film Festival, Sun Children seems well-positioned to earn the Academy's attention. Majid Majidi has directed Best International Feature nominee in the past, 1998's Children of Heaven, so we know AMPAS isn't averse to his brand of Dickensian cinema. As for 200 Meters and Scales, both projects feel destined to be ignored by Oscar voters, even if their acting and cinematography deserve praise, respect, and perhaps gold accolades. China delivered 600,000 doses of its Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine to ally Cambodia on Sunday, making the kingdom the latest country to use Chinese jabs despite concerns about their efficacy compared to Western alternatives. Cambodian leader Hun Sen announced last month that China would donate one million doses of its coronavirus vaccine to the kingdom -- which will cover 500,000 people because two doses are required. On Sunday, the strongman premier greeted the arrival of the first batch at Phnom Penh's international airport. It's unclear when the remaining doses are scheduled to touch down. "The Cambodian government owes gratitude to the Chinese government," Hun Sen said during a handover ceremony at the airport. Hun Sen, 68, one of the world's longest-serving leaders, originally planned to receive the first shot of the vaccine, but he backed away from that idea after learning it's aimed at people aged between 18-59. The first people to get the jabs include frontline health workers, teachers, soldiers, the premier's bodyguards, and officials around the king, the premier said. Cambodia plans to vaccinate at least 10 million of its 16 million population with shots from both China's Sinopharm and Sinovac as well as the British-Swedish AstraZeneca. Sinopharm said in December that its vaccine had a 79.34 percent efficacy rate, lower than rival jabs developed in the West by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna -- with 95 and 94 percent rates respectively. Beijing has repeatedly insisted that the jab is safe and effective, despite not releasing any detailed clinical trial data. Cambodia has long been a staunch ally of Beijing's, receiving billions of dollars in soft loans and investments. While many countries reacted early in the pandemic by closing borders to Chinese travellers, Hun Sen refused to follow suit and he even travelled to Beijing to meet with leader Xi Jinping in a show of solidarity. Cambodia has weathered the pandemic relatively unscathed, registering only 474 cases with no deaths, though experts say the low numbers are likely due to a lack of testing. suy/lpm/oho Record numbers of victims and witnesses are dropping out of court cases because of Covid delays. Prosecutors have seen a 79 per cent rise in legal proceedings ending with no conviction due to the withdrawals, figures obtained by the Daily Mail show. It has resulted in rapists and violent criminals going free. In some cases, victims have committed suicide because their attacker will not face court for years. Dame Vera Baird QC revealed the number of victims withdrawing support from prosecutions has more than doubled since 2015. An analysis of data shows four times as many trials are being postponed every week than are going ahead. Some are being put back to 2023. It comes after separate research by the Victims Commissioner for England and Wales, Dame Vera Baird QC, revealed the number of victims withdrawing support from prosecutions has more than doubled since 2015. One in four are walking away rather than wait for justice. It was 11 per cent six years ago. Now Dame Vera and police are calling for urgent action. She wants rape victims to be allowed to pre-record evidence when they make their complaint instead of taking the stand years later. This is because defence lawyers often question their recall of events. Dame Vera said: 'Victims want to get on with their lives and many are walking away saying 'that's it'. If hundreds of people are pulling out of trials nationwide, there are a lot of people not being prosecuted and a proportion will be violent offenders and rapists. 'We know rapists are often serial offenders they often do not stop until they're stopped. Scotland Yard Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House has described a 'dire situation' in London where witness care units have seen their workload increase by 90 per cent Tragedy of 'sex attack' girl A girl took an overdose after finding out it would take 19 months for her alleged sex attacker to face justice. The 18-year-old died in March last year, a day after she learned of the delay. She first reported the sex attack in June, 2019. But there was a four-month wait until the suspect was interviewed and more delays before he was charged. East London Coroner Graeme Irvine raised concerns about the hold-ups after her inquest last month. Scotland Yard has accepted procedures should have been completed quicker. In another shocking example, several witnesses have pulled out of a case against an alleged prolific paedophile after the trial was delayed from last July to this April. The case has been going on for five years. Advertisement 'We run the risk further victims are attacked ...We run the risk of people losing confidence in the criminal justice system.' Scotland Yard Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House has described a 'dire situation' in London where witness care units have seen their workload increase by 90 per cent. The number of victims being supported is up 72 per cent. In at least two cases victims have attempted suicide after being told of trial delays. Sir Stephen said: 'Are they giving the same level of care to each victim? Probably not because of the volume, and if that volume increases it will get worse. I know that the Home Secretary has been trying to get something done about this because the justice system is near collapse.' Claire Waxman, London's Victims Commissioner, added: 'There is no question in my mind that by making the route to justice insurmountable for victims and by failing to bring dangerous offenders to justice in a timely manner, the Government is putting public safety at risk.' CPS figures show in the three months to June 30, 1,292 cases ended in no conviction due to 'complainant issues'. This rose 79 per cent to 2,308 in the quarter to September 30. Officials say the proportion of non-convictions due to complainant issues has stayed relatively stable rising from 14-18 per cent last year. But the volume of complainant withdrawals has increased due to courts not being open for months in the pandemic. A Government spokesman said it was investing hundreds of millions to deliver speedier justice, boost funding for victim support and recruit extra staff to reduce court delays. Bengaluru, Feb 7 : Healthcare industry was poised to undergo a change at all stages of prevention, diagnosis and treatment post-Covid across the country, said President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday. "As no single entity in the healthcare sector can deliver results and achieve outcomes, the evolution of the sector calls for involvement of all stakeholders and innovation to bridge intent and execution," said Kovind at the 23rd annual convocation of the state-run Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences here. Addressing the graduating students and faculty of the health university, the President said the coronavirus pandemic had taught the world that one cannot be safe if others are at risk. "The first major pandemic in a century has taught us to be better prepared for unforeseen public health crises," said Kovind on the occasion. Though Covid-19 seems to be one-of-a-kind health-crisis that happens rarely, the President said a section of scientists had cautioned the people to be prepared for similar challenges ahead. "I hope the world has learnt the right lessons from the pandemic, as in the post-Covid phase, the world would have to pay more attention to public healthcare," noted Kovind. Referring to the Union Budget for fiscal 2021-22 terming health and well-being as one of the six pillars of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India), Kovind told the gathering that the noble profession opened up huge opportunities to serve humanity. "It depends on you on how you make the best use of these opportunities," he told the medical students. Noting that boosting healthcare infrastructure across the country was being given greater importance, the President said utilisation of the national resource would be possible only with their support and contribution. Lauding the state health university for being one of the largest networks of affiliated institutions with innovations in healthcare education, Kovind said it (university) had emerged as a credible brand on sustained efforts by its leaders. The President conferred 'Doctor of Science' (honoris causa) on A.S. Hegde for his yeoman contribution to health sciences in the southern state at the event. Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, state health minister K.Sudhakar, health university vice-chancellor S.Sachidanand were present at the convocation held in the convention centre of the state-run Nimhans in the city. The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and produced by AstraZeneca has shown efficacy against the UK variant of the coronavirus, according to an ongoing study by researchers. Oxford University scientists who developed the ChAdOx1-nCoV19 vaccine have found that it remains effective against at least one of the new variants of the disease, called the B.1.1.7 Kent' coronavirus strain after the south-east England region where it was first discovered late last year. Data from our trials of the ChAdOx1 vaccine in the United Kingdom indicate that the vaccine not only protects against the original pandemic virus, but also protects against the novel variant, B.1.1.7, which caused the surge in disease from the end of 2020 across the UK, said Andrew Pollard, Professor of Paediatric Infection and Immunity, and Chief Investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial. However, in related findings, AstraZeneca said it is yet to be fully determined whether the vaccine protects against severe disease caused by the highly transmissible coronavirus variant found in South Africa. Following the pre-print study of a small sample, due to be published next week, the company expressed confidence that the vaccine would offer protection against serious cases because it created neutralising antibodies similar to those of other coronavirus vaccines. All viruses accumulate mutations over time, and for influenza vaccines, there is a well-known process of global viral surveillance, and selection of strains for an annual update of the vaccines, explained Sarah Gilbert, Professor of Vaccinology, and Chief Investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial. Prof Gilbert said that coronaviruses are less prone to mutation than influenza viruses. It is always expected that as the pandemic continues, new variants will begin to become dominant amongst the viruses that are circulating and that eventually a new version of the vaccine, with an updated spike protein, would be required to maintain vaccine efficacy at the highest level possible, she said. We are working with AstraZeneca to optimise the pipeline required for a strain change should one become necessary," Gilbert said. "This is the same issue that is faced by all of the vaccine developers, and we will continue to monitor the emergence of new variants that arise in readiness for a future strain change, she said. Between October 2020 and mid-January 2021, the researchers used swabs taken from volunteers with both symptomatic and asymptomatic infection enrolled in phase II/III vaccine efficacy study to work out which strain of the coronavirus they had been infected with after receiving either the vaccine or the control. The protection against symptomatic infection was similar despite lower neutralising antibody titres in vaccinated individuals against the B.1.1.7 variant. These are the first findings regarding the efficacy of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against new variants and vaccine researchers are already looking at ways to modify the existing vaccines quickly and simply to protect against new variants. Meanwhile, the National Health Service (NHS) further enhanced its vaccination programme in the country with a funding boost for general practitioners (GPs) to deliver jabs to vulnerable groups. The NHS said it will pay GPs an additional 10 pound for every Covid vaccination they deliver to someone who is housebound. Since the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for use and we began administering it on 4 January my colleagues across the country have been prioritising the vaccination programme roll out which is our biggest chance of beating this virus, said GP Nikki Kanani, NHS medical director for primary care. The 10 pound per visit additional funding recognises the extra staff time and complexity of vaccinating the housebound. The supplement also applies retrospectively to any vaccinations which have already been administered to people at home. The move is part of a wider acceleration of the vaccination programme, with more than 100 largescale centres, along with more than local 1,000 GP services, almost 200 run by high street pharmacy services and over 250 hospital hubs now delivering jabs to those most at risk of dying from the virus. People aged 70 and over can arrange to be jabbed at a Vaccine Centre or pharmacy service or wait to be contacted by their local GP service or hospital. The NHS said its biggest vaccine programme in history has seen more than 10 million people jabbed in England since December last year. This means that the NHS is on track to offer all those in the top four priority groups decided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) people aged 70 and over, the clinically extremely vulnerable, NHS workers and care home residents and staff a jab by the middle of this month. Millions of letters have been sent out to those eligible to get their jabs at the major vaccination sites across the country, as people are being invited when it is their turn. Downing Street has said that the progress of the vaccination regime suggests that all adults aged 50 and over should have been offered a coronavirus vaccine by May. In a Twitter video, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated February 22 as the date when he will "set out the beginnings of our roadmap for a way forward for the whole country as the vaccine programme intensifies and, as more and more people acquire immunity, a steady programme for beginning to unlock". When a senior aide to Gov. John Bel Edwards was fired over sexual harassment allegations, Attorney Gen. Jeff Landry wasnt shy about criticizing the governor. The hard-charging Republican attorney general, who seldom passes up a chance to pick a fight with the Democratic governor, promised he would take a hard-line stance, including firing employees, if something similar ever happened in his office. Well, it looks like something similar has happened in Landrys office. The head of his criminal division, Pat Magee, allegedly engaged in inappropriate verbal conversations" that included sexual slang and "unprofessional comments regarding the appearance of employees," Landrys office now admits. +2 Top deputy to AG Jeff Landry, subject of sexual harassment probe, suspended without pay A top deputy to Attorney General Jeff Landry returned to work Tuesday after an investigation that found he "engaged in inappropriate verbal co Landry fashions himself as the states top lawman, but apparently his gumshoe instincts deserted him when there were sexual harassment allegations right under his nose. But the attorney general has faced the crisis with his customary combativeness. Not against Magee, the man who is accused of harassing civil servants in the attorney generals office. Magee quietly returned to work last month. Landry is going after Andrea Gallo, the reporter for The Advocate and The Times-Picayune who has been probing the whole sordid matter. Gallo filed a public records request for the complaint against Magee and other documents related to the attorney generals investigation of his allegedly misbehaving subordinate. The attorney general denied her request in January, saying the matter was still being probed. But when Gallo called the office and asked for Magee, she found that he was at work. Why was he back at his desk if the matter was still being investigated? The attorney general then admitted that the probe had indeed been concluded and Magee had been docked 38 days pay, or about $20,000. But Landrys office never released all of the records Gallo requested, and Friday he tried a novel legal approach to keep the details of the scandal secret probably forever. Attorney General Jeff Landry sues Advocate reporter over public-records request Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry on Friday sued a reporter for The Advocate and The Times-Picayune over a public-records request she fil He filed suit against Gallo, asking a judge to issue a declaratory judgment denying her request and to seal the lawsuit itself. Louisianas public records laws give all citizens, not just journalists, the right to seek documents from the governments their tax dollars support. Lots of people take advantage of the law: Activists fighting pollution, bidders who feel they were cheated out of government contracts, victims of false prosecutions. Its not a violation to ask for public records. Its a fundamental right found in Article 12, Section 3 of the Louisiana Constitution. So we cant sit by when an elected official uses taxpayer money to sue a private citizen for seeking records about a potentially embarrassing scandal in his office. We will fight until the truth comes out. Thats a promise to our readers, to all of Louisiana, and to Jeff Landry. Wellwishers have raised 18,938 for the funerals of an NHS worker and her daughter who were murdered by her estranged husband before he died in a car crash. The two women, named locally as Emma Robertson Coupland, 24, and Nicole Anderson, 39, were killed by Steven Robertson, 40, who later died in a car crash. Nicole's sister-in-law Alana said everyone is 'devastated and heartbroken' over the deaths of the two women and set up a fundraiser to help cover funeral costs. The mother was found injured in the car park of University Hospital Crosshouse, near Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire, at around 7.45pm on Thursday but died at the scene. The two women, named locally as Emma Robertson Coupland (right), 24, and Nicole Anderson (centre), 39, were killed by Steven Robertson (left), 40, who later died in a car crash In a second incident 20 minutes later on Portland Street, Kilmarnock, Ms Anderson, 24, was stabbed. She was taken to hospital but later died. A crash then occurred on the C50 - a minor road between the B7036 and the A76 on the outskirts of Kilmarnock - at around 8.30pm and Robertson was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said inquiries so far suggest the incidents are linked and officers are not looking for anyone else as part of their investigation. The fundraiser on GoFundMe has so far raised 18,938. Steven Robertson (left), 40, murdered Emma Robertson Coupland (right), 39, and Nicole Anderson, 24, in Kilmarnock on Thursday The mother was found injured in the car park of University Hospital Crosshouse, near Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire, at around 7.45pm on Thursday but died at the scene In her post on the page Alana wrote: 'As you will all have read in the papers and the news we tragically lost Emma and Nicole over the weekend leaving three young girls without a mum and sister. 'This is (sic) also left the three girls to pay for not only one funeral but two. I have decided to set up a go fund me page to help try and ease the financial stress of worrying about paying for their funerals even if it's just a pound each every little helps. 'Everyone is absolutely devastated and heartbroken over their deaths they were the most funny loving bubbly people I have ever known and never had a day where they weren't smiling.' Nurse Emma Robertson Coupland (left) was knifed outside Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock, Scotland, at 7.45pm. Right, Her daughter Nicole Anderson, 24, was attacked 20 minutes later near a takeaway shop she worked at and died in hospital A crash then occurred on the C50 - a minor road between the B7036 and the A76 on the outskirts of Kilmarnock - at around 8.30pm. The 40-year-old male driver was pronounced dead at the scene. Pictured, police at the scene Police forensics officers at the scene of a fatal stabbing in Portland Street, Kilmarnock, in west Scotland Minutes later officers rushed to another incident under a viaduct (pictured this morning) on Portland Street in the centre of Kilmarnock. This incident reportedly also involved a stabbing The hospital was locked down following the first incident, but that was lifted at around 10.30pm when police declared it safe to do so. Chief Superintendent Faroque Hussain said on Friday: 'We are working to confirm the full circumstances of what has happened. If anyone has any information which could assist our inquiries, please do contact us. 'Understandably, people will be shocked by what has happened. 'We are still in the process of establishing the full circumstances, however I would like to reassure people that there is no wider threat to the community.' 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 Related Solving Egypt's random construction problem requires total cost of EGP 3-4 trln, says Sisi Egypt's Administrative Prosecution on Sunday said that it is investigating the incident of the leaning building in Alexandria, the latest in several similar incidents inside the governorate. Over the past few days, photos were shared online showing a nine-storey building in Alexandria tilting into another. A removal decision was issued to the building, which was constructed nine years ago, according to the Alexandria governor. All the building occupants were evacuated. Other neighbouring buildings were also evacuated to ensure the residents' safety. According to the statement, the Prosecution said the building was built without acquiring necessary building permits. Building collapses are commonplace in Egypt and are usually attributed to violations of building specifications, illegal extensions and lax oversight. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi commented on the incident, attributing the problem to the haphazard and unlicensed construction, adding that the dilemma of unplanned buildings in Egypt requires a total cost of around EGP 3-4 trillion. Over the past few decades, Egypt has seen a continuous increase in haphazard and unlicensed construction across its cities and villages, with these structures constituting 70 percent of the urban clusters by the year 2011, according to Egyptian officials. The problem surged noticeably amid the security vacuum that followed the 2011 uprising, with many people constructing multi-storey buildings without acquiring the necessary permits or complying with safety standards. Last year, El-Sisi ratified a law allowing settlement with the state over building violations, with the exception of those pertaining to safety standards, authorised height or purpose, historic buildings, and others. Short link: Brace yourself: Long-haul travel may not get going until 2023 By Angus Whitley, Jason Gale, Tara Patel, and Christopher Jasper (Bloomberg) As coronavirus vaccines started rolling out late last year, there was a palpable sense of excitement. People began browsing travel websites and airlines grew optimistic about flying again. Ryanair Holdings Plc even launched a Jab & Go campaign alongside images of 20-somethings on holiday, drinks in hand. Its not working out that way. For a start, it isnt clear the vaccines actually stop travellers spreading the disease, even if theyre less likely to catch it themselves. Neither are the shots proven against the more-infectious mutant strains that have startled governments from Australia to the U.K. into closing, rather than opening, borders. An ambitious push by carriers for digital health passports to replace the mandatory quarantines killing travel demand is also fraught with challenges and has yet to win over the World Health Organisation. This bleak reality has pushed back expectations of any meaningful recovery in global travel to 2022. That may be too late to save the many airlines with only a few months of cash remaining. And the delay threatens to kill the careers of hundreds of thousands of pilots, flight crew and airport workers whove already been out of work for close to a year. Rather than a return to worldwide connectivity one of the economic miracles of the jet era prolonged international isolation appears unavoidable. Its very important for people to understand that at the moment, all we know about the vaccines is that they will very effectively reduce your risk of severe disease, said Margaret Harris, a WHO spokesperson in Geneva. We havent seen any evidence yet indicating whether or not they stop transmission. To be sure, its possible a travel rebound will happen on its own without the need for vaccine passports. Should jabs start to drive down infection and death rates, governments might gain enough confidence to roll back quarantines and other border curbs, and rely more on passengers pre-flight Covid-19 tests. The United Arab Emirates, for example, has largely done away with entry restrictions, other than the need for a negative test. While U.K. regulators banned Ryanairs Jab & Go ad as misleading, the discount airlines chief Michael OLeary still expects almost the entire population of Europe to be inoculated by the end of September. Thats the point where we are released from these restrictions, he said. Short-haul travel will recover strongly and quickly. For now though, governments broadly remain skittish about welcoming international visitors and rules change at the slightest hint of trouble. Hotels geared for foreign arrivals edgy about the future Operators of Safe and Secure Certified Level 1 Hotels and travel companies are waiting with bated breath to see whether the trickle of foreign tourists into the country will provide them with a steady income. Despite receiving a steady flow of inquiries, the head of Nkar Travels and Tours, Damien Fernando predicted foreign arrivals would drop by four-fifths this year compared to financial year 2018/2019. But we are expecting some more tourists for winter 2021-22, he added. Hotel Insight Ahangama Resident Manger Niroshan Jayakody said the resort had 20 bookings for February, more than half its occupancy rate. He hopes the occupancy rate would hold up at least until April. After April, it might decrease till August, he said. He pointed out that until this month, the hotels occupancy rate was just 20 percent. Thats also only during the weekend, which was hardly enough even to pay utility bills, Mr. Jayakody said. Currently, except for one booking, all new bookings have been for 14-day stays, which is good, he commented. Anantara Hotels Cluster Marketing Communications Manager Dinusha Chandrathilake said the Anantara Kalutara, a Safe and Secure Level 1 5-star resort, was set to welcome its first foreign tourists yesterday. on Saturday. We are pleased to welcome our first guests after couple of months, she declared. At the Anantara Peace Haven in Tangalle also we have a few bookings, with more bookings in March, she added. She said that the Anantara Tangalle would function as a Safe and Secure Level 1 Hotel starting from February 22 and Avani Kalutara from March 31. Ms. Chandraratne said it was difficult to predict whether foreign tourists would arrive in increasing numbers because many factors, such as availability of flights and the situation in other countries, affected their number. Germany is in full lockdown whereas Russia and Ukraine are open, she explained. Foreign travel also depends on the vaccination roll-out in different countries and the stance of individual governments, she added. Sources said 200 more tourists arrived in the country last week, bringing to 700 the total arriving since the opening of the airport on January 21. Small beginnings are giving hope to travel company, Different Discovery. Its co-founder, Rasith Gunaratne, has a first group confirmed for later in the year. Twelve Danish tourists have already confirmed their bookings to arrive in the country in October, 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. Is Texas really a serious rival to California as a destination for high-tech? The growing exodus of banner companies - Oracle Corp., Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co., Tesla Inc.'s Space-X and others - suggests that theres something to the idea. Still, skeptics rightly point out that plenty of other places have made a bid to become the new Silicon Valley and never come close. Texas, though, may be different, and not because of the recent high-profile relocations. Unlike other would-be innovation hubs, the state has been quietly nurturing high-tech industry for decades. If Texas eventually rivals California, the consequences could be momentous, not just for industry, but for U.S. politics. A bit of background: At various times in the nations history, different locales have emerged as clusters where industrial innovation has flourished, spawning powerful new corporations and staggering amounts of wealth. These places of invention" attract a critical mass of companies and talent. They often depend on institutions that train the next generation of workers and entrepreneurs. Silicon Valley fits the model. As Margaret OMara has observed in her entertaining history of the region, a critical convergence of engineering talent, venture capital, educational institutions and government money unleashed waves of innovation, each building on the previous one to generate ever-larger economic booms. But nothing is forever. Consider the fate of Hartford, Connecticut. That city was once a high-tech powerhouse in the late 19th century, dominating precision engineering and instrumentation. Its glory days are long gone. Other centers of innovation and invention have suffered similar fates: Philadelphia, which largely pioneered machine-tool production; Detroit, crucible of the automobile industry; and others. If Silicon Valley loses its marquee status, it will almost certainly give way to several hubs in Texas, a state now more readily associated with Ted Cruz, capital punishment and crude oil. The idea that it could ultimately displace California as the leading center of innovation seems far-fetched. Except when you take a closer look and go far back in time. As one account of Texas's high-tech history has argued, a new age dawned in 1930. The year brought news of the largest oil discovery ever made in the lower 48 states: the so-called Joiner Strike in the East Texas oil patch. But it also saw the creation of Geophysical Service, a company that used sound waves to prospect for oil, which quickly became an industry standard. The company grew rapidly, expanding into submarine detection during World War II. In 1951, the company became Texas Instruments, one of the giants of the computer age. Three years later, TI became the first company to design, build and market silicon transistors; seven years later, it developed the first integrated circuits, or computer chips. These became the building block of everything from hand-held calculators to computers. Even as Silicon Valley became the visible leader in computing technology, Texas Instruments flourished in Dallas, growing ever larger. (It is now the worlds largest manufacturer of analog chips.) Part of the reason for this trajectory had to do with another institution that continues to play a key role in driving technological innovation in the state: Houstons Rice University, which played a role comparable to Stanford's vis-a-vis Silicon Valley. In fact, many of the early players in Silicon Valley actually moved to California after graduating from Rice, constituting what is sometimes called the Rice Mafia." How appropriate, then, that Rice would play a key role in the next step in the rise of Texas. In 1961, the university donated more than a thousand acres of land for the construction of what became known as the Johnson Space Center, flooding a once-provincial city with literal rocket scientists. Like Silicon Valley, where government contracts and connections proved essential in getting the region off the ground, Houstons leadership in the space race kick-started a host of related industries. All of this happened very gradually, almost imperceptibly, as Texas remained in the shadow of a burgeoning Silicon Valley. But as the state boomed, so did its public university system. Soon the flagship university in Austin came into its own, and start-ups began proliferating in the universitys shadow, as well as along Interstate 35, which connects Austin northward to Dallas and southward to San Antonio. This corridor joined Houston, which was already well established. Some of the companies that defined the Texas tech scene in this early era have perished: Tandy Corp., for example, which helped launch the personal computer era with its TRS-80 laptop before caving to competition and renaming itself Radio Shack Corp. to focus on retail, and Compaq Computers Corp. But others have proven more enduring. Austin begat a host of successful startups, including Michael Dells company, which began direct-marketing personal computers to consumers and remains a giant today. By the year 2000, the battle for tech supremacy had come down to two states: California and Texas. But the Lone Star State was at that point still playing catch-up. For example, Californias high-tech exports that year totaled $53 billion, while Texas came in second at $25 billion. Yet Texas surpassed California in 2014 and now holds a commanding lead. Other measures suggest that California continues to hold onto its lead. Back in 2000, California was the top state for research and development investment, venture capital investment and other measures of future promise. Texas lagged well behind, ranking sixth in R&D 20 years ago. It's since vaulted up to third place, but California still holds a commanding lead.Thats where the growing number of corporate relocations could tilt the balance. The companies making the move arent bit players; theyre massive corporations like Oracle and Tesla. Certainly, some of their operations will remain behind in California. It's still a momentous step. And these behemoths are hardly alone: Texas is the top destination for a growing number of companies moving out of California -- and has been for upward of 12 years. In 2019, for example, 1,800 companies left the state; most went to Texas. This has been paralleled by population shifts, with a net shift of 42,500 people leaving California for Texas, the largest such movement of people in the country. The influx of well-educated, affluent tech workers, most of whom count themselves liberals, will transform Texas and not just its economy. In time, the growing number of transplants could help turn the state blue for the first time since it went for President Jimmy Carter in 1976, delivering its wealth of electoral votes to Democrats in future elections. If that happens, Republicans may belatedly realize that the power of the tech sector goes far beyond banning the president from Twitter. (Corrects hometown of Texas Instruments to Dallas.) This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Stephen Mihm, an associate professor of history at the University of Georgia, is a contributor to Bloomberg Opinion. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion 2021 Bloomberg L.P. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Here we go again. The defendant in the coming week's impeachment trial -- Donald Trump -- remains the same, but several leading figures in the Senate proceedings have changed from the previous effort to oust the now-former president. So, too, have the charges. Trump was impeached in December 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, but he is being tried now for "incitement of insurrection" for his role in last month's deadly riot at the US Capitol. Here is a look at some of the people expected to play key roles in the must-see televised event. - The prosecutors - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has assigned a diverse group of nine impeachment managers to the case -- all Democratic House members, all lawyers, and all different from the seven who managed Trump's 2020 trial. They are led by Jamie Raskin, a constitutional scholar who started drafting the impeachment article shortly after the insurrectionist mob stormed the Capitol on January 6. The 58-year-old Marylander takes on the biggest case of his career as he mourns his son Tommy, who committed suicide on New Year's Eve. "I'm not going to lose my son at the end of 2020 and lose my country and my republic in 2021," Raskin told CNN last month. Another standout manager is Stacey Plaskett, 54, a Black mother of five from the US Virgin Islands. As a delegate from a US territory, Plaskett does not have House floor-voting privileges and therefore could not vote for Trump's impeachment. But she has expressed humility at being chosen to help prosecute the case against the president, whom she said "attempted a coup d'etat." - The loyalists - The 100 US senators will not just be jurors in Trump's trial; they were witnesses and victims at the crime scene as rioters stalked lawmakers in the Capitol. Still, Trump loyalists are many, including 41-year-old conservative Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, a potential presidential aspirant, and Senator Ted Cruz, a onetime constitutional lawyer from Texas, who are already giving full-throated defenses of Trump. Story continues They were among a handful of senators who voted against certifying the election results in specific states, even after the riot, and are now raising the alarm about what Cruz has called a "vindictive" effort to convict a president who is already out of office. Also in this group is Senator Rand Paul, who accused Democrats of being "deranged by their hatred" of Trump. Last week Paul, 58 and a former ophthalmologist, forced a vote on scuppering the trial on grounds it is unconstitutional. The effort failed, but in a telling result, only five Republicans joined the Democrats in voting to proceed. - The potential defectors - With conviction requiring two-thirds of the Senate, 17 Republicans would have to defect and join all Democrats in order to find Trump guilty. They are unlikely to reach that threshold, but Senator Mitt Romney voted for conviction one year ago, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania is on record saying Trump "committed impeachable offenses" by inciting the riot. The question is, can they win over skeptics? Moderates Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins are on the fence, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell -- who maintains vast influence over his caucus -- has privately said he is considering voting to convict. - The judge - The US Supreme Court's chief justice is constitutionally empowered to preside over a court of impeachment trying a sitting president. But because Trump is out of office, Chief Justice John Roberts, who presided in 2020, bowed out. That leaves 80-year-old Senator Patrick Leahy, who as the majority party's longest-serving member is president pro tempore of the Senate, to assume the role. It's a tricky spot for a staunchly liberal lawmaker who is also serving as a juror, and who is facing concerns about his health. He felt unwell and was briefly hospitalized just hours after he was sworn in as the presiding officer on January 26. Leahy is a mild-mannered Batman obsessive who has had several cameo appearances in the caped crusader's movies, and is an avid amateur photographer. Trump took a dig at him during a 2018 rally when he made impromptu claims about the veteran Democrat drinking. Leahy swatted away the comments as "bogus baloney" and said he had no idea why Trump thought he was a drinker. mlm/dw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show set, February 9, 1964 | CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images Feb. 9 will mark 57 years since The Beatles made their unforgettable North American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Beatles Ed Sullivan Show performance became the moment future musical legends would refer to later as the watershed event that fixed their destinies. The band wasnt just singing and playing musical instruments on Sullivans stage; they had permanently changed American culture. Incredibly, it almost didnt happen. At least not without lead guitarist George Harrison. The quiet Beatle had a raging fever the week of their television performance and nearly had to be hospitalized. The Beatles were profiled on an American program before Ed Sullivan but it was quickly forgotten Ed Sullivan and The Beatles | Jeff Hochberg/Getty Images While the bands seminal moment would come on The Ed Sullivan Show, they had already received airtime in the U.S. just months before on a program called CBS Morning News with Mike Wallace. Unfortunately, that publicity for the band was hardly noticed by American viewers as it aired on Nov. 22, 1963, the same day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Journalist and news anchor Walter Cronkite later remembered the short profile that had been aired and re-aired it in Dec. 1963. The American public, he reasoned, needed a respite from the endless grief of coverage of the presidents death. That second airing created a buzz for this new musical group from England. I dont even think at the time we knew who Walter Cronkite was, Paul McCartney told Fox News in 2019. We came to America with all of that, well, Walter Winchell, who is that? Its Walter Cronkite. And we were like, Walter who? We didnt know these people. We were just four innocent Liverpool boys at that point. The Beatles arrived in the U.S. just months after Kennedys assassination The Beatles arrive at Kennedy Airport in Feb. 1964 | GAB Archive/Redferns To a nation steeped in grief after the killing of President Kennedy, the timing of The Beatles arrival was exactly what was needed. Their optimistic, joyful music, boyish good looks, and absolutely charming accent and banter captivated Americans. McCartney explained, We didnt realize it at the time, Americans had never seen this before; four people in a band, looking like this, playing their own instruments, singing their own original music, four dare I say it handsome young boys. Harrison was sick the week of the bands Ed Sullivan Show performance Lead guitarist Harrison nearly didnt make it to The Ed Sullivan Show for The Beatles performance. He had a throat infection and a very high fever, according to his sister Louise who had been traveling with the 20-year-old. His condition was dire enough that the doctor at The Plaza hotel recommended hospitalization for the youngest Beatle. He had a really bad strep throat, Louise told Houston Public Media in 2015. His temperature was 104, and the doctor had me move into the room with George, and you know I had to give him medication almost every hour. First of all, the doctor had said, We need to send him to hospital. Louise recalled that the bands manager Brian Epstein refused to have George admitted to a hospital out of sheer panic. [Epstein] almost had a heart attack on the spot. He said, No, we cant let anybody know that anybodys sick! She also remembered the doctor urging her to make sure her brother didnt rehearse for more than an hour at a time. He was concerned George would faint on stage the night of the live performance. In the end, all turned out well and Louise recalled the host himself getting caught up in the excitement. He was like a little puppy with two tails, Louise said of Sullivan. I guess he was accustomed to people treating him respectfully, because he was sort of a big-shot, serious old man. They were just having so much fun themselves that they just pulled him into the fun as well. 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. WASHINGTON (AP) Arguments begin Tuesday in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump on allegations that he incited the violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. A look at five key questions about what to expect when senators hear the case against the former president in the very chamber that was besieged by insurrectionists : _____ WILL TRUMP BE CONVICTED? Its unlikely. While many Republicans were harshly critical of Trump for telling supporters to fight like hell and go to the Capitol, their criticism has since softened. The shift was evident during a Jan. 26 test vote. Only five Republican senators voted against a motion that was aimed at dismissing the trial. It will take a two-thirds vote of the 100-member Senate to convict Trump of the impeachment charge, which is incitement of insurrection. If all 50 Democrats voted to convict him, 17 Republicans would have to join them to reach that threshold. Most Republicans have avoided defending Trumps actions the day of the riot. Instead, lawmakers have argued that the trial is unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office. Democrats and many legal scholars disagree. After the January test vote, many Republicans indicated Trumps acquittal was a foregone conclusion. Do the math, said Maine Sen. Susan Collins, one of the five Republicans who voted to move forward with the trial. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said he thought the vote was a floor not a ceiling of Republican support to acquit. Still, some Republicans said they were waiting to hear the arguments at trial. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman voted for the effort to dismiss, but said that constitutionality is a totally different issue than whether Trump is guilty of incitement. ___ HOW DO TRUMPS LAWYERS MOUNT A DEFENSE WITHOUT ANGERING THE SENATE? Its a tough needle to thread. Trumps team probably will try to remove the emotion from the case and focus on legal and practical arguments against conviction. In their first filing for the trial, his lawyers made clear that they will challenge the constitutionality of the trial now that Trump has left the White House. That could give an out to Republican senators who are inclined to acquit the former president without condoning his behavior. The defense could also argue the trial is pointless with Trump no longer president, because removal from office is the automatic punishment for an impeachment conviction. Democrats note that after a conviction, the Senate also could bar Trump from holding public office in the future. To the extent that defense lawyers are forced to grapple head-on with the violence and chaos of Jan. 6, they probably will concede the horror of that day but blame it on the rioters who stormed the Capitol. Trumps lawyers assert that Trump never incited the insurrection. ___ HOW DO THE HOUSE IMPEACHMENT MANAGERS GET THROUGH TO SKEPTICAL REPUBLICANS? It wont be easy. For the prosecutors, the bottom line is that the riot wouldnt have happened without Trump, so he must be held to account. Its a simple case that Democrats feel doesnt need to be exaggerated, especially because five people died amid the chaos, and senators were victims themselves. The Senate quickly evacuated just as the insurrectionists were pushing up stairwells close to the chamber. Once senators were gone, rioters broke in and rifled through the lawmakers desks. In a brief filed this past week previewing their arguments, the House impeachment managers used stark imagery and emotional appeals to argue Trumps guilt. Their filing said senators were feet away from the swarming rioters, and noted that those outside wearing Trump paraphernalia shoved and punched Capitol Police officers, gouged their eyes, assaulted them with pepper spray and projectiles. In the House, the impeachment managers wrote, terrified members were trapped in the Chamber; they prayed and tried to build makeshift defenses while rioters smashed the entryway ... some Members called loved ones for fear that they would not survive the assault by President Trumps insurrectionist mob. Those scenes will be brought to life at the trial. Prosecutors are expected to play video of the attack during their presentations. ___ WILL WE HEAR FROM TRUMP? That doesnt seem likely. Hes rejected through his lawyers a request by impeachment managers to testify. A subpoena seeking to compel his testimony isnt expected at this point. Trump also no longer has access to Twitter, which he relied on extensively during his first impeachment trial last year to attack the case against him and to retweet messages, videos and other posts from Republicans haranguing Democrats. With Trump at his Florida resort, his lawyers will be left to make arguments on his behalf. Democrats pledged to hold Trumps unwillingness to testify against him at trial, but the argument may not resonate. Its not clear that Republican senators even the many who are likely to acquit him really want to hear from him. ___ WHAT HAPPENS IF TRUMPS ACQUITTED? The likelihood of Trumps acquittal worries some senators, who fear the consequences for the country. Some have floated the possibility of censuring Trump after the trial to ensure that he is punished in some way for the riot. But there also may be another way for Congress to bar Trump from holding future office. In an opinion piece published last month in The Washington Post, Yale law professor Bruce Ackerman and Indiana University law professor Gerard Magliocca suggested Congress could turn to a provision of the 14th Amendment that is aimed at preventing people from holding federal office if they are deemed to have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the Constitution. The professors wrote that if a majority vote of both houses agree that Trump engaged in an act of insurrection or rebellion, then he would be barred from running for the White House again. Only a two-thirds vote of each chamber of Congress in the future could undo that result. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. (Source: Twitter) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on February 7 announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh for the family of those who were killed in the flash flood triggered by a glacial burst in Chamoli district of the state. Addressing a press conference, Rawat said five locals, including shepherds with their 180 sheep and goats, were swept away in the flash flood. He said 125 people are estimated to be missing, however, the number could be much higher. The Chief Minister said the government's priority right now was to save lives, and experts could assert the reason behind the glacier outburst later. Follow all live updates on the floods in Uttarakhand here An avalanche following a glacial burst in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, on Sunday morning, caused a massive flood, triggering an alert in the districts along the Ganga river in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. According to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), 9- 10 bodies have been recovered. In the conference, Rawat also said he had been assured all the help from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also received calls from Home Minister Amit Shah and President Ram Nath Kovind, reported news agency ANI. Also Read | Uttarakhand flood | Flash flood brings back memories of 2013 deluge, scores missing; here's a look at rescue ops The Prime Minister's Office also has approved an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives. Rs 50,000 would be given to those seriously injured, said a statement. Also Read| Uttarakhand flood: Helpline numbers and other key details Talking about rescue operations, Rawat said the Indian Army and a team of 60 SDRF personnel have reached the spot. The NDRF is en-route Chamoli after reaching Dehradun. He said doctors have camped there as well. The Indian Air Force has also deployed two IAF C-130 aircraft from AFS Hindan, which have positioned NDRF teams at Dehradun. Mi-17 & ALH helicopters are deployed onwards to Joshimath. An additional ALH deployed at Joshimath has undertaken recce of the affected area, said the Indian Air Force. DRDO officials have also extended their support and sent a team of snow and avalanche experts from its newly created Defence Geo-Informatics Research Establishment. The team would be reaching on February 8 to assess the situation at the site in Uttarakhand where the flash flood occurred. The team would also assess the situation in glaciers around the site. The Chicago Teachers Union has reached a tentative agreement with Mayor Lori Lightfoot to reopen the citys schools for in-person classes, the mayor announced on Sunday. If it is finalized, the agreement would avert a strike that had threatened to disrupt instruction for students in the nations third-largest school district. Under the agreement, prekindergarten and some special education students would return to classrooms on Thursday. Staff in kindergarten through fifth-grade classrooms would return on Feb. 22, and students in those grades would return on March 1. Staff members in sixth- through eighth-grade classrooms would return March 1, and students on March 8. The deal must be approved by the unions elected governing body, the House of Delegates, the mayor said. The union leadership is expected to meet with its rank and file Sunday afternoon, and then the House of Delegates will meet, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the union did not want the agreement made public before members had a chance to see it. The sale surprised traders who expected China to buy the gold and fuelled speculation that other governments, including Beijing, may be ready to diversify their reserves, Reuters reported. The International Monetary Fund has sold 200 tonnes of gold to the Reserve Bank of India for $6.8 billion, quietly executing half of a long-planned bullion sale that has threatened to slow gold's ascent. The sale, which surprised traders who expected China to be the leading buyer, will relieve the gold market of some uncertainty over how and when the IMF would sell 403.3 tonnes of gold, about one-eighth of its total stock. The deal will increase India's gold holdings to the tenth largest among central banks. It also fuelled speculation that other governments - including Beijing - may be ready to diversify their reserves even at near-record gold prices, helping soak up IMF supply that the fund may otherwise be forced to sell on the open market. "Central banks in India and China will be happy to accumulate gold at these levels. I will not be surprised to see even some Southeast Asian banks buying gold," Aaron Smith, Asia head of the $1.65 billion technical trading fund Superfund, told Reuters. Spot gold prices rose about $4 to $1,063 an ounce on Tuesday, just shy of last month's $1,070.40 record high, aided primarily by a falling U.S. dollar. Traders said the IMF news could add to the market's upward momentum. "The fact that they've sold the gold to India would suggest there's going to be fewer official sales by the IMF on the market. So that might be a positive theme for the gold price," said David Moore, commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. SURPRISE BUYER Although the IMF's plan to sell a share of its gold holdings in order to increase low-cost lending to poor countries had been flagged for a year before it was formally approved in September, both the speed of the deal and the buyer were a surprise. Although India is the world's biggest consumer of gold, primarily in the form of jewellery and investment among its billion-plus people, its central bank had given few indications of being a front-runner in the move to diversify into bullion. The proportion of gold as part of its total foreign reserves had fallen over the past decades, officials said. India's foreign exchange reserves held at the central bank totalled $285.5 billion on Oct. 23, of which gold comprised just over $10 billion. The latest purchase will lift its share of gold holdings from near 4% to about 6%, much less than most of the developed world but four times China's share. Former Reserve Bank of India Governor Bimal Jalan said the move was aimed at boosting resources for the IMF as both India and China had promised to help raise "fungible resources" to help other developing countries. "This transaction is an important step toward achieving the objectives of the IMF's limited gold sales program, which are to help put the fund's finances on a sound long-term footing and enable us to step up much-needed concessional lending to the poorest countries," the IMF's managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said in a statement on Monday. The Reserve Bank of India said the purchase was an official sector off-market transaction and was executed during Oct. 19-30 at market-based prices. An IMF official said the sale was concluded at an average price of about $1,045 an ounce and that the transaction would be paid in hard currency and not in IMF Special Drawing Rights. NO MARKET DISRUPTION A senior IMF official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to say whether other central banks have expressed interest in buying the remaining gold for sale. He said if no other central banks came forward, the IMF would proceed as planned to sell the gold in the market, but reiterated that the fund would publicize its intentions before doing so to avoid disrupting the market. Still, the threat of further open-market sales remains a medium-term source of concern for gold traders, mindful of the five-year pact among European central banks to sell down a maximum 400 tonnes a year of their holdings, an agreement that was renewed in August and includes the IMF volume. The market's focus has now shifted to China, which has reportedly been in talks with the IMF about buying some of the fund's bullion as Beijing seeks to shift some of its more than $2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves away from the U.S. dollar. "Now people may think China will buy the other half," said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong. Already the world's top producer of gold and rivalling India as a consumer, China revealed this year that it had quietly lifted its own government holdings of gold stocks to 1,054 tonnes from 400 tonnes when it last reported its holdings in 2003. It is the first time since 2000 that the IMF has sold gold to a central bank. Between December 1999 and April 2000 in separate transactions, the IMF sold a total of 12.9 million ounces of gold to member countries Brazil and Mexico. Yekaterina Davydova, Rough&Polished Asian Bureau Editor in Beijing Your favourite eclairs just got more exciting By Shannine Daniel View(s): View(s): Traditionally filled with chocolate or vanilla cream on the inside and topped with rich chocolate icing or chocolate ganache, eclairs also come in flavours such as coffee, strawberry and caramel. Some home bakers and caterers in and around Colombo have taken another step forward and now make customised eclairs in a variety of fillings and flavours and themed eclairs for functions and special occasions. Take a look at these innovative creations. The Eclair Couture Shameena Najeeb, a home baker with a passion for eclairs, owns The Eclair Couture. Along with eclairs she also sells profiteroles. Many of my loyal customers prefer custom-made boxes along with their eclairs and profiteroles. So I handle orders with custom gift boxes and special notes included, according to the customers request, she told the Sunday Times Magazine. A lot of passion and love goes into these eclairs, and there is a broad range from Oreo flavoured to fruit indulged eclairs. My customers really love the combination of different and unusual eclair flavours in a ittle gift box, and their feedback keeps me going, she added. Shameena delivers her items only to Colombo right now, but hopes to widen her delivery base. Corporate orders and large orders can be placed through a hotline number (075 6666 876) and smaller orders can be placed through Instagram (the_eclair_couture). The Eclair Factory The Eclair Factory is run by Mafaza Haleem, a mum of three and blogger. Ive been interested in journalism since I was 18 years old. I took cooking lessons because my mum wanted me to, and that changed my career. I became a food blogger in Dubai, and lived and worked there for seven years. I moved back to Sri Lanka in 2017, Mafaza told the Sunday Times Magazine. Tarts are also available at The Eclair Factory but eclairs are Mafazas speciality, and she has 18 different flavours on offer. Although we are a home-based business we cater to our customers Monday through Saturday. We have not imposed a minimum order like other bakeries and caterers, Mafaza said. Right now The Eclair Factory is only available online and orders can be placed through their Instagram page (theeclairfactory_). They deliver their products to different locations, through local delivery services. Billies Goodies Billies Goodies is run by Thilini Herath who works at an investment company and as a consultant at a travel agency. Aside from eclairs, brownies, choc chip cookies, cream puffs, butter cake, banoffee pie, chocolate biscuit pudding and key lime pie are available at Billies. The fact that my whole family is heavily involved in the business, is what makes my business special. For instance, my mom and sister bake some of the items on our menu and our packaging boxes are done at home by my mom, Thilini told the Sunday Times Magazine. At the moment I deliver the items myself and my dad and sister help me. But we are hoping to partner with a delivery service soon, she said. Billies can be reached through their Instagram page (billies.goodies) and WhatsApp (077 229 3165). Currently, they are a home-based, online business and deliver their items to selected areas in Colombo and the suburbs. Dessert Sea Zaakiya Zaharan Ali, a 19-year-old undergraduate is the entrepreneur behind Dessert Sea, which she began in June 2019. Dessert Seas menu contains eclairs in various flavours and customised designs, and other desserts such as no-bake cheesecake, doughnuts, pannacotta, tarts, brownies, pavlova and mini cakes, also available in a range of flavours and colours. We constantly look for new ways to add value. Be it the taste or appearance of the eclair, we aim to justify the phrase; looks as good as it tastes and vice versa. For this we need the best of ingredients and a lot of time to invest in each batch to achieve perfection. This is why we accept only a limited amount of pre-orders, Zaakiya told the Sunday Times Magazine. Dessert Sea is based online right now, and they deliver their products and have a pick up option as well. Zaakiya can be contacted on 076 301 2964 and through her Instagram page (dessertseasl). Clear instructions about how to order our products are available on our Instagram highlights and business WhatsApp catalogue. Customers can first take a look at our menu, then choose the desired filling, size and ganache for the eclair. If a customer requires personalised eclairs, they will be notified about the extra charges for value addition, Zaakiya said. Magical Desserts Zeenath Gunawijaya is the founder of Magical Desserts, an online dessert store which offers a variety of desserts including Tres leches cakes, brownies, cookies, doughnuts and profiteroles. Growing up within a circle of women who have always been passionate about baking and cooking, I am now working my own magic, Zeenath told the Sunday Times Magazine. Our desserts can always be customised according to our clients preferences and consist of premium ingredients. We always make sure our clients celebrate their special days in the best possible way, she added. Customers can place their orders via Facebook (Magical Desserts) and Instagram (magicaldesserts.sl). They deliver their items to Colombo and the suburbs and offer pickups as well. The women were targeted because they needed help with child custody cases or criminal charges, prosecutors said. Some had struggled with drug use or were survivors of sexual abuse. But once Chad M. Salsman had guided the women into his private law office, ostensibly to discuss their cases, he forced them onto his desk and sexually assaulted them, prosecutors said. He then told the women not to tell anyone what had happened. Mr. Salsman, who was a practicing defense lawyer at the time, went on to win election as the district attorney of Bradford County, Pa., in 2019. But his pattern of predatory behavior was not publicly known until he was arrested on Wednesday and charged with more than a dozen crimes, including sexual assault, indecent assault and intimidation of a witness or victim, prosecutors said. Axios Southwest and American airlines won't yet resume in-flight alcohol service as planned after a flight attendant was recently assaulted by a passenger and other in-flight incidents.What they're saying: Southwest had initially planned to resume the service in June, but Sonya Lacore, the airline's head of in-flight operations, said in a memo obtained by CNN that "based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I've made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service on board."Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free"Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service onboard,'' Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz told USA TODAY. Catch up quick: Last Sunday, a female passenger allegedly struck a flight attendant during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego Southwest said two of the attendant's teeth had been knocked out. The passenger was then arrested on suspicions of battery causing serious bodily injury. The flight attendant was taken to a hospital once the plane landed, according to a police report. Southwest said Friday it banned the female passenger from flying with the airline again.The big picture: The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it had received approximately 2,500 reports of unruly passenger behavior since Jan. 1, with about 1,900 reports being of passengers refusing to follow federal mask mandates.Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-06 23:02:12|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MACAO, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- A total of 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines made in the Chinese mainland were delivered to the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Saturday. The inactivated vaccines were the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines supplied to Macao thanks to the support of the central authorities, according to the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center of Macao. The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR said the move fully demonstrates the high importance attached by the central government to epidemic prevention and control work in Macao and the central government's care for the health and wellbeing of Macao compatriots. The vaccines are of great significance to speeding up the resumption of normal economic and social orders in Macao and fully restoring normal people-to-people exchanges between the SAR and the mainland, the office said. Macao Health Bureau Director Lei Chin Ion said after the handover ceremony that efforts would be made to vaccinate medical workers before the Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb. 12 this year. After the Chinese New Year, vaccination would be open to the public, with priority given to those working at border ports, police, firefighters and those working at casinos, on a voluntary basis, Lei told reporters. The center announced in January that the SAR would offer vaccination free of charge to Macao ID holders, employees from elsewhere who work in the SAR and non-local students studying in the city. Produced by Xinhua Global Service JOHANNESBURG South Africa has suspended plans to inoculate its front-line health care workers with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after a small clinical trial suggested that it isnt effective in preventing mild to moderate illness from the coronavirus variant dominant in the country. South Africa received its first 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week and was expected to begin giving them to health care workers in mid-February. The disappointing early results indicate that an inoculation drive using the AstraZeneca vaccine may not be useful. Preliminary data from a small study suggested that the AstraZeneca vaccine offers only minimal protection against mild-moderate disease caused by the variant in South Africa. The variant appears more infectious and is driving a deadly resurgence of the disease in the country, currently accounting for more than 90% of the COVID-19 cases, health minister Zweli Mkhize said Sunday night. The AstraZeneca vaccine appeared effective against the original strain, but not against the variant, Mkhize said. We have decided to put a temporary hold on the rollout of the vaccine ... more work needs to be done. The study, which hasnt yet been peer-reviewed, involved 2,000 people, most of whom were young and healthy. The volunteers average age was 31. Protection against moderate-severe disease, hospitalization or death could not be assessed in this study as the target population were at such low risk, said a statement issued by Oxford University and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Scientists will be studying whether or not the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective in preventing severe disease and death against the variant, Mkhize said. Other vaccines have shown reduced efficacy against the variant, but have provided good protection from serious disease and death. Public health officials are concerned about the South Africa variant because it contains a mutation of the virus characteristic spike protein, which is targeted by existing vaccines. South African officials say the variant is more contagious and evidence is emerging that it may be more virulent. South Africa will urgently roll out other vaccines to inoculate as many as possible in the coming months, Mkhize said. Other South African scientists on Sunday said the clinical trials for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine show good results against the variant. The early results for the AstraZeneca vaccine against the variant could have far-reaching implications as many other countries in Africa and beyond have been planning to use the AstraZeneca shot. The international COVAX initiative has bought the AstraZeneca vaccine in bulk from the Serum Institute of India. Developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine expect to have a modified jab to cope with the South Africa coronavirus variant by autumn, the vaccines lead researcher said Sunday. Sarah Gilbert, lead researcher for the Oxford team, told the BBC on Sunday that we have a version with the South African spike sequence in the works. It looks very likely that we can have a new version ready to use in the autumn, she added. Authorities in England last week went house-to-house to administer COVID-19 testing in eight areas where the South Africa variant is believed to be spreading, after a handful of cases were found in people who had no contact with the country or anyone who traveled there. More than 100 cases of the South African variant have been found in the U.K. The testing blitz is a bid to snuff out the variant before it spreads widely and undermines the U.K.s vaccination rollout. Britain has seen Europes deadliest coronavirus outbreak, with over 112,000 confirmed deaths, but it has embarked on a speedier vaccination plan than the neighboring European Union. So far, the U.K. has given a first coronavirus vaccine jab to about 11.5 million people. Govt. seeks increased export earnings View(s): Exporters have been asked to increase their export earnings by at least 10 per cent as the country faces stiff financial challenges particularly in foreign exchange earnings. A meeting of the key exporters from varied sectors was held at the Central Bank this week with officials from the bank, Governor Prof. W.D. Lakshman and State Minister of Finance Nivard Cabraal. We would like to see at least an increase in incomes by 10 per cent, Mr. Cabraal told the Business Times highlighting some of the concerns expressed to exporters during their meeting earlier in the week. He pointed out that the government had spoken to exporters of their role in the economy and on the need to increase exports to the country. The government has also explained to the industries the challenges faced by the government and had also discussed the concerns of the different sectors as well, he said. We also wanted them to commit to increase their exports, he pointed out adding that they had also discussed on how these increases in incomes could be achieved. During the meeting Mr. Cabraal had also spoken about the depreciating rupee and the governments attempt to sustain it at around Rs.187 which he considered it to be a successful mark. In this respect, he told the Business Times that during the past five years the rupee has been depreciating at a rate of 6.7 per cent and now we want to establish a calm environment. Some exporters had expressed concerns regarding the COVID-19 related issues pertaining to how long it takes to bounce back after a person is detected, Mr. Cabraal said. Amidst this challenging environment when the government is trying to increase its income, Mr. Cabraal pointed out that when the incomes lessen one has to tighten the strings and in this respect has resolved to restricting imports. He explained that while some import restrictions have been relaxed others will continue to remain adding that these measures were adopted to ensure they protect the home industries. Mr. Cabraal pointed out that it is important to conserve unnecessary expenditure and unnecessary outflow of foreign exchange, and highlighted there is no need to import vehicles. Asked what the impact of these restrictions could be on Sri Lanka, he said, There will be an impact but we need to balance (it). He noted when there is a sharp decrease of inflows there is a need to limit certain imports. (SD) Even as the incidence of COVID-19 seems to be slowing down, nearly 10 percent of the Bexar County population has been infected with the virus since the pandemic hit in mid-March. The San Antonio Metropolitan Health District reported 625 new cases Saturday, about a third of the number reported Friday. Thursday, there were only 860 new cases. All told, there have been 181,011 residents infected with the virus. But the death toll continues to be heavy. Eleven more deaths were reported Saturday the youngest a Hispanic man in his 50s who died at Metropolitan Methodist Hospital and the oldest a centenarian at University Hospital. His ethnicity was not listed. Here we are a day before the Super Bowl. We know the consequences from the holidays, Precinct 2 Bexar County Commissioner Justin Rodriguez said at Saturdays briefing. Weve seen the numbers rise over the past four to six weeks, and we dont want to see that return. I know if we all want some sense of normalcy to return in 2021 I know we all want that a lot is riding on our attitudes and actions over the next 24 hours. The deceased reported Saturday also included a white man in his 60s at University Hospital; four Hispanic men in their 70s one at Metropolitan Health Hospital, another at Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital and two at University Hospital; a Hispanic man and woman in their 80s hospitalized at Metropolitan Methodist Hospital; a white man in his 80s at Audie L. Murphy Veterans Hospital; and another man whose ethnicity wasnt listed who was in his 80s and died at University Hospital. Metro Health is still investigating 266 deaths reported by the state health department to determine whether they were the result of COVID-19 and whether each person was a resident of Bexar County. Since mid-March, 2.208 residents have died with the virus. The seven-day rolling average of new cases, a less erratic measure of the virus infection rate, fell slightly from 1,361 cases per day to 1,147 cases per day. Almost a quarter of all patients in area hospitals Saturday 24.6 percent had the virus, accounting for 969 total patients. Though this is 30 fewer patients than reported Friday, 129 new coronavirus patients were admitted within the past 24 hours. Of the coronavirus patients Saturday, 373 were in intensive care one more than Friday. Additionally, 24 fewer people were on ventilators compared with the day before, with 193 patients using the machine to help them breathe. The first step to slowing the spread of the coronavirus is identifying and isolating the sources, experts say. In other words, those who think they might have come in contact with the virus should get tested, and if they test positive they should quarantine. The city has many testing sites, some free. Two new testing sites are opening this week. Monday, the Barshop Community Jewish Center, 12500 NW Military Highway, will be a new testing hub for those who arent experiencing symptoms. It will accept only walk-ins, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and is closed weekends. The Rackspace Technology Headquarters at 1 Fanatical Place in Windcrest also will provide testing for those without symptoms starting Tuesday. The location doesnt require an appointment and will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and closed weekends. For those with symptoms, the Cuellar and Ramirez community centers offer testing with no appointment necessary. The Cuellar Community Center is located at 5626 San Fernando St., and the Ramirez Community Center is located at 1011 Gillette Blvd. Both locations are open for symptomatic testing from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Sunday. The two community centers are also open for walk-up testing of those who are asymptomatic that is, showing no symptoms from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and closed Sunday. For more information, visit COVID19.SanAntonio.gov Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. (CNN) Battle lines are forming across Washington as the Biden administration grapples with how to handle dozens of Trump loyalists the former President installed after the election. Over the past two weeks, the new administration has made an effort to remove a number of Trump appointees across various government agencies and boards. While some have gone quietly, others have not, raising questions about the legal authority President Joe Biden holds in removing his predecessor's appointees, and how successful he will be in rooting out people he doesn't want. On Monday, newly sworn-in Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin opted to wipe the slate completely clean, dismissing hundreds of members across 42 advisory boards, including a number of last-minute Trump appointees such as former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, Trump's deputy campaign manager. On Tuesday, eight members of the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP) resigned at the request of the Biden administration, according to Aloysius Hogan, a spokesperson for the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which oversees the FSIP. The other two members who refused to resign from the panel, which resolves disputes between government agencies and labor groups, were terminated by the 5:00 p.m. deadline that day. On Wednesday, Roger Severino, a Trump appointee to the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States, sued in DC district court to seek an injunction to prevent his removal from the council on the basis that the President has no authority to terminate his appointment. Hours after this story published on Saturday, Severino told CNN, "President Biden's attempt to remove me contrary to law exposes his lofty promises of healing and uniting all Americans as nothing more than cynical manipulation." Severino stated in the lawsuit that he received an email Tuesday sent "on behalf of President Biden" asking him to resign by Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. or his appointment to the council would be terminated. According to the lawsuit, three other Trump appointees to the council also received similar requests to resign or risk termination. As of 10:00 p.m. Wednesday, all four Trump appointees mentioned in the lawsuit no longer appeared on the council's website, though Ronald Cass and Adrian Vermeule, who were appointed by Trump alongside Severino, remained. The Biden administration has also removed people from Voice of America, where there was public outcry over what was perceived as Trump's attempts to create a news network that would act as an extension of his administration. Two appointees to the National Capital Planning Commission, which oversees development of federal property in the DC area, have also been dismissed. "The National Capital Planning Commission was notified by the White House on February 3, 2021 that presidential appointees Chairman Paul Dans and Commissioner Gibson Worsham are no longer members of the Commission," an NCPC spokesperson said in a statement. Reflecting the more mundane sides of government bureaucracy, most of these boards are not household names, and these presidential appointees usually don't make national news. But in an increasingly polarized Washington, the fates of several of Trump's other last-minute appointments remain unclear as they undergo review and receive heightened scrutiny. "The Biden administration is conducting a thorough review of holdover appointees on councils, commissions, and advisory boards," White House spokesperson Michael Gwin said. According to a White House official, as part of the review, the White House "may remove individuals whose continued membership on the board would not serve the public interest." It remains to be seen what legal recourse appointees may have if their tenures are cut short by the Biden administration, especially if they are working full-time and can attempt to claim labor protections afforded to government workers. While positions in federally funded organizations like Voice of America and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks are full-time and salaried, of eight other federal boards, councils or commissions CNN contacted for this article, only members of three the Federal Service Impasses Panel, the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and the National Capital Planning Commission are compensated. Though the Biden administration's strategy appears in some cases to attempt to do away completely with advisory boards and panels in order to build them back from scratch, including those that require a security clearance, it may prove difficult for Biden to successfully undo Trump's flurry of appointments to many of the prestigious boards and councils that are a permanent part of? the Washington, DC, social scene. "We are not aware of any process for removal," John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts spokesperson Brendan Padgett told CNN of the center's board of trustees, where Pam Bondi, the Florida lawyer who served on Trump's first impeachment defense team, was recently appointed to serve through September 2026. Other loyalist appointments include Hope Hicks,Trump's longtime aide who was appointed to the 12-member J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board; Matt Schlapp, a Republican lobbyist whose appointment to the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board was announced in early December; and Nick Luna, Trump's body man, who is now on the US Holocaust Memorial Council along with Rudy Giuliani's son. In many cases, these boards were predominantly or entirely filled with Trump's allies, former advisers and supporters at the start of Biden's presidency. Last-minute presidential appointments It's not uncommon for an outgoing president to give loyal supporters seats on government boards and institutions. President Barack Obama, for example, announced dozens of these appointments in the last days of his presidency, including top advisers like Valerie Jarrett to the Kennedy Center's board and Benjamin Rhodes to the Holocaust Memorial Council. "It's normal for these positions to get filled especially at the end of an administration. What's not normal are appointees with so little connectivity or qualifications," said Max Stier, president and CEO of the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service. Appointments to prestigious boards and commissions can be a glamorous part of Washington, DC's social scene, and appointees are often responsible for making policy recommendations or advising government leaders on various topics, depending on the board. Although these roles usually do not come with full-time salaries, appointees may enjoy the prestige associated with an appointment to a high-profile board or commission, as well as some exclusive perks. At the Kennedy Center, for example, board members are?eligible for trustee boxes in select theaters on a first come, first serve basis, according to the center's spokesperson Padgett. On other boards, members may also be eligible for reimbursements related to travel or government work. Paul Light, a professor of public service at New York University who has researched the political appointment process, also noted that while it's "very common" for presidents to announce appointments at the end of their terms, what sets these apart is that "Trump's appointments have been about Trump end of story." "Some are quite talented and have plenty of hopeful energy, but others are insults to the agencies and boards they are joining," Light said, adding that in some cases, Trump's appointees have been directly opposed to the mission of the board or agency they've joined. According to a White House official, Trump's FSIP appointees were opposed to Biden's goal of strengthening the role of unions and giving workers greater protections in the workplace. Biden administration's response The day after Biden's inauguration, Robert Reilly and Elizabeth Robbins received an email with a simple message resign their posts as director and deputy director of Voice of America immediately or be terminated. Under the impression their roles were protected, the two Trump hires decided not to go quietly and pushed back. Reilly was fired first by the acting chief executive officer, who then immediately named a new acting director, who terminated Robbins. The emails stated that "incoming leadership has the authority to select staff in whom it has personal confidence to carry out its policy goals." It went on to say that their termination "should not be construed in any way as a reflection" on them personally or on their performance. Not only were Reilly and Roberts ousted, the controversial Trump-appointed head official Michael Pack resigned after a request from the Biden administration. Pack, a conservative documentary filmmaker who became CEO of the US Agency for Global Media in June, has been widely criticized for his stewardship of the international news services under USAGM, including the Voice of America. Victoria Coates was also fired as president of Middle East Broadcasting Networks, which is government funded, despite her having signed a two-year contract with US Agency for Global Media, she told CNN. The Biden administration called her deputy, Rob Greenway, to tell him that he would be fired as well, according to Coates, who said she called human resources about Greenway's firing. Twenty minutes later, Coates said she received an email to her personal account notifying her that she had been terminated effective immediately, and her emails had been cut off. Coates and her attorneys sent a letter to the USAGM general counsel expressing that they believe her contracts were violated and are prepared to litigate if they are not honored. "This is a shocking repudiation of President Biden's call for unity and reconciliation ...and a clear violation of MBN's grant and my employment contracts," Coates said in a statement. What's next for appointees In conversations with individuals across multiagency boards and commissions, some appointees told CNN they have been left in the dark about the status of their appointments and have not heard anything from the new Biden administration. Schlapp said he was "honored" to be appointed to the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board and that all his necessary paperwork has been completed. According to Deputy Director of Communications for the Library of Congress Bill Ryan, Trust Fund Board members serve without pay and manage trusts or other gifts to the library, including by giving advice on how to invest them. "I know of no roadblocks or issues and I look forward to using my experience and contacts to further the mission of this great American institution,"Schlappsaid in a statement. Luna, similarly, has not heard anything about his role changing with Holocaust Memorial Council. Individuals on several government boards contacted by CNN said recent appointments made under the Trump administration are expected to remain on the boards. One recent appointee to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, William Ruger, told CNN he intends to serve out his entire term. "I was appointed back in early December and sworn into the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board two weeks ago. I am looking forward to serving my full term on the board in order to support this very important program," Ruger, who is vice president for research and policy at the Charles Koch Institute, said in a statement last Friday. Andy Hollinger, communications director for the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, confirmed to CNN last Friday the Biden administration has not contacted him about potentially removing any members from the Holocaust Memorial Council. "To my knowledge this has never happened since the first Council was established in 1980," Hollinger said, of members being removed. Thomas Luebke, secretary of the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) which is tasked with advising the President, Congress and government agencies on "matters of design and aesthetics" in the nation's capital, according to the commission's website echoed the rarity of such a removal if it were to occur. "To my knowledge, no CFA members have ever been replaced prior to the completion of their terms unless they have resigned," Luebke told CNN. Four new members were appointed to the arts commission in the final days of the Trump administration, replacing Obama-era members whose terms had expired and were eligible for replacement, according to Luebke. The seven-member arts commission now consists entirely of Trump appointees. This story has been updated to include a statement from Roger Severino, a Trump appointee to the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Biden administration works to clean house of Trump appointees." Mumbai, Feb 7 : Magma Fincorp will raise up to Rs 3,000 crore through debt securities in the next financial year FY21-22 through debt securities. In a regulatory filing, the non-banking financial company has said that its Board of Directors has approved the issuance of debt securities in the nature of non- convertible debt securities -- secured, unsecured, subordinated debentures and so on. The issuance of securities of up to Rs 3,000 crore will be done in one or more series or tranches through private placement. The filing said that the banks, pension funds, mutual funds and other entities or individuals including but not limited to multilateral development organisation, institutional investors, foreign portfolio investors, financial institutions, companies among others. The tenure of the secured debentures would be up to 10 years, while that for unsecured debentures would be up to 10 years or perpetual. The tenure of subordinate debentures will be at least 5 years. Valentine's Week can make singles feel lonelier than usual. But instead of beating oneself over it, we recommend you take a cue from our movies listing about unrequited love and romantic tales where a couple doesn't quite make it. Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa King of Romance Shah Rukh Khan as Sunil makes every possible effort to woo Anna (Suchitra Krishnamurthy) in this one-sided romantic drama. He later realises that true love is sometimes about letting go and not obsessing over what isn't meant to be. Even as Sunil is dejected in the matters of the heart, he still remains the righteous hero we can all look up to. The movie even has some memorable tracks around the themes of unending search for love and heartbreak. Blue is the Warmest Colour Apart from being bold in its take on lesbian romance and struggle with sexual identity, Blue is the Warmest Colour also explores the turbulence in life of a teen, who falls in love for the first time thinking it is forever meant to be! The emotional complexities of a passionate love affair and break up are meticulously explored in this movie, making it a must watch. Adele Exarchopoulos as Adele makes this tale relatable with her natural performance and you encounter all the highs and lows of love with her. Dil Chahta Hai Even though the movie is about friendship in the first half, the plot turns to explore the nuances of forbidden romance in the latter part through Sid (Akshaye Khanna), when he falls in love with a woman elder to him. "What will the society think of this?" questions Sid's mother when he bares his heart in front of her. Even though Sid's feelings for Tara (Dimple Kapadia) remain one-sided, he never puts any conditions of reciprocation, thus, giving us a perfect example of how true love is accepting that it sometimes remains incomplete. 500 Days of Summer Thinking you found the right one in your life, your forever love? Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) believes so too after meeting Summer (Zooey Deschanel). He pursues her and they get close only to realise over a period of time that theirs isn't the love that is meant to be. With a non-linear narrative and a great soundtrack, 500 Days of Summer is an off-beat romance drama that will make you question whether true love really exists. It is realistic and a must-watch for those coming out of a break up. Rushmore Wes Anderson's breakout film Rushmore sews together comedy with unrequited teen romance. It evokes fun in emotional moments thus leaving us bitter-sweet, much like life itself. Max (Jason Schwartzman) takes it quite long to realise that his infatuation for his teacher is a lost cause. In the meantime, he crosses all limits to make love happen for him. Max goes to great lengths to gain the affection and confidence of his teacher, and you are left laughing all along at his antics. Cocktail Veronica (Deepika Padukone) jumps around in and out of relationships with men quite easily and is unwilling to give real love a chance, until she meets Gautam (Saif Ali Khan). Things get complicated when Gautam falls for Meera (Diana Penty), who is Veronica's roommate and friend. Cocktail has shallow yet complex characters that are constantly torn between what the heart desires and doing right by your close ones. In The Mood for Love Wong-Kar Wai's classic In The Mood for Love is timeless take about love that falls mercilessly at the feet of fate. Just the hope of romance lingers on. Chow and Su come close, but never really do. They fall in love, but never really do. Through them, the movie speaks to us in silence. Their love blossoms in secrecy and eventually dies a slow and painful death. La La Land Hollywood Musical La La Land makes one believe in true love before breaking the myth. All is well with Sebastain (Ryan Gosling) and Mia's (Emma Stone) relationship the time they decide to pursue their careers. Out come the complications. The movie in effect captures the dilemma of modern day romance, where lovers are caught up between career and heart. Many relationships succumb to this pressure, leaving behind figments of what could have been. Her Joaquin Phoenix leads this strange tale about a middle-age man falling for an Operating System that is designed to 'understand' and reciprocate to his needs. Theodore (Joaquin) makes us really feel how isolated and detached humans can be despite co-existing and that technology is our new forever companion. A haunting and poignant tale that is rooted in both present and the future. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Vanraj (Ajay Devgn) shows us that true love can be accomplished by fulfilling the wishes of your beloved, even if it means trying to reunite them with their lover. In her selfish quest for romance, Nandini (Aishwarya Rai) realises that she has come to adore Vanraj and accepts him as her true soul mate. Ajay and Aishwarya's performances are sincere and through them a new window opens to love, which happens to go through sacrifice. Sex, Lies and Videotape Most of all, this Steven Soderbergh movie captures the true spirit of indie filmmaking. Four fractured souls try to meet each other's love expectations. But can they? Carnal pleasures, deceit and hopeless search for romance are explored in this interesting tale that is woven around lives of confused souls who are at crossroads and can never really meet despite being in physical proximity. Happy Together Even though every Wong Kar-Wai movie is about longing for love and deserves a spot in this list, Happy Together, in its own unique way, talks volumes about a troubled relationship and how painful drifting apart can be. Are new beginnings really possible when someone is hopelessly drowning in love? Happy Together bares the true feeling of loneliness and it certainly is a sad watch. New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday issued an arrest warrant against Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed in a money laundering case related to terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir. Besides issuing the non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Saeed, Special Judge Praveen Singh also issued warrants against three co-accused Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, separatist Altaf Ahmad Shah alias Funtoosh and businessman from the UAE Naval Kishore Kapoor who are currently lodged in the Tihar central jail here, seeking their production before the court. The court passed the direction while taking cognisance of a chargesheet filed in the matter by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged money laundering. The judge also issued summons to the representatives of Watali's company M/s Trison Farms and Construction Pvt Ltd, which has also been named as accused in the matter. Special Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana, appearing for the ED, told the court that the accused hatched a criminal conspiracy to carry out subversive and secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir. The accused established a network of cadres who were funded through Pakistani agencies via hawala dealers and local conduits by raising funds through local donations and funds have also been received from abroad, Rana told the court. The ED had filed a case based on an NIA matter against Saeed, Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin and others for "conspiring to wage war against the government" and fomenting trouble in the Kashmir Valley. The separatist leaders have been accused of taking a cut before handing over the money to generate trouble. Saeed has also been accused of using the services of Watali for passing on the money to the separatists and some individuals who were actively indulging in stone-pelting in various areas of the Valley, the ED said in the charge sheet. In the NIA's case, besides Saeed, Salahuddin and Watali, the agency had also named hardline pro-Pakistan separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani's son-in-law Altaf Shah alias Altaf Fantoosh, Bashir Ahmad Bhat and Javed Ahmad Bhat as accused. Live TV North Carolina congressional nominee Madison Cawthorn addresses the virtual Republican National Convention on Aug. 26, 2020. (Photo Courtesy of the Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee via Getty Images) Republican Party Has Never Been More United Against Socialism: Freshman GOP Rep. Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), a freshman lawmaker, said that the Republican Party remains united against radical socialism in the midst of highly publicized spats. Our party has never been more united, Cawthorn told the Washington Examiner on Feb. 6, referring to questions about the GOP in the midst of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) being censured by Republicans in Wyoming over her move to impeach former President Donald Trump last month, as well as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) losing her committee posts. Republicans voted to allow Cheney to keep her leadership posts, although her reelection prospects may have been imperiled. Cawthorn said that Republicans are becoming increasingly unified, despite them having differing ideological positions, around fighting off radical socialism in Congress. I made a statement that I think surprised a lot of my fellow colleagues. I said, What just happened in that room tells me that the Republican Party has never been more united. Because we had the back of Liz Cheney, and we had the back of Marjorie Greene, he said. And that is because, no matter the faults of either of those women, we are here to fight against something that is so evil, and both of them are fighters, and we are here to go against this radical state of liberalism that has taken root in our country. Cawthorn said he opposed Greene being stripped of her committee assignments last week, arguing that voters in her district in Georgia elected her. If whatever is being reported about Marjorie Greene is true, you know, obviously I condemn whatever those statements are, he said. Theyre frankly bizarre. But, you know what, I am here to fight something much more evil. I am here to fight radical socialism thats trying to take root in our country. There are people like Congresswoman [Alexandria] Ocasio-Cortez, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who have said very dangerous things, he said, referring to the Democratic representatives. Theres a lot of double standard going on here in Washington. Once somebody does something after theyve been elected, that puts it in a different category. Greene, for her part, wrote that the move to strip her of committee assignments is an extension of the leftist cancel culture that has crept into the American mainstream. Democrats and some Republicans criticized her after controversial comments she had made on social media before she was in office. When the Democrats and 11 of my Republican colleagues decided to strip me of my committee assignments you know what they did? They actually stripped my district of their voice. They stripped my voters of having representation to work for them, she said on Feb. 5. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Microsoft is bringing its own password management system for Android and iPhone models as a part of the latest Microsoft Authenticator app. The company is extending the same support for Windows and macOS-running PCs with a new Autofill extension for Google Chrome browser. The company explains that if a user who has saved the password for a platform under Microsoft Account on the Microsoft Edge browser, the password will sync to the Authenticator app or Chrome extension. Similarly, if a password is saved on Authenticator app or Autofill extension, users can sync it with the Edge browser. Notably, for Apple devices like Macs, iPhone, iPads, the company already provides the native iCloud Keychain system that acts as a password manager. Password managers - whether first part or third-part apps like LastPass and 1Password - are effective ways of saving passwords that remove the hassle of remembering login credentials while using multiple devices. Microsoft also explains in a blog post, "The experience to autofill passwords is intuitive and fits nicely into your login flow. When you visit a site or app for which youve saved a password, Authenticator offers to autofill it." To export passwords or log in credentials from the Microsoft account to Microsoft Authenticator app or Autofill Chrome extension, users will need to open Microsoft Edge browser > Settings and more > Settings > Profile > Password > Hit Export. The new update from Microsoft would particularly help Apple users who enjoy third party apps like Chrome for desktop and Authenticator app for iPhones. Similarly, Android smartphone and Windows-enabled PC users can also enjoy the password management system from Microsoft. ALSO READ: Apple Brings iCloud Passwords Extension to Chrome to Sync Passwords Between Macs, Windows PCs Easily Interestingly, Apple is also extending its iCloud password manager to Windows PCs in the form of a Chrome extension. Last week, the Cupertino-based tech giant rolled out the iCloud Passwords Chrome extension for Mac PCs that syncs passwords between multiple devices. Both iCloud Keychain and Microsoft Autofill extensions are available to download for free via Google Chrome Store. Peter Lazes, of West Stockbridge, is the co-author of the book From the Ground Up: How Frontline Staff Can Save Americas Healthcare. He a visiting scholar at the School of Labor and Employment Relations at Penn State University. 1. Tikait Gives Govt Till Oct To Repel Laws PTI Rakesh Tikait said farmers protesting against the three central laws on Delhis borders since November are not going anywhere, as per a report in TOI. 2. Probe On War Crimes In Palestine AFP The International Criminal Court said on February 5 it had jurisdiction over the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, allowing a war crimes investigation as per a report in AFP. 3. Centre Tells States And Union Territories To Ramp Up COVID Vaccinations PTI Despite more than 56 lakh health and frontline workers in almost 22 days of the vaccination drive, the Centre asked states and UTs to "exponentially increase" the pace of vaccination as there is still substantial scope for increasing the numbers per session, as per a TOI report. 4. People Celebrate 4G Return In J&K With Calls And Downloads TOI Exciting video calls to family, frantic downloading of books and class notes and sharing of memes on social media was how the first day of 4G being restored in J&K after 550 days went, as per a report in TOI. Dhaka, Feb 7 : Bangladesh's Covid-19 vaccination programme began on Sunday across the country with a target to inoculate 3.5 million people in the first phase. Bangladesh had received the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine from the Serum Institute of India (SII) under grants assistance on January 21. Health Minister Zahid Maleque has received his first shot of the coronavirus vaccine after the inauguration of the vaccination drive through video conferencing from the health directorate of Bangladesh. Maleque was administered the jab at at Sheikh Russel Gastroliver Institute and Hospital in the capital's Mohakhali area around 11.30 a.m. Deputy Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel became thee first person in the Chittagong Divisionto be vaccinated after the inauguration of the inoculation campaign at the Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH). Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque, Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman and Public Administration Minister Farhad Hossain have also received their shots. Hospital sources said some 162 people, including ministers, lawmakers and physicians, will be vaccinated in five booths at the hospital. CMCH Director Brigadier General S M Humayun Kabir, Chattogram City Corporation chief medical officer Doctor Selim Akhter, Divisional Health Director Doctor Hasan Shahriar Kabir, Civil Surgeon Doctor Sheikh Fazle Rabbi, CEO of Chattogram Field Hospital Bidyut Barua and Chattogram range DIG Anwar Hossain received vaccine on Sunday morning. They were kept in observation unit after taking vaccine. Some 2,400 teams are working in 1,005 hospitals under the vaccination programme. A total of 204 teams are facilitating the vaccination in 50 hospitals in the capital and 2,196 teams are carrying out the job in 955 hospitals outside Dhaka. Some 7,344 vaccination teams are operating the vaccination programme across the country. According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), around 3.5 lakh people registered for vaccine till Saturday evening. People who registered for vaccine received text messages Saturday night confirming the date and centre for their vaccination. The frontline workers will receive the vaccine in the first phase, while people under 18 and pregnant mothers will not be inoculated. The country now has a stock of 7 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccine, of which the government procured 5 million doses from Serum Institute of India and the rest were gifted by the Indian government. Two doses of the Covishield vaccine will be given to each vaccine recipient in an eight-week interval. DGHS sources and some vaccine recipients said no major side effect of the vaccine has been found yet among the vaccine recipients. At least 100 people will be vaccinated daily across the country, DGHS officials told IANS. Each of the vaccination team comprises two vaccinators and four volunteers while the vaccinators include nurses, sub-assistant community medical officers and family welfare inspectors. The DGHS has also asked not to grant leave to health workers until February 10 in a bid to ensure the smooth rollout of Covid-19 vaccine across the country. The vaccine centres will operate from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day except Friday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had inaugurated the vaccination programme virtually when 26 frontliners received Covishield vaccine in Kurmitola General Hospital of the capital on January 27. And 541 others received the vaccine in five hospitals in the capital on the next day. A total of 567 people who received their first doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccine were under observation for seven days. Bangladesh plans to inoculate 80 per cent of its population and the Covid-19 shots will be administered in five stages under three phases under the national vaccine distribution and preparation plan, the Health Minister told IANS on Sunday. Representative Image Fueled by myriad opportunities created by COVID-19, the pharma sector is well poised to become the new favourite pick for foreign direct investment (FDI) in India. A constant need for medicines and medical devices has always kept the drug industry on its toes. In recent times, the industry has been luring investors and raging towards becoming the most preferred investment destination for FDI. The constant flow of FDIs has played a significant role in developing the Indian pharma sector and the government's efforts to shore up investments by allowing 100 percent FDI in greenfield or new projects and a fast-track mechanism to clear applications has made it more desirable for global investors. For brownfield pharma or existing companies, up to 74 percent FDI is allowed under the automatic route and an approval is required beyond that. Industry experts feel that the pharma sector has the potential to grow at a considerable CAGR, which is why the FDI investments have now started flowing in abundance. Another reason for foreign investors' interest in the sector is India's focus on exports, which means that being connected with the growing Indian pharmaceutical market can bring more profits for them in the long run. Related stories Vishal Yadav CEO|FDI India The coronavirus pandemic has further propelled the growth of the pharma sector, as the developed world looks to shift its manufacturing base from China to other countries and India is emerging as a preferred alternative. The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the US-China trade tensions have created a huge opportunity for India. India is bound to benefit from investments that may be pulled out of China and it is working on simplifying the entry process and ensuring ease of doing business. Not just that, the Indian pharma companies have managed to get more than 300 NADA approvals, which in itself is a big win for the industry and has also helped it gain traction with foreign investors. That said, India holds a great volume in the United States generics market, which makes the Indian pharma sector more visible to the investors. China may have had an upper hand in active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) imports due to low-cost utilities and greater government support, India is focused on reducing this dependence by increasing domestic production. With lower labour costs and global investors looking to move from Chinese API sources, India has huge potential to ramp step up its game in API manufacturing. India is also considered to be a leading medical-device maker in the world and has the fourth largest device market in Asia, making it a potential investment hub. With multiple Indian companies in the run for vaccine success, the pharma sector is the hotbed for foreign investments. The industry is not just growing but has already achieved a benchmark by becoming the hub of FDI, with several foreign investors more than willing to park their funds in the Indian pharma firms. (Vishal Yadav is the CEO and Founder at FDI India.) : 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. In a case that has taken 13 years to reach a conclusion, the Dutch Court of Appeal has ruled that the Nigerian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shellthe Anglo-Dutch oil giant is headquartered in the Netherlandsis liable for oil spills in the Niger Delta in Nigeria between 2004 and 2007. While Shell had argued that saboteurs were responsible for leaks in underground oil pipes that have polluted the delta, the court ruled that while sabotage was the most likely cause in two of the villages, this had not been established beyond reasonable doubt. By allowing the leaks to occur and failing to clean up the contaminated area, Shells Nigerian subsidiary had acted unlawfully and was liable for the damage. The court ordered Shell Nigeria to pay compensation for the massive oil spills that have caused widespread pollution and ruined Nigerian farms, with the amount of compensation to be decided later. It ordered the company to start purifying the contaminated water within weeks and to install a leak detection system to a pipeline that caused one of the spills. Shell may yet appeal to the Dutch Supreme Court. Protest outside a US court where Shell was on trial (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) Environmental and human rights activists have hailed the decision as ground-breaking, enabling cases to be brought against transnational corporations in the country where they are headquartered and making it harder for the parent company to walk away from trouble caused by overseas subsidiaries. Such optimism is belied both by Shell and other oil corporations record in Nigeria and the outcome of previous court rulings that, without any mechanisms to enforce their decisions, have achieved little in practice. Shell, with its deep pockets, have long sought to evade responsibility via lengthy legal proceedings, many of them in UK courts, for their part in regular oil spills on the Niger Delta that have ruined the livelihoods of local people. Even when courts find against Shell, the oil giant manages to manoeuvre its way out of its obligations. In 2015, Shell accepted responsibility for the oil spills of Bodo, Ogoniland, in 2008 and 2009 and agreed to pay the people of Bodo $83.4 million, far less than their original demand of $454.9 million, but the oil spills have yet to be cleaned. Just last month, the Nigerian authorities moved to seize $479 million worth of assets belonging to the countrys third largest bank that had acted as Shells guarantor after a judge in 2010 ordered the company to pay damages to the Ejama-Ebubu community for polluting its land, as Shell had failed to pay up. This latest case was initiated in 2008 by four farmers from the villages of Oruma, Goi and Ikot Ada Udo and the environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth to obtain reparations for their loss of income due the contamination of the land and waterways by oil spillages. Now, 13 years later, any compensation, when or if it comes, will be too late for some of the plaintiffs. Two had died while a third, Fidelis Oguru, an 80-year-old farmer from Oruma, is now blind. Oguru told Al Jazeera that oil leaks from pipelines had devastated farmland and waterways in the region, poisoning their crops of cassava and plantain and eroding their livelihoods. All their appeals to the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Royal Dutch Shells Nigerian subsidiary, for compensation and environmental clean-up had fallen on deaf ears. Shell first discovered oil in the delta in 1956, some 20 years after being granted a licence while Nigeria was still a British colony, and started exporting in 1958, two years before independence. The largest oil company in Nigeria, it accounts for more than 21 percent of the countrys oil production with dozens of oilfields, over 6,000 km of pipelines, 87 flow stations, eight gas plants and more than 1,000 wells in the region. More recent entrants, such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, Total and Italys ENI, have many of their installations located offshore in the Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria is Africas largest oil producer, producing 101.4 million metric tons in 2019generating the overwhelming majority of the governments revenue and almost all its foreign exchangemaking the countrys politicians dependent on the oil companies and their imperialist backers in Washington and London, as the release of a cache of secret diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks in 2010 revealed. The impact of the oil corporations, their imperialist sponsors and successive generations of Nigerias venal elite that rule over the country on their behalf has been devastating, producing civil wars and conflicts, brutal military dictatorships and grinding poverty. Most of the oil reserves lay in the eastern region that secessionists claimed for themselves when they declared the Republic of Biafra in 1967 as rival ethnic groups vied for power. Some 100,000 people died in the two and a half years of war that ensued, while between 500,000 and 2 million Biafran civilians died of starvation, due to the blockade imposed by Nigerias federal government. As oil prices rose tenfold following two oil shocks in the 1970s and early 1980s, the naira, Nigerias currency rose in value, making imports cheaper relative to locally produced goods, undercutting domestic industries and businesses. Nigeria once had a thriving textile industry in the northern part of the country, with around 175 mills. Now there are just 25, operating at 40 percent capacity, and half a million farmers who used to grow cotton for the mills no longer do so. According to the International Monetary Fund, between the late 1960s and the late 1990s, oil generated about $350 billion for Nigeria, making the oil companies and Nigerias kleptocrats phenomenally rich, while the number living in povertyon less than a dollar a dayrose from 36 percent to 70 percent and GDP per capita fell from $1,113 to $1,084. According to a recent Oxfam report, lifting all those living below the extreme poverty line for one year would cost about $24 billion, an amount just lower than the $29.9 billion owned by the five richest Nigerians in 2016. From the earliest days, Shells impact on the local environment caused deep concern and resentment. There have been numerous oil spills and gas flares which emit a deadly poison burning 24 hours a day, some of them for the last 30 years. In the 1990s, as the protests grew against pollution, Shell called on Nigerias venal military government to provide security protection for its operations. It supplied the security forces with the cash, transportation and even weapons to carry out a brutal crackdown that raided about 27 Ogoni villages, causing the deaths of 2,000 people, the forced displacement of 80,000 and the use of rape and torture to intimidate the population. This reign of terror culminated in the execution of writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other men, known as the Ogoni Nine. A report by Amnesty International in 2017 that reviewed internal Shell documents, government reports, witness statements, archival material and other evidence accused the company of complicity in murder, rape and torture committed by the Nigerian government. Gas flares pollute the atmosphere resulting in acid rain and respiratory problems in the surrounding community, which in 2005, in Bayelsa state alone, caused 5,000 cases of respiratory diseases and 120,000 asthma attacks and forced thousands to escape the pollution by heading for the ghettoes of Port Harcourt and Lagos. The villagers live with the constant noise of the flare, and the area is covered in thick soot, which contaminates water supplies when it rains. Shells pipelines pass above ground through villages and over what was once agricultural land. According to a US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks, three-quarters of pipelines in 2008 were more than a decade overdue for replacement, with some that had a 15-year life expectancy still operating after 30 years. There have been numerous pipeline explosions that have killed thousands of people, none of which have led to any sanctions against the company. Nigerias entire history since independence from Britain in 1960, no less than other countries in Asia and Africa, makes clear that the Nigerian ruling elite serve as little more than security agents for the transnational corporations that loot and plunder the countrys rich resources. Only the working class, based on a socialist and internationalist perspective, can lead the fight to ensure that society is reorganised to serve social need not private profit. Burma Tens of Thousands Take to Streets in Myanmar to Protest Military Regime An anti-coup protester in Yangons Hledan on Saturday. / Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy YANGONMyanmar rose up in defiance on Sunday, with tens of thousands of people pouring onto the streets of major cities to stage peaceful protests against the countrys latest military coup and the arrests of President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday. The Southeast Asian country has experienced four military takeovers since its independence from the British in 1948. The previous military regime ended in 2011. The popular protests against the recently imposed military rule began to gather steam on Saturday in the countrys business hub, Yangon, before spreading to other cities on Sunday, from Kachins jade town of Hpakant in the north to the capital Naypyitaw, Mandalay, Magwe, and the UNESCO World Heritage city of Bagan in central Myanmar, to Myawaddy, a border town in the countrys south. There were also marches in Pathein in the Irrawaddy Delta and the ruby town of Moegyoke. In Yangon, the epicenter of the opposition, protests in Hledan near the Yangon University campus and downtown, initially organized by workers and students, were soon joined by tens of thousands of people from every walk of lifefrom university students to government employees to housewivesstarting on Saturday afternoon. Many held placards reading Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint!; signs emblazoned with I Voted NLD: Respect Our Votes and Down With Military Dictatorship! were also common sights. Since Saturday, the city has resounded with chanted slogans such as Down With Military Dictatorship! as protest columns marched down to Hledan and downtown from other parts of the city. They waved the flags of Daw Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) and student unions, and shouted Good Health to Mother Suu (referring to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi) through their facemasksCOVID-19 remains a threat in the countrywhile raising three fingers in a defiant salute borrowed from the Hunger Games films. Bystanders returned the salutes. Drivers honked their car horns to show their support for the protesters and their opposition to the coup. Historically known for its total lack of tolerance for popular protest and its willingness to crack down on them brutally, as it did in 1988 and 2007, the military regime has been unusually unresponsive so far, though riot police have been deployed heavily near the protests. For our future Just four years old, Myanmars democracy came to an abrupt end on Monday when the countrys military staged a coup and arrested the nations elected leaders, claiming that the general election that brought a landslide victory to Daw Aung San Suu Kyis NLD for a second time in a row was stolen. This attempt at justification has been widely ridiculed as a lame excuse by the people; it is an open secret that the military chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, eyed the countrys presidency. The coup has enraged voters, who showed near unanimous support for the NLD at the ballot box. Many are simply refusing to accept the forced removal of a democratically elected government and view it as a direct assault on democracy. Furthermore, many worry about the severe blow the takeover will surely inflict on the countrys economy and developmentboth of which have already been crippled by COVID-19. The mass popular protests emerged over the weekend, but the mood in Myanmar was unmistakably tense all last week following Mondays coup. Starting Tuesday, at 8 p.m. every night residents have enthusiastically banged pots and pans for 30 minutes to voice their displeasure at the men in uniform. At government hospitals, doctors and nurses launched a civil disobedience movement, refusing to work until their demand for the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint is met. Inspired by their stand, staff at other government ministries soon staged their own protests to officially announce their opposition to military rule. Wai Yan Tun is a student at the government-run Technological University in Yangon. On Saturday, the 23-year-old found himself actively joining the protest in Hledan, shouting anti-regime slogans and leading call-and-response chants via a bullhorn under the gaze of fully equipped riot police standing a few meters away. We have to take risks; we cant be quiet. Its for our future and for the countrys as well, he told The Irrawaddy while reminding his fellow protestors: See you guys here tomorrow. On Sunday, the number of people joining the protests was visibly larger, doubtless due in part to anger over fake news the previous night that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had been releaseda rumor that fooled many. The main thoroughfares near Sule Pagoda were at a standstill for several minutes when a column of protesters thronged downtowns main roads. The protestersmany of them were young peoplewere individually organized and visibly well mannered, in contrast to the hostile and thuggish participants who took part in pro-military rallies held a few days prior to the coup. Raising three-finger salutes, they shouted Free Mother Suu! and Say No to Military Rule! Anger, despair and hope were in the air. In the shadow of Sule Pagoda they were congratulated by veteran Myanmar student leader Ko Min Ko Naing, who was among the leaders of a popular uprising in 1988 that toppled the socialist military regime of the time. The student leader recognized that the protests this time have resulted largely from spontaneous decisions by individuals, rather than being organized by groups. Please be careful and unite, he said. As in Hledan, security was beefed up downtown. As they faced off with police, some protesters offered them water and snacks and attempted to win over the men in riot gear, saying, You guys are the peoples police! You are supposed to protect us! The invitations to join forces were not taken up, however. A middle-aged taxi driver, who relentlessly honked his horn to show his support for the protest and his opposition to the regime, said he had lived through the misery and fear created by the previous military dictatorship. I never want to feel that again. Thats why I am here today, he said. You may also like these stories: Thousands Take to Streets of Myanmar to Protest Military Takeover Australian Adviser to Myanmars Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Detained Myanmar Copper Miners Join Anti-Coup Strike JERSEY CITY Tamika Palmer, Breonna Taylors mother, will be a speaker at Hudson County Community Colleges Speaker Series event this week. Palmer will virtually attend the live Zoom event on Thursday at noon. Those who wish to access the series can register at https://tinyurl.com/HCCCTamikaPalmer and questions for Palmer can be submitted by Wednesday to mvitale@hccc.edu with the subject line Breonna Taylor. Breonna Taylor was one of the Black deaths who inspired Black Lives Matter protests nationwide during the summer of 2020. Taylor, 26, was shot and killed by police in her Louisville, Kentucky home on March 13, 2020 by police, who suspected Taylors ex-boyfriend was storing drugs in her home. No contraband was found. Taylors family settled a wrongful death civil suit, and the three police officers involved were fired, but none were criminally charged for her death. Meanwhile, Louisville passed Breonnas Law, which bans no knock warrants that allow police to forcibly enter a residence without warning and requires body cam use during searches. HCCC Assistant Professor of History, Dorothy Anderson, and HCCC Director of Cultural Affairs, Michelle Vitale, will co-moderate the discussion with Palmer. The event will open with a performance by Jersey City Poet Laureate Rashad Wright and will conclude with a virtual tour of the exhibition, Azikiwe Mohammed: Tales from Fold Out Chairs, and Rashad Wright: in heavens Wakanda, curated by Ysabel Pinyol Blasi and is being presented in partnership with Monira Foundation in the HCCC Benjamin J. Dineen and Dennis C. Hull Gallery. London: Early data from a new small-scale Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine study suggests the jab offers only minimal protection against the so-called South African coronavirus variant. South Africa said it will suspend use of the AstraZeneca shot after data showed it gave minimal protection against the countrys dominant coronavirus variant. The study from South Africas University of the Witwatersrand and Oxford University showed the vaccine had significantly reduced efficacy against the South African variant. A dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine being prepared. Credit:AP Health officials in Britain are trying to contain the spread of the variant amid concerns that it is more contagious or resistant to existing vaccines. More than 100 cases of the South African variant have been found in the UK. An Iranian flag is pictured at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Jan 8, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua] US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the Iran nuclear issue on Friday in a virtual meeting with his UK, French and German counterparts, as the new US administration continued to procrastinate on rejoining the accord. Biden had previously said that if Teheran returned to strict compliance with the pact, Washington would follow suit. But Teheran on its part insists that Washington must ease sanctions before it resumes compliance with the deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that Iran reduced its commitments as a reaction to the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018, describing its actions as "compensatory measures" given the failure of the US to adhere to its side of the bargain. On Saturday, Zarif urged the United States to stop dragging its feet and return to the deal quickly, saying that the Iranian government will have to harden its stance if the US sanctions are not eased by Feb 21 because of legislation passed by the Iranian parliament in December, which set a two month deadline for the sanctions to be eased. "Time is running out for the Americans, both because of the parliament bill and the election atmosphere that will follow the Iranian New Year (on March 21)," Zarif said in an interview with an Iranian newspaper published on Saturday. The US may be postponing rejoining the deal in the belief that delaying will win it more compromises from the Iranian side. But that is not likely. Judged by the support of the other parties to the deal and the calls of the international community, Washington should put an end to such calculations. There is no reason for the US to ask for compromises from Iran since it is the previous US administration that withdrew from the deal and imposed sanctions against Teheran. The deal is in the balance and the US should be held responsible for a lack of progress in moving forward. An early return of the US to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name of the accord, would not only remove the ambiguity surrounding the intentions of the US and pave the way for a full implementation of the hard-won deal, it would also have broader effects. It would show the US was committed to the international nuclear non-proliferation regime which was undermined by the actions of the previous US administration. And it would help restore the image of the US as a responsible member of the international community, something that the Biden administration clearly hopes to achieve. A thaw in the enmity between the US and Iran would also contribute to promoting peace and stability in the Middle East. As such, a US return to the Iran deal at the earliest would be in the best interests of all, including itself. The Flawed Thinking Behind Bidens Gun Control Bill Commentary The coming years will decide the survival of our Second Amendment, President Donald Trump warned before the election. Trump was right. During the 2020 campaign, Joe Biden promised a long list of gun control regulations. There is a reason that Michael Bloomberg spent $125 million helping Biden in Florida and something over $600 million nationally in the general election. The agenda includes: classifying many semi-automatic rifles and magazines holding more than 10 bullets as Class 3 weapons (which can require nine months or more for approval and a $200 fee), national gun licensing, red flag laws that let judges take away peoples guns without a hearing, background checks on the private transfer of guns, and bans on some semi-automatic firearms that happen to look like military weapons. The first gun control bill that Biden will push in his first 100 days would make gun makers and sellers civilly liable for misuse of guns they sell. That means people could sue manufacturers whenever a crime, accident, or suicide occurs with a gun. We arent talking about cases where there was a product liability issue or where laws are violated, such as selling a gun without a valid background check. While it isnt stated, the goal is to put the gun makers out of business. Can you imagine what would happen to the car or other products if similar rules were to apply? Some 4.5 million Americans are injured each year in car accidents, and 40,000 die. When accidents occurred because a driver wasnt paying attention or was driving recklessly, it makes no sense to sue Ford for lost wages, medical costs, and pain and suffering. Criminals also frequently use cars when they commit crimes. Why should car companies be liable for that? Computers are used to plan crimes, hack into private servers, and steal intellectual property. If Apple were held liable, it would very quickly be drowning in lawsuits. If the company even survived, its products would become much more expensive in order to cover the new legal fees. Guns arent any different. Far less than 1 percent of guns are ever used in crimes, suicides, or accidents, and when they are, its virtually always the result of the users actions. Many other products, such as motorcycles, have much higher probabilities of causing harm. The death rate per motorcycle is 0.05 percent; the date rate for guns is 0.008 percent. The latter includes murder, accidental deaths, and suicides. Guns are also used defensively about 2 million times in the average year, according to the FBI. Will government reward gun makers when their products are used to save lives? My own research has found that increased gun ownership is associated with less crime, not more. Poor people in the highest crime areas benefit the most from owning guns, and gun maker liability would be sure to make guns unaffordable for these individuals. Police are important to fighting crime, but people cant rely on them for protection. Officers virtually always arrive at the scene of a crime after the perpetrator has fled. Police know this. When a 2016 survey by the National Association of Chiefs of Police asked 15,000 chiefs and sheriffs if law-abiding citizens should be able to buy guns for self-defense, 88 percent answered yes. PoliceOne surveyed its 450,000 members, and 77 percent answered that legally armed citizens are extremely or very important to reducing crime rates. If high-profile Democrat politicians really believe that guns produce no benefits, they ought to ask their bodyguards to disarm. These politicians would disarm poor people, and at the same time would never enter their neighborhoods without armed guards. Gun control advocates claim that the gun makers are responsible for any harm from their weapons because they specifically cater to the criminal market with low prices, easy concealability, corrosion resistance, accurate firing, and high firepower. Lightweight, compact firearms may appeal to criminals, but they also make life easier for the 19.5 million Americans who carry concealed handguns. Women are most likely to prefer smaller, lightweight guns. Many Democrats also try to blame gun makers for accidental deaths that they claim are foreseeable. Supposedly, manufacturers arent doing enough to make their guns child-proof. Nationwide in 2018, 30 children under 5, and 54 under 15, died from accidental gun deaths. But with 120 million people owning 300 million guns, accidental deaths from guns are far less foreseeable than from many other products. Gun owners must also be very responsible, or such accidents would be much more frequent. By contrast, nearly 100 children under 5 drown in bathtubs each year. Another 350 drown in pools. Should bathtub and pool makers be sued for the harm their products cause? What about bicycle makers for kids killed in accidents? Biden and Democrats want to ban guns. And if they abolish the Senate filibuster, as they keep threatening, they could do it. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Mumbai: Actor Amit Sadh on Sunday teased a hiatus from social media and also urged his fans to refrain spending a lot of time on the internet. Sadh, who recently starred in the web series Jeet Ki Zidd", shared the update on Instagram. Going into my tunnel for maintenance. Be nice to each other, be kind to each other. And dont spend so much time on the internet. There is life around you. Smell that and embrace that," the 37-year-old-actor wrote. Sadh had a busy 2020 - he featured in three films Shakuntala Devi", Yaara" and Operation Parindey", and two web shows Breathe: Into The Shadows" and Avrodh". Last September, the actor had announced a short social media break to focus on the preparation for Jeet Ki Zidd", where he was seen playing the role of an Army officer battling disability. The ZEE5 show narrates the story of a couple, played by Sadh and Amrita Puri, whose never-give-up attitude helps them overturn impossible situations. Guest columnist Ines Rehner is the founder of Sweet Designs Chocolatier in Lakewood. A native of Yugoslavia (now Croatia), she is celebrating 25 years of making European-style chocolates. A good friend recently asked, How has COVID-19 changed your business and what have you learned? Those are a couple of good questions for any small business owner these days, because its been such an incredibly challenging time. A time that has caused me to take a fresh look at every belief Ive held and every assumption Ive made since launching my business 25 years ago. Im sharing what Ive learned in the hope that others might have a better understanding of what its like to run a small business during COVID-19: Patience has become my best friend. It has become an essential trait thats enabled me to cope with the new challenges were facing, whether its meeting our deadlines when a pallet of gift boxes arrives a week late or finding a new supplier because one of our long-time vendors has suddenly closed or some other new challenge. Taking a deep breath, being patient, figuring out a solution and keeping everything in perspective helps me manage it all. You have to adapt for your business to survive and thrive. My next big lesson is being willing to aggressively adapt and quickly change your business model. In early March, we completely revamped our business to better serve our customers. While weve had an online presence for years, in one very hectic week, we added virtually all of our products to our online offerings. We also expanded our staff to make window shopping and curbside pickup easier. We felt the positive impact of these changes immediately. Despite everything, our business has continued to grow. Its vital to continue your marketing efforts. While the natural inclination might be to cut way back on marketing, dont. We continue to reach out to our customers on multiple fronts, including radio, TV and print ads, along with an enhanced online and social media presence, including a new monthly newsletter. Were in this for the long haul, and our desire is to be here as long as there are cacao trees growing anywhere on Earth. Making Clevelands best chocolate and keeping our name in front of people continues to be a top priority. Thank your team and dont lose your self-confidence. Building a successful business is a team sport, and the countless contributions your colleagues make are crucial to your success. Sometimes because of the press of business, recognizing colleagues who make it all happen gets overlooked. Equally important is not losing your self-confidence as you navigate through these treacherous times. Prior to COVID-19, youve built a successful business by taking chances and making difficult decisions. No matter how complex your challenges are, your self-confidence and strong leadership will help you achieve success. Dont bet the farm on one solution. Another thing that has helped us move forward is our ability to try new approaches. There isnt any magic silver bullet that will solve all of your challenges, but a willingness to test and try new approaches is a crucial element of long-term success. Whether its a new product, new packaging or a fresh approach to your online efforts, give it a try. Get facts and data to see what works. Some things will fail, but some will exceed your most optimistic expectations. Readers are invited to submit Opinion page essays on topics of regional or general interest. Send your 500-word essay for consideration to Ann Norman at anorman@cleveland.com. Essays must include a brief bio and headshot of the writer. Essays rebutting todays topics are also welcome. Law Offices of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP If you would like to know more about the Homegoods, Inc. lawsuit, please contact Attorney Nicholas J. De Blouw today by calling (800) 568-8020. The San Francisco employment law attorneys at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action lawsuit against Homegoods, Inc., alleging the company violated the California Labor Code. The lawsuit against Homegoods, Inc., is currently pending in the Contra Costa County Superior Court, Case No. C21-00037. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here. According to the lawsuit filed, Homegoods, Inc. allegedly (a) failed to pay minimum wages, (b) failed to pay overtime wages, (c) failed to provide legally required meal and rest periods, (d) failed to provide accurate itemized wage statements, (e) failed to reimburse employees for required business expenses, and (f) failed to provide wages when due, all in violation of the applicable Labor Code sections listed in Labor Code Sections 201, 202, 203, 226, 226.7, 510, 512, 1194, 1197, 1197.1, 2802, and the applicable Wage Order(s), and thereby gives rise to civil penalties as a result of such alleged conduct. Cal. Lab. Code 226 provides "that every employer shall furnish each of his or her employees with an accurate itemized wage statement in writing showing...the corresponding amount of time worked at each hourly rate." From time to time, DEFENDANT allegedly failed to provide wage statements to employees that identified the correct gross and net wages earned, which resulted in DEFENDANT allegedly violating Cal. Lab. Code 226. If you would like to know more about the Homegoods, Inc. lawsuit, please contact Attorney Nicholas J. De Blouw today by calling (800) 568-8020. 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*** The US, Japan, Australia and India are working to hold a first meeting of their leaders under the so-called Quad framework amid Chinas growing profile in the region, a news report said Sunday. The development, if confirmed, could also be a platform for the first meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden who was sworn into office on 20 January. There was no immediate confirmation from the Indian foreign ministry that such a meeting was being planned. The news report in The Japan Times on Sunday said the move came as Bidens new administration appeared eager to build on" the grouping of the four major Indo-Pacific democracies. The US had already proposed to other countries the idea of holding an online meeting of the Quad leaders, it said. The report also quoted US national security adviser Jake Sullivan calling the Quad a foundation upon which to build substantial American policy in the Indo-Pacific", in recent remarks. In a major foreign policy speech last week, Biden spoke tough on the challenges posed by China but did not once refer to the Indo-Pacific, a term used to refer to a vast swathe of sea and land mass from the west coast of the US to the eastern shores of Africa. It is a term that gained prominence during the previous administration of Donald Trump with Washington renaming the Hawai-based Pacific Command as the Indo-Pacific Command in May 2018. According to the report, a summit of leaders of the Quad" was up to India given New Delhis relatively cautious stance" on the framework. India was the only Quad member sharing a land border with China and which was outside of US-led security alliances, it noted. India and China are engaged in a major military standoff that had begun in May last year and that shows no signs of being resolved though Indian foreign minister S. Jaiskankar on Saturday reportedly said there was some progress made but there was no visible expression" of it on the ground. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Georgia Kousoulou and her boyfriend Tommy Mallet have revealed they are expecting a baby boy in a heartwarming gender reveal video. The TOWIE star, 29, took to Instagram on Sunday and shared a clip of herself and Tommy, 28, bursting a balloon filled with blue confetti. In the video, Georgia addressed the viewers and said: 'Obviously we know what were having but this is for you. Lets do a countdown.' Exciting: Georgia Kousoulou and her boyfriend Tommy Mallet have revealed they are expecting a baby boy in a heartwarming gender reveal video The couple, who are due to welcome their baby in May, did a countdown from ten before Tommy burst the balloon and they cheered and shared a kiss. Georgia was cradling her beloved pet dog Monkey and told him: 'Youre having a brother! Youll be best friends forever!' Alongside the post, she wrote: 'We ARE HAVING A ........ Thank you so much @bestdayeventsco for helping us create this !' Georgia and Tommy were inundated with well wishes from their TOWIE co-stars including Yazmin Oukhellou who wrote: 'Im so happy for you both cant wait to meet little bubba now. Love you both loads '. The TOWIE star, 29, took to Instagram on Sunday and shared a clip of herself and Tommy, 28, bursting a balloon filled with blue confetti Lydia Bright said she couldn't wait to meet the tot, writing: 'Counting down the days until I can meet my little Prince. Love you lots'. Former TOWIE star Lauren Goodger, who is also pregnant with her first child, wrote: 'Congratulations babe'. It comes after Georgia previously revealed the couple have already picked out a name for their son, stating: 'I literally have my baby name, I'm just praying that I don't go off of it by May.' The TV star later confessed that while she's 'excited and nervous for the next journey of my life', she finds being pregnant in lockdown 'hard and lonely' - an experience she's set to expand on in the coming weeks. It's a boy: In the video, Georgia addressed the viewers and said: 'Obviously we know what were having but this is for you. Lets do a countdown' Reaction: Georgia and Tommy were inundated with well wishes from their TOWIE co-stars including Yazmin Oukhellou who wrote: 'Im so happy for you both cant wait to meet little bubba now. Love you both loads ' Speaking in an Instagram Q&A, she said: 'I didn't think I was ready [to be a mother] and I still don't know if I am. Are we ever ready? 'I was super anxious during the first 12 weeks and to be fair, I've been super anxious the whole time. I know I'll be a really good mum and I'll try my best.' During the clip, the Dementia UK ambassador - who will return to TOWIE filming in March - also shared her plans to have 'two or three children with an age gap of two to three years' and said she aims to move into her new home by March. Georgia and Tommy, who have been dating for over six years, have also bagged their own ITVBe spin-off series that will give fans the chance to watch them as they become parents for the first time. Candid: Georgia previously detailed her 'weird but lovely' pregnancy in an Instagram Q&A Unlike some of the show's couples that have had their relationships plagued with drama, the duo have stood by each other and maintained a strong romance over the years. Georgia supported Tommy through his battle with mental health in 2018, when the entrepreneur admitted to not being able to leave the house amid his toughest days. While they are not yet engaged, they did discuss the prospect of getting married during the latest series of TOWIE. Social media star Georgia said: 'God, I'm with you for the rest of my life, that's mental isn't it? Like we're actually going to be together forever, that's long.' Tommy added: 'I come in handy sometimes George. I'm needed in other ways, kids, marriage, you're not going to get married by yourself, are you?' to which Georgia replied: 'No and I am happy about it.' You are the owner of this article. The first 600,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines donated by China to Cambodia arrived in Phnom Penh on Sunday by special plane, with the doses earmarked to vaccinate health workers and the military. The Southeast Asian nation of about 16 million people is one of the least impacted by the coronavirus, with just 474 infections and no deaths. But it saw a rare cluster of cases in November. One of Asia's poorest countries, Cambodia has been an important ally to China in recent years. Beijing has said it will send 1 million Sinopharm vaccines to Cambodia, which will be used to inoculate 500,000 people. Australia said on Feb. 1 that it will provide a $28 million grant for World Health Organization-approved vaccines in Cambodia. In a welcome speech at Phnom Penh's international airport, Prime Minister Hun Sen thanked China for the vaccines. "Good friends help each other in times of need, in this sense, and this vaccine aid is another important new testimony that reflects the steel ties and strong cooperation between our country and our people, Cambodia and China," Hun Sen said in a speech broadcast on national television. The 600,000 doses will be equally split to vaccinate army officials and health workers in the country, the defence ministry has said. Hun Sen, who had said earlier that he would get the first shot, said this week that he will not do that because at 68, he is over the age for Sinopharm. 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. All-Pervasive Mice Blighting Rural Australia Farmers and communities across large swathes of inland eastern Australia are being hit by their worst mouse plague in almost a decade, threatening to undermine post-drought recovery efforts. Mouse populations have spiked over the past 12 months as crop-growing conditions have improved across rural Australia and provided the rodents with favourable conditions for eating and breeding. Elevated mouse populations have been recorded from Central Queensland down to northern and central west NSW and into western Victoria. In some areas, problems with mice have reached plague-level proportions. CSIRO mouse researcher Steve Henry told AAP mice feast on the stubble of crops and reproduce roughly every three weeks once they reach six weeks old, making population control a near-impossible task. The last big mouse outbreak in Australia occurred around 2011. The mice have continued to breed through the spring, into the summer and now the real concern is that theyll continue to breed into the autumn and cause a lot of trouble for the sowing of winter crops (in March/April), Henry said. You can force a farmer to do something about rabbits or foxes but because theyre all-pervasive when in high numbers, everywhere you turn theres a mouse its just impossible to get on top of them. Such an outcome, according to Coonamble Chamber of Commerce president and newspaper proprietor Lee OConnor, would be disastrous for rural communities only just emerging from years of drought. The central west NSW town situated in the states wheat belt and famous for Australias biggest rodeo and campdraft has since November battled booming mouse numbers in both farm paddocks and homes. In some places, the boom has caused a shortage of mouse baits and traps. The Centre for Invasive Species Solutions FeralScan online reporting tool lists seven major mouse sightings in the past 12 months around Coonamble, with mouse populations widespread and obvious in paddocks. One supermarket said they were catching 200 a night, there have been people catching a couple hundred in their pool filters every night, OConnor told AAP. Theyre in beds, people getting nibbled on at night its everywhere. OConnor, the wife of a cattle, sheep and grain farmer, admitted being concerned about the prospects for the 2021 winter crop if mouse numbers fail to decline. The mice both destroy crops and eat feed intended for cattle and sheep. Its obviously the topic that plays on (farmers) minds, everyones hoping something will happen to stop it, she said. Its coming up to sowing time, and theyre all through the paddocks. There are already people who have sowed summer crops and have had to re-sow. Henry recommended farmers allow their sheep to graze at crop stubbles to reduce the mices food source, spraying germinating plants and baiting at least six weeks before sowing crops. Should that fail, farmers should drop bait straight off the back of their seeders as they sow. The NSW Department of Primary Industries said in a statement that regular monitoring was the key to ensuring the frequency and severity of mouse plagues is kept as low as possible. The department does not typically intervene in mouse plagues as they are not deemed a noxious species. But OConnor said some government help such as subsidies for mouse bait would be greatly appreciated. Its across quite a wide area of inland NSW now and its something they probably need a concerted effort for in a way its no different to a locust plague, and the government agencies all get involved in that, she said. Angelo Risso in Sydney WORKS to replace ageing water mains in part of the city are to begin on Monday. Irish Water, working in partnership with Cork City Council, will be carrying out works to replace 740m of water mains on Leitrim St, Pine St (North), Coburg St, Devonshire St (West), as well as along the N20 (south of Devonshire St) to Camden Quay. Once complete, Irish Water says the new mains will reduce the instances of bursts and water outages and ensure a reliable supply of water to customers and local businesses in this area. Safeguarding Corks water supply for the future is a top priority for Irish Water, said its project manager Steven Blennerhassett. Every day about 120m litres of water is treated and distributed through Corks water supply network. However, approximately 44% of this clean water is lost through leaks. It is a key priority for Irish Water to reduce this leakage by fixing and replacing ageing and leaking pipes. Irish Water says it is collaborating closely with Cork City Council to ensure that these critical upgrades are delivered prior to the next phase of urban renewal works under the Cork City Centre Movement Strategy. I would like to thank businesses and residents for their patience and support as we carry out this essential work. It is important that we deliver these infrastructural improvements prior to the commencement of the MacCurtain Street Public Transport Improvement Scheme and associated public realm improvement works, said Mr Blennerhassett. We recognise that works of this nature can be inconvenient and we will continue to make every effort to minimise disruption through active, open engagement with local communities and through collaboration between our project team, our contracting partners, Cork City Council and An Garda Siochana, he said. COFTEC Ltd will deliver the works on behalf of Irish Water, in partnership with Cork City Council, and it is expected that the works will be completed in approximately 14 weeks. There will be temporary road closures during works at Leitrim St (north), Pine St, and Devonshire St (eastbound traffic only). Reaching for the stars By Yomal Senerath-Yapa View(s): View(s): It has been nothing short of a meteoric rise in a largely white male domain for Lankan-born Professor of Astrophysics at University College London, Hiranya Peiris, as she enters the Royal Astronomical Societys hall of fame Carl Sagans Cosmos was a documentary TV series that held the children of the 1980s in utter thrall- taking them on a voyage across an endless dark magical universe full of awe and mystery. It must have created many a future scientist and astronomer. It was certainly the igniting spark for Hiranya Peiris barely nine years old then; today Professor of Astrophysics at University College, London. This year, Hiranya enters the Royal Astronomical Societys hall of fame by being awarded the annual Eddington Medal for investigations of outstanding merit in theoretical astrophysics. She is only the third woman to be given the honour (instituted in 1953). Growing up in Colombo, Hiranyas path seemed to have inexorably led to the stars. An aunt would give her a translated copy of Arthur C. Clarkes 2001: A Space Odyssey, while her parents gifted a small telescope. A favourite pastime was to sketch the twinkling seasonal heavens seen through its lens. At Visakha Vidyalaya, she remembers Mrs. Swarna Mendis, who taught a very general subject called Science, explaining physics, chemistry and biology with skill and enthusiasm. She would later find kindred spirits at the Young Astronomers Association of Sri Lanka. At around the same time Stephen Hawkings A Brief History of Time would awake her interest in the fundamental nature of reality- a neat revelation that would spur her all the way to finding precise answers to such questions as- what does the universe contain? and what is its final destiny? When Hiranya was 16 the family left Sri Lanka. Having completed a Natural Sciences Tripos at Cambridge, Hiranya earned her PhD at Princeton University. Cosmologists the tribe of astronomers to which Hiranya belongs, research into the origin and evolution of the universe, from the Big Bang to today and on into the future. Hiranya likens them to detectives. About their progress she says: In the past decade we have been able to precisely answer age-old questions such as how old is the Universe, what does it contain, and what is its destiny. Along with these answers have also come many exciting new questions. Amongst them is her ultimate quest: where did everything in the Universe come from? Amidst her peers, Hiranya is best known for her work on cosmic microwave background radiation, and for having won the US$3 million award for 2018 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, with 26 others for their detailed maps of the early universe. She has also received this years Max Born medal and prize, the 2018 Fred Hoyle medal and prize, and the 2012 Gruber Prize in Cosmology among other awards. This years Eddington medal honours Hiranya for shifting the field of cosmology from a speculative area to a data-driven subject. Hiranya explains that up until the last turn of the century, cosmology was quite speculative, with many theoretical models of the evolution of the universe, and not enough data to distinguish between them and rule them out. Now however there is a single standard model of cosmology a self-consistent and evidenced story of the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang till today- spanning 14 billion years. It was basically Hiranyas contribution to this model that the medal celebrates. That astrophysics and cosmology remain vastly a white male enclave Hiranya admits with a shrug. I have had many experiences of rejection, and to this day as a senior person in the field I am regularly in spaces where I see no one that looks like myself, and it gives one the feeling of being an outsider. She has enough steel in her, however, not to be deterred. I have never really needed external praise to motivate myselfIf obstacles come in my way, I try harder and find a way through them. That mettle is hereditary. The central figure and role model in her life was her mother- the first female civil engineer in the island. She recalls her in saree, silhouetted against some dusky river, supervising the construction of a bridge she had designed. For Hiranya too it is the role of mentor and guru that really enriches and rewards- seeing her students solving cosmological riddles that were once dumped into impossibly difficult limbo- allowing them to extract physical insight about the origin and contents of the Universe from very complicated data. Even as human glare penetrates what were once the most intriguing mysteries of the unknown cosmos, Hiranya says that there has been no spring cleaning of the fascination she felt as a child on her parents balcony. The more we learn (of the cosmos), the more our horizons expand, in a thrilling way. Finally, Hiranya has this to proffer: If there are young people reading this interested in science, dont be afraid to follow your dreams. Science is a field that opens up unlimited horizons. Approaching it with a spirit of adventure can bring you to places and experiences which are very fulfilling and worthwhile. Armenia ex-minister of emergency situations hospitalized with heart attack Mher Grigoryan: Clarification of border points is possible only after withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from Armenia Suspicious deal: Whether there was profit from buying DNA IDs? Armenia ex-president says current authorities are trying to blame Russia for defeat in war 4 people killed in Afghanistani bus attack Robert Kocharyan: This war could not have happened, it was a consequence of the policy of the authorities Kocharyan: I have to ask people how it happened that overwhelming majority elected this leader Armen Gevorgyan presents 'Armenia' bloc program: We offer the concept of a working country Biden's administration proposed to leave unchanged amount of financial support to Armenia US Embassy in Baku calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release Armenian POWs Luxembourg MFA calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release all Armenian prisoners 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 Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Within his first two weeks in office, President Biden has signed an unprecedented number of executive orders 47. Writing for Quartz (1/31/21), Amanda Shendruk notes, Joe Biden has been US president for less than two weeks and has already issued nearly as many executive action as Trump and Obama did in the same period, combined. [Emphasis hers] These include: Memorandum on Protecting Womens Health at Home and Abroad. The Mexico City Policy. Translation: abortions in other countries, paid for by you and me. Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation. Boys identifying as girls can use the womens restroom and locker-room. And bye-bye, womens sports. Proclamation on Ending Discriminatory Bans on Entry to the United States. Translation: We will not discriminate against would-be immigrants, including violent jihadists. Paris Climate Agreement and Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis. With the stroke of his pen, he has already cost thousands of U.S. jobs in a move based on questionable scientific premises. And on it goes with a radical agenda. Even the editorial board of The New York Times (1/27/21) published an op-ed: Ease Up on the Executive Actions, Joe. They said, legislating through Congress is a better path. One politician pointed out that to govern by executive orders makes us more of a dictatorship than a democracy. We need consensus, said he. He also observed: I have this strange notion. We are a democracy. Some of my Republican friends and some of my Democratic friends even say: well if you cant get the votes, by executive order youre going to do something, things you cant do by executive order unless youre a dictator. Who said these things? Then-candidate Joe Biden in a town hall with George Stephanopoulis on October 15, 2020. Into the third week of the Biden presidency, it appears to be the third term of President Obama. The 44th president once famously declared: Ive got a pen and Ive got a phone, and I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward. In other words, if the peoples representatives (in the House and Senate) dont act quickly enough or do what I want them to do, then Ill issue executive orders to get my will done. Biden is continuing this tradition and then some. He has slim majorities in both the House and Senate, but he is bypassing even them. One doctrine the founding fathers of America seemed to agree upon is revealed in the Bible and proven by all history that man is a sinner. Therefore, power was to be separated into three distinct branches of government. As James Madison, a key architect of the Constitution, once put it, All men having power ought to be distrusted. Madison also observed (in Federalist #47): The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. What Biden, and Obama before him, have engaged in could be called executive overreach. Tim Goeglein, the D. C. representative of Focus on the Family, once said of such overreach: This is unconstitutional, and its not what our founders wanted. Randy Barnett, a professor at Georgetown Law and the author of Our Republican Constitution, once told me, All three branches of government are supposed to be our servants, not our masters. But I asked him, Havent times changed and thus circumstances changed? He answered, Well, human nature has not changed. Human nature is, the idea that people basically pursue their self-interests even if that interest is adverse to the rights of fellow people, other follow citizens, or adverse to the public interest. And you needed a republican Constitution to constrain the exercise of government and power. All presidents have the right to sign executive orders. And virtually all of them have used that right. But critics note that this is excessive and not a healthy example of representative government. In effect, it is an end-run around we the people. Calvin Coolidge, one of our most underrated presidents, said, Ours is a government of the people. It represents their will.The real heart of the American Government depends upon the heart of the people. It is from that source that we must look for all genuine reform. It is to that cause that we must ascribe all our results. Goeglein, who worked for the Bush 43 administration, said of the founders, They designed a system that pushed power downward and outward because they feared centralization of power, and they feared the consolidation of power. Hopefully, Bidens pen will run out of ink sometime soon. WASHINGTON (AP) This matters. The outcome may seem preordained in the unprecedented second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Democrats prosecuting the former president for inciting a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol will struggle to persuade at least 17 Republicans to convict Trump and bar him from office. Forty-five of the 50 Republican senators backed a bid last month to dismiss the trial, essentially telegraphing how the final vote will play out. But the trial set to begin Tuesday is ultimately a test of whether a president, holding an office that many of the nations founders feared could become too powerful in the wrong hands, is above the law. Senators will be forced to sit still, listen to evidence and wrestle with elemental questions about American democracy. There will be visual, visceral evidence, and the American people will also be sitting in their own form of judgment as they watch. The verdict and the process itself will be scrutinized for generations. For historians, what that trial does is to provide additional evidence and documentation under oath, said Carol Anderson, a professor of African American studies at Emory University. It also gives us a sense of the strength, or the weakness, in American democracy as the senators are confronted with this evidence. That record is certain to be grisly, a reminder on a human level of the horror at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Senators will review Trump's call that morning to fight like hell before the mob of loyalists showed up to Capitol Hill to do just that. Senators will be reminded of the rioters' chants calling for then-Vice President Mike Pence's hanging. House prosecutors could resurface the image of a police officer crushed between doors, blood trickling from his mouth, as the violent crowd moved in. There might be additional evidence of how another officer, Brian Sicknick, died defending the building. If that's not enough, senators will be reminded of their own vulnerability as they fled the mob entering their chamber one of the most rarefied spaces in Washington in fear of their lives. Related: Donald Trump through the years And then they'll have to decide whether there should be consequences. But the potential of an acquittal doesn't mean the trial should be abandoned before it begins, said Rep. Val Demings, who was an impeachment manager in Trump's first trial. The jury not convicting is always a possibility, the Florida Democrat said, recalling her previous career as the chief of the Orlando Police Department. But decisions are never made solely on that. Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe Trump bears at least a moderate amount of responsibility for the riot, according to a poll released last week by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That includes half who say Trump bears a great deal or quite a bit of responsibility. Most Republicans absolve him of guilt, but about 3 in 10 think he bears at least a measure of blame for the events. Of course, Congress has more on its plate than another fight over the previous president. In the early days of his administration, President Joe Biden is pushing a $1.9 trillion package to confront the coronavirus pandemic. Hes also pressing lawmakers on immigration, health care and climate change. Lee Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana who served during President Bill Clintons impeachment, said a trial could be a distraction from larger priorities. He suggested censure could be a better use of time and that the historical record could be achieved through the creation of a commission like the one he helped lead to investigate the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But, he said, that only works if Congress is united on the need for a thorough investigation of what happened during the insurrection and provides the resources to back it up. If you're going to do it, do it right, Hamilton said. As much as the trial is about history, the implications are just as powerful in the present moment. Leaders in capitals across the world are watching what happens in Washington to assess whether the U.S. remains committed to democratic principles. Steadfast American allies, including Germany and the United Kingdom, expressed shock at the insurrection. U.S. foes seized on the violence to say that the United States could not now lecture others on the sanctity of democracy. American democracy is obviously limping on both feet," Konstantin Kosachev, head of the foreign affairs committee in Russias upper house of parliament, said after the riot. "America no longer charts a course and therefore has lost all rights to set it and even more so to impose it on others. It's telling that Republicans aren't going into the trial with a robust defense of Trump. Few are publicly defending his behavior in the runup to the insurrection, whether it's his baseless insistence that the election was stolen or his more specific and troubling calls to supporters to rally on his behalf. Instead, the GOP is narrowly focused on a more technical constitutional issue, arguing that a president can't face an impeachment trial once out of office, a path they believe is easier to defend than trying to rationalize Trump's actions. Anticipating that posture, Democrats filed a pretrial brief noting there's no January exception in the Constitution. Presidents do not get a free pass to commit high crimes and misdemeanors near the end of their term, the House impeachment managers wrote. The trial comes as the GOP is struggling with its future. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, has flirted with the possibility of purging Trump from the party. If Trump is convicted, the Senate could vote to bar him from seeking office again, a notable punishment for someone who has dangled the potential of a 2024 presidential run to keep bending the party to his will. McConnell hasn't yet said how he'll vote, and, so far, only a few moderate Republicans seem certain to convict. They're running into the reality that Trump's supporters remain a dominant force in the party. The trial really will only reinforce what we already know about American politics, said Brendan Buck, a top adviser to former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. And in that, I mean we are so tribal and divided that theres really no question where people will fall down on something that should generate thoughtful discourse and reflection about a fundamental democratic principle. ___ EDITOR'S NOTE Political Editor Steven Sloan has covered politics for The Associated Press since 2018. Follow him at http://twitter.com/stevenpsloan 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 - A piece of a glacier broke off high in the Himalayas on Sunday, causing a deadly flash flood that smashed through a hydroelectric power plant and destroyed homes in India. More than 125 people were reported missing. India rushed disaster response teams to Uttarakhand, a mountainous northern state. Seven bodies have been recovered. Because of the rapid flow of the water, bodies were being recovered away from the disaster site, officials told local media. Ashok Kumar, Uttarakhand's police chief, said the avalanche occurred at 11 a.m. Authorities evacuated several villages downstream. "The picture will be clear tomorrow morning," he said, referring to the rescue operations and those missing. Television channels aired footage of water barreling down a narrow canyon and sweeping away the power plant at its base. A second state-run power plant nearby also suffered extensive damage. Most of the missing were workers at the two power plants. Troops dug a ditch to rescue about a dozen workers trapped in a tunnel. Videos of the operation showed rescue workers pulling out a man, who flung his arms in the air victoriously. Rescue operations continued late into the night at another tunnel, where an estimated 30 people remain trapped. Girish Joshi, a consultant with the state's disaster management authority, said that an eight-mile stretch of the Alaknanda River was affected but that there was no further danger. "The river levels are normal now," he said. Authorities in the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh said they were on alert and monitoring water levels. Uttarakhand suffered a devastating flood in 2013 that claimed thousands of lives. Analysts have blamed climate change and unchecked construction for such disasters. "This looks very much like a climate change event," said Anjal Prakash, a professor at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. "The glaciers are melting due to global warming." Prakash, who serves on a United Nations panel on climate change, said that the Himalayan area is one of the least monitored in the region and that the disaster Sunday shows how vulnerable it can be. Farooq Azam, a specialist in glaciology and hydrology at the Indian Institute of Technology in Indore, said glacial bursts are rare. He said more information is needed to understand the event Sunday, but "climate change-driven erratic weather patterns" such as increased snowfall and rainfall and warmer winters have led to the melting of "a lot of snow." Trivendra Singh Rawat, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, said that experts will look into the cause of the disaster but that the priority is to "save lives." Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the nation "prays for everyone's safety." New Delhi: Mahatma Gandhis shadow is a difficult one to step out of. But his grandson Gopalkrishna Devdas Gandhi - the oppositions nominee for the vice presidents post - has done just that. The weight of the surname notwithstanding, the former bureaucrat and diplomat has sought to emerge in recent times not as the Mahatmas grandson, but as the nations conscience keeper. It was not his lineage - his paternal grandfather was the Mahatma and maternal grandfather was Indias last governor-general C. Rajagopalachari - that would have prompted the opposition to zero in on Gandhi as its VP nominee, though that, too, is a potential vote-puller. What mattered was that the 71-year-old former ambassador and secretary to President K R Narayanan is largely seen and admired as an independent thinker. That is best demonstrated by the fact that in the opposition bloc supporting Gandhi are the Left parties, which were bitterly critical of him when he was the governor of West Bengal from 2004 to 2009. Gandhi had said the Nandigram attacks - when police fired at farmers in 2007 in the then Left-ruled state - filled him with cold horror, prompting the Left to describe the then governor as bipartisan. It is not only natural but desirable that society should have as many views as its thinking members are capable of having, he had replied when a reporter had asked about the Lefts criticism. If there had been silence or zero discussion, I would have been extremely disappointed. The retired IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, who served as Indias high commissioner to South Africa, Lesotho and Sri Lanka and as ambassador to Norway and Iceland, has held academic and titular posts in bodies such as the Indian Institute for Advanced Study in Shimla. More recently, he joined the privately-run Ashoka University on the outskirts of Delhi as guest faculty. Married to Tara Gandhi and father of two daughters, he was earlier secretary to the Governor of Tamil Nadu, to the Vice President and to the President of India. Fond of Carnatic classical and popular Hindi music, the soft-spoken and mild-mannered retired bureaucrat, whose editor father Devdas was the Mahatmas youngest son, studied at Delhis Modern School and graduated in English from St Stephens College. Gandhi had almost emerged as the Oppositions Presidential candidate choice but the NDAs nomination of Ramnath Kovind, a Dalit, had forced the joint front of the Congress-led parties to field another prominent Dalit face, Meira Kumar.Even in the VP elections, the numbers may be loaded in the governments favour. But by fielding Gandhi, the opposition has attempted to put up a show of ideological unity, and Gandhia trenchant critic of ideological forces driving the Modi governmentfits the bill. A prolific writer - he has penned several volumes on Gandhi, a play in verse on Dara Shukoh and a Hindi translation of Vikram Seths A Suitable Boy - Gandhi has also been a columnist in newspapers. In his columns, Gandhi has never shied away from taking positions on contentious issuesfrom religious intolerance and cow vigilantism to free speech and even the BJP-led Centres perceived bias towards the United States or Israel. In an article in a newspaper on Tuesday, Gandhi recalled President Narayanans words in a Republic Day address to the nation in 2000. Be it the way ... public servants treat the public, or the public handles public utilities, the manner in which we squander or pollute precious resources like water, the way owners of vehicles allow toxic gases to be spewed onto the air we breathe, the way we allow children to be exploited, the India of today is not a compassionate one, he quoted Narayanan as saying. A president who can speak bitter truths like that is the president India needs, be he or she Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Dalit, OBC, Brahmin, political or non-political, Gandhi wrote. A vice-president, too, he would agree. Suggested read: Vice-presidential poll: Gopalkrishna Gandhi is Opposition's nominee For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Bombardier Transportation (now part of Alstom) introduced a variety of green innovations to reduce CO 2 emissions and pollution in the railway sector. One of our first sustainable mobility solutions was a dual-mode Autorail a Grande Capacite (AGC) train, designed and developed by its Crespin site in France; the AGC was the worlds first hybrid train when it entered service in 2007. With 2,473 AGC train cars in operation today, the AGC is the largest regional fleet operated in France. To help France meet its sustainability targets, Bombardier will now convert AGC hybrid trains to full battery power. The effort is part of Frances strategy to eventually phase diesel power out of its national rail fleet. In January 2021, Bombardier signed a new contract to retrofit and to introduce a pre-series of five prototype AGC battery-operated trains by 2023, in collaboration with SNCF Voyageurs and five French regions including Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, Hauts-de-France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie and Provence-Alpes-Cote dAzur. The partners will modify existing AGC trains into battery-operated trains to help decarbonize French rail transport. The idea is to convert dual-mode (catenary and diesel-powered) high capacity self-propelled trains to dual-mode battery-powered AGCs. This project is a response to the growing demand for emission-free solutions; these five dual-mode battery-catenary trainsets will be used as demonstrators. The range in battery mode will be at least 80 kilometers. The current range will allow the dual-mode battery-powered AGCs to perform the same missions as the current AGCs (diesel-catenary) and Bombardier wants to increase that autonomy. Bombardier is ideally positioned to carry out this greening project, since nearly 50% of the diesel rail fleet in France consists of AGC trains built at Crespin. This AGC battery project is the only one that offers a greening transformation of existing trains, and the project will be undertaken as part of the fleets scheduled midlife maintenance. The project also provides a unique opportunity to capitalize on existing assets and avoid unnecessary renewal of installed rolling stock fleets. But perhaps most importantly, it offers a proof of concept and a way forward to eliminating diesel trains by 2035, a target set by the French government and SNCF. It also reduces the cost of energy consumption, due to lower electricity costs compared to diesel-fueled trains. AGC battery-electric multiple units (BEMU) can store braking energy and use it for upcoming acceleration, offering major energy savings, plus 15% higher peak power. In addition to diesel operation, the performance of Frances electrified network is often bound due to limitations in line power. Using battery to complement catenary-power during peak acceleration will not only improve the eco-profile of the AGC fleet, but also improve overall operations. Technicians will remove the trains diesel packs and replace them with four battery units each. Then they will add the necessary high-power charger to transfer energy between batteries, traction equipment and pantograph. Next, the trains control system will be adapted to work with the new propulsion system. This AGC upgrade project has been selected as one of the French Government and rail sectors top strategic innovations. The renovated battery-powered AGC trains will bring excellent energy efficiency by limiting energy lost during charging and discharging. Excess energy that cannot be stored or regenerated during braking represents 10 to 30% of the total energy used by a train. Energy is also frequently lost when running on parts of the French network that is electrified with 1.5 kVDC, where energy regeneration during braking isnt allowed, and when the trains are running on diesel power, braking energy is also lost. Battery EMUs will be able to store the braking energy and use it when required, offering strong energy-savings and a sustainable mobility solution. UPDATE: The man killed in the February 7 officer-involved shooting has been identified as 49-year-old Brian Gregory Scott, a resident of Bettendorf. BETTENDORF, Iowa A man is shot dead by police after an early morning domestic disturbance. The Bettendorf Police Department says a call came in around 12:18 am about a domestic problem in the 2100 block of Central Avenue. Officers say they arrived on scene to find those involved ad left the area. Another call came in at around 1:51 about a suspicious vehicle in the 1300 block of Kimberly Ridge Road. Police found the vehicle and the people involved in the earlier domestic disturbance. A woman exited the vehicle and said the male driver threatened to kill her with a handgun. Officers told the driver to get out of the vehicle but the Bettendorf Police Department says initial evidence indicates the driver refused and produced a handgun. During this incident, a Bettendorf police officer fired their weapon and the male driver was pronounced dead at the scene. One officer received minor hand injuries and was treated and released from Unity Point Hospital. The name of the deceased man is not being released pending notification of family. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has taken over this case. The officer who fired their weapon has been placed on administration leave, following department policy, and will not be identified pending a formal interview. Theres an old saying in politics that the perfect is the enemy of the good. Its a phrase that aptly describes the vaccine rollout in Colorado at this stage. We appear to have out-thunk ourselves. The whole system of distribution is too nuanced, too complex, too opaque to be called efficient. In trying to be equitable, the state has given up speed and simplicity. In order to give communities say over how the vaccines are handed out, weve created weird disparities. Like a 75-year-old with a heart condition I know who is still waiting for a shot even though Gov. Jared Polis said the state will start vaccinating people in their late 60s Monday. And the essential workers like bus drivers, mail carriers, grocery store employees and public health workers who have been bumped down in priority twice since the vaccinations started. They were promised the vaccine in January; now they will have to wait until at least March. Or the people who have good internet access who are getting the vaccine before those folks without computers who have serious illnesses and are the most at risk. The reality is that when something is in scarce supply, people with more resources, more time and more opportunity for digging around looking online, they're gonna end up having an advantage, observes Dr. Matthew Wynia, director of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the Anschutz Medical Campus. Less than 40% of the 70-and-up population had gotten the first shot when Polis announced the state would move to the next category. Intentions have been honorable, but this may be a case of smart people being too smart for their own good, making things more complicated than they need to be. It's happening everywhere. Many states have delegated the distribution to dozens of county health departments which have each devised their own system and rules for who gets the vaccine. Colorado has distributed through a variety of providers, including county health departments, hospitals, private practices and pharmacies. Seth Klamann, our health reporter for the Denver Gazette, says there's even some variation within systems there are three different places to register for Banner Health, for example, depending on where you live. I think the overarching rules of distribution are pretty standardized, and the different protocols for signing up are starting to align, said Klamann. But it's being handled by a bunch of different providers. The states with the highest vaccination rates Alaska, South Dakota, West Virginia have tried to bring some measure of simplicity to the process. West Virginia, for example, created a uniform statewide process. With its more complicated approach, Colorado is running in the middle of the pack. Weve created really nuanced vaccination and allocation strategies, when the main problems turn out to just be logistics, said Wynia. And the more and more complex and nuanced your allocation strategy is, the more it adds to those logistical challenges of just getting the vaccine to where it needs to be. Britain had a much simpler approach. After immunizing its hospital workers, They basically said we're just gonna do it by age, recounts Wynia. So if you're over 85 now is your time. Come on in. Then 80, then 75, then 70. In Colorado, we relied on individuals to figure out when they were eligible themselves, and then we kept changing the priorities. And that, of course, leaves people who don't have a son or a daughter or a neighbor or someone who's willing to spend time to help them with three or four different health systems flailing in the dark. Well, that's kind of nuts, said Wynia. There could have been a statewide system. But that, of course, that would have required a lot of resources to set that up. And the state public health department is completely strapped. They're swamped with with existing work. They're chronically underfunded. And the federal government did not give them any resources to manage this kind of thing, which means state health departments couldn't do it. At this stage, Wynia believes the most effective use of the vaccine is to get it to those communities that are particularly hard hit, but it takes time and the energy and resources to reach out to people in those communities. "If you want to get the vaccine into those communities, you have to think about communication strategies that are specific to those communities. You have to think about outreach. You have to go directly to people, you can't just put up a website." As the state begins to do that, "I think we're gonna start to see more of a balancing out of the disparities," Wynia said. I recently visited the Matthews-Vu Medical Group to see for myself how the vaccinations were going. The clinic was a madhouse of worried senior citizens getting their shots and trying to get their shots, with harried medical staff doing all they could to accommodate everyone. Most of the seniors were just walking in the door without appointments; the practice had set up a daylong clinic for anyone who wanted a shot, whether they were patients or not. And they have been proactively calling and scheduling minority patients to get their shots. And then I saw some of the newly vaccinated emerge from the back while I was there, 11 months of anxiety and dread lifting off their shoulders as they came into the lobby, mile-wide smiles returning to their faces. It really lifts a psychological burden when you get the shot, said Wynia. "It really does. People cry. Its emotional. It's amazing." The clinic wasn't perfect many folks were sent home and told to come back another day but it sure was good. Said Wynia of the mood at such clinics right now: "It is the happiest place on Earth." Discovering the mysteries of a monastery in no-mans land By Sasanka Nanayakkara View(s): View(s): No archaeological site in Sri Lanka reveals more inscrutable mysteries to a visitor than this one. Reaching Rajagalathenna in the Eastern province itself is a challenge as it is situated in no-mans land. Ampara is the closest hub, but Rajagala is over an hours journey from there. We based ourselves on the coast of Kalkudah and used the brand new Chenkaladi-Badulla highway to reach the remote town of Maha Oya. It is where the great Sri Lankan surgeon cum author R.L. Spittel met his favourite Veddahs at the hamlets only rest house. Sadly, no trace of it remains now. The journey time from Maha Oya to the site on the Uhana Ampara old road is just an hour. Rajagala was known as Rassagala where a tribe Raksha seems to have lived in prehistoric times and since the mountain range resembles a resting crocodile from a distance, was named as Girikhumbila during the Kings time. The ruins are spread over a vast expanse of 1,100 acres of forest of which only the centre of activities had been cleared to restore the monuments. It lies on a plateau at an elevation of 1000 feet from the onset. No less than 600 further mounds of ruin remain to be excavated and studied! As per the chronicles, there had been four ascending accesses from the four main directions to the plateau though only two have been discovered so far. The one from the East that had been in existence since the site was known in recent times is the one commonly used. Its a tedious journey from one boulder to another through the thick of the forest. Within the last decade, another longer path with proper steps has been added to join the former. It connects with tastefully built parking lots at the foothill, landscaped in line with the untouched environment. Either climb is over an hour we learnt. The third Northern access route is the only motorable one but sadly it cannot be used unless prior permission is obtained from the Archaeological Department. Its a 6 km route skirting the range, but the last 3 km are through dense jungle, heavily infested with wild elephants. The area is linked to the ancient Divulana Tank, home range of the giants and as such the corridor is their access to the fodder- rich Rajagala as well! However, we were fortunate to navigate the rugged path against all odds since our vehicle had good clearance, though we missed the animals. Perhaps, the lush surroundings after the monsoon and excess of water at hand may have made them sluggish.Our fine escort, a postgraduate student of Sri Jayawardenapura University who is also a site co-ordinator, unlocked the barrier and we were able to save our rickety knees in the end. Earliest known records suggest Prince Lajjithissa, son of King Saddhathissa of 2 BC founded the site when he was ruling the rice bowl of Digamadulla and after developing it as a fully-fledged monastery complex, offered the facility to the monks upon succeeding his father to the throne. Subsequently, early Anuradhapura Kings,Walagamba, Buddhasa and Mahasena and the Agbo dynasty of late had patronized the monastery generously, adding more infrastructure to it. The complex flourished in the meantime but by the 9th century and with the decline of the Anuradhapura Kingdom, seemed to have gone into some form of oblivion. Archaeologists suspect a pandemic or a major natural disaster to be the reason than any unaccounted foreign invasion. The next 1500 years saw the wilderness swallowing what was left of the complex until the eminent archaeologist Senarath Paranavithana rediscovered the site in the 1940s. Before that, some British hunters and wanderers had recorded the mysterious ruins they had come across but did not succeed in diverting the Governors attention from numerous more prominent sites in the NCP they by then were engaged in restoring. Finally, when the Archaeological Department set eyes on the project, the site had been hopelessly vandalized by merciless treasure hunters of yore. The stone ruins unearthed so far comprise many stupas, image and monastic houses, assembly halls, a vast refectory, rock ponds, majestic promenades, a lovely brimming lake to which stone steps from many directions descend, a classic drinking water storage facility using a natural spring which still sprouts, cave dwellings of the meditating monks with their customary drip-ledges, amazing wattle and daub separations still intact, numerous stone inscriptions in very early Brahimi Sinhalese, ancient rock-wall paintings, moonstones and guard-stones and an unfinished solitary Buddha statue. Among all these, what stands as exceptional are the stupas with the shade of a parasol (chathra) instead of a more common pinnacle at the top. What juts-out from the summit as a long stone column is supposed to be originating from the sacred relic chamber itself reflecting an image of Buddha for which the stone shade is fixed in resolute respect. In addition, the mammoth rock bowls used for water storage are the largest ever recovered in the island. Its not overly difficult to visualize the splendour of the Rajagala heyday with over 200 meditating monks, some noble Arahats among them, lined up serenely for their only meal for the day at the refectory. Strangely, the stone inscription found next to the Mihindu Seya, where remains of Arahat Mahinda and Arahat Uththiya are enshrined, is one of the two archaeological proofs of the arrival of the Great One in the island. The structure of the stupa a triangular collection of identical rough-stones is the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka which oddly resembles ones found in the high altitudes of Tibet! The fauna and flora of Rajagalathenna are vivid. The vegetation is that of a typical Dry Zone forest sundering rocky outcrops and it was magical finding a rare and gigantic 90 foot dhorana tree as old as time next to the refectory. The sawing of a leopard among the ruins was last heard nearly a decade back and sadly the last sighting of a sloth bear had been in the 80s. They may be surviving in parts of the range not accessible yet. Elk, deer, fishing cat, crocodile are common whilst the thick canopy offers ample opportunities for keen bird watchers. Rajagala is unique in many ways though comparable to more common ancient monastic complexes in Sri Lanka like Ritigala, Mihintale, Arankele, Rasvehera and Kiralagala but more importantly, it has left enough for archaeologists of the next hundred years to unravel for the benefit of the future generations. The present assignment is an ongoing one with the collaboration of the Sri Jayawardenapura University and is funded by the US Ambassadors Cultural Fund. We are grateful for their untiring efforts. After the arduous expedition, it was proven why we were taught with such persisting uniformity from the kindergarten as to why we should be proud of our inheritance. If one needs an affirmation, one has to visit a site like Rajagalathenna in ones lifetime. New Delhi: The Amarnath terror attack on Monday night which led to the death of 9 pilgrims and injuries to 32 others has led to shockwaves all across the country. A high-level meeting was conducted on Tuesday which was attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, NSA chief Ajit Doval, RAW chief and other officials. The attack which was one of the worst since 2001, has earned condemnation from one and all. However, the Amarnath yatra has always witnessed Muslim caretakers taking care of Hindu pilgrims. Local Muslims have been instrumental in the running of the annual pilgrimage. Hundreds of locals put up stalls at the yatra base camps at Baltal and Pahalgam. Thousands of Muslims offer services as pony, horse drivers and palanquin-bearers in the annual pilgrimage.Besides being a business provider for the locals, the Amarnath Yatra also showcases the bonding between Kashmiris and the pilgrims. The Amarnath Yatra would be incomplete without local involvement. In fact it was a Kashmiri Muslim family that discovered the Amarnath cave in the 15th century.The locals were also instrumental in relief and rescue operations in 1996, when a snow storm killed 200 on the route of the yatra. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Marcel Ciolacu will have a series of online meetings with European officials in the first half of next week, including Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights and Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, informs a press release of the Social Democratic Party sent to AGERPRES on Sunday. According to the cited source, on Monday, there are meetings scheduled in the agenda, starting with 13:00 hrs, with Sergei Stanishev, president of the Party of European Socialists, and from 15:00 hrs Marcel Ciolacu will meet with Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights. The agenda also includes a meeting with Maros Sefcovic, Vice-President of the European Commission for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight and head of PES Eastern Europe, and from 18:00 hrs with Elisa Ferreira, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms.On Tuesday, starting with 17:00 hrs, Marcel Ciolacu will have a meeting with European Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, and from 18:00 hrs there will be a meeting with Ismail Ertug, the Vice-President of the S&D Group and Member of the executive board of the Europa-SPD.On Wednesday, starting with 16:00 hrs, the PSD leader will meet with Christophe Rouillon, the leader of the PES Group in the European Committee of the Regions."This series of meetings demonstrates that PSD is today a reliable partner both at European level and within the European Social Democratic family. The Social Democratic Party must connect to the European debate on the main topics of interest: the fair ecological transition, access to European funds, the European minimum wage or workers' rights. I will also address in the discussions with senior European officials two extremely important issues for Romania: the fight against the pandemic and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. These are topics where there are issues and delays domestically and I would like to find those solutions that really benefit the Romanian citizens and the Romanian economy," PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu was quoted as saying in the release. An ultra fit professional surf photographer has died after contracting an infection in his neck which saw his weight plummet by 32kgs in six weeks. Brad Masters went to Siloam Hospital, near Canggu in the south of the Indonesian island, on Christmas Day after complaining about a swollen gland in his jaw. The father-of-one, who is originally from Fremantle in Perth, was using antibiotics to treat pneumonia just weeks earlier, but his partner Trish Kincaid said his neck was 'scarlet and bigger than his head' by December 25. Surgeons tried for four weeks to remove the widespread infection but, when the 41-year-old caught a superbug in hospital, he was placed in an induced coma and on life support. Early on Sunday, Mr Masters died in hospital. Brad Masters (pictured) was a professional surfing and snowboarding photographer who lived in Bali prior to his death Mr Masters' parents Biba (pictured left) and Russell were unable to fly to see him due to coronavirus border closures His shattered family spoke of their loss, explaining they would miss him 'every second of every day'. 'It is with great sadness that we share the news of Brads passing in the early hours of this morning,' they wrote. 'Brad tried really hard to stay with us but unfortunately his body was extremely weak to keep fighting. 'We will take comfort in the beautiful images he created through his photos and his quirky ways.' The Perth-born father-of-one was living and working in Bali with his 11-year-old son Kai as a personal trainer and photographer. His shattered family spoke of their loss, explaining they would miss him 'every second of every day' Mr Masters (pictured in hospital) was complaining of neck pain on Christmas Day and went to hospital Brad Masters was a known surfing photographer and had been featured in international publications The thrill-seeker was known to travel the world looking for the best swells and had amassed an enormous following picturing the likes of Kelly Slater in the water. Slater and Mick Fanning are among dozens of mourners who have paid tribute to the photographer. It is not clear how Mr Masters first came to be unwell in the lead up to Christmas. The weightlifter weighed a healthy 90kgs in late 2020, but Ms Kincaid said this plummeted to just 58kg while he was in hospital. Ms Kincaid told Daily Mail Australia the doting dad's antibiotics were constantly changing after the bug spread to his lungs and he got pneumonia. 'The abscess on his neck almost killed him,' the model previously said. Pictured: Brad Masters with his model girlfriend Trish Kincaid in Bali. The couplewere living with his son, Kai Brad Masters (pictured) went to hospital on Christmas Day because his neck was larger than his head (left) He was transferred to another hospital and put on a ventilator for three weeks while doctors tried to remove more infection, but the pneumonia came back after the third operation. 'Brad was then put back on to the ventilator and life support machines under controlled sedation,' she said. Doctors were eventually able to clear the infected areas and close the wound on his neck before his condition deterioated again. A fundraiser set up to help cover the costs of Mr Masters' medical bills will stay active given the family still have a hefty sum to pay. Pictured: Brad Masters with his partner Trish Kincaid. Ms Kincaid is a gymnastics teacher in Bali Pictured: Mr Masters with heavy weights at a gym in Bali. He was a healthy and fit sportsman before he got sick His treatment was not covered by his insurance, his devastated family explained. 'Apparently [the neck infection] is one of the few infections not covered under the policy,' Ms Kincaid said. 'The medical cost for his treatment is in excess of $75,000 and increasing daily by $3,500.' His family were unable to be by his side in his final weeks due to Covid border restrictions. Pictured: One of Brad Masters' surfing photographs. The 41-year-old was extremely fit before got sick Finance Minister on Sunday said the country required at least 20 institutions of the size of the nations largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), to be able to meet its aspirations. Speaking about the Budgets other proposals, Sitharaman said the idea to have a development finance institution (DFI) had internalised learnings from the IDBI episode, and added that there would be private sector play as well in the space, which will force the state-run DFI to be efficient. She rejected the Oppositions charge of selling family assets through the Budget stress on privatisation, terming it as a lazy allegation. It is not what the Opposition says about selling family silver, its not at all, she said, addressing a meeting of business people in Mumbai. Family silver should be strengthened, it should be our takat (strength), she said. All the previous governments have done disinvestment, and the current regime has formulated a clear policy on which companies to be divested, she said, adding there was no proposal on the table regarding a Bank Investment Company to house the government stakes in banks and wondered what resulted in the discussion. Sitharaman said the government would work with the Reserve Bank for execution of the bank plan announced in the Budget, but declined to comment on any specific details about which will be the candidate chosen for In the Budget, Sitharaman had announced the of two banks as part of its disinvestment plan. Bank unions have opposed the move. The details are being worked out. I have made the announcement but we are working together with the RBI, she said, when asked about the proposal. Sitharaman said despite reforms of the past, socialist baggage hindered businesses, and many state-run firms had been lacking professional expertise to grow or were present in sectors which were not strategically important. GST revenues have shown handsome growth in the last three months on overall recovery in the economy and on help from technology in plugging leakages, she said. Differing with those panning such revenue collections as tax terrorism, she quipped that this can be termed as technology terrorism. Belajarbahasaarab.web.id scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 19 Jan 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the belajarbahasaarab homepage on Twitter + the total number of belajarbahasaarab followers (if belajarbahasaarab has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the belajarbahasaarab homepage on StumbleUpon. The total number of people who shared the belajarbahasaarab homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the belajarbahasaarab homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the belajarbahasaarab homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if belajarbahasaarab has a Facebook fan page). Basic Information PAGE TITLE Belajar Bahasa Arab - BBA Belajar Bahasa Arab untuk Pemula DESCRIPTION Belajar Bahasa Arab untuk Pemula KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS bahasa, bahasa arab, kosakata bahasa arab, kosakata bahasa, kosakata, percakapan, percakapan bahasa arab The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The title found in the head section of the homepage. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. Domain and Server DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE English (United States) UTF-8English (United States) DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER - Web acceleration by http://www.unixy.net/varnish (PHP/5.2.17) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Operative System running on the server. Character set and language of the site. Type of server and offered services. The language of belajarbahasaarab.web.id as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world. Referring domains for belajarbahasaarab.web.id by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines. Facebook link FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND The type of Facebook page. The URL of the found Facebook page. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND New Delhi: Uttarakhand on Sunday (February 7, 2021) witnessed a major natural disaster when a glacier burst in the Chamoli district and triggered a massive avalanche. The glacial burst then led to the rising of water levels in the river Rishiganga and washed away the Rishiganga small hydro project of 13.2 MW. Uttarakhand glacier burst Emergency Contact Numbers: 1070, 1905 and 9557444486. The flash flood also affected the downstream hydro project of NTPC at Tapovan on the river Dhauliganga, which is a tributary of the river Alaknanda. PM Narendra Modi who was constantly monitoring the unfortunate situation approved an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from Prime Minister's National Relief Fund for the next of kin of those who lost their lives due to the tragic avalanche caused by a glacier breach. He also approved an amount of Rs 50,000 for those who have been seriously injured. @narendramodi - Trivendra Singh Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) February 7, 2021 PM @narendramodi has approved an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each from PMNRF for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to the tragic avalanche caused by a Glacier breach in Chamoli, Uttrakhand. Rs. 50,000 would be given to those seriously injured. PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 7, 2021 As per the latest reports, at least 7 people have died while over 170 are still missing. However, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said the numbers could be higher and announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of the deceived. The rescue and relief operations are underway by the personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). One motorable road and four suspension bridges connecting 7-8 villages in the area with the district headquarters have also been washed away by the avalanche. The disconnected villages include Gahar, Bhangyun, Raini Palli, Pang Lata, Suraithota, Tolma and Fagrasu. CM Rawat informed that arrangements have been made to continue uninterrupted supplies of essentials to these villages. LIVE : https://t.co/jprXHgW28x Trivendra Singh Rawat (@tsrawatbjp) February 7, 2021 The Indian Army said that it has established a Control Room at Joshimath and informed that four Columns have been deployed towards Mallari Axis, while two columns are on standby. An Engineer Task Force with two JCBs have also been deployed. "Medical Column with two ambulances deployed. 2 Cheetah helicopters deployed," said Indian Army. Notably, 60 persons of NDRF also moved with five-ton load from Ghaziabad's Hindon to Dehradun's Jolly Grant Airport in IAF C130. "One more C130 and one AN 32 ready at Hindon for NDRF teams. 3 IAF Mi-17 positioned at Jolly Grant to airlift NDRF teams to Joshimath," said Indian Army. #IAF 6. 60 persons of #NDRF moved with 5 ton load from Hindon to JollyGrant Airport in IAF C130. 7. One more C130 & one AN 32 ready at #Hindon for NDRF teams. 8. 3 x IAF Mi-17 positioned at JollyGrant to airlift NDRF teams to Joshimath. (3/n) pic.twitter.com/i8kGu6hDRf ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) February 7, 2021 Earlier in the day, the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary, Rajiv Gauba, met to review the situation. The Cabinet Secretary directed the concerned agencies to work in close co-ordination and extend all requisite assistance to the State administration. He emphasized the need to account for all missing persons and directed that surveillance should be maintained till rescue efforts are completed and the situation returns to normalcy. In the meeting, it was further informed that around 12 persons trapped in a tunnel have been rescued by the ITBP, while efforts are on to rescue others trapped in another tunnel, which is being co-ordinated by the Army and ITBP. Our brave ITBP personnel performing rescue operations in Uttarakhand. We are committed to help our people in need. @ITBP_official pic.twitter.com/CYpkZIbp05 Amit Shah (@AmitShah) February 7, 2021 Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that there is no rainfall warning in the region for the next two days. According to the Central Water Commission, river Alaknanda at Srinagar in Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal is flowing much below warning level as the impact of Glacial Lake burst is felt only up to Joshimath. Live TV Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. In order to provide support to the Belarusian opposition, Germany has allocated 21 million euros (USD 25.3 million) to implement the Action Plan Civil Society Belarus initiative. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Saturday said that they have set up an 'Action Plan Civil Society Belarus' with up to 21 million euro. At the online conference of solidarity with Belarus. He said, "Let me assure you: Germany and the European Union stand with you [Belarusians]. We have imposed sanctions against [President Alexander] Lukashenko and his regime. And we have set up an 'Action Plan Civil Society Belarus' with up to 21 million euro." Maas further added, "And we are setting up a mechanism to collect evidence against those who violate human rights. The day will come when they will be held accountable. The day will come when Belarusians can enjoy democracy, freedom and the rule of law. We will owe that day to your energy, your courage and your resolve." This action plan provides asylum assistance and psychological care to Belarusian victims of torture and that fleeing persecution, supports independent media and offers scholarships to students who were expelled from their schools and universities for participating in anti-government protests. Also Read: India developing 7 more Covid vaccines Uttar Pradesh govt to give free Abhyudaya coaching in every district Indian government committed to welfare of tea tribe: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharam The United Nations on Saturday welcomed the announcement of U.S. intention to revoke the designation of the Houthi movement in Yemen as a terrorist organization. The revocation will provide profound relief to millions of Yemenis who rely on humanitarian assistance and commercial imports to meet their basic survival needs. It will help ensure that much-needed essential goods reach them without significant delays, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a note to correspondents. At a time when Yemen is at significant risk of famine, maintaining commercial imports and humanitarian assistance in adequate quantities is essential, said the note. "We hope this positive development will contribute to UN efforts to resume a Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned political process to reach an inclusive, negotiated settlement to the conflict." The designation came in the very last days of the previous U.S. administration led by Donald Trump. The new administration said Friday that it would revoke the designation. The move came one day after President Joe Biden announced an end to U.S. support for offensive operations in Yemen and his decision to step up diplomacy and support UN-led initiative to end the war. (CGTN) Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 16:36:34|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Zhao Jing, a staff member from China Communications Construction Company's Ethiopian branch, shows Spring Festival kits distributed by the Chinese Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Feb. 6, 2021. The kits, containing face masks, disinfectant wipes and other epidemic prevention materials, were distributed to overseas Chinese by the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia on Saturday. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Spring Festival kits containing face masks, disinfectant wipes and other epidemic prevention materials were distributed to overseas Chinese by the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia on Saturday. During the distribution ceremony, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Zhao Zhiyuan expressed gratitude to overseas Chinese for their contribution to the China-Ethiopia relationship and cooperation in improving Ethiopia's infrastructure. Zhao said the Chinese embassy has been concerned about the health and welfare of overseas nationals. "The welfare of overseas Chinese citizens is always close to the heart of the Chinese government. The Chinese embassy wishes all of you a happy lunar new year, health and happiness," Zhao added. Xia Tian, minister counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, said that distributing the Spring Festival kits to overseas Chinese citizens is a reminder of the need to protect against COVID-19 and keep them healthy. "I am very moved to receive the Spring Festival kits, and I can feel the care and warmth from motherland," said Zhao Jing, a staff from China Communications Construction Company's Ethiopian branch. Enditem Democratic Representative Cori Bush has come under fire for defending a violent riot Saturday at a Missouri jail that left one officer hurt and cause 'extensive' damage. Around 117 inmates took over a section of the City Justice Center in downtown St. Louis yesterday, smashing windows, throwing chairs onto the streets below and starting fires. The chaos erupted in a fourth-floor unit just after 2:30am when a defiant inmate attacked a corrections officer, prompting several other inmates to join in on the assault. It took officials nearly eight hours to bring an end to the pandemonium, which was described as extremely violent. The riot was reportedly held in protest over concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19, and limitations on visitors and court proceedings as a result of the ongoing pandemic. Hours after the melee subsided, Bush, of Missouri, appeared to tweet a statement of support for the rioters, saying shed work to address their grievances. Quoting Martin Luther King Jr., Bush wrote: A riot is the language of the unheard. She continued: I want to talk to my constituents in the window, Bush tweeted, referring to the inmates. Their lives and their rights must be protected. My team and I are working to ensure that the urgent needs of people who are incarcerated are not ignored. Democratic Representative Cori Bush has come under fire for her response to an extremely violent riot Saturday at a Missouri jail that left at least one officer hurt Around 117 inmates took over a section of the City Justice Center in downtown St. Louis yesterday, smashing windows, throwing chairs onto the streets below and starting fires Bushs comments have since drawn the ire of social media, with hundreds criticizing her for hypocrisy, highlighting the different tone she took in the wake of the deadly US Capitol insurrection on January 6. So riots are back on the menu? wrote Faye Hausendorff. Another user added: Arent they just thugs like the Capitol rioters? Or were the Capitol rioters the unheard also? Which way do you want it? Bush had been inside Congress as the riot unfolded. On January 6, she wrote: The President of the United States has incited a riot that has now stormed the Capitol. There are rioters roaming the halls of the Capitol. I saw them with my own eyes. Our country deserves better. In a separate tweet in the days after, she wrote: This coup attempt is white supremacy in action. The Republican members who incited the attack on our U.S. Capitol by working to overturn the results of this election must be expelled from Congress. But while the attack on the Capitol has been widely condemned, a large number on social media criticized Bush for adjudging the mayhem seen in St. Louis to be an acceptable form of protest. The chaos erupted in a fourth-floor unit just after 2:30am when a defiant inmate attacked a corrections officer, prompting several other inmates to jump the prison worker It took officials nearly eight hours to bring an end to the pandemonium, which was described as extremely violent In response to Bushs use of the Martin Luther Kings riot is the language of the unheard quote, Will Truman of the Ordinary Times wrote: I think that argument fell out of favor about 32 days ago, in reference to the Capitol riots. Another user appeared to accuse Bush of taking the quote out of context, countering with a separate MLK quote, reading: Riots are socially destructive and self-defeating... So I will continue to condemn riots, and continue to say to my brothers and sisters that this is not the way. And continue to affirm that there is another way. Exactly a month ago you were saying riots were dangerous and a threat to democracy, added another. Good to know that riots are okay now. Video posted on social media from the riot on Saturday showed inmates standing near three windows on the fourth floor that had been smashed. Some of the group gathered were shown holding up signs, while others tossed items, some ablaze, to the sidewalk below. Firefighters used a hose to put out several small fires, local media reported. Spokesman for Mayor Lyda Krewson, Jacob Long, said he was unable to estimate the cost of damage but described it as fairly extensive. There are some burn marks on the front of the building. They destroyed the inside of their floor and threw all sorts of stuff outside. They flooded the floors, clogged the toilets, clogged the drains, so there is water damage, Long said. The corrections officer attacked was treated at hospital for unspecified injuries but has since been released. Bush had been inside Congress as the riot unfolded. On January 6, she wrote: The President of the United States has incited a riot that has now stormed the Capitol. There are rioters roaming the halls of the Capitol. I saw them with my own eyes. Our country deserves better' One issue that played a roll in the mayhem was a locking problem that allows inmates to free themselves from their cells by tampering with the locks, said Jimmie Edwards, the citys director of public safety. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that officials have been dealing with the problem since December. Long said 65 inmates were transferred from the downtown jail and into the St. Louis Medium Security Institution, also known as the workhouse. He also said that law enforcement has talked to the prosecutors office and that the potential exists that some of those involved could face additional charges. In late December and early January, dozens of inmates were transferred from the St. Louis City Justice Center after two separate disturbances. Officials have said inmates were upset about conditions in the jail amid the pandemic. Although there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the 633 people jailed at the St. Louis Justice Center as of Friday, tensions have been simmering. I imagine they are under the same amount of stress due to COVID restrictions like the rest of us are, Long said. Courts havent been hearing cases in the 22nd Judicial Circuit. Their family visits have been restricted. But also they are acting out and that is the current situation. Activists have protested conditions at the workhouse for years, but plans to close it have stalled, with backers of keeping it open saying it provides a way to space out inmates amid the pandemic. These events demonstrate the need to have two facilities at this time, Long said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 21:56:58|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUWAIT CITY, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait reported on Sunday 962 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 170,998 and the death toll to 966, the Kuwaiti Health Ministry announced. Meanwhile, the ministry announced the recovery of 445 more patients, taking the total recoveries in Kuwait to 161,538, noting 8,494 coronavirus patients are receiving treatment. Abdullah Al-Sanad, the ministry's spokesman, urged everyone in Kuwait to adhere to precautionary measures against the coronavirus and maintain social distancing. He said Kuwait will use 15 health centers across the country as COVID-19 vaccination centers for citizens and residents. Al-Naseem and Al-Masayel centers already started operation on Sunday. Kuwait has decided to ban the entry of non-Kuwaitis for two weeks starting Sunday to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Enditem The African Union must conduct a comprehensive reform if it is to stay relevant, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said at the close of the bloc's two-day summit on Sunday. Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation and the largest economy on the continent, making it an influential member of the 55-nation bloc that was formed to promote international cooperation and harmonise member states' policies. The bloc decided in 2016 it needed to work on changes to make it more nimble, focused and accountable, putting Rwanda's President Paul Kagame in charge of the process. "Global realities demand that the AU be overhauled, if it must remain relevant in intergovernmental processes," Buhari said in a statement at the conclusion of the virtual summit. "Nigeria demands a truly reformed, efficient and effective AU Commission, one that is fully committed to the discharge of its duties and responsibilities." Buhari did not outline any specific changes he envisaged for the bloc that also has a peacekeeping mission that enables it to send forces to member states and has secured millions of shots of COVID-19 vaccines for the continent. In a report during the summit, Kagame said the AU needed to overhaul its judicial branch, the pan-African parliament and its commission structures. He said a division of labour with the patchwork of regional economic communities that have sprung up, sometimes overlapping, across the continent was overdue. "I ask the incoming commission to give priority attention to these items, so that they are completed this year, without fail," Kagame said. He also called for changes that he said would strengthen African healthcare systems, including by ranking nations according to service, rather than per-capita spending, and the creation of regional platforms to support member states in increasing domestic health financing. Short link: Scrooge, Oliver Twist, jilted Miss Havisham, David Copperfield, Gradgrind, Lady Deadlock, all of these characters are known even to those who have never opened a novel by world-famous and never-out-of-print Charles Dickens. He lives on. He's 209 today and his books and his life still fascinate. Married at 24, by 40, Dickens had 10 children, seven sons and three daughters. He had an affair, left his wife, wanted scarlet geraniums on his coffin, asked that his horse be shot the day that he himself died and wanted to be buried in a local churchyard in Kent, "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner". He wasn't granted his wish. Charles John Huffam Dickens is buried in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey. Dickens and his wife had separated in 1858, when Dickens was 46, but when Catherine, his estranged wife, was dying, nine years after him, she gave her daughter all the letters that Dickens had ever sent her saying: "Give these to the British Museum that the world may know he loved me once." After his death, Queen Victoria wrote in her diary that "he had a large, loving mind". Margaret Gillies painted this portrait of 31-year-old Dickens, in 1843, when he was writing his sixth novel, A Christmas Carol. Gillies, fourth of five children, was born in London in 1803. Her mother died when she was eight, her merchant father's business foundered. She and her sister were cared for and educated by an uncle and aunt in Edinburgh, and Gillies, aged 20, returned to London determined to earn her living as an artist. She studied in Paris, specialised in miniatures, and later in watercolours. In London, Gillies met and fell in love with Dr Thomas Southwood Smith, 15 years older, married, now separated. An independent woman, Gillies had no interest in marriage but they lived together and worked together. They championed the poor, fought on their behalf. Southwood Smith reported to the Government on sanitation and poverty, Gillies illustrated these reports and Dickens was asked to support their campaign. He did. He wrote A Christmas Carol in which the Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge two destitute children Ignorance and Want whom "a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds" and tells him that they are "the responsibility of all mankind". A supporter of the suffrage movement, Gillies painted many feminists. She also painted William Wordsworth, staying with him at Rydal Mount for several weeks, and Dickens sat for her six times. A fresh-faced Dickens with broad forehead and lustrous hair turns to look at us. The miniature was painted during a stressful time for Dickens, his most recent novel Martin Chuzzlewit hadn't been popular, he had a young family to support and his publishers did not hold out much hope for his next book A Christmas Carol. When the miniature was shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 1844, Elizabeth Barrett Browning said it was Dickens with "the dust and mud of humanity about him, notwithstanding those eagle eyes". Gillies herself said that she was interested in portraying "true nobility, that of genius" and "to call out what is most beautiful and refined in our nature". Used as a frontispiece to an 1844 book of essays on literary celebrities, the miniature itself disappeared for over 130 years. In 1886, Gillies said that she had "lost sight of the portrait" but two years ago, at an auction in South Africa, a lot including a metal lobster, a brass plate and a mouldy painting was sold for about 30. Selling on the frame, the buyer was about to throw away the fungus-covered painting but looked again and discovered an engaging face. Scrubbed up, it was acquired by the Charles Dickens Museum at 48 Doughty Street, London for 180,000 in 2019. How it ended up 13,000 km from London is difficult to determine. George Eliot's partner George Henry Lewes had a son Charles, who married Gertrude Hill, the adopted daughter of Margaret Gillies and Southwood Smith. Charles's two brothers Herbert and Thornton emigrated to South Africa and - what the Dickens? Perhaps one of them packed this little gem? Off the east coast of Scotland, in water more than 300 feet deep, five towering turbines weighing thousands of tons float in the North Sea. Installed in 2017, the turbines power about 36,000 homes a year. Wind farms have been erected on land and at sea for decades, but Hywind Scotland, operated by Norwegian oil giantEquinor ASA, is the first to float. Instead of being inserted into steel tubes buried in the seabed, the turbines sit in cylindrical buoys that are fixed to the seabed by mooring lines. The approach promises to enable wind farms in much deeper water, where there are often stronger winds, opening up swaths of untapped coastline to renewable energy. Equinor believes that there are many countries where floating wind could be the best option for generating renewable power. In some places, such as Japan, South Korea and the U.S., a steep drop off the continental shelf means the water is too deep for fixed wind turbines, which are limited to depths of around 60 meters, or just under 200 feet. The technology is gaining interest as governments scramble to reduce their carbon emissions footprint. The 2015 Paris climate accord, where governments agreed to limit global temperature increases to less than 2 degrees Celsius, with an ambition to cap them at 1.5 degrees Celsius, has focused attention on limiting emissions, which renewable energy helps address. Still, floating wind is almost double the cost of fixed offshore wind, which needs an average price of $84 per megawatt-hour of electricity for projects to break even, according to industry group the Global Wind Energy Council. There are dozens of concepts for floating platforms in the works, preventing the savings that come with standardization and mass production. Longer cables needed to send power back to land can also increase expenses. The internal rate of return, a measure of profitability of investments, is around 10% for fixed wind and not yet known for floating wind. Another limitation is the slow pace at which governments are developing policy to enable projects. We will start with where you see an appetite from government and where you see an energy need that cannot be met by obvious, much cheaper options like onshore wind, solar and to some degree fixed offshore wind," says Sebastian Bringsvrd, head of floating wind development at Equinor. Some governments are realizing that floating wind may be their only option for meeting carbon reduction targets, particularly if they have limited space for solar and wind projects onshore, Mr. Bringsvrd says. Whether fixed or floating, wind farms in the sea dont face as much public resistance over their impact on the environment and landscape. They are not visible from shore when they are farther than 30 miles out. Cables can be buried all the way to the power station, but this can be more difficult if the cable lands ashore in a residential area. Some oil-and-gas companies seeking to expand in renewable energy see floating wind as a natural extension of their expertise, having spent years building floating oil and gas facilities to extract fossil fuels from deep beneath the seabed. Energy giants including Frances Total SE and Royal Dutch Shell PLC have invested, consistent with their plans to reduce dependence on oil and ramp up spending on low-carbon energy. Shell bought Paris-based floating wind specialist Eolfi SA in 2019. Utilities already active in wind energy are also testing floating technologies, including Spains Iberdrola SA and Germanys RWE Group. Both companies are involved in single-turbine pilot projects due to start up in Europe in the next two years. There are plenty of opportunities to pursue. Countries including Japan, South Korea, the U.K., Spain and some states in the U.S. are planning for floating wind projects off their shorelines. Some regions are setting offshore wind targets, including the European Union, which aims for capacity to grow fivefold to 60 gigawatts by 2030. Some of this will need to come from floating wind, according to Equinor. The low hanging fruit of fixed-bottom wind has been picked," says Bruno Geschier, chief sales and marketing officer at Frances Ideol SA, which designs and builds floating foundations for turbines. The companys technology has been used in France and Japan since 2018 in single-turbine pilot projects. President Bidens move to return the U.S. to the Paris agreement and plans to boost green energy investment have also spurred optimism in floating wind. The willingness of governments to make sites available is key, that has been one of the restrictions of the development of the U.S. market," says Joao Metelo, chief executive of California-based Principle Power Inc., which designs and makes floating platforms. The company has developed a three-column semi-submersible platform which helps distribute the weight of the turbine and stabilize it. The company is considering future projects including at water depths of over 3,000 feet. In 2018, Californias Redwood Coast Energy Authority selected a consortium including Principle Power, Norwegian oil-services company Aker Solutions AS, and the renewables unit of Portugals largest utility Energias de Portugal SA, to enter into a public-private partnership for a proposed floating wind project. The wind blows harder and more consistently farther from shore, which means that floating offshore wind projects have the potential to generate more power than fixed-wind projects. In 2019 Equinors Hywind Scotland project achieved 55% of its potential power capacity. This compares with fixed offshore wind projects which average 29% to 52%, while solar photovoltaic is less than half of that, according to the International Energy Agency. Around 60-80% of the best wind resources near centers for demand are in areas where the water is deeper than 60 meters," says Ideols Mr. Geschier. A handful of commercial scale floating wind farms are expected to start up by 2025, including in Spain, Italy and South Korea, according to GWEC. One of those is Hywind Tampen, an Equinor project off the coast of Norway to power some of the companys offshore oil and gas platforms from next year. Equinor is using technology where the floating cylindrical buoy the wind turbine sits in is weighted so that the entire construction floats upright. Later this year, governments are expected to auction areas for seabed development, and floating-wind proposals are likely off the coasts of France, South Korea, Norway and elsewhere, due to the water depth. As project size increases, costs are expected to fall. Henrik Stiesdal, chair of GWECs floating offshore wind task force, expects that within the next decade floating-wind costs are likely to match fixed-wind turbines, aided by the same subsidy schemes which helped cut costs for fixed turbines. The main thing that will make floating wind reduce in price and really cost competitive is volume," says Mr. Stiesdal. (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. 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. Donald Trump's impeachment lawyer David Schoen has asked for the trial to be paused if it runs into the Sabbath because he is an observant Jew, in a move that could throw the timeline into uncertainty. Schoen, who previously acted as counsel to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, sent a letter to Senate leaders requesting the trial be put on hold past sundown on Friday through Saturday, according to the New York Times. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's office, who is also Jewish, said the Senate will 'accommodate' Schoen's request. However a pause could string the impeachment trial out longer than is in the interests of both parties. Both sides want a speedy trial with the Democrats almost certain not to get a conviction and keen to prevent further delays to the Biden administration's plans, while Republicans opposed the trial going ahead at all now Trump is no longer in office. Schoen, who is heading up Trump's legal team, said this week he will argue the ex-president was not responsible for the MAGA mob riot that left five - including a Capitol cop - dead. Donald Trump's impeachment lawyer David Schoen (pictured) has asked for the trial to be paused if it runs into the Sabbath because he is an observant Jew Schoen wrote the letter to Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Democratic Senator Patrick J. Leahy, the president pro tempore of the Senate who will preside over next week's trial asking that the Sabbath be observed when the trial starts Tuesday. 'I apologize for the inconvenience my request that impeachment proceedings not be conducted during the Jewish Sabbath undoubtedly will cause other people involved in the proceedings,' he wrote. 'The practices and prohibitions are mandatory for me, however; so, respectfully, I have no choice but to make this request.' The Sabbath runs from sundown at 5:24 pm Friday until 6:25 pm on Saturday, with observant Jews prohibited from working during this time. Schoen suggested that if the trial has not concluded by sundown Friday, it could resume again on Sunday once the Sabbath is over. 'While I would not, of course, want to in any way interfere with anyone's religious observance on Sunday, perhaps since the proceedings do not commence each day until the afternoon, Sunday proceedings will not affect anyone else's religious practice (e.g. church attendance),' he wrote. Schumer's office said in a statement Saturday that Schoen's request will be accommodated. 'We respect their request and of course will accommodate it. Conversations with the relevant parties about the structure of the trial continue,' Justin Goodman, a spokesman for Schumer said, per the Times. Schoen, who is heading up Trump's legal team in his second impeachment trial, said this week he will argue the ex-president (pictured) was not responsible for the MAGA mob riot that left five - including a Capitol cop - dead Trump was impeached for a second time for 'inciting' the January 6 riot (above) Schumer did not go into detail about how an allowance will be made but is expected to announce the details of the trial including its schedule before it commences Tuesday. Impeachment trial rules state the Senate should meet Monday through Saturday, taking a break only on Sundays. Senators would therefore need to agree to holding the trial on a Sunday. During Bill Clinton's impeachment trial in 1999, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman consulted with rabbis before attending the proceedings on the Sabbath day. He was given special permission to attend the sessions and vote but walked four miles to the Capitol instead of driving a car as this is prohibited on the Sabbath. Meanwhile, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner previously got special permission from a rabbi to attend her father's inauguration celebrations. Trump's impeachment trial will begin on Tuesday, after the timeline was already pushed back by two weeks to allow the Senate time to focus on confirming Joe Biden's cabinet and debating the coronavirus relief bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's (pictured) office, who is also Jewish, said the Senate will 'accommodate' Schoen's request It is not clear how long it will last but a week is being mulled as a realistic timescale as both sides are in support of a quick trial. Sources told the Post it is very likely it would stretch into the night Friday and into Saturday. If the trial closes early Friday and pauses for a full day Saturday, this could inch into the federal holiday of President's Day on the Monday and the Senate's holiday week or it could risk being pushed back further. Trumps first impeachment trial in January 2017 went on for three weeks as a number of witnesses were called. It came after it emerged he had pressured the Ukrainian president for information on Biden and his son Hunter Biden. He was impeached in December 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress but was acquitted by the Senate in February after only one Republican - Mitt Romney - broke from party lines to back the impeachment article. This time round, it is also unlikely Trump will be convicted. Trump was impeached by the House on January 13 for the second time with 10 Republicans including Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney crossing party lines. But a procedural vote last week showed Senate Republicans were unlikely to support his conviction. A majority of 55-45 voted against a motion that would have declared the impeachment proceedings against Trump unconstitutional because he is no longer in office. While this paved the way for the trial to proceed, the vote showed just five Republicans back the trial with 45 against it. Democrats need 67 votes for a conviction meaning they need 17 Republicans to vote to impeach Trump. House Impeachment Managers' Letter to Donald J. Trump February 4, 2021 President Donald J. Trump c/o Bruce L. Castor Jr. and David Schoen Via E-Mail Dear President Trump, As you are aware, the United States House of Representatives has approved an article of impeachment against you for incitement of insurrection. See H. Res. 24. The Senate trial for this article of impeachment will begin on Tuesday, February 9, 2021. See S. Res. 16. Two days ago, you filed an Answer in which you denied many factual allegations set forth in the article of impeachment. You have thus attempted to put critical facts at issue notwithstanding the clear and overwhelming evidence of your constitutional offense. In light of your disputing these factual allegations, I write to invite you to provide testimony under oath, either before or during the Senate impeachment trial, concerning your conduct on January 6, 2021. We would propose that you provide your testimony (of course including cross-examination) as early as Monday, February 8, 2021, and not later than Thursday, February 11, 2021. We would be pleased to arrange such testimony at a mutually convenient time and place. Presidents Gerald Ford and Bill Clinton both provided testimony while in officeand the Supreme Court held just last year that you were not immune from legal process while serving as Presidentso there is no doubt that you can testify in these proceedings. Indeed, whereas a sitting President might raise concerns about distraction from their official duties, that concern is obviously inapplicable here. We therefore anticipate your availability to testify. If you decline this invitation, we reserve any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports a strong adverse inference regarding your actions (and inaction) on January 6, 2021. I would request that you respond to this letter by no later than Friday, February 5, 2021 at 5pm. I look forward to your response and to your testimony. Very truly yours, Jamie Raskin Lead Impeachment Manager Advertisement With most Republicans opposed to the trial taking place and not necessarily wanting the events that led to the January 6 riot rehashed, the party is hoping for a speedy trial. And with Trump likely to be cleared, Democrats too want to get the trial out of the way so the new president can continue confirming his cabinet members and tackling the pandemic. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said Wednesday that 'the sooner we get on to solving COVID and solving climate, the better. So I think if this gets drawn out too much, it doesnt help anybody.' Senator Bernie Sanders has also called for a quick trial so the Senate can get on with helping 'working families.' Schoen, a Fox News commentator, was appointed by Trump on Sunday to lead his defense in his historic second impeachment trial. Also on the team is Bruce Castor, the former district attorney in Pennsylvania who declined to prosecute Bill Cosby. They were appointed after Trump parted with his legal team last weekend amid reports they were unwilling to push his unfounded election fraud claims in the trial. In the trial beginning next week, Democrats will argue Trump 'incited the insurrection' on January 6 that left five dead. Schoen, a Fox News commentator, was appointed by Trump on Sunday to lead his defense in his historic second impeachment trial Before the riot, Trump told his supporters to 'fight like hell' to overturn his election defeat. Prosecutors say the former president was 'singularly responsible' for the riot, and that he must be convicted and barred from standing for office again. Schoen told the New York Times this week the defense will argue the MAGA mob rioters planned the attack before Trump's speech where he told them to 'fight' and did not know what they were plotting. 'I have no reason to believe anyone involved with Trump was in the know,' Schoen said. Schoen also said Trump had never pressured him to base his legal arguments on his unfounded allegations of widespread voter fraud. Lead impeachment manager Jamie Raskin sent a letter to Trump this week inviting him to testify under oath at his trial. Trump adviser Jason Miller responded hours later saying Trump will not testify and dismissing the trial as 'an unconstitutional proceeding'. Haiti - FLASH : Bloody clash between police officers and Fantom 509 5 dead and several injured Friday afternoon members of the Haitian National Police (PNH) from the heavily armed "Fantom 509" group, mostly wearing balaclavas and some with the PNH uniforms took to the streets in Port-au-Prince. Several individuals on motorcycles brandishing their assault weapons and firing bursts caused panic among the population and among traders, particularly in downtown Port-au-Prince, Delmas and Petion-ville. Highly motivated and violent, the demonstrators joined by extremist activists of the radical opposition vandalized cars and set at least 3 vehicles on fire with "State Service" plates in their path. Clashes broke out at Canape-Vert where an agent of the SWAT unit Patrick Anozart, fell under the assassination bullets in front of the police station, which provoked a violent response from the special unit against the members of "Fantom". 509 . During the shooting, 4 "police officers" attackers were killed : Wilbert Fleurant, Walta Bichotte, Marceus Junior and Joseph Adam. Several others were reportedly injured and are being actively sought. Police officer Reynald Courtois, one of the Chiefs of Fantom 509 has been arrested, confirmed Leon Charles the Director General a.i. of the PNH. On Saturday Leon Charles and the Chief Inspector General of the PNH Frantz Jean Francois received a visit from the Head of State Jovenel Moise following the tragic death of Agent Patrick Anozart. Members of the victim's family were also present during this sympathy visit "[...] I am deeply moved by the untimely death of this young agent. My sympathies to his family," declared Moise adding "I strongly condemn the assassination of Agent Patrick Anozard, of the Swat Team, in full exercise of his mission of protecting the population against these bandits who sowed disorder yesterday in the capital city. I take this opportunity to encourage the PNH to track down these armed individuals." In a note, Rockefeller Vincent, the Minister of Justice and Public Security "[...] vehemently condemns the assassination of policeman Anozart by terrorists who attack the republican forces and who sow chaos in the streets of the Capital. The Minister expresses his deep sympathies to the family and brothers in arms of this valiant policeman who paid at the price of his blood, to protect and serve the population in accordance with his mission. Minister Vincent congratulates the High Command of the National Police of Haiti which reacted promptly and effectively by firmly facing these bandits used for the purposes of political turbulence. He instructs the Public Prosecutor's Office of Port-au-Prince to expedite, in concert with the Central Directorate of the Judicial Police, a criminal investigation, in order to identify and pinpoint the intellectual and material authors and accomplices of these serious terrorist acts. The State will never bow to the bandits." SL/ TB/ HaitiLibre 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". Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media State police were called Friday night to the scene of an officer-involved shooting in Stratford, according to a release. A suspect was seen entering a vehicle at which time Stratford Police officers attempted a traffic stop where force was used, according to a release from Connecticut State Police. Re: Return to NI from abroad through Dublin Airport? 2. Re: Return to NI from abroad through Dublin Airport? you dont say where from or your nationality - you can only enter ireland and northern ireland for essential purposes - going home to NI would be essential the passenger locator form which is checked on entry into ireland includes a section on transit to NI which is where you would quarantine good luck to anyone checking papers on the northern irish border Edited: 07 February 2021, 05:02 Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Armenia ex-minister of emergency situations hospitalized with heart attack Mher Grigoryan: Clarification of border points is possible only after withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from Armenia Suspicious deal: Whether there was profit from buying DNA IDs? Armenia ex-president says current authorities are trying to blame Russia for defeat in war 4 people killed in Afghanistani bus attack Robert Kocharyan: This war could not have happened, it was a consequence of the policy of the authorities Kocharyan: I have to ask people how it happened that overwhelming majority elected this leader Armen Gevorgyan presents 'Armenia' bloc program: We offer the concept of a working country Biden's administration proposed to leave unchanged amount of financial support to Armenia US Embassy in Baku calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release Armenian POWs Luxembourg MFA calls on Azerbaijan to immediately release all Armenian prisoners 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 The number of coronavirus tests administered daily in the United States has been trending downward for more than two weeks. And though experts say the trend is too fresh to set off major alarm bells, the decline raises the possibility that testing has reached a ceiling at a time when scientists say the nation should be conducting millions more tests per day to help stop the spread of the virus. On Jan. 18, the seven-day average of daily new tests reached an all-time high of more than 2.1 million, according to the COVID Tracking Project. On Thursday, it was about 1.7 million. Maintaining a level of at least 2 million tests per day is considered an important threshold by public health experts, who say that it is a level of testing that will allow them to identify most people with symptoms, as well as two people with whom each sick person has been in close contact. This dip coincides with a downturn in another important coronavirus metric: the seven-day average of new reported coronavirus cases, which was down 57% Thursday compared with its peak on Jan. 8. When the number of tests performed and cases reported go down at the same time, public health experts want to know if the dip in new cases is tied to the fact that fewer tests are being performed the theory being that If you dont test, you dont find cases, as Dr. Jodie Guest, a public health researcher at Emory University, put it recently. For now it seems the number of new cases is indeed falling, said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, who noted that the percentage of positive tests is also on the decline. Thats why Im convinced the decline is real, Jha said in an interview Friday night. The decline, unfortunately, is also relative. Fridays seven-day average of about 130,953 daily reported cases in the U.S. is still significantly higher than peaks in the spring and summer. The COVID crisis is still with us. So why are the testing numbers going down? Dr. Emily Martin, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan, said that the recent dip in testing should come with lots of caveats on what exactly it is we can take away from the trend. It may be, she said, that testing spiked in January, possibly caused by people returning to jobs and schools after holiday breaks and being subjected to mandatory testing. But Martin and other experts say that the numbers could also reflect a complacency about testing, as vaccine distribution is ramping up. It is also possible that the dip reflects the burden on public health offices that are being asked to both administer vaccines and tests at the same time and that vaccinations, in some cases, are taking precedence. The seven-day average of vaccinations has been on the rise, topping 1.3 million in recent days and approaching the Biden administrations goal of 1.5 million doses per day. I do know that there are testing facilities that have been shifting their focus to vaccinations right now, Guest said. And I do wonder if the numbers were seeing go down are based on some shifting of priorities. And that is not particularly good news: Experts say that widespread testing must continue to be part of the fight against the pandemic, because scientists dont know exactly how effective most of the vaccines are at slowing the spread of the virus. Vaccine trials, in the interest of speed, were intended primarily to study how effective the inoculations are against stopping the onset of severe COVID-19 disease and not whether they would prevent the transmission of the virus. There was some progress on that front this past week, with a study that showed that the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca has the potential to slow the transmission, according to researchers at the university. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Google Street View Dashcam video of what appears to be a shocking smash-and-grab break-in of a car crawling toward I-80 in San Francisco has gone viral. On Friday, Ben Barghabany told KTVU he and his wife were driving from a real estate photography project on Dolores Street to Treasure Island for another shoot. The route took them on Bryant Street near the Hall of Justice, where their Prius slowed near the on-ramp toward the East Bay. Tesla dashcam footage from a car behind them shows a black Honda pull up near the Prius. A figure jumps out, smashes the back of the Prius and quickly gets back into the Honda with their haul. New Delhi, Feb 7 : India administered an extremely low number of doses on Sunday as only a little above 28,000 beneficiaries turned out to take the jabs during the day since only 12 states participated in the vaccination drive, the data shared by the Union Health Ministry revealed. The ministry informed that 28,059 beneficiaries including healthcare and frontline workers were vaccinated on Sunday pushing the tally of vaccinated people cross 58 lakh mark on the 23rd day of the countrywide Covid-19 vaccination program. Of these, 12,978 were healthcare workers, while the other 15,081 beneficiaries were frontline workers. The figures shared were preliminary and final reports for the day would be compiled by late night on Sunday. "The cumulative number of healthcare workers and frontline workers vaccinated against Covid-19 is 58,03,617, as per the provisional report. Total of 1,16,478 sessions have been held so far. 1,295 sessions were held till 6.40 p.m. on Sunday," it stated. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that the 12 states which reported the vaccination activity on Sunday are Assam, Bihar, Gujarat Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttarakhand. It also shared that of the total cumulative coverage, 53,17,760 are healthcare workers and 4,85,857 are frontline workers. Despite the low turnout, the Union Ministry claimed that the cumulative figure of vaccination in India has placed the country on the third spot among nations with the highest doses of Covid-19 vaccines administered, after the US and the UK. The inoculation exercise to administer the first dose of Covid vaccines started with the healthcare workers first from January 16, whereas the frontline workers started receiving vaccine shots from February 2. NITI Aayog member (health) and head of the national Covid task force, Dr VK Paul had said last week that the second dose of Covid vaccines would be provided February 13 onwards. In view of it, the Centre has directed all states and Union Territories to complete the administration of the first dose of vaccines to their healthcare workers by February 20 and conclude mop-up round by February 25. It also directed them to push beneficiaries count beyond the daily target of 100 per session. Residents temporarily evacuated from Homestead after fire, no injuries A Saturday afternoon fire in an apartment at a senior living complex was quickly extinguished and nobody was injured. Contiki, the tour company aimed at 18-35-year-olds, is known for many things: affordable access to some of the worlds top destinations, a chance to create lifelong friendships and a boatload of partying. Founded in 1962 in New Zealand, Contiki has become a global institution. Its also got a reputation for being a prominent supplier of summer flings, more so than being any sort of real-life Cupid. Contiki is for hookups, Eharmony is for serious relationships, goes the stereotype. But judging by several comments on one of the companys recent Instagram posts, love is found on Contiki more than you might think. It turns out Contiki tours have actually been the setting for romance to blossom for years, with couples meeting by chance, staying in touch when their respective tours are over and eventually getting engaged or married. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Contiki (@contiki) Dont believe in fate? Perhaps you will now. Here are some of the most unexpected love stories to form from Contiki tours. Before we get into the cringe-worthy anecdotes of The Loved Up though, cast your eyes over the most relatable of the lot: a story from one bravely honest woman who wears her heart on her sleeve and her soul on her (mobile) keyboard. Fell in love with a German boy on a dance floor in Berlin, on my birthday. Were still friends but he has found his soulmate and I am all alone. If thats not love, what is? To take away from the sting of that particular tale, here is a smattering of stories and insights from the lucky few who met the person of their dreams on the famed tour group operator, and who posted about it underneath the above Contiki Instagram image. Third-wheeling can be a good thing. The idea of being a third-wheel with another couple can be enough to make you question your own existence and mortality, but for our first couple, it proved to be the best thing to ever happen to them. My husband and I were both a last-minute 3rd wheel to our friends Contiki trip back in 2013. We met on day 2 of the European explorer (?) trip and spent every day after that together. He lived in CA and I was from MA, begins one user. Once we got back to our homes we decided I would fly to CA two weeks later to see him. After 4 months of long-distance, I quit my career, left my apartment and moved to CA. We got married in 2016, have a 2-year-old daughter and one more on the way! Europe could be the place to find love. We met on the 21 day Contiki European tour in 1988. He was from California and I was from Ottawa, Canada. In Venice, we needed a sixth person for the gondola ride, and he offered to join our gondola. We hit it off and 31 years later, we are happily married with two wonderful kids. My daughter did the same tour 25 years later, but wasnt as lucky as me Dont stress if you dont find love. Met my best mate on the big walkabout tour in Australia in 2019! Turns out we only lived an hour and a half away in England but took meeting on the otherside of the world to bring us together. One of the best person Ive ever met and couldnt have done it without Contiki! The world is an incredibly small place This next story is a long read, but it proves youre virtually guaranteed to meet someone you already know. My fiance and I met in August 2017 in Greece he was on a 5 day Greece Contiki, and I was on a 5-week European explorer. Our tours happen to cross paths on the island cruise, but we met the night before in restaurant Plaka in Athens by chance. After becoming friendly as we are both from New York (neighbors, actually!) We discovered he met my roommate in our local bar 6 months prior! When we got back to the USA, I messaged him on my US cell number, and we had a text history! My roommate at the time didnt save his number and didnt know who she was texting and asked me to text the number and see if I could get his name. We stayed friends for a year, and then ended up taking another Contiki trip together in Argentina and Brazil and thats where we decided to try out a relationship! 3 years after that we are engaged and planning a destination wedding! Its also incredibly cliche My partner and I met on the European Magic tour a couple years ago neither of us was actually supposed to be on that tour, wed both had different tours in mind but our plans fell through. But alas there we were, one thing lead to another and we had our first kiss under the Eiffel Tower (when in Paris). After our tour we both went our separate ways to finish our holidays, assuming what we had was just a lil holiday fling, nothing serious. Until we realised that we were staying up to 3am every day to talk to each other on the phone whilst still holidaying around Europe. We both ended up coming back to Australia and decided to meet up and see what happened. And weve been together ever since! Read Next Scammers have targeted the family of a young fitness enthusiast killed while riding her motorbike by setting up a fake fundraising page in her name. Jennifer Board, 22, was killed instantly after two cars collided and spun out of control at an intersection in Thuringowa Central, in Townsville, on Friday night. Her devastated family released a statement on Sunday to explain they had seen a fundraising page had been set up 'to cover the costs of her funeral'. But they urged the public not to donate to any such fundraisers, explaining that they were fakes. 'I can't believe I actually have to write this, but last night a fake 'GO FUND ME' was set up to raise funds for Jennifer's funeral expenses,' John Board wrote in a post on Facebook. Ms Board was hoping to become a police officer in Queensland, her family revealed Her sister and best friend, Siana Board, (left) said Jennifer (right) was the 'most genuine soul' and had dreamed of becoming a police officer 'Our family has not, and will not, be setting up any such type of fundraiser so please do not donate to them.' The fundraising page was set up on a website called 'gogetfunding' and claims to have been made by a Graham Board - Ms Board's ageing father. Mr Board is suffering from the early stages of dementia and is crushed by his daughter's death. He still does not know too many details about his daughter's death, given he has no access to the internet, but hopes she didn't suffer. The 22-year-old was killed when two out-of-control cars collided, forcing one to spin onto the other side of the road, where Ms Board was travelling on her motorbike. One of the cars, a Hyundai sedan, was allegedly stolen, while the Holden Statesman also involved in the crash was allegedly driven by vigilantes trying to catch up with the driver. It comes as Ms Board's house was broken into shortly after midnight on Saturday. The 22-year-old's last post to Instagram showed her celebrating the moment she received her restricted motorcycle license, having got her learner's permit three months earlier Just two people have donated to the false fundraiser to raise a total of $20, but John Board encouraged anybody who had been duped to contact authorities. Given the Board family would not be setting up a GoFundMe page, they have asked anybody who wants to donate to instead give to the Townsville Futsal Association. 'Perhaps a donation to the Townsville Futsal Association would be a nice gesture,' he suggested. 'Siana and Jennifer were both trying to raise funds for this club in December.' Siana, who was Ms Board's sister and best friend, previously said her late sister was the 'most genuine soul', who loved the colour orange. 'Jennifer has never hurt a single person in this life,' Siana told the Courier Mail. 'I couldn't think of a worse person for this to happen to.' Jennifer Board, 22, was killed instantly after two cars collided and spun out of control at an intersection in Thuringowa Central, in Townsville on Friday night Siana also revealed that her sister had recently applied for the police service. Having just moved to Darwin, she is now desperately trying to get back to Queensland to farewell her sister. 'There are no flights today it destroyed me to move away from her, and now this happens,' Siana said. Earlier on Sunday, Mr Board told the Courier Mail: 'I couldn't believe it, but I had to believe it.' He hopes his only biological daughter's death will force the Queensland government to take a tougher stance against youth crime. 'So much of these stolen cars have been going on in Townsville and all they get is a slap on the fingers and they let them go out again,' he said, reportedly as he slammed his fist down on his coffee table. Ms Board has been remembered as a 'kind, bubbly and adventurous' woman who will be 'dearly missed' within her community Following her death, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced sweeping changes would be introduced in parliament this week to deal with juvenile criminals. She said on Saturday that 'everything is on the table' but has not yet gone into detail about the changes. 'I met yesterday with the Ministers for Police and Youth Justice and the Attorney-General as well as the heads of their departments and there will be announcements,' she said. The Premier said the crash was 'a terrible tragedy on so many levels'. 'My thoughts and prayers go out to loved ones, family and friends.' Jennifer Board, 22, (pictured) was killed after she was hit by a vehicle that had just ploughed into another car at an intersection in Thuringowa Central, in Townsville on Friday night Ms Board (pictured) had been riding down the road just before 10pm on Friday when she was struck Police alleged after the crash the stolen Hyundai fled the scene before the car was found abandoned in Garbutt an hour later. The alleged driver of the Holden, a 25-year-old Bushland Beach man and his two passengers, a 41-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman were taken to hospital with minor injuries. Police are appealing for anyone who may have any information regarding the incident to come forward as investigations continue. The collision allegedly happened after a vigilante member of the public decided to 'aggressively' follow the allegedly stolen car, crossing the median strip of the road into the motorcycle's path. Superintendent Glen Ponting said: 'I very strongly caution against any form of vigilante action. 'Often times while people may have good intentions, it can result in unintended consequences.' While no plans have been made for a second season of Netflix hit The Queen's Gambit, star of the show Anya Taylor-Joy has ideas on how the story could progress forward. In it, she stars as Beth Harmon - a chess prodigy who navigates her skills with pills and alcohol. Speaking to Deadline, she said: 'It would be very interesting to see how Beth would be as a mother now that she's sober and more cognizant of the demons that pull her down. Ideas: While no plans have been made for a second season of Netflix hit The Queen's Gambit, star of the show Anya Taylor-Joy has ideas on how the story could progress forward 'It's so surreal and very wonderful that people want a second season, because we never thought about it, there was no discussion about it. 'That said, never say never in Hollywood!' The actress, 24, has been nominated this week for Golden Globes, SAG, and Critics' Choice Awards for her portrayal as the board game genius. She is also set to star in David O. Russell's forthcoming top secret project that's currently filming in Southern California. Speaking to Deadline, she said: 'It would be very interesting to see how Beth would be as a mother now that she's sober and more cognizant of the demons that pull her down' She added: 'Never say never in Hollywood!' Casting news: She is also set to star alongside Robert De Niro, Mike Myers and Chris Rock - all of whom have come on board David O. Russell's new movie Deadline reported this week that Robert De Niro, Mike Myers and Chris Rock have all come on board. It will be the second time De Niro has worked with the director; he starred in Silver Linings Playbook with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. Also newly signed up are Timothy Olyphant, Michael Shannon, Andrea Riseborough, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Alessandro Nivola. Back in action: The top secret project is the first film in more than five years from Russell whose credits include Three Kings, American Hustle, The Fighter and Joy Reunited: De Niro previously worked with Russell on his 2021 film silver linings Playbook. De Niro is pictured with co-stars Jacki Weaver and Bradley Cooper On board: Other cast additions just announced include Timothy Olyphant, left, and Michael Shannon, right The new bunch of talent joins previously announced stars John David Washington, Zoe Saldana and Christian Bale who were seen Monday filming on location in Saugus, outside of Los Angeles. The cast also includes Margot Robbie and Rami Malek. Russell is directing the film from his own screenplay and all that is known is that it's an original story. The filmmaker went through s prolific phase in the early 2000s, directing a string of high-profile releases including The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, and Joy. He first came to prominence with the 1996 comedy Flirting With Disaster which was followed by Three Kings in 1999 and I Heart Huckabees in 2004. He has been nominated for an Academy Award five times in the directing and screenwriting categories. The premium section of Nation Media Group's flagship online portal, Nation.Africa, will go live tomorrow, the company has announced, marking a milestone in the digital transformation of one of the continent's biggest news outlets. The ceremony to launch the premium site will be graced by the Chairman of the Group Board of Directors, Dr Wilfred Kiboro, members of the Board, Group Chief Executive Officer Stephen Gitagama and senior editors. Mr Gitagama yesterday said the launch of the section, available to millions of readers around the world at a fee, will herald a new dawn for the company, which embarked on the digital journey in August last year and has since introduced a number of products, among them e-puzzles and Sudoku. "We are focusing on changing our business model from one that is heavily reliant on advertising income to a reader revenue one," the CEO said. Launch of paywall "The launch of the paywall is in line with global trends and we believe it will give our readers premium, quality content at a small fee." While most of the content on Nation.Africa will remain free, special reports and archival products that require considerable investment to produce will be charged. Group Editorial Director Mutuma Mathiu said the launch of the facility "marks the beginning of a long, difficult but exciting journey", and that through it "Nation Media Group is determined to give value to its audiences". 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. "We believe we have invested in the right technology, and that we have the content that our audiences are looking for," Mr Mathiu said. "Even though it is going to take long for the culture of paid premium content to take root, we have faith that we will get there and appreciate the support and feedback from thousands of our readers from across Africa and the world." The unique design of Nation.Africa and its products is already attracting global attention and has been selected as a finalist at the prestigious International Forum (iF) Design Award 2021, where NMG is battling for honours in the iF awards' video campaign category against global brands like Siemens, Virgin Galactic, Primera Beauty Products and Planet World. Unique design Design firm Morrow BV, who were behind the launch video campaign, said the concept was to fuse current audiences and strong legacies with younger audiences and a new promise - to empower Africans. "We created a strategy and identity rooted in African culture and tradition that allows for flexibility. It caters for everything, from news to a children's show or fashion podcast," Morrow said. Organisers of the awards said NMG's campaign video, as well as its news website, creatively sends the message that Nation.Africa is there for every African; relayed through its imagery, music and conclusion. The pledge was echoed by Mr Mathiu, who said Nation journalism will reflect the needs and aspirations of the continent and provide a platform for ideas and dreams to thrive. Detectives on Sunday night were questioning the 35-year-old partner of Epping mother of one Ju Zhang who disappeared almost a week ago. But police are yet to locate Ms Zhang, 33, who was last seen at her home on Winchester Avenue, Epping, about 5.30pm on Monday, February 1. Police say Ju Zhangs disappearance is extremely out of character. She was reported missing the following evening, February 2. Police said it was out of character for Ms Zhang, also known as Kelly, to leave her eight-year-old son. On Sky News on February 1, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called on New Zealands Labour Party-led government to stick together with the US-led Five Eyes intelligence network, which includes Australia, New Zealand, Britain and Canada, against China. Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sky News on February 1 [Source: Sky News Australia] Interviewer Paul Murray asked whether Morrison was concerned that New Zealand was changing its priorities a little bit, or [is] China helping them change their priorities? How important is it that New Zealand is all in on Five Eyes [and] not trying to keep an eye somewhere else as well? Morrison replied: The Five Eyes is really important, and so are liberal market democracies all of these countries need to align more on security issues and intelligence in opposition to authoritarian countries. He added: Weve got to continue to maintain our vigilance over this, and to do that weve got to stick together. These statements come amid explosive geo-political tensions stoked by Washingtons increasingly direct talk of war. Admiral Charles Richard, head of the US Strategic Command, which oversees nuclear weapons, recently wrote that a regional crisis with Russia or China could escalate quickly to a conflict involving nuclear weapons. He called for the US military to shift its principal assumption from nuclear employment is not possible to nuclear employment is a very real possibility. Under successive administrations, beginning with President Barack Obama, followed by Donald Trump and now Joe Biden, Washington has greatly expanded its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region. The US and its allies, including Australia and New Zealand, have carried out provocative military exercises aimed at preparing for an attack on China, which the US ruling class views as its main economic rival and chief obstacle to its post-World War II global dominance. The world economic crisis, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has prompted all imperialist powers to further increase their military spending, while promoting nationalism to divert class tensions onto an external enemy. Australia and New Zealand are minor imperialist powers closely allied with the United States. Successive Labor and Liberal-National Party governments in Canberra have placed the country on the front line of US preparations for war against China. Australias intelligence agencies are engaged in a witch-hunt against politicians, business figures and academics with links to China. The Morrison government has joined the US-led trade war by vetoing numerous Chinese investment agreements on national security grounds. In an apparent response, Beijing last year imposed restrictions on some Australian exports. New Zealand has likewise strengthened military ties with the US and adopted a more explicit anti-Chinese stance since Prime Minister Jacinda Arderns Labour Party-led coalition took office in October 2017. Following an inconclusive election result, then-US ambassador Scott Brown made clear that the Trump administration saw the previous National Party government as too close to China. After Browns public intervention, the right-wing nationalist and anti-Chinese NZ First Party decided to form a coalition with Labour and the Greens instead of National. The Ardern government, with NZ First playing a major role in foreign and military policy, produced a defence strategy in 2018 that referred to China and Russia as the main threats to the international order, echoing the Pentagon. The government is committed to spending billions on upgrading the military and boosting its presence in the Pacific, to shore up New Zealands neo-colonial interests in the region, backed by the US. Morrisons comments, however, reflect concerns in Australias ruling eliteand no doubt in Washington as wellthat New Zealands political leaders have not gone far enough in putting the country on a war footing and are strengthening trade ties with China. In the October 2020 election, Labour gained an absolute majority, while NZ First failed to retain any seats in parliamentremoving the vocal anti-Chinese Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Ron Mark. While Australias relations with China have deteriorated, New Zealand last month upgraded its free trade agreement (FTA) with China, which remains NZs biggest trading partner with annual two-way trade worth $NZ32 billion. The agreement will remove or reduce tariffs and compliance costs on most forestry, dairy and other exports from NZ, while providing benefits for its education, aviation and finance industries. Morrisons remarks to Sky News were triggered by comments by NZ Trade Minister Damien OConnor after the FTA was signed. Asked by CNBC whether New Zealand could mediate the worsening relations between Australia and China, OConnor replied: I cant speak for Australia and the way it runs its diplomatic relationships, but clearly if they were to follow us and show respect, I guess a little more diplomacy from time to time and be cautious with wording, then they too, hopefully, could be in a similar situation. There was an immediate backlash in Australia. The Sydney Morning Herald wrote: Senior Australian government officials are infuriated at Mr OConnors comments, which they see as a continuing pattern of New Zealand not joining other allies in standing up to Chinas growing assertiveness. The Australian accused New Zealand of opportunism and said the Chinese Foreign Ministry was quick to praise Comrade OConnor, a spokesperson saying Australia should heed the constructive voices from people with vision. The episode underscores tensions and divisions over foreign policy within New Zealands political and media establishment. Some pro-business commentators defended OConnor. The New Zealand Heralds Heather du Plessis-Allan said he was correct in what he said. His error was in saying it out loud Given our size and dependence on Chinas trade, we cant afford the sanctions Australia is copping. Ardern sought to distance herself from OConnors statements, without directly contradicting him. She told the media on Wednesday: I dont necessarily take that same position in the way hes presented it In the same way we wouldnt expect Australia to give too much commentary on our relationship [with China], we shouldnt be giving commentary on theirs. Others demanded a firmer alignment with Australia and the US. National Party MP Simon OConnor, a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which includes politicians from the US, Australia and other allied countries, denounced the trade ministers statements as a slap in the face. He told Stuff: It suits the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] to have a trade deal with New Zealand right now in order to increase pressure on Australia. For Damien to so loudly trumpet in the Australians faces suits the political end of the CCP. Academic Anne-Marie Brady, whose anti-Chinese research has been funded by NATO and promoted in the media, tweeted: NZs China policy isnt pretty to watch. She called on the US, European Union and UK to drop trade barriers to help us diversify and decrease NZs reliance on China. The trade union-backed Daily Blog, which supports the government, is the most prolific purveyor of anti-China propaganda. On February 1 its editor Martyn Bradbury demanded a united front with Australia against China, which he accused of preparing for war in the South China Sea. The article did not mention the US military build-up in the region and preparations for nuclear war. Three days later, Bradbury repeated discredited claims by Trump and the US intelligence agencies that the coronavirus had leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. He wrote: China have aggressively upped their rhetoric for war to distract a planet away from their culpability in a global pandemic. As these comments make clear, there is no faction of the political establishment that opposes the drive toward war, including the Labour Party, the unions and their left supporters. In a speech on February 4, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta underscored the importance of the alliance with the US, calling it an integral defence and security partner and our third largest individual trading relationship that will continue to strengthen. 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 National Police (RNP) has arrested 113 people in Nyamata Sector, Bugesera District after they were found in different bars drinking. They were arrested on Saturday, February 6, in five hospitality establishments, including bars and motels. Those arrested include nine people from Kigali, who had secured movement clearance apparently to go for varied essential services. Also arrested during the Saturday afternoon operations are owners and managers of the hospitality facilities in question, who were found at the scene. Some bars were operating behind closed doors. Bars, including those operating in hotels and other hospitality establishments, are closed as part of the national measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Innocent Karemera, the proprietor of Gahembe bar commonly known as Ku Gahembe is among those arrested. "I have no much to say except regrets for operating a business which I very well know that we are supposed to be closed as directed by the government to prevent the spread of Covid-19. I have learnt my lesson," said Karemera. From his bar, Police and local authorities found 35 people drinking, including five who had joined the group from Kigali. The mayor of Bugesera, Richard Mutabazi warned owners of prohibited businesses against flouting the government measures meant to prevent further spread of the pandemic. "This is exposing people to the virus intentionally and no one should see such serious violations and keep quiet," Mutabazi said. Close Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox Top Headlines Coronavirus Legal Affairs 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. RNP spokesperson, CP John Bosco Kabera said that this should be a lesson to others that action will be taken against anyone who violates the directives. "These people will spend 24 hours in an allocated centre, fined accordingly including further action to be taken against their businesses," Kabera said. He further warned people, who misuse the movement clearance permit to engage in prohibited practices. Kabera explained that in such circumstances, further action might be taken against individuals who secure a movement permit claiming to be going for essential services and instead indulge in other malpractices. "There are some people, who secure a movement permit and use it to smuggle others from one place to another; this is a caution, movement permit is applied individually and cannot be used as a path for others," Kabera warned. A massive split is taking place within the ranks of Australian outlaw motorcycle gangs with 'fashion conscious' new recruits caring more about their 'gangster image' than actually riding motorbikes. Younger members who are increasingly being plucked out of prison yards, have ditched the beer gut and leather look for designer clothes, flashy jewellery and Instagram followers. But older 'one-per-centers' are growing frustrated with the new breed of 'Nike bikies' and 'plastic gangsters' who have flooded their clubs in recent years. A massive split is taking place within the ranks of Australian outlaw motorcycle gangs with 'fashion conscious' new recruits caring more about their 'gangster image' than actually riding motorbikes. Pictured: Nomads bikies What is a Nike Bikie? While 'old school' bikies were drawn to the freedoms and thrills of a life outside of society's laws, norms and values, the new breed of Nike bikies sees things differently. Younger members are infatuated with material items like luxury clothing, flashy jewellery and social media - and as the name suggests often wear sneakers rather than leather riding boots. 'Your classic 1970s and 1980s bikies have beer guts, beards, long hair, worn out denim and leather,' One of Australia's leading outlaw motorcycle experts Professor Mark Lauchs told Daily Mail Australia. 'The Nike bikies are a lot more fashion conscious. Extremely fashion conscious. They would never be seen dressing like an old bikie. 'They do steroids, they get extreme tattoos and they've got gold chains, designer clothes and funky hair cuts.' Prof Lauchs believes the trend emerged from Western Sydney gym culture - with many new bikies interested in body building and steroids. The term was first coined to describe the Western Sydney street gang Notorious in 2007. It is a uniquely Australian phenomenon. Advertisement Two new reports from the Australian Institute of Criminology based on transcripts of Queensland Police interviews with 39 bikies, found there is a growing generational divide threatening the outlaw subculture. Australian bikie gangs first appeared in the 1960s with riders 'attracted to the freedoms and thrills of a life outside of society's laws, norms and values'. 'Club chapters' developed strict, military-inspired hierarchical structures, which fostered 'outlaw' culture characterised by 'violence, machismo and recklessness, but also camaraderie and loyalty'. But now, recruits under 30 appear to be drawn to more material possessions and are less enamored by the rigid hierarchical structure and 'brotherhood'. 'Nike Bikies are attracted to OMCGs less for the camaraderie, freedom and love of motorcycles, and more for status and opportunities for illicit profit through organised crime activity,' the Australian Institute of Criminology said in their report. 'Younger, newer members, who were perceived as more aggressive, status-driven and profit-motivated.' Australian bikie gangs first appeared in the 1960s with riders 'attracted to the freedoms and thrills of a life outside of society's laws, norms and values'. Pictured: Melbourne Mongols bikie bos Toby Mitchell One outlaw bikie who was interviewed by Queensland police said a lot of younger members join up for financial reasons. 'They're wannabes, think it's all about tough boy image, whole image man, thug life image, gangster, gold, gelled hair, steroids, drugs, hot pussy on their arms, that's the enticement,' he said. The term Nike Bikie first entered the lexicon around 2007, when a newly formed Western Sydney gang started stoking fear on the streets. As the name suggests they opted for sneakers rather than leather riding boots. 'Notorious was set up by guys who were in prison and that was the classic pseudo biker club - No one rode a motorcycle,' one of Australia's leading outlaw motorcycle experts Professor Mark Lauchs told Daily Mail Australia. From there, it's become more and more common for bikies to be less infatuated with their Harley Davidsons. Prof Lauchs believes the new look and attitude was born out of Western Sydney gym culture - with many new bikies interested in body building and steroids. Instagram-famous bikie Ben 'Notorious' Geppert is pictured with his model ex-girlfriend Harley Barbaro (pictured) is an alleged member of the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang 'Your classic 1970s and 1980s bikies have beer guts, beards, long hair, worn out denim and leather,' he said. 'The Nike bikies are a lot more fashion conscious. Extremely fashion conscious. They would never be seen dressing like an old bikie. 'They do steroids, they get extreme tattoos and they've got gold chains, designer clothes and funky hair cuts.' In his research Prof Lauchs said that he regularly sees new bikie members on social media showing off new luxury items such as Louis Vuitton bum bags. 'There is zero chance older bikies would be on social media - let alone posting stuff like that,' he said. Finks bikie Bodie Dwyer is seen dressed in fashionable sneakers and a club T-shirt. Dwyer died in an accident last month 'If they were on social media they would post about riding motorbikes, drinking a whole lot of p**s and listening to metal bands in the clubhouse.' But while younger recruits are more conscious of how they look, the reports suggest they are every bit as dangerous with many new members plucked out of prison due to their propensity for crime. Younger members tend to be more involved in 'drive-by' shootings and are more likely to 'carry out acts of violence publicly'. 'We are going to see a split in clubs. Think of it like a political party because it works the same way,' Professor Lauchs said. 'This is a generational change'. More than half of Americans now say they support the Senate convicting former President Donald Trump and barring him from holding federal office again, a new poll has found. The poll, released by ABC News and Ipsos on Sunday, comes just days before Trumps second impeachment trial is set to begin on February 9. It found that 56 percent of Americans believe Trump should be convicted and banned from holding office again, while 43 percent say he should not be. The results provide a stark contrast to public attitudes from the early days of his first impeachment trial, with support for Trumps senate conviction higher now, just over a year later. According to an ABC/Washington Post poll published in January 2020, while the first trial was underway, only 47 percent said Trump should be removed from office and 49 percent said he shouldnt be. In the latest poll, support and opposition for Trumps conviction falls strongly across party lines, with more than nine in 10 democrats supporting the conviction, while eight out of 10 Republicans oppose it. More than half of Americans now say they support the Senate convicting former President Donald Trump and barring him from holding federal office again Donald Trump became the first president in history to be impeached by the House of Representatives on January 13. The House voted in an overwhelming majority to charge Trump with incitement of insurrection for his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. A handful of Republican senators have argued they believe the trial is unconstitutional, as Trump is no longer in office and therefore cannot be removed from it. Democrats on the other hand have countered that failing to hold Trump accountable would set a dangerous precedent for future presidents that they can evade punishment for their actions, so long as they come during their final days in office. To successfully convict Trump, 67 senators would need to vote in favour of the motion meaning at least 17 Republicans would need to vote to convict, should all Democrats be in support. If the 67 vote total is reached, the chamber could then hold a second vote as to whether to bar Trump from holding federal office ever again. In that vote, only a simple majority would be needed. Several Republican senators have spoken out to decry Trumps actions, calling them an impeachable offense, yet have not stated definitively if they will vote to convict him. But unlike in Trump's first impeachment, where no Republicans voted to impeach him, 10 Republicans sided with Democrats this time including Liz Cheney, the chair of the House Republican Conference. In the ABC/Ipsos poll, support among Republicans for conviction was low, but higher than in Trumps first trial. In the new poll, 15 percent of Republicans said they support the Senate convicting Trump and barring him from office; compared to just 9 percent in January 2020. On the other hand, among Democrats, support for Trumps conviction is almost unanimous, with 92 percent in favour of the motion. Independents, too, mirror the opinions of the full population: voting 54 percent in support or conviction, to 45 percent against. The House voted in an overwhelming majority to charge Trump with incitement of insurrection for his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol Meanwhile, the attention of Capitol Hill last week was focused on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who faced backlash for platforming extremist views and voicing support for the Q-Anon conspiracy theory. Greene was removed from House committees following a Thursday vote in which 11 Republicans sided with Democrats to vote her off 230 to 199. As reported by ABC, the focus on Greene, which followed the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol of which Trump is accused of inciting, seems to have taken a toll on the publics perception of the party. When asked whether there are more radical extremists in the Democratic or Republican Party, 42 percent of of the 508 Americans surveyed said they believed there were more in the GOP. A third (32%) said they feel that extremists are found equally in both parties, and 26 percent said they believe there are more extremist Democrats than Republicans. Republicans and Democrats appeared to not view each other equally in terms of extremism, however. Among Democrats, eight in 10 said that there are more radical extremists in the Republican Party than in their party, and 13 percent said there are about equal numbers on both sides. But among Republicans, 57 percent said there are more extremists in the Democratic Party and 33 percent said there are the same number of extremists in both parties. ep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who faced backlash for platforming extremist views and voicing support for the Q-Anon conspiracy theory, may have damage the country's perception of the GOP, ahead of the new poll Also surveyed in the poll was the countrys opinion of the way Joe Biden is handling the coronavirus response Also surveyed in the poll was the countrys opinion of the way Joe Biden is handling the coronavirus response. Two thirds of Americans said they approve of the job Biden is doing. On the subject of a new coronavirus aid package, 49 percent of Americans said Biden should work to pass the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package, with just Democratic Congressional support. Two in five, meanwhile, think President Biden should work to pass a smaller coronavirus aid package with the support of some Republicans in Congress. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. US (07-feb-2021) These days, anyone can see that most males who are above the age of 50 have overweight, and due to overweight, they are experiencing several problems, like joint pain, low energy levels, poor functional strength, lower testosterone levels, and much more. Some males think to consume supplements and medicines to burn fat, but medicines and supplements can create several health problems after the age of 50. There are numerous males who decide to go to gyms at that age without thinking about results. If men who are above the age of 50 perform hard workouts, they could experience inflammation in their bodies. At that age, mens body takes a huge time to recover, and the hard exercises can enhance the estrogen levels. A majority of males are looking for the best way to get back into shape. 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If necessary, interested people can click here or the official website for full insight Fit After 50. You can also contact us by providing the information below. Website-: https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/events/2021-01-26/fit-after-50-reviews-mark-mcilyar-mens-fitness-workout-program/ There are several aspects at play when considering consolidated action against the pandemic spread. by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne in Montreal We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. Abraham Lincoln They are the unseen faces from far away lands; voices unheard and sorrows not shared. Their existence is mere knowledge and information to us: their future, negligible and unimportant. It matters not how many of them are crowded in the same fragile shelter exposing them to contagion. It only matters if we know of them and speak grandiloquently of them in the media. Perhaps this makes us feel human for a fleeting moment until we get back to we first. As one Nobel Laureate once said: a wealth of information means a poverty of focus. Right now, when our focus should be on empathy and attention, we are consumed by ordering millions of vaccines more than are necessary to stockpile so that we can, first and foremost, protect ourselves we who are better equipped with the essentials and luxuries of life than those to whom we owe an explanation as to why they are in the desperate and hopeless misery caused by our own feckless insouciance of a lack of leadership. Leadership, as someone said, is not being in charge but looking after those in our charge. Emanuela-Chiara Gillard of Chatham House says: According to ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) estimates, some 66 million people currently live in areas controlled by organized armed groups, beyond state control. Frequently displaced, malnourished, deprived of access to medical care and adequate sanitary facilities, and often living in overcrowded settlements or accommodation, they are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19. 'No-one is safe until everyone is safe' has been the WHO director-generals mantra throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. What does this mean for the provision of vaccines to people living in areas under the control of armed groups? The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has stated that its primary goal is to ensure that refugees are included in the national COVID-19 surveillance, preparedness, and response activities. UNHCRs preparedness measures will protect refugees, displaced people, and their host communities before, during and after this global health emergency adding that it cannot do this alone. The rationale offered by UNHCR is that ensuring refugees are included in the vaccine rollout is key to ending the pandemic. Excluding refugees, other displaced people or non-nationals from vaccination plans carries the risk of ongoing transmission in these populations, with spillovers into the national population. There are tangible protection risks associated with excluding refugees, ranging from consequences for their health, access to services, work, education and livelihoods, freedom of movement and freedom from discrimination. To add a seemingly disparate consideration to this discussion one could say that at no time in human history has air transport been challenged to show its priorities. To start with, unlike other modes of transport, air transport is a mirror image of the State because all aircraft registered in a State have the nationality of that State. Therefore, a certain symbiosis can be attributed to the State and its air transport. Inasmuch as the World Food Programme, which was decorated with the Nobel Peace Prize last year for endeavouring to provide the essential food and drink to hapless victims, world leaders have an obligation to ensure that the 66 million desperately in need of health services in the face of the pandemic, as they are the most vulnerable group of humanity right now, together with front line workers, receive vaccines first, before we, the more privileged receive ours. States in which those in urgent need of vaccinations should allow relief flights which are regulated under The Chicago Convention, Annex 9 to which provides that States must facilitate the entry into, departure from and transit through their territories of aircraft engaged in relief flights performed by or on behalf of international organizations recognized by the UN or by or on behalf of States themselves and must take all possible measures to ensure their safe operation. Such relief flights are those undertaken in response to natural and man-made disasters which seriously endanger human health or the environment, as well as situations where UN assistance is required. Such flights must be commenced as quickly as possible after obtaining agreement with the recipient State. According to its Internationally Agreed Glossary of Basic Terms Related to Disaster Management, the United Nations Department of Humanitarian Affairs considers an emergency to be a sudden and usually unforeseen event that calls for immediate measures to minimize its adverse consequences, and a disaster to be a serious disruption of the functioning of society, causing widespread human, material or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected society to cope using only its own resources. A State (country as some refer to a State) should not be measured by its achievements but by its compassion. State Sovereignty no longer involves merely looking after the nation concerned but involves State responsibility to the outside world in need. The pandemic is a global problem which requires States to transcend local boundaries to seek a global solution as enunciated by the United Nations Millennium Declaration, which is contained in General Assembly Resolution 55/2 of 8 September 2000, which recognizes that, in addition to separate responsibilities of States to their individual societies, they have a collective responsibility to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level. There are several aspects at play when considering consolidated action against the pandemic spread. The most important is global cooperation and an equitable distribution of vaccinations. At the time of writing, WHO had complained and warned against the me first attitude of wealthy States trying to grab available vaccines for their citizenry and amidst a prediction that this trend would deprive 95% of at least 67 developing States of ever getting their hands on a vaccine. This portends an ominous regression in the progress globally of eradication efforts against the vaccine. Under this overall umbrella of genuine and honest global cooperation, and in fairness to air transport, it has two major concerns revival of the aviation industry and its economic health as indeed the WHO has established that any health measure should not unduly affect trade and travel. COVID-19 and the universal lockdown kick started our moribund capacity for empathy. We are getting stronger at our three cognitive capabilities: cognitive appreciation knowing how our family members see the world and their views of the world; cognitive empathy -understanding their worries and concerns; and cognitive proactivity the self-activation to do something about them. If this cognitive awareness does not extend to our brothers and sisters who are in the depths of depravity elsewhere, the better angels of our nature would forever be silent. U.S. Border Patrol agents and the Hebbronville Fire Department rescued a lost woman who had fallen inside a dry well near Hebbronville, authorities said. Early Friday, agents from the Hebbronville Station received a distress call via the Jim Hogg County Sheriffs Office from a lost woman who dialed 911. She stated she was unable to walk and did not know where she was. Residents temporarily evacuated from Homestead after fire, no injuries A Saturday afternoon fire in an apartment at a senior living complex was quickly extinguished and nobody was injured. Los Angeles: Production on NBC show Law & Order: Organized Crime" has come to a halt after one of the team members tested positive for coronavirus. According to Deadline, the shoot was paused due to a positive Covid test in Zone A, which traditionally includes on-screen talent. The network has asked those in close contact to self-isolate. Its not clear when production will resume. Law & Order: Organized Crime" features actor Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler, who returns to the New York Police Department to battle organized crime after a devastating personal loss. The series was created by Dick Wolf, who will also serve as executive producer along with Ilene Chaiken, Terry Miller, Fred Berner, Arthur W. Forney and Peter Jankowski. The show is expected to premiere on April 1. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full 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 7 : Abhishek Banerjee says being an actor helps him understand characters, acting and the brief of a director. In turn, it is something that helps him in his other calling -- that of a casting director. "I am an actor by default and that is why I can be a casting director by default -- because that also became by default. I am an actor and it helps me understand characters, acting and the directors' brief. I am an actor. I know these three things that is why I am a casting director," Abhishek told IANS. Abhishek has been in the industry for almost a decade now and has worked in films such as "No One Killed Jessica", "Phillauri", "Dream Girl", "Stree" and "Bala". Last year, his role of the killer Hathoda Tyagi in the web series "Paatal Lok" won him special acclaim. He has also excelled with his performances in "Mirzapur" season one and the web film "Unpaused" in the digital space. Abhishek also garnered attention essaying a brutal role in Devashish Makhija's 2017 release, "Ajji". Does he feel the character Hathoda Tyagi helped him break his image? "It was quite unexpected because after 'Ajji', funnily I thought I was going to get these roles, but then 'Stree' happened and I was only getting comedy. So, I was wondering, 'I can do various shades but when will I get the opportunity?'" said Abhishek. "Then Hathoda Tyagi came and I completely ignored (it). It was not planned, but then when I got the part within a week of staying with the character, I knew this was the one I really had to perform because this was the one that would make people believe that I can do other parts. That's what I always wanted," said the actor, who has been nominated for the Best Supporting Actor in the Critics' Choice Awards. She recently admitted she felt like 'a failure' after having to undergo a C-section when her son Santiago was born. And Dani Dyer continued to speak candidly about motherhood as she confessed she can't help comparing herself to other mums. The former Love Island star, 24, has been breastfeeding and expressing milk for her newborn but admitted in her Instagram Story on Sunday she is becoming 'obsessed' with the best way to feed her baby. 'I've become obsessed with how to feed my baby!': Dani Dyer spoke candidly about comparing herself to other breastfeeding mothers on her Instagram Story on Sunday The first-time mum discussed using a hands-free breast pump which allows her to multi-task and get other things done around the house while expressing breast milk. She said: 'I'll just use it mostly because imagine if I'm getting things done it's just nice to know I'm expressing milk because I just like to know how much he's feeding. 'And as much as I love him on the boob, I like to know how many ounces he's having especially at the night time so then I can sleep.' Honest: Dani admitted to her 3.4million followers that when she first gave birth, she was so busy comparing herself to other women that it was 'ruining' her time with her son. However, she admitted to her 3.4million followers that when she first gave birth, she was so busy comparing herself to other women that it was 'ruining' her time with her son. Dani said: 'I just want to add that there really is no right or wrong way on how you wanna feed your baby. I think for me especially, when I first had Sani, all I was doing was comparing myself to other women. 'Oh she's doing this, she's doing that, and you know what it was ruining my time with him. Breast pump: The Love Island star, 24, has been breastfeeding and expressing milk for her son Santiago but admitted she was becoming 'obsessed' with the best way to feed her baby The first-time mum said: 'With social media, all we do now is compare. Mine wasn't comparing bodies or anything... I've become obsessed with how to feed my baby!' 'So really if you wanna formula feed, do that. If you wanna breastfeed, do that. If you wanna express, do that. As long as your baby is happy, you're happy then I think that's all that matters. 'But especially now with social media, all we do now is compare. Mine wasn't comparing bodies or anything... I've become obsessed with how to feed my baby! 'So just do what you wanna do, there is no right or wrong way and as long as you're happy then so is your baby.' Sweet: Dani previously admitted she felt like 'a failure' after having to undergo a C-section when her son Santiago was born and has found the recovery 'hard' The reality TV star welcomed baby Santiago at the end of January with her boyfriend Sammy Kimmence. Speaking on her podcast Sorted with the Dyers, Dani said the first week after giving birth was an 'emotional week' and she found herself crying while looking at her son. She said: 'It's been hard, the baby blues are real. It is incredible; your body goes through so much. 'You just want to cry, I'd look at him and cry, I think because you're constantly thinking "am I doing enough?" 'I've started breastfeeding and it's hard, it's difficult. You want to do everything right and I think that's why you cry.' She said: 'You just want to cry, I'd look at him and cry, I think because you're constantly thinking "am I doing enough?"' The reality star ended up having to give birth by emergency caesarean as 'the baby didn't want to come out'. She explained: 'I had to have a caesarean in the end and I was crying about that. 'I never wanted to have a C-section, I know they are very common and I know they happen but I never wanted one - that was never in my birth plan, so I started feeling like a failure. 'The baby didn't want to come out, my waters broke and I was at five centimetres and he wasn't dilating. I ended up having to have a c-section, it was an emotional day.' Dani discussed her C-section experience, admitting the recovery has been difficult but she has received plenty of support from Sammy. She said: 'I was scary, you're paralysed, I could not feel anything. It was scary for me. 'The recovery is hard, Sammy really has seen everything. He was brilliant, I needed someone to laugh with. 'But I do not want women to worry about c-sections, don't feel guilty about it, that was my problem.' Proud mum: Dani paid a touching tribute to her partner and their newborn son in a new post shared to Instagram Stories on Saturday Dani previously confirmed the birth of her son in an Instagram post with a picture of her cradling the newborn in her arms, and another of Sammy gently kissing him on the cheek. The new mother wrote: 'After a very long day and night finally our special little boy arrived 23/01/2021 Weighing 7 pound 'We are in a complete baby bubble and enjoying every moment, can not believe he is ours, completely in love and so grateful to be his mummy 'Sending all my love to all the other mommas to be out there in lockdown the best experience ever will never forget this day. (sic)' 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 "Metalized Flexible Packaging Market by Material Type (Aluminum Foil Based, Metalized Film), Structure, Packaging Type (Pouches, Bags, Wraps), End-Use Industry (Food, Beverage, Personal Care, Pharmaceuticals, Pet Food), Region - Global Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global metalized flexible packaging market size is estimated at USD 4.5 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 5.8 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 5.3% from 2020 to 2025. Impact of COVID-19 outbreak on the metalized flexible packaging market The outbreak of COVID-19 has affected the market for metalized flexible packaging manufacturers catering to the personal care other products which were not considered as essential. Moreover, most of the global companies operating in this market are based in the Asia Pacific, US, and European countries, which are adversely affected by the pandemic. These companies having their manufacturing units in China and other Asian countries are also severely affected. Therefore, disruptions in the supply chain have resulted in hampering production units due to a lack of raw materials and workforce. Demand from the FMCG and fresh food segments: People are resorting to panic-buying and bulk stocking over the fear of lockdowns. More people are ordering daily staples and fresh food through online channels, with increasing preference for flexible packaging. The demand for metalized flexible packaging in the healthcare sector is expected to remain robust as hospitals and drugs manufacturers respond to the crisis. The demand for metalized flexible packaging in pharmaceutical and healthcare goods is not expected to decrease dramatically, and retail distribution for these types of products through online delivery can be expected to increase. Aluminum foil based flexible packaging segment to lead the metalized flexible packaging market between 2020 and 2025 Aluminum foil based flexible packaging is the largest application segment of the metalized flexible packaging market of the global metalized flexible packaging market by material type. Aluminum foil based flexible packaging with single or multilayered plastics is widely used for the packaging of fresh and processed meat, poultry, and fish, as they provide better hygiene and increases product shelf-life. They are extensively used in the food & beverage and healthcare sectors for packaging of products, such as cheese cubes and for making blister packs. Aluminum is relatively light and provides a strong barrier against light and chemicals. It is impermeable and easy to work into a variety of formats, depending on its thickness. Story continues Pouches segment to be the fastest-growing segment in the metalized flexible packaging market The pouches segment is expected to lead the overall flexible plastic packaging market and is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2020 to 2025. The flexible plastic packaging market has witnessed a significant increase in the demand for pouches, mainly for food packaging, as it increases the visibility of the product and extends the product shelf life. There is increasing use of plastic pouches in e-commerce and offline retail sectors owing to its less space requirement on the shelf. Food segment to be the largest segment in the metalized flexible packaging market Based on the end-use industry, the metalized flexible packaging market is segmented into food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, personal care, pet food, and others. The others segment of metalized flexible packaging includes agriculture, oil & lubricants and consumer goods. the food end-industry contributed the largest share to the metalized flexible packaging market in 2019. The demand for metallized film is high due to the rising demand for packaged food products. The demand for longer shelf life of food products such as meat, milk, and cheese, is expected to drive the metallized film market. Rising awareness among consumers about the nutritional value of food and growing demand for convenience food has led to the increased use of metallized film in food & beverage packaging applications. The Asia Pacific region is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period By region, Asia Pacific is estimated to account for the second largest share of the global metalized flexible packaging market in 2019 and is expected to grow at the highest growth rate during the forecast period. Key Topics Covered: 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 5 Market Overview 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Market Segmentation 5.3. Market Dynamics 5.3.1. Drivers 5.3.2. Restraints 5.3.3. Opportunities 5.3.4. Challenges 5.4. Burning Issues in Industry 6 Industry Trends 7 Metalized Flexible Packaging Market, by Material Type 8 Metalized Flexible Packaging Market, by Structure 9 Metalized Flexible Packaging Market, by Packaging Type 10 Metalized Flexible Packaging Market, by End-Use Industry 11 Metalized Flexible Packaging Market, by Region 12 Impact of COVID-19 on Metalized Flexible Packaging Market 13 Competitive Landscape 14 Company Profile 14.1. Amcor 14.2. Mondi Group 14.3. Constantia Flexibles 14.4. Sonoco 14.5. Sealed Air Corp 14.6. Clondalkin Group 14.7. Cosmo Films 14.8. Polyplex Corporation 14.9. Huhtamaki 14.10. Transcontinental Inc. 14.11. Other 10 Players' Short Profiles 15 Appendix For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/xlk1j6 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210205005244/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 STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Janet Sgarlata, 66, of Oakwood, had a liver transplant four months ago. She was diagnosed with stage 4 auto immune hepatitis, and in June of 2020 she fainted in a local grocery store, said a Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC) spokesperson. She would spend the next six hours in a coma before recovering enough to go home some days later. On Oct. 30, 2020, Sgarlata received a second chance at life when she underwent a successful liver transplant. Since then, she has been living in Brooklyn with her sister and mother. Sgarlata became the 5,000th person to get the first dose of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine at RUMC on Saturday, according to the West Brighton-based hospital. I am so happy and grateful, Sgarlata said. Its so hard to get a transplant at my age; Im just happy to be alive. Now to also get the vaccine on top of this, I feel so blessed. Im just so happy to be alive. Sgarlata, who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, will return to RUMC in three weeks for her booster shot. She was able to receive the vaccine under the states group 1b qualification criteria, which includes people over age 65, the hospital said in a statement. Janet Sgarlata with staff at the RUMC vaccination center after she became the 5,00 person vaccinated at the hospital. (Photos courtesy of RUMC) Sgarlatas sister was able to secure a vaccination appointment through RUMCs appointment call line for both her sister and their 86-year-old mother. Sgarlatas sister had COVID-19 last March and was able to recover at home without spreading the virus to her sister or mother, according to a RUMC spokesperson. FIRST DOSES AT RUMC By the end of the day on Feb. 6, RUMC had provided more than 400 first doses that day alone, raising the overall total of first doses administered at RUMC to nearly 5,200 since mid-December 2020 when the first allocations of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines arrived. Following guidelines from the New York State Department of Health (DOH), vaccine doses were first administered to frontline employees, medical staff, and practitioners classified as group 1a. Most of this group have now also received their second booster shot. Then on Jan. 13, RUMC also began administering COVID-19 vaccinations to individuals classified by NYS DOH as group 1b. Group 1b includes people age 65 and older, teachers, education workers, first responders, police and fire personnel, corrections officers, public safety and transit workers. Since the state expanded vaccinations to include these additional individuals, there has been a large response from people in the community seeking the vaccination. Vaccinating over 5,000 people is a tremendous milestone for our hospital and testament to the efficient program we have developed here, said Daniel J. Messina, RUMC president and chief executive officer. This accomplishment is a source of tremendous pride for everyone involved in developing our vaccination program. This is also a time to reflect on what this moment really means. It means more than 5,000 people have come to RUMC determined to take back their lives, to tell this virus it is no longer in control. Each needle in an arm is someone saying I want to protect myself, the people I love, and my community. Its truly awe-inspiring, he added. Over the first five weeks of vaccine distribution, RUMC was one of only a handful of hospitals across New York state to successfully administer all of its allocations from the New York State Department of Health. Vaccinating our 5,000th individual is a remarkable milestone in our journey to halt the spread of the COVID-19 virus, said Rosemarie Stazzone, chief operating officer and chief nurse officer. The outpouring from the community to receive the vaccine has been astounding. I am very proud in the way Richmond University Medical Center has responded to this very important community need, one that will impact and improve the quality of life for our entire Staten Island community. While COVID-19 vaccinations progress, RUMC also continues to care for individuals infected by the virus. Throughout January, COVID-19 inpatient numbers at RUMC fluctuated between the high 50s to low 70s. Now, into February, inpatient volume has steadily decreased, dropping into the 40s since Feb. 1, the hospital said in a statement. Since last spring when the COVID-19 pandemic began, RUMC has treated and discharged more than 2,600 people affected by the virus, according to the hospital. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK*** FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 7) House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco filed a third version of the Bayanihan bill, seeking to secure an additional stimulus package amounting to 420 billion that will help revive the pandemic-battered economy. Velaso, with Marikina City 2nd District Representative Stella Luz Quimbo, filed House Bill (HB) No. 8628 or the proposed Bayanihan to Arise As One Act, also known as Bayanihan 3 last Thursday, but the statement on this was issued only today. The bill hopes to be a continuation of the Bayanihan to Heal as One and Bayanihan to Recover as One laws that were passed last year to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Velasco stressed the need to inject new funds targeted to fight the pandemic as the Philippine economy continues to drown. In August last year, the government reported that the country entered into a recession as the economy plunged by 16.5 percent in the second quarter due to the Luzon-wide lockdown. It remains in recession, recording another 8.3 percent drop in the last three months of 2020. "Given that actual economic output in 2020 was far below what was assumed for budget purposes, and further losses may still be incurred as the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to prevail well into the current fiscal year, an additional economic stimulus package is needed to help the government meet its recovery targets for the year," Velasco was quoted as saying in the statement. Bulk of the proposed funding would help businesses survive the pandemic, and deliver another wave of cash aid for poor Filipino families. Here's the breakdown of the proposed Bayanihan to Arise As One Act: 52 billion for small business subsidies 100 billion for the "capacity-building of businesses in critically impacted sectors" 108 billion for additional cash assistance to impacted households 70 billion for the agriculture sector 30 billion for assistance to displaced workers 30 billion for internet allowances to primary, secondary and tertiary students and teachers 5 billion for the rehabilitation of typhoon-hit areas 25 billion for the procurement of COVID-19 medication and vaccines, and to finance operational expenses related to vaccination Beneficiaries of a federal government monthly survival grant, who work in a hotel in Akwa Ibom State, have been forced to surrender the money for three months to the hotel management. Ten employees of the hotel, Duran Hotels, Uyo, including the hotel CEO, in October, enrolled in the Survival Fund scheme, an initiative of the Nigerian government to support small businesses and help protect jobs during the outbreak of COVID-19. The hotel employees received N30,000 each as a monthly grant from the programme. But as soon as the money hit their bank account, they were instructed by the CEO of the hotel, Anthony Achanya, to withdraw and hand it over to a senior official of the hotel, PREMIUM TIMES learnt. The hotel would then give them a lesser amount of the money as salary. Mr Achanya, who did not deny the story, told PREMIUM TIMES that Duran Hotels acted in accordance with an agreement it had with the employees before their enrolment in the scheme. Mr Achanya, himself a registered beneficiary of the grant, said he introduced the scheme to the hotel workers. He said he had informed them that the grant money would be shared to cover other hotel workers who were not able to enroll. We have about 40 workers, said Mr Achanga who said he was only able to secure 10 slots for his hotel. The hotel, prior to the survival programme, was paying each of the employees N15,000 as monthly salary. The salary was increased to N17,000 after the hotel started benefitting from the federal grant. One of the employees, who identified herself simply as Ekanem, remitted only N29,000 to Duran Hotel in the first month. She claimed bank charges chopped off about a thousand naira from the grant. The hotel eventually stopped her December salary and fired her after she refused to remit the grant money for the other two months. Ms Ekanem denied Mr Achangas claim about the existence of an understanding that the grant money was meant to be shared to other employees. Two other employees, however, told PREMIUM TIMES there was such understanding. Mr Achanga said Ms Ekanems salary was stopped because she was unable to recover N26,000 from a customer whom she sold an item to on credit. Six of the employees were consistent in remitting the N30,000 every month, for three months, to the hotel, PREMIUM TIMES learnt, while two of the hotel workers who enrolled for the grant, left the hotels employ before the commencement of the programme. Mr Achanga said a former manager with the hotel, Lizzy John, went away with the grant money and other monies belonging to the hotel. Ms John denied the allegation. ADVERTISEMENT She said she only collated the workers name, their Bank Verification Number (BVN) and other information for enrollment for the grant, and that she resigned from the hotel in October before the first grant money was paid in November. Its a cheap blackmail, she said of the accusation from her former boss whom she said was still owing her N455,000 as unpaid salaries. Duran Hotels is a small hotel located in the heart of Uyo, the Akwa Ibom capital. Similar extortion is said to have been perpetrated by proprietors of private schools in Akwa Ibom State. A Nursery school teacher also narrated how his employer demanded 20k out of the 30k that was paid by FG and he refused to give it to the proprietress which led to his resignation from the school, a Facebook user, Eyakndu Ubong, said on the social media site. I dont know why some employers are this selfish, he added. The Survival Fund scheme is a component of the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo heads a committee which produced the plan and is also overseeing its implementation. N27 billion was released for the implementation of the Survival Fund scheme nationwide, according to a report by ThisDay newspaper. The Todays Zaman reports that the Turkish jewelry industry is going all out to become the number one leader in jewelry design and marketing. Already, Turkey is running close behind their Italian competitors for the number one spot in the international jewelry market. A prominent Turkish jewelry manufacturer, Sedat Yalinkaya, CEO of Goldas, claims that Turkey has gained on the Italians in some areas, most notably, marketing. Sedat goes on to describe the rise of talented jewelry designers in the country. He says that Turkish jewelry companies have progressed rapidly and designers are more innovative than ever before, Israelidiamond.co.il reported. The gold jewelry industry in Turkey really took off in the 1990's and today they can boast a number of internationally recognized brands. Yalinkaya goes on to say that Turkey has a long history of jewelry making and that quality has improved as investments were made in technology and obscure workshops moved into large modern factory facilities. "There are gold jewelry experts on every corner in Turkey, and old jewelry techniques are still used today." Gold jewelry manufacture in Turkey has become a respected and recognized sector bringing with it a cultural richness and superior level of quality and design. The emphasis on design has brought many gains to the local jewelry industry. Mr. Yalinkaya goes on to point out that the Turkish jewelry sector has the capability to process 400 tons of gold and 200 tons of silver per annum. The Todays Zaman article notes that among the top five countries in the world in gold jewelry production, Turkey is proud of its more than 40,000 jewelry companies which employ 350,000 workers. A member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Gabby Otchere Darko has said he went through 32 paragraphs in the witness statement of one of the petitioners witnesses in the ongoing election petition hearing, Rojo Mettle Nunoo, and struggled to see what any of them got to do with what the petitioner is in court for. In a tweet, Gabby said Ive looked through 32 paragraphs of Rojo Mettle Nunoo and I struggle to see what any of them got to do with what they are in court for to show that no candidate got over 50%. What has a slow fax machine or absence of a dispatch rider got to do with the votes you did not get on Dec 7? Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has struck out five paragraphs of the witness statement of Rojo Mettle Nunoo. The paragraphs that have been struck out are 4, 5, 6, 7 and 18 P4: Claims that the EC Chair did not perform her duties as required by law prior to the declaration of the 2020 presidential results P5: A request to make available a video recording of happenings in the EC strong room to confirm his [Rojo Mettle] claims of what transpired P6: Claims that some machines in the strong room failed to work at some point and that the fax transmission was slow P7: Claims Dr. Sereboe Quaicoe from time to time brought into the strong room documents he claimed to be regional collation sheets without them knowing where he was getting them from. P18: Claims that with regard to Northern Region, two different summary sheets were brought into the strong room and that the original sheets will be required to authenticate the results. Lawyer for the 2nd Respondent in the ongoing election petition hearing, Mr Akoto Ampaw asked the court to strike out 23 paragraphs of the witness statement of Mr Mettle Nunoo, the third witness of the petitioner. Mr Ampaw objected to the parts of the statement during proceedings on Friday February 5. Paragraph 5 of Mr Nunoos statement said The EC had a video documentary person recording the events in the strong room and I have no doubt that if that documentary is made available in its authentic version it will confirm what I am saying in this witness statement about things that occurred in the strong room. Lead Counsel for the petitioner, Mr Tsatsu Tsiktata told the court that Second witness said there was somebody taking video commentaries. That evidence was not objected to, that evidence is before you and we are respectfully submitting that what is stated in Paragraph 5 is no different from what is already before you about the video documentary. All that this witness is adding is that he is willing to put his credibility on the line so that if anybody wants to have recourse to the video they are entitled to. Depending on the cross-examination we may indeed come before you with an application that that video should be produced in court and played. A hearing has been adjourned to Monday, February 8. Ive looked thru 32 paragraphs of Rojo MN and I struggle to see what any of them got to do with what they are in court for: to show that no candidate got over 50%. What has a slow fax machine or absence of a dispatch rider got to do with the votes you did not get on Dec 7? Gabby Otchere-Darko (@GabbyDarko) February 5, 2021 Source: 3news 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 By Jerri-Lynn Scofield, who has worked as a securities lawyer and a derivatives trader. She is currently writing a book about textile artisans. Will 2021 prove to be the year that several states finally adopt a right to repair? Motherboard seems to think so, according to The Right to Repair Movement Is Poised to Explode in 2021: This 14 number understates state interest. In 2019, 20 states mulled such initiatives to no avail (see this 2019 post, which included a map of states then considering adopting some form of a digital right to repair, Nebraska Farmers Lead on Right to Repair). And according to Food Tank, nearly three dozen states have considered right to repair legislation, in Farmers Fight For Right To Repair Their Own Equipment. What Makes 2021 Different? First, with the Trump era now relegated to history, at least for the time being, the political climate has changed. Theres more appetite for considering new regulatory initiatives, at both federal and state levels, with big Tech squarely in the crosshairs, as Apple has been a leading opponent of right to repair efforts. Yet the costs of limiting the ability of consumers to avail themselves of third-party repair services both environmental and out-of-pocket are increasingly unjustifiable, not to mention they promote long corporate supply chains at the expense of local repair jobs (see my recent post, Right to Repair: Saves Consumers Money, Promotes Local Jobs Rather than Global Supply Chains). Second, at the federal level, COVID-19 has also altered the regulatory calculus. Over to Motherboard again: The fight has taken on additional urgency in the Covid era. As the pandemic pushes the nations health care infrastructure to the brink, essential medical equipment has proven in some instances impossible to legally repair because manufacturers enjoy a monopoly on tools, documentation, and replacement parts. Federal legislation to address this problem stalled last year. But the prospects this year are better, now that Democrats have nominal control of the Senate although it remains to be see whether the Biden administration will make this issue a property. Per Motherboard: Last year, Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Yvette D. Clark introduced federal legislation that would make it easier for hospitals to fix medical equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the effort stalled in the gridlocked Mitch McConnell led Congress, Wydens office told Motherboard the bill is likely to be updated and reintroduced this year. And third, farmers continue to press for a right to repair, according to Montana newspaper, The Fairfield Sun Times, in MFU to Host Interactive Town Hall on Farmers Right to Repair: Planting and harvest is a timely process for all farmers and ranchers. It is critical that machinery is in great working condition during the farming seasons. Proprietary software prevents farmers, ranchers or highly qualified local mechanics willing to abide by manufacturers rules from working on farm equipment. Three major equipment manufacturers sell most of the equipment used by Montana farmers. These companies only allow their technicians to make repairs. The inability to repair their own equipment costs farmers and ranchers time and money. Montana Farmers Union is addressing the issue of a farmers right to repair by promoting legislation at the Montana legislature, and secondly by hosting a virtual town hall on February 8 at 7 pm. Right to Repair bill LC1562 is sponsored by Rep. Kate Sullivan (D) (HD89) and Sen. Mark Sweeney (D) (39). This legislation will address the need for adequate service and repair that will allow farmers to bring a quality crop to market. The virtual town hall will examine the issue of right to repair as it relates to agriculture. Town hall panelists include Montana Farmers Union President Walter Schweitzer, Rep. Kate Sullivan and Right to Repair advocate Kevin OReilly. While these companies say that are looking into the issue, the fact remains that there are local mechanics that are more than capable to determine the cause and needed repairs on heavy equipment, said Walter Schweitzer. We are grateful to Rep. Sullivan and Sen. Sweeney for sponsoring this legislation and for making time to participate in the town hall. Similar efforts to pass right to repair legislation for farmers is underway. In the Florida similar right to repair legislation is making its way through the state legislature. One of these farm initiatives may be the next state right to repair initiative to be adopted, as the ability to repair farm machinery quickly and cheaply is crucial to the livelihood of farmers. While a digital right to repair would affect far more people, as most Americans now own multiple digital devices, including smartphones, yet those devices are not as crucial to the economic survival of consumers in the same way farm equipment is to farmers. So that whereas a right to repair digital devices enjoys widespread consumer support, consumers are unlikely to devote as much attention to pressing for its enactment as farmers would expend to lobby for a right to repair farm equipment. As Food Tank explains the problem, big money is at stake, with farmers bound legally and in perpetuity to overpriced manufacturer repair options: The Right to Repair (R2R) movement is helping farmers protect their right to fix their own farm equipment without facing legal repercussions. The R2R movement lobbies for repair-friendly legislation, standards, and regulations through organizations like the Repair Association. The Association advocates for guaranteeing property rights, obtaining equal access to information, non-discriminatory pricing of parts and tools, and unlocking software. Were trying to maintain our consumer rights which means wed still like to be able to repair and modify our tractors just like our dad, grandfather, and great grandfather did years ago, says Kevin Kenney, an Alternative Fuel Systems Engineer at Grassroots Energy LLC, and a member of the R2R movement, tells Food Tank President Danielle Nierenberg on Food Talk Live. The R2R movement is confronting corporations like John Deere who control machinery that farmers use. These companies prevent farmers from repairing equipment such as tractors and instead force farmers to hire outside contractors. According to Kenney, this can cost farmers up to US$150 an hour. Kenney explains that corporations are able to do this through tactics such as lengthy Extended Use License Agreements (EULAs). Companies argue that farmers who sign these EULAs do not own their tractors, but receive a license to operate the vehicle. This forces farmers to comply with the manufacturers instructions and prevents them from repairing either the equipment or the software on their own. Kenney tells Food Tank, with major equipment manufacturersthey make us sign these [EULA]s; and its just like your cell phone where you have the right to use your cell phone but you dont really own it. And just as with aging smartphones, these agreements limit repair options, driving up the price of repair, and thus often force farmers to replace rather than repair farm equipment. Again, according to Food Tank: One of the main concerns of the R2R movement is aging farm equipment, often called legacy equipment. When manufacturers introduce new software, they often stop supporting the old version, making it nearly impossible for farmers to repair existing equipment. The problem that we are having is if [manufacturers] decide to quit supporting [equipment] with software, we cant get it fixed, Kenney tells Food Tank. This practice forces farmers to buy new software and equipment, which can reach up to US$600,000 dollars. The cost does not only force current farmers to invest in costly new equipment or repairs to continue their work. Kenney explains that it also acts as a barrier for young farmers who lack access to capital to acquire these technologies when starting their farms. Farmers are looking to the auto industry for precedent as they press for a right to repair, according to Food Tank: In response to this criticism, many farmers are using the auto industrys Memorandum of Understanding to show that the right to repair is possible. In 2014, car manufacturers voluntarily agreed to make the same information and tools they provide to franchised dealers available to independent repair shops. Kenney asks, If you can fix your car or truck, why not your tractor? Farmers also endorse open source solutions. Per Food Tank: Kenney and other members of the R2R movement are also advocating for open source software, which gives users freedom to share, study, and modify software. Kenney is currently working with the Free Software Foundation to create open source resources for farmers. . The fact that you are taking business away from the very very few and offering up assistance to 50-60,000 farmers [in Nebraska]How could that be a bad thing? Will 2021 be the year for the right to repair? We can only wait and see. Badrinath temple in Uttarakhand opens portals after winter break, no pilgrims allowed due to Covid Uttarakhand glacier burst: VP Naidu offers prayers India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Dehradun, Feb 07: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday prayed for the safety of those affected by the flash flood in Uttarakhand after a glacier broke off at Joshimath. A part of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off at Joshimath in Uttarakhand''s Chamoli district on Sunday, leading to a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river causing large-scale devastation. Glacier Breaks: 10 dead bodies found, atleast 125 feared dead| Oneindia News More than 150 labourers working in a power project are missing, officials said. Deeply concerned about glacier burst in Uttarakhand: Prez Homes along the way were swept away as the waters rushed down the mountainsides in a raging torrent. There were fears of damage in human settlements downstream. Many villages were evacuated and people taken to safer areas. "I join the nation in praying for the safety of all those affected by the flash flood caused by a glacier burst in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand," the Vice President Secretariat tweeted quoting Naidu. The vice president said he is sure that the state and central governments are trying their best to mitigate the crisis. 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. The two brothers allegedly involved in the shooting of a Balcones Heights police officer earlier this week were in custody Saturday as deputies apprehended the second man in a Northeast Side apartment complex. Wilfredo Montemayor, 27, was arrested by the Bexar County Sheriffs Office on Saturday morning, just a day after his brother, 30-year-old Sijifredo Montemayor, was extradited from Mexico to the United States. Both men are in Bexar County Jail, facing one count each of attempted capital murder, said Sheriff Javier Salazar. Sijifredo Montemayor was hiding out with family members about six blocks from the U.S.-Mexico border when officers with the Tamaulipas State Police in Nuevo Laredo arrested him, sheriffs officials said. On ExpressNews.com: Man wanted in Balcones Heights officer shooting extradited The two Montemayor brothers are accused of shooting Balcones Heights Sgt. Joe Sepulveda on Wednesday. Sepulveda was responding to calls Wednesday afternoon in the 6900 block of West I-10 when he encountered the brothers in their truck. The sergeant was trying to question the two when Wilfredo Montemayor allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Sepulveda multiple times in the face and upper torso, officers said. Sepulveda fell and called for help over his radio. Another officer, Edward Ortiz, had just pulled up to the scene and was able to exchange fire with the brothers, an arrest affidavit said. The two brothers fled from the scene. Police found their truck at a nearby apartment complex with blood on the driver's seat and a blood trail leading away from the vehicle to a nearby apartment. When police questioned the resident, he said Sijifredo knocked on his door after the shooting, asking to come inside, according to the affidavit. When the witness saw Sijifredo was bleeding from his abdomen and being held up by Wilfredo, he told the two to leave. Other witnesses on scene identified the Montemayor brothers as the two that police were searching for. It is unclear how the two fled after abandoning their truck, but by 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sijifredo Montemayor had already made it across the Mexican border, Salazar said. The sheriffs office had been working around the clock, Salazar said, collaborating with various agencies to try to find the two men. On ExpressNews.com: Dangerous and desperate - Sheriff names two suspects in Balcones Heights officer shooting Sijifredo was located in Mexico and extradited back to the United States on Friday, the Express-News reported. Earlier Saturday morning, an investigator was checking out a lead at an apartment complex off Perrin Beitel Road and Loop 410. The investigator was undercover and wearing plain clothes when saw a man he believed was the suspect wearing a face mask and a beanie pulled over his eyebrows, covering most of his face, Salazar said. The investigator exchanged pleasantries with the man and kept walking. As he saw the suspect look back at him, he said he could it tell it was him, Salazar said. Though Wilfredo Montemayor shaved off his dreadlocks, the investigator knew it was him because of the lines shaved into the suspects eyebrows, Salazar said. The investigator then communicated with a take-down team. Two SWAT deputies in marked vehicles caught Wilfredo Montemayor by surprise and took him into custody, Salazar said. We got him, the sheriff said. The deputies found a fanny pack with a loaded handgun and methampetamine when Wilfredo Montemayor was arrested, Salazar said Saturday. Top hits: Get San Antonio Express-News stories sent directly to your inbox Deputies with the Bexar County Sheriffs Office interviewed the man for a few hours, with Salazar describing some of the details as chilling. He was very matter-of-fact in talking about his role of the shooting, Salazar said Saturday. It would literally chill your blood to hear just the lack of emotion as he described his actions on that day. Meanwhile, the deputy who was shot is doing well, Balcones Heights Police Chief John Jahanara said Saturday in a news conference. Its almost a miracle where hes at today. His recovery is just moving very fast, he added, noting the officer, who has more than 25 years experience in law enforcement, is walking. Salazar said there are other people of interest in the case. Taylor Pettaway and Mark Dunphy contributed to this report. DUBAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 07th Feb, 2021) Nakheel Malls, the retail arm of master developer Nakheel, has launched a set of initiatives across Dragon Mart, Nakheel Mall, Ibn Battuta, The Pointe, Palm West Beach and Club Vista Mare, to celebrate the UAEs space mission as part of the governments strategy to rejoice the arrival of "Hope Probe" on the red planet. Omar Khoory, Chief Hospitality and Assets Officer, said: "The UAEs mission to Mars has been a truly remarkable journey and it majorly contributed into putting the region on the map of knowledge sharing, innovation and technology. At Nakheel Malls, we are very grateful for the scientific efforts made by the UAEs visionary leadership and will always celebrate the fruitfulness of our youth. " With celebrations running until 9th February, 2021, Nakheel Malls state-of-the-art destinations are turning their logos red in alignment with the overall Mission to Mars celebrations. Additionally, The Palm Fountain is set to host a spectacular red show in festivity of the historical moment daily at 9pm. Nakheel Malls is also inviting the community to share a message of hope through a social media filter launched on the entitys social media channels specially to support the mission. American Postal Workers Union president Mark Dimondstein told AP in an interview out Sunday he hopes President Biden makes bold appointments that reshape the U.S. Postal Service's Board of Governors. The big picture: The USPS' workforce which was already beleaguered after having to process millions of mail-in votes during the 2020 election fell "further into a hole during the holiday rush, leading to long hours and a mountain of delayed mail," AP writes. Be smart: sign up FREE for the most influential newsletter in America. The backdrop: The USPS has been in financial trouble for years, despite a recent spike in the use of its services. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who was appointed in 2020 by a board of governors selected by former President Trump, has promised improvements to the agency. Biden has faced calls to fire DeJoy after he made changes to the agency's procedures that were found to have slowed mail delivery before the election. But since the president can't do that, Biden will likely to use appointments to the USPS board to usher in new changes, according to AP. Dimondstein said he hopes Biden's appointments set a new tone for the agency, following the presidency of Donald Trump, who had criticized its business practices and once called it "a joke." What he's saying: We want a Board of Governors that understands fundamentally this is not called the United States Postal Business, Dimondstein said. Its not a profit-making business. Its here to serve the people. Get smarter, faster with the news CEOs, entrepreneurs and top politicians read. Sign up for Axios Newsletters here. Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-08 01:11:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HOUSTON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- A grand Spring Festival gala organized in the U.S. city of Houston was staged online to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year Saturday night. Efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the past year were highlighted in the celebration. The show started with the Symphony of Festive Overture performed by the Texas Medical Center Orchestra including doctors, nurses and pharmacists. Together with all kinds of performances by local and overseas artists, New Year greetings were sent by politicians and community leaders. In a video, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner expressed gratitude and warm Lunar New Year wishes to the Chinese community. "I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the Chinese community for helping Houston through the COVID-19 global pandemic," Turner said. "I look forward to the time that we can all come together safely again in person and we can celebrate together. Until that time, may the Year of the Ox bring joy and prosperity to each of us." Titled "Embracing Spring," the show is the largest of its kind in Houston. Due to the pandemic, this year's gala was presented online for the first time through streaming platforms such as YouTube and Youku, among others. Yang Deqing, chief executive of the Chinese Civic Center, said several technicians have helped address the technical challenges, making sure the show can be viewed smoothly online. Despite the difficulties, local artists and art troupes were passionate about the event. "Around 70 programs have signed up for the event, more than any year before," director of the show Jiajin Ji said. Over 40 programs were chosen due to time limit. The show was presented by the Houston Chinese Civic Center and co-organized by other Chinese communities in Houston. The Year of the Ox begins on Feb. 12. Enditem Almost 34,000 Australians withdrew more than half a billion dollars from their retirement accounts last year for medical treatments such as IVF, weight-loss surgery and dentistry, amid concerns from the superannuation industry about a surge in applicants taking money out early. Australian Taxation Office figures show 59,900 applications to access super were made on compassionate grounds in 2019-20, a 10 per cent annual increase. About 33,700 of these were approved in full or in part worth $513.5 million. In the year before, 53,700 applications were made, 31,100 were approved and $456.5 million worth of funds were released. In 2014-15, $184 million was released to 14,000 people. IVF procedures are one of the medical treatments on the rise. Credit:Craig Abraham Applicants are able to ask the ATO to let them use money from their retirement to pay for various treatments, palliative care, home renovations for the disabled, funeral costs or to avoid foreclosure on their home under a scheme allowing superannuation to be accessed for compassionate reasons. This is separate to the COVID-19 superannuation scheme, which allowed struggling workers to withdraw up to $20,000 from their accounts during the pandemic, and is separate to financial hardship access managed by the funds themselves. The ongoing rise in withdrawals has prompted concerns from major superannuation funds and lobby groups over the past two years which have recommended the government tightens the scheme and consider what support is available outside of retirement savings. But medical groups support access to the funds for those unable to cover the cost of necessary procedures. A year ago, civil rights attorney Frederick Brewington suggested that if false tweets were a crime, someone would have to immediately arrest President Donald J. Trump. The Long Island lawyer played the Trump card on behalf of former University at Albany student Asha Burwell, who was convicted of falsely reporting an incident, in part, because she falsely tweeted about a hate crime on a CDTA bus in 2016. Prosecutors said Burwell caused a public alarm with her Twitter post; Brewington argued to appellate justices with the Third Department in Albany that her tweets were protected by the First Amendment. Brewington's strategy worked. The Third Department reversed Burwell's conviction on free speech grounds (a separate conviction for falsely reporting an incident with a 911 call was upheld). A year later, Albany attorney Mark Mishler will argue the appeal for Burwell's co-defendant, former UAlbany student Ariel Agudio, during a virtual appearance Monday before the Third Department. But this time, the Trump card will not be necessary. Albany County prosecutors are conceding that the tweets in question were protected under the First Amendment, and are asking themselves that the Third Department toss that conviction. Timing is everything. Considering the impeachment trial of the former president is starting this week in the U.S. Senate, in which House Democrats allege that Trump's words led to the insurrection at the Capitol Jan. 6, the statements of Appellate Justice Stanley Pritzker in last year's decision reversing Burwell's conviction are interesting. "Although it was not unlikely that defendant's false tweets about a racial assault at a state university would cause public alarm, what level of public alarm rises to the level of criminal liability?" he asked. "By the very nature of social media, falsehoods can quickly and effectively be countered by truth, making the criminalizing of false speech on social media not actually necessary to prevent alarm and inconvenience." A year later, the ability to counter falsehoods with truth did not stop the former president from continuing to spread a false narrative on social media that the election he lost to President Joseph Biden had been rigged and stolen. Trump repeatedly tweeted that he would be in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, the same day he spoke to a fired-up crowd that included people who stormed the Capitol. So in short, what helped Burwells appeal in February 2020 may not have helped her appeal if it was in February 2021. That's not to say the end result of the appeal would necessarily be any different. In the meantime, Agudio's appeal is here. Here's a refresher on the case: On Jan. 30, 2016 about 1 a.m., Agudio, Burwell and a third student, Alexis Briggs, got on a CDTA bus in Albany heading back to the university's uptown campus. It was known as the drunk bus. Agudio and Burwell, who are Black, got off the bus and called police to report that they were jumped by a group of white men and women. They said the bus driver did not act. They said passengers watched the attack or recorded it on their phones. It led to an on-campus rally and gained national attention. But later-released footage from the bus showed that it was the students who appeared to be the attackers. The college expelled Agudio and Burwell and suspended the third student, Alexis Briggs. In 2017, an Albany County jury convicted Burwell and Agudio of two counts of misdemeanor charges for falsely reporting an incident one for calling 911, another for social media comments that caused a public alarm. Acting Supreme Court Justice Roger McDonough sentenced both women to three years' probation, 200 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine. Fast forward to Feb. 18, 2020 when Brewington made his appeal to the Third Department. That afternoon, Brewington told appellate justices it was a slippery slope to criminalize tweets given the wide range of people from the top to the bottom who use Twitter. Such speech, he argued, was protected under the First Amendment. If it was not, he told Law Beat, "someone would have to arrest our president immediately. In April, the Third Department upheld Burwells conviction for the 911 call. In a victory for Brewington and Burwell, the court tossed Burwells conviction for allegedly causing a public alarm. Which brings us to the present. The arguments, to be made virtually, are scheduled to go before the Third Department at 1 p.m. Monday. Justices John Egan, Sharon Aarons, Christine Clark, John Colangelo and Pritzker will hear the case. Mishler will be opposed by Albany County Assistant District Attorney Vincent Stark, who is seeking to have the conviction on the 911 call stand. We wouldn't dare call this a conspiracy. But, it's curious that the plague is quickly disappearing just when it's time for another series of cash payouts. Read more . . . HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania -- The confirmation of Lloyd J. Austin III as the first Black U.S. defense secretary is the most recent step in a barrier-breaking career. Austin was the first Black American to command an infantry division in combat and the first Black American to lead the U.S. Central Command. But its important to recognize, especially this month, that his new job is more than the result of his own achievements. Its also the culmination of more than 100 years of chipping away at the brass ceiling that has kept countless soldiers of color from receiving promotions they earned. Perhaps no one in the 20th century chipped more furiously than Col. Charles Young of Ohio. On June 6, 1918, Young donned his army uniform and mounted his beloved horse, a black mare named Blacksmith, to begin a nearly 500-mile trip from his home in Wilberforce, Ohio, to Washington, D.C., where he hoped to convince Secretary of War Newton Baker that he deserved a chance to lead his fellow soldiers into combat in Europe. The grueling ride was not as difficult as the racism he had encountered in the military ever since his first days at West Point, where fellow cadets called him a load of coal and officers hurled the n-word with impunity. Though demoralized, Young stayed the course, graduated from the academy, and became an officer in the Regular Army. After succeeding in postings on the western frontier and in the Philippines, he broke two significant race barriers. He became the first Black superintendent of a U.S. national park, when national parks were still under the control of the Army, and the first Black American military attache, serving with distinction in Haiti and then Liberia. Gen. John J. Pershing was so impressed with then-Maj. Youngs leadership of an all-Black squadron during the 1916 Mexican Punitive Expedition that he approved his promotion to lieutenant colonel and asked the War Department to select Young for command of a militia brigade, one that would most likely serve under the generals command during World War I. That never happened. In June 1917, President Woodrow Wilson began to conspire against the colored commander. He was disturbed that Young was a superior to white officers in the otherwise all-Black Tenth Calvary, and sought to avoid any trouble that might ensue from a Black officer commanding white soldiers in the Great War. With Wilsons approval, Young was medically retired and promoted to colonel by the end of the summer. Young was heartbroken. Although he never challenged the diagnosis that he had high blood pressure, an enlarged heart, and kidney problems, he considered himself physically fit for active service in combat. Michael G. Long is editor of "42 Today: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy." His supporters were apoplectic. Black newspapers had followed his career, and now they rallied to his defense, suggesting that the real reason behind his forced retirement was the governments unwillingness to promote a Black man to brigadier general. The newspapers rightly recognized that combat service in the war would no doubt have resulted in the colonel quickly becoming the nations first Black general. When a public and private campaign for his reinstatement failed, Young saddled his horse and departed for Washington, planning to ride about 31 miles each day. He chose this distance because Wilsons predecessor, President Theodore Roosevelt, believed that riding a horse 20 to 30 miles a day proved ones physical fitness for military service. By riding 31 miles a day, Young sought to demonstrate that he could surpass Roosevelts stringent criteria. Sixteen days after leaving Wilberforce, Young crossed the M Street Bridge into Georgetown and headed directly to the War Department, where Newton Baker listened to his plea attentively and sympathetically. But Baker still confronted the potential embarrassment of a Black colonel commanding white soldiers. Predictably, he refused Youngs request. Young never led troops on the battlefields of World War I, and in 1919 he bitterly described himself as a Colonel on the scrap heap of the U.S. Army. Still patriotic to his core, though, he later accepted reappointment as the U.S. military attache in Liberia. He fell sick during a fact-finding trip to Nigeria and died from nephritis on Jan. 8, 1922. His good friend W. E. B. Du Bois bitterly wrote of Charles Young, He had been sent to Africa because the Army considered his blood pressure too high to let him go to Europe! They sent him there to die. They sent him there because he was one of the best officers in the service and if he had gone to Europe he could not have been denied the stars of a General. They could not stand a black American General. The tragic case of Col. Charles Young is just one of an unknown number of soldiers of color denied promotions by white members of promotion boards, white secretaries of defense, and white presidents, all of whom created and maintained a system of racism stacked against soldiers of color. Defense Secretary Austin is no Newton Baker, and his superior, President Joe Biden, is no Woodrow Wilson. Both are attuned to the ravages of racism and sensitive to the need for radical change. The time is perfectly ripe for destroying every remaining piece of the brass ceiling. With Austins guidance, President Biden should appoint a blue-ribbon commission that will recommend ways to institutionalize racial justice throughout the military and especially in its processes for awarding promotions. Even a cursory look at the current racial makeup of officers and promotions boards will show that the need for this commission is long overdue. The time is also ripe for revisiting the injustice against Col. Charles Young. As commander-in-chief, President Biden has the authority to posthumously appoint Young to brigadier general. He should do that, and the Senate should confirm the appointment, without delay. Col. Youngs sacrifice requires no less. Michael G. Long is the editor of 42 Today: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy, and We the Resistance: Documenting a History of Nonviolent Protest in the United States. Have something to say about this topic? * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com. Rand Paul said Sunday the Senate impeachment trial is 'over before it starts' claiming there is 'zero chance' Donald Trump will be convicted as the former president's attorneys prepare to present an impeachment defense showing a double standard in acceptable speech for Democrats and Republicans. 'Is there any chance that the Senate will vote to convict Donald Trump?' Fox News' Chris Wallace asked the Kentucky senator on Sunday. 'Zero chance of conviction,' Paul said. '45 Republicans have said it's not even a legitimate proceeding so it's really over before it starts.' At least 17 Republicans would have to cross the Party line for a successful conviction and not nearly that many GOP senators have indicated they plan to do so. Paul said the whole proceedings are a 'partisan farce' meant to further demonize Republicans. Republican Senator Rand Paul said Sunday the impeachment trial is a 'partisan farce' that has 'zero chance of conviction' Democrats claim Trump is to blame for the Capitol storming on January 6 for a speech he made before the riot. Paul lamented: 'Are we going to impeach, and potentially criminally prosecute people for political speech when they say, 'Get up and fight for your country, let your voices be heard.'? Has nobody in this country heard of figurative speech?' Trump's impeachment trial kicks off in the Senate this week and his lawyers have said they will weaponize video of Democrats' 'inciting violence' as a counter to the left's argument that the former president is to blame for the Capitol storming for his speech beforehand. Trump's impeachment attorneys revealed Friday they plan to use clips during the trial this upcoming week to strengthen their defense by exhibiting times Democrats incited violence with 'inflammatory rhetoric' as proof of a double standard. Bruce Castor, the former president's lead impeachment lawyer, told Fox News he would counter video used by the Democrat impeachment managers of Trump's January 6 speech and the Capitol storming by playing clips of lawmakers on the left calling for rioting in the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests. 'Well, you know, 2020 was somewhat of an unusual year, and it wasn't all due to COVID,' Castor said, referencing the riots that overtook the country following the death of George Floyd and subsequent nationwide protests and riots. 'There's an awful lot of tape of cities burning and courthouses being attacked and federal agents being assaulted by rioters in the street cheered on by Democrats throughout the country and many of them in Washington using, really the most inflammatory rhetoric that's possible to use,' he told Fox's Laura Ingraham on Friday. 'And certainly there would be no suggestion that they did anything to incite any of the actions.' One of the most notable examples of incitement of Black Lives Matter rioting was when Representative Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and progressive member of the so-called 'squad' said there should be 'unrest in the streets.' 'Make the phone calls, send the emails, show up,' Pressley told MSNBC's 'AM Joy' over the summer. Donald Trump's lawyers plan to show images of rioters in cities over the summer in the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests and play tape of Democrats calling for these demonstrators to take to the streets 'There needs to be unrest in the streets for as long as there's unrest in our lives. And unfortunately, there's plenty to go around,' she said at the time. Paul said free speech, a fundamental of the First Amendment of the Constitution, should not be punished. 'Are we going to impeach, and potentially criminally prosecute people for political speech when they say, 'Get up and fight for your country, let your voices be heard.'? Has nobody in this country heard of figurative speech?' Paul lamented. The Republican senator also said that if Democrats want to use speech to prosecute people, they need to look within their own ranks. 'I think if we're going to criminalize speech and somehow impeach everybody who says, 'Oh, go fight to hear your voices heard,' I mean really we ought to impeach Chuck Schumer then,' Paul said during his interview on 'Fox News Sunday.' 'He went to the Supreme Court, stood in front of the Supreme Court and said specifically, 'Hey Gorsuch, hey Kavanaugh you've unleashed a whirlwind and you're going to pay the price. You won't know what hit you if you continue with these awful decisions.' 'This inflammatory wording, this violent rhetoric from Chuck Schumer was so bad that the Chief Justice, who rarely says anything publicly, immediately said this kind of language is dangerous as a mob tried to invade the Supreme Court,' he added. 'So if people want to hold President Trump accountable for language, there has to be a consistent standard,' Paul said. 'And to my mind, it's a partisan farce because they're not doing anything to Chuck Schumer, not doing anything to Representative Omar, not doing anything to Maxine Waters. It's just not fair. It's just partisan politics under a different name.' Republican Bill Cassidy also said Sunday the House impeachment trial was unfair and rushed. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy said Sunday the House impeachment vote was a 'Soviet Union show trial' as he prepares to preside over the Senate trial this week The Louisiana senator said the lower chamber proceedings and subsequent vote were more emblematic of a 'Soviet Union show trial' than a legitimate Democratic process on reprimanding a person serving higher office in the U.S. 'The president wasn't there, he wasn't allowed counsel, they didn't amass evidence, in 5 hours they kinda judged and boom he's impeached,' Cassidy told NBC's 'Meet the Press' on Sunday morning. Despite the defense of the former president, Cassidy insisted he has an 'open mind' going into the trial. Just one week after the Capitol storming on January 6, House Democrats voted to impeach Trump for 'incitement of insurrection,' claiming he is the majority to blame for the violence that ensued that day. On Tuesday, the Senate will begin its trial, which will eventually conclude with a vote on whether to convict Trump, an unlikely outcome as a two-thirds vote is needed meaning 17 Republicans would have to cross the Party line. Representative Adam Schiff, who served as the lead impeachment manager in the first trial against Trump in 2019, defended the swift movement this time around, claiming the House didn't want to sit on the case. 'We simply couldn't sit still and wait for weeks or months while this man posed a danger to the country,' Schiff, who spoke with 'Meet the Press' immediately after Cassidy, said on Sunday. It is not immediately clear which footage Castor and fellow impeachment defense attorney David Schoen. Castor, however, said the video would prove Democrats have used 'inflammatory rhetoric' to rile up their base over the summer during the Black Lives Matter movement, leading to violence, looting, destruction and even injury and death. He also said he would use other examples of Democrats calling for violence or confrontation with Republicans and Trump's supporters and staff. 'Will you then respond with Maxine Waters, a number of other Democrat officials not speaking out about the ANTIFA and other extremist rallies over the last summer?' Ingraham asked Castor. 'I think you can count on that,' he told Fox's Laura Ingraham of using visual aids to counter Democrat video of Trump's speech and the rioting. 'If my eyes look a little red to the viewers, it's because I have been looking at a lot of videos the last couple of days.' Trump's defense attorney Bruce Castor detailed Friday he would use video fo Democrats' 'inflammatory rhetoric' inciting Black Lives Matter riots over the summer to juxtapose video he anticipates they will use of Trump's January 6 speech and the ensuing Capitol riot 'Many of them [Democrats] in Washington, using really the most inflammatory rhetoric as possible to use,' he continued. 'But here when you have the president of the United States give a speech and says 'you should peacefully make your thinking known to the people in Congress,' he all of a sudden the villain. So you better be careful what you wish for.' Trump's lawyers plan to use as their main argument that Trump can not Constitutionally be impeached and convicted because he is no longer serving as president. They wrote in their brief outlining their argument that the founding text 'requires that a person actually hold office to be impeached.' Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is recalling 36,275 cartons of a drug used to treat low testosterone levels in the US market for incorrect labelling. The US arm of the domestic pharma major is recalling Testosterone Cypionate Injection in the American market, according to the latest enforcement report of the US Food and Drug Administration. The affected lot of the intramuscular injections was manufactured by the drug maker in India and distributed in the US by Princeton, New Jersey-based Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc, it said. Elaborating on the reasons for the Class III recall, the USFDA said: "Incorrect Labelling: Incorrect lot number on secondary packaging." As per the USFDA, a class III recall is initiated in a "situation in which use of, or exposure to, a violative product is not likely to cause adverse health consequences". The company initiated the nationwide recall on January 11, 2021. Last year in October, Sun Pharma had recalled 747 bottles of generic diabetes drug in the US due to the possibility of the affected lot containing cancer-causing nitrosodimethylamine above the acceptable intake limit. The company had recalled RIOMET ER (metformin hydrochloride for extended-release oral suspension) due to deviation from the current good manufacturing practices -- detection of N-nitrosodimethylamine impurity in finished drug product. The US, the world''s largest pharmaceuticals market, is also the biggest market for Mumbai-based Sun Pharma. The company has presence in the country since 1996 with a focus on generics, branded generics and over-the-counter (OTC) products. BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The China-U.S. Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology signed in 1979 was one of the first deals reached between Beijing and Washington after the two sides started to normalize their diplomatic ties. Over the decades, cooperation of the two countries in science and technology, which has seen steady development in scope and scale, has grown into one of the underpinnings of the overall China-U.S. relations. According to the U.S. National Science Foundation, China and the United States are now each other's biggest international peers in co-authored papers. The two sides have also benefited from working closely with one another in such cutting-edge programs as Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment, electron positron collider and nuclear fusion experiments. While a robust science and technology cooperation between China and the United States can serve the common interests of both countries, it also bears great significance for global scientific progress in fields like in genome research, quantum computing and space science. However, over the past four years, the previous U.S. administration left no stone unturned to sabotage the normal cooperation and exchanges in science and technology between the two sides by bullying Chinese tech firms, excluding Chinese scientists, and smearing Chinese students in the United States as spies. The effort to stoke confrontation between China and the United States continues despite the departure of the previous U.S. administration. The Atlantic Council, a think tank, recently published a research report titled "The Longer Telegram -- Toward a new American China strategy." In the report, the writer, who is identified as an anonymous former senior U.S. government official, advocated for America's global technological leadership, and called for a "technology war" with China. Such a zero-sum game mindset goes against the interests of both countries and peoples, the trend of history as well as the common will of the people in both countries. The truth is that the scientific development in both China and the United States is increasingly connected after more than four decades of exchanges and cooperation. A study by MacroPolo, a U.S. think-tank, estimated that Chinese-educated researchers comprised nearly one-third of the authors of the papers accepted and promoted at a prestigious A.I. conference in 2019, more than from any other country. In 2019, nearly 150 leading U.S. biomedical researchers signed a letter to oppose actions to exclude Chinese scientists in the country and limit collaboration between the two sides. The world will also suffer from a "technology war" between China and the United States. Such a war will slow down global scientific innovation and development, and place barriers for the world community to jointly tackle global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. Thanks to Chinese and American scientists who have been working with each other against all odds over the past four years, bilateral science cooperation between China and the United States is still moving forward. The U.S. publisher The Scientist Magazine found that "the U.S. and China have the highest rate of collaboration between any two countries with researchers from both countries having collaborated on 122 COVID-19 articles." "In fact, their rate of collaboration increased by 5 percent over their rate of collaboration on pre-pandemic science and engineering research," the magazine said. In a world of expanding interdependence, the best way to boost science and technology development is through cooperation. For greater scientific progress that can benefit humanity as a whole, Washington should remove obstacles blocking its cooperation with China, and try to meet Beijing halfway. The Russian largest diamond miner ALROSA has begun implementing its cooperation agreement for manufacturing diamonds and jewelry with Armenia. The agreement, which was signed by Armenia's Commerce and Economic Development Minister Nerses Yeritsian and ALROSAs President Sergei Vybornov last August, states that ALROSA will supply Armenia with diamonds. With the aim of facilitating the agreement, Alrosa experts examined 20 polishing factories in Armenia, four of which were chosen to receive rough directly from Alrosa: Daimotek, Arevakn, Armenian Diamond Cutting Company and Yukos. We are not going to create a joint venture in Armenia. The price-quality balance is very attractive for us in this country Vybornov said. Alrosa announced that after examining activities during the first half of 2008, plans for the expansion of the cooperation during the years 2009-2011 will be formulated. Interfax As of midnight, Saturday February 6, the HPSC has been notified of 1,024 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 203,568* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland, with 48 new cases in Limerick today. The 5-Day moving average of new cases in Limerick is now 40.8, while the 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population (to 06Feb2021) in Limerick is now 316.1 As of 2pm today, 1,204 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 178 are in ICU. 35 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. Of the cases notified today: 490 are men / 533 are women 65% are under 45 years of age The median age is 35 years old 380 are in Dublin, 70 in Meath, 63 in Cork, 55 in Galway and the remaining 408 cases are spread across all other counties. ** The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 12 additional deaths related to COVID-19. All 12 of these deaths occurred in February. The median age of those who died is 76 years and the age range is 60-90 years. There has been a total of 3,686 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community. 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. NASHVILLE, Tenn. - 2020 has been a turbulent yet historic year for the Soldiers and Airmen of the Tennessee National Guard and Tennessee State Guard1, one that personified their time-honored volunteer tradition. Thousands of Guardsmen have volunteered to serve the State of Tennessee something not seen since the early stages of the Global War on Terror. In the past year, Tennessee Guardsmen have deployed overseas, within the United States, and battled an ongoing global pandemic. They also supported first responders and law enforcement during tornado relief operations, a period of civil unrest, the presidential debates, and the presidential election. I'm very proud of the challenges our Soldiers and Airmen have overcome, and the work they have been doing since March is remarkable, said Maj. Gen. Jeff Holmes, Tennessee's Adjutant General. They have been part of a response that has been the largest, multi-faceted domestic operation in Tennessee National Guards modern history. In the early morning of March 3, multiple tornadoes ripped through middle Tennessee, with a path over 100 miles long, leaving behind a wake of devastation and destruction. Deadly tornados erupted with wind speeds reaching 164 mph and 175 mph classifying them as EF-3 and EF-4 level tornados. In total, this middle Tennessee storm spanned four counties, killed 25 Tennesseans, destroyed many homes and local businesses, and left several homeless. In true volunteer spirit, the Tennessee National Guard had over 160 members boots on the ground within hours after the storm. They conducted search and rescue missions in Cookeville, restored power in Gainesboro, aided in debris removal in Nashville and Mount Juliet, and supported communities across the mid-state whatever it took to help restore, rebuild and recover the heavily impacted areas. We're here to do whatever is needed to help those affected by the tornados, said 2nd Lt. Timothy Grissom, a platoon leader with Paris 212th Engineer Company, who helped in Putnam County relief efforts. They suffered a lot of damage, and all of my soldiers are eager to help. Almost immediately, after the tornados hit, Tennessee Guardsmen received another request help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. With limited information on the virus, hundreds of Tennessee Guardsmen volunteered without hesitation to work alongside Tennessee's Department of Health, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, and various other State and local agencies. Their primary focus: expedite Personal Protective Equipment distribution and provide testing to as many citizens as possible. 1 The Tennessee State Guard is the all-volunteer arm of the Tennessee Military Department, consisting of approximately 500 personnel, and is authorized by Tennessee Code Annotated 58 1-401. On the logistical front: March 19, Airmen from the 164th Airlift Wing, Tennessee Air National Guard, flew over 500,000 swabs for COVID-19 testing kits from Aviano Air Base in Italy to Memphis International Airport to distribute throughout the country. Soldiers and Airmen also worked alongside TEMA, distributed over 12 million PPE units from a Journey's warehouse, and shipped PPE to 80,000 classrooms across the State as schools began to reconvene. On the frontlines: Tennessee Guardsmen, alongside state and local agencies, conducted COVID-19 testing at 37 Remote Assessment Sites spread throughout the State's three grand divisions. At the peak of the pandemic, Guardsmen helped establish temporary testing sites in hot spot areas, tested vulnerable populations at long-term care facilities, tested staff members at county and state corrections facilities, provided COVID-19 testing to public housing areas and many other locations across Tennessee. Our Guardsmen at these sites are well-trained professionals and doing everything possible to ensure that testing is done accurately and safely, said Holmes. As the fight against COVID-19 continued throughout the summer, a national civil unrest movement prompted the Guard's response in multiple cities across Tennessee, as well as a large-scale activation to the District of Colombia. At the Governor's request, on June 4, over 1,000 Tennessee Guardsmen, primarily from the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, deployed to the District of Colombia to support law enforcement within just 72-hours notice. Simultaneously, as the States' challenges grew, Tennessee Guardsmen continued to provide support around the world with Army and Air National Guard units stationed in Bulgaria, Kosovo, the Middle East, the Pacific, and various other places throughout the world. The 134th Air Refueling Wing flew over 1,800 combat hours and performed critical in-flight air refueling missions, with their KC-135R Stratotanker aerial refueling aircraft, for strategic aircraft in the U.S. Central Command, European Command, Pacific Command, Africa Command, North Command areas of responsibility and our NATO allies. Additionally, several units returned home this year. Jackson's 194th Engineer Brigade returned from a 10-month deployment to Kuwait on Sept. 17, and Dyersburg's 168th Military Police Battalion completed a 10-month deployment to Iraq, returning on Sept. 26. As the year comes to an end, we have helped test nearly 800,000 citizens for COVID-19, began vaccinations, and are supporting medical professionals inside hospitals. And while we don't know what may lie around the corner, we are prepared to take those challenges head-on, said Holmes. I'm extremely proud of the work these men and women have been doing for the better part of a year. While work continues on the frontlines of this pandemic, I can rest assured knowing we have the most resilient, ready and capable people on the job, continuing our Tennessee Volunteer legacy. Children in Amber Alert found safe near Mitchell The missing children were recovered and are safe, according to the Davison County Sheriff's Office. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Photo: (Photo : Josiah Farrow from Pexels) An Indiana woman kept her mom's corpse. Investigators said that she did not want to be alone, so she did not report her mother's death. Authorities from Logansport Police discovered the rotting corpse after conducting a welfare check and a house search last January. Besides the fact that Indiana woman kept her mom's corpse, she also admitted that she took $3000 from her mother's checking account. ALSO READ: Orlando Mom Whose Toddler Was Killed in a Car Crash Creates a Foundation Discovering the rotting body Last January 29, police did a welfare check at a house where Cynthia Newman was living. No one opened the door, so authorities had to return with a search warrant. When they came into the house, the investigators saw that the house was in chaos. There was no power supply. What came as a shock to officers was that they found a dead woman's body on a recliner. There was a pillow under her head and body. According to investigators, the body of the 65-year-old mother, Cynthia Newman, was covered with blankets. They believe it was a way to hide the body from sight. The corpse already had insects all over it. Also, some of the bones were exposed, and the skin was starting to peel off too. There were animals in the house as well. Investigators discovered that the dog and cats have started to gnaw on the corpse. ALSO READ: Louisiana Mom Pretended to Be Her Daughter to Save Her from Killers The investigation According to the County coroner, "It does not appear as if there was foul play." Authorities are planning to conduct an autopsy to know the cause of Newman's death. The daughter of Newman, Jaclyn Martell Beebout, said that her mom was alive during Thanksgiving. However, she is not sure if she was alive during Christmas. That is despite her living in the home with her mom. According to reports, the Indiana woman kept her mom's corpse because "she didn't want to be alone." Also, police talked to Newman's son-in-law Jason Dwight Beebout. He said that even though he lived with his mother-in-law, he does not see her every day. He also said that when he saw that Newman was dead, he walked out of the room. He confided to investigators that he already felt that something had happened to Cynthia, but his wife kept saying that everything was fine. However, authorities learned that Beebout shared with a friend that his mother-in-law had been dead since October. ALSO READ: Mother and Baby Found Dead in Texas; Mom's Womb Was Cut Open Charges filed Because the Indiana woman kept her mom's corpse, authorities arrested her last January 30. She was charged with failure to report human remains. Records revealed that Jaclyn had an outstanding warrant. That was because of felony methamphetamine possession. On the other hand, reports also disclosed that he was also charged with failure to report human remains. However, he was released on bond. ALSO READ: Horrible Killing: Dad Killed His Two Children Before Committing Suicide [Mom Committed Suicide Too] Another week is over, so let's look at the big stories it brought. This one was an eventful one. Our top story was a drop test, featuring the Galaxy S21 Ultra and the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Neither came out looking good so maybe don't watch it if are faint of heart. We saw a couple of deep-dives into the Galaxy S21 Ultra. One looked in-depth at the new Exynos 2100 chipset and its power draw and performance compared to the Snapdragon 888 and the Exynos 990 from last year. The conclusion is that the Snapdragon 888 is a bit more efficient in the way it delivers its power, but can lead to more heat, while the Exynos 2100 is a big step up from its predecessor. Another article compared the Galaxy S21 Ultra's OLED display to its predecessors in the Galaxy S20 Ultra and the Galaxy Note20 Ultra. The new panel is much more efficient when displaying content, sipping less power while delivering higher brightness. Xiaomi is now making it harder to download and install Google Mobile Services on its Chinese phones. It used to be a straightforward procedure to get GMS on non-GMS Xiaomi phones meant for China, prompting many people to buy them cheaper and import them into their country. The company later clarified that the change will only affect some of its phones without giving detailed lists. The Sony Xperia 1 III leaked once again this week. We saw the phone in a 360 video, but sadly we didn't gain any meaningful knowledge about its internals. A Poco X3 Pro is incoming, as per multiple certifications. We don't know much about it just yet. It will boot MIUI 12 and offer dual-band Wi-Fi and NFC. LTE will be supported, but not 5G. The Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite will come with a 5x zoom camera and a new Snapdragon chipset - SM7350. Rumor has it that's a future Snapdragon 755G. The Mi 11 Lite will have a 64MP main camera, instead of the 108MP on the Mi 11. We saw the upcoming Oppo Find X3 series in an image. The lineup will feature the Find X3 Pro 5G, Find X3 Neo 5G and Find X3 Lite 5G, the latter being a rebranded Reno5 5G. Another leak revealed a few details about the Find X3 Pro. It will have a Snapdragon 888 and a 6.7-inch QHD+ OLED with variable refresh rate - 10Hz-120Hz. There's a debate about the cameras - some rumors point to two 50MP Sony IMX766 sensors, while this week's leak pointed to a 16MP camera, which could be the pixel-binned number, suggesting a 64MP camera. The full list of top stories is below. See you next week! Gaze at the Sony Xperia 1 III in this short video that shows the phone spinning 360 The exterior of the Xperia 1 II is quite different from other 2021 flagships - 3.5 mm jack, proper stereo speakers, microSD slot and shutter button. Poco X3 Pro incoming, multiple certifications confirm It looks like the X3 Pro will make its way to global markets soon. Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite to come with 5x camera, new Qualcomm chipset The phone is said to come with the yet unannounced Snapdragon 755G, supposedly built on the 5nm process technology. Exynos 2100 edges out the Snapdragon 888 in a Galaxy S21 Ultra battery test The power consumption of the big cores pointed to Qualcomm having the more efficient chip, but that may not be the case after all. AMD rumored to outsource chip production to Samsung The strategic partnership between the two brands might soon reach new heights. Samsung Galaxy A52 5G detailed TENAA specs arrive We know just about everything about the Galaxy A52 5G, outside of price. Oppo Find X3 Pro spied on cloud testing platform, key specs exposed This device - PEEM00 - is likely the Pro rather than the vanilla phone as it packs 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB storage. Four Galaxy A phones from 2017 will no longer receive security updates The new Galaxy A02 and M12 will get security updates once every three months. Samsung Galaxy A52 5G appears in rotating colorful renders It will be powered by the Snapdragon 750G SoC, pack a punch hole display, and feature a quad rear camera. ABI Wellnesss BEARS (Brain Enhance And Recovery System) will help cognitive recovery clinics continue to provide care in spite of lockdown restrictions due to COVID-19 (https://abiwellness.com/brains Our NeuroRecovery Centre, launched in 2020, is the first in the British Columbia interior region to offer the ABI Wellness brain enhance and recovery system. ABI Wellness, creators of the integrated patient care, tracking, and reporting approach designed under CEO Mark Watson, today announced that its Brain Enhance and Recovery System (BEARS) is now available through the Brain Trust Canada in Kelowna, B.C., Canada. This new system, which integrates all aspects of cognitive recovery, drastically reducing administrative workload while delivering patient care more quickly and conveniently, transforms the way clinics are able to serve patients. Provided by Top Brain Injury Experts BEARS platform is now available both virtually and in-person through Kelowna, B.C. provider Brain Trust Canada. This new Provider is headed by CEO Mia Burgess, who has worked in the non-profit sector for over 10 years and is experienced in leadership, developing collaborative networks, system change, community development, advocacy, and program development and delivery. (https://braintrustcanada.com/) ABI Wellness is committed to increasing accessibility and improving outcomes in cognitive recovery, said ABI Wellness CEO Mark Watson. We are so excited to work with Brain Trust Canada in British Columbias interior region to provide opportunities for members in their community to receive the kind of programming that they so desperately need in order to live a higher quality of life. Tailor-Made Cognitive Recovery ABI Wellness is a response to the need for more integrative and customizable brain recovery systems. Traditional recovery programs globally currently show a 40% return to work rate, focusing only on compensatory training. The BEARS platform has 37% higher return to work rate, focusing on capacity building and neuroplasticity programming. By helping more patients return to work faster, the BEARS platform is able to save an individual returning to full-time work between $300k to $1.2 million dollars in loss of lifelong earnings. When returning from part-time work to full-time work, a patient can save up to $400k. Brain Trust Canada is committed to delivering programs and services that help our clients with acquired brain injury recover and reclaim their lives, said Brain Trust Canada CEO Mia Burgess. Our NeuroRecovery Centre, launched in 2020, is the first in the British Columbia interior region to offer the ABI Wellness brain enhance and recovery system. This four pillar model focuses on cognitive rehabilitation with the goal of advancing neuroplasticity in clients with acquired brain injury and persistent concussion. To date, our evidence-based model has shown a high success rate in restoring quality of life and return to work possibilities for graduates of the NeuroRecovery Centre. (https://abiwellness.com/) Safe Online Service for Patients BEARS platform reduces the need for in-person appointments and provides online tracking and group support. In addition to Brain Trust Canada in Kelowna, the service is available to patients through official Providers in Surrey, BC; Squamish, BC; and Vancouver, BC. BEARS is also available in the USA in Santa Barbara, CA; Richmond, VA; and Oradell, NJ. (https://abiwellness.com/bears) The BEARS launch at Brain Trust Canada is timed to extend the reach of cognitive recovery clinics in January, a month when many resolve to recover from brain injury and improve brain health especially relevant this season considering the current Covid-19 health crisis. ABI Wellness is a response to the need for improved brain recovery systems. One of the main challenges in cognitive recovery is patient drop-off due to complex care plans and appointment schedules that are difficult to adhere to as a person with cognitive challenges. ABI Wellness uses BEARS to reduce attrition rates, thereby improving the long-term efficacy of care plans. Traditional recovery programs globally currently show a 40% return to work rate, focusing only on compensatory training. The BEARS platform has 37% higher return to work rate, focusing on capacity building and neuroplasticity programming. By helping more patients return to work faster, the BEARS platform is able to save an individual returning to full-time work between $300k to $1.2 million dollars in loss of lifelong earnings. When returning from part-time work to full-time work, a patient can save up to $400k. About ABI Wellness ABI Wellness, is headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada. The company was co-founded in Spring of 2014 by Mark Watson, CEO and former Executive Director of the Watson Centre for Brain Health, and Howard Eaton, President and Chair. ABI Wellnesss system is used in both large, renowned hospitals and private clinics. For more information: abiwellness.com, @abiwellness #abiwellness, info@abiwellness.com. ABI Wellness, 204-6190 Agronomy Rd, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3 Media Contact: Shaun Porter COO ABI Wellness Burnaby, British Columbia Canada Toll-Free: 1-833-414-8958 Ext. 702 mtaschereau@abiwellness.com About Brain Trust Canada Brain Trust Canadas NeuroRecovery Centre, launched in 2020, offers committed and personalized support for brain injury and concussion recovery with a program powered by ABI Wellness. Their evidence-based model has shown a high success rate in restoring quality of life for our clients with acquired brain injury and persistent concussion. They also offer life skills support, education, and advocacy services. For more information: braintrustcanada.com, @braintrustcad, info@braintrustcanada.com, #11 - 368 Industrial Ave., Kelowna, B.C. V1Y 7E8, (250) 762-3233 Media Contact: (250) 762-3233 info@braintrustcanada.com Hundreds of parents and students frustrated with online-only instruction took to the streets over the weekend to demand San Francisco school officials take action, capping a tumultuous week that the next day saw a big step toward finally getting the citys 52,000 public school kids back to in-person instruction. Marchers, wearing face masks, carried clever and cutting signs Saturday that showed their exasperation with what they saw as the lack of a back-to-in-person strategy and their frustration with online-only instruction. Among the signs: End the Zoombie apocalypse. I miss my teachers. I forgod haw to spel. I want to go to kindergarten in real life. I miss my friends. One student blasted the school board for not moving faster to get kids back in classrooms while it still found time to deliberate and vote Jan. 27 to rename 44 schools because they bear the names of historical figures linked to racism and oppression, a move that has opened the district to potential litigation under Californias meeting-transparency act, according to San Francisco attorney Paul D. Scott. I feel like its more important to educate the students than rename the schools, said Lowell High School student Willa Andrade. Education via Zoom is frustrating, she said, adding, I miss my peers. I think everyone feels like theyre doing school by themselves. Noting that some 15,000 private school students in San Francisco are back in class while public schools have been closed to in-person instruction since March, she said, Its crazy that if you pay a lot of money, you can get an education, she said. But if you dont pay, you cant. Families have had enough, said Josephine Zhao, 52, a community activist who joined parents and students at Civic Center Plaza after the march from the school district offices. Weary of working while struggling to keep her 13-year-old daughter from falling behind, she said, Shes behind on everything ... social development, physical development, educational development everything. The protest capped a week that saw Mayor London Breed at a tearful news conference, surrounded by families, calling on the district and unions to come together and reopen classrooms, and the city also suing its own school district, accusing the board of violating state law by failing to have a reopening plan. Superintendent Vincent Matthews said the lawsuit was unhelpful and the allegations were meritless. On Sunday, the district and its unions announced a tentative plan for reopening with a process including vaccinating staff and other safety measures. The agreement is a step toward reopening, but it will take time before that can happen. At the Saturday protest organized by Decreasing the Distance, Kim Shu said shes a single mother of 7-year-old twins who works as a nanny and drops her kids off at a YMCA pod with tutors helping kids with online classes. She has to rely on friends to pick up the twins, then spends hours at home helping them catch up with work they couldnt get done during their online classes. Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle The novelty of going to school on the computer has worn off, she said. She understands why teachers are concerned about catching or spreading the virus at school, she said, but says the twins learning pod has been free of COVID and many schools have managed to return to in-person learning without outbreaks. I want the teachers to be safe, she said, but it seems like they want there to be no COVID at all, and thats something thats way down the line. Trying to process it all while helping the twins keep up and going to work, she said, is difficult: Its heartbreaking. I sob at night. As all eyes are focused on getting kids back at their desks, a different kind of potential trouble has emerged for the district: The controversial school renaming decision has prompted letters from attorney Scott to Breed and the school board, alleging that the board did not properly notify the public that it was making a final decision to rename the 44 school sites, among them those honoring Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. He said the district provided advance notice only that it would decide on a list of potential schools to be renamed, and that it violated the notice and agenda requirements under the Brown Act Californias open-meeting law and denied due process to families and the public. While the language of the resolution indicated that the Board was going to consider approving a list of school names for potential renaming, Scott noted, the district then sent out a news release that goes further and states that the decision has now been made to rename the schools on the list and only alternate names will be considered going forward. Scotts letter Saturday stated that if the board does not reverse its decision, legal action will follow. Scott, whose children attended San Francisco public schools, said that he has been approached by numerous others about their concerns or about them joining in an action if it proves necessary. He issued a 30-day window to cure or correct the action, and said, There would be no shortage of plaintiffs, for a lawsuit. The school board and mayors office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday. Michael Cabanatuan and Kellie Hwang are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com, kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan, @KellieHwang .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal At a time when both the East and West coasts reigned as American art centers, New Mexico emerged as the nucleus of a new approach to printmaking. While early 20th century artists often viewed printmaking as an inferior advertising offshoot or a cheap alternative to the more lucrative painting, New Mexico attracted a coterie of artists who chose printmaking as their focus. Lasting Impressions: Four Leaders of New Mexico Printmaking showcases more than 25 works by a quartet that includes Gustave Baumann, Gene Kloss, Charles M. Capps and Norma Bassett Hall through March 6. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Even though all four artists were not from New Mexico, they all really contributed to what has become New Mexicos legacy as a center for printmaking, LewAllens Alex Gill said. While Baumanns is the most recognizable name, all of them were considered master printmakers in woodcut, etching, aquatint and serigraphy (silk screen). Scholars recognize Kloss as one of the major 20th century American printmakers. The artist created black-and-white New Mexico landscapes and images of pueblo people, as well as the Penitentes (the Spanish religious group), using intricate lines, rich blacks and shifting fields of grey. Born in Oakland, California, Kloss first visited Taos on her honeymoon in 1925. Gene Kloss brought her etching press, Gill said. They would camp with it. She was great at carving this graceful quality of line. Kloss received widespread recognition and awards in the 1930s. From 1933 to 1944, she was the sole etcher employed by the Public Works of Art Project. She returned for months at a time annually before moving permanently to Taos in 1960. Born in Oregon, Hall studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, then moved to Kansas, where she became the only female founding member of the Prairie Printmakers. She moved to Santa Fe in 1944, where she lived in the Gerald Cassidy home on Canyon Road. Hall created serigraphs for the Works Progress Administration. Serigraphs had never been used in a fine art context; Hall was one of the first artists to apply it to landscapes. She employed planes of flat color to bring out the New Mexico sunset. Theyre very graphic, theyre reductive, theyre very vivid, Gill said. Capps was another founding charter member of the Prairie Printmakers, known for his use of aquatint, a variant of etching that produces areas of tone rather than lines. He uses it to convey the architectural forms of New Mexico, Gill said. It creates the sense of light and shadow. Theyre realistic, but theyre very moody. Originally from Illinois, Capps was a member of the Chicago Society of Etchers, through which he met Baumann and visited New Mexico, where he returned to regularly. In Kansas, he worked for the Western Lithograph printing house. He was soon experimenting with woodcuts. Art historians cite Baumann as one of the most influential American woodcut artists of the 20th century. Born in Germany, he emigrated to the U.S. at age 10, settling in Chicago, where he found work in a commercial engraving house and attended night classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1905, he traveled to Munich to study color block printing. He returned to the U.S. and moved to New Mexico in 1918. Theres such an extraordinary intricacy to his blocks, Gill said. For every single color, he carved a different block. Its an incredible amount of technical precision. Baumann colored his 1918 image of the Rancho de Taos church in blue and yellow. Hes one of the superstars of New Mexico printmaking, Gill said. Some of his use of color is modernist. Baumann created the head of the first Zozobra, and carved and performed with marionettes. His work hangs in more than 100 museum collections in both the U.S. and Great Britain. If you go WHAT: Lasting Impressions: Four Leaders of New Mexico Printmaking WHERE: LewAllen Galleries, 1613 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe WHEN: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday through March 6 CONTACT: 505-988-3250, lewallengalleries.com Home > 2021 > 131st Birth anniversary of Frontier Gandhi - Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (...) February 6 is the 131st birth anniversary of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan also popularly known as Frontier Gandhi and Badshah Khan. He was a prominent Indian freedom fighter, a die-hard opponent of the two-nation theory and the idea of Pakistan. He was totally committed to Gandhis idea of non-violence, enjoyed the same stature in the NWFP also known as Frontier as Gandhi had in India. He opposed with full conviction the inclusion of NWFP in Pakistan but failed. After the formation of Pakistan he, his followers and family faced terrible repression at the hands of the consecutive Pakistan governments including the one led by Jinnah and Islam-o-fascists. One of his brothers was assassinated, his supporters butchered by the Islamist fascists, he spent more than a decade in Pakistani jails and was forced to go into exile in Afghanistan. He was declared to be an agent of Hindu India. ML government led by Jinnah did not tolerate the NWFP government led by Badshah Khans elder brother and it was dismissed on August 22, 1947; exactly 8 days after the formation of Pakistan. Whatever ruling classes of Pakistan did to Frontier Gandhi is understandable as he stood as a rock against Islamist politics of declaring Muslims as a separate nation. But what treatment he got and is receiving in India is far more abhorring. The latest denigration of his took place in last December in India. A hospital constructing in his honour in Faridabad (Haryana) with the help of Hindu-Sikhs who migrated from NWFP, inaugurated by the first PM of India, Jawaharlal Nehru as Badshah Khan hospital was renamed as Atal Bihari Vajpayee hospital! [1] Frontier Gandhi founded the Khudai Khidmatgars (Servants of God) which was at the head of a patriotic and socially progressive movement. The movement was also nicknamed as The Red Shirts due to the colour of uniform it used for its cadres. Their presence was first noticed at the Lahore Congress in 1929 which at that time according to police reports numbered 200,000. Quotation from the Quran against slavery served as rallying points for nationalist enthusiasm and the struggle to liberate the country from foreign rule became the Holy War of Khudai Khidmatgars. A peerless authority on Muslims and Muslim politics in modern India, Wilfred Cantwell Smith was of the opinion that "No section of India has been more thoroughly nationalist. [2] Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan referring to violence unleashed by the Muslim League goons in the pre-partition India told in July 1947: "The Muslim Leaguers are daily taking out processions, raising highly objectionable slogans. They call us kafirs (infidels) and resort to abusive language. I have been personally hooted...Another matter which is causing serious concern to us is the presence in our province of a large number of Punjabis who openly incite people to violence. Not only that, but they have also gone to the length of suggesting in public meetings that the top leaders of the Red Shirts should be done away with. They also proclaim openly that after Pakistan has been established...all of them who are called traitors will be hanged." [3] Ataullah Khan nephew of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khans wife, his servant and friends were killed by Muslim Leaguers when former raised objection to some of the utterances in a Muslim League meeting in a mosque at the village of NWF Province.. [4] Frontier Gandhi despite leading a province almost 95% Muslims defended joining Congress. He declared: "People complain against me for having joined the Congress by selling my nation. The Congress is a national and not a Hindu body. It is a jirgah composed of Hindus, Jews, Sikhs, Parsis and Muslims. The Congress as a body is working against the British. The British nation is the enemy of the Congress and of the Pathans. I have therefore joined it and made common cause with the Congress to get rid of the British. [5] Khudai Khidmatgars exhibited the spectacle of liberation theology of Islam. It demanded better distribution of land and decried the large estates. [6] ]] Khan wanted to build a socialist society. [7] Ghaffar Khan was a great secularist. It was in Punjab jail that he formed friendship with Hindus and Sikhs and studied the Hindu scriptures, especially the Gita and the Granth Saheb, the Holy Book of the Sikhs. [8] ]] He stood for united India. According to Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, "It is significant to note that while Pathans are intensely freedom-loving and resent any kind of subjugation, most of them are beginning to understand that their freedom can well harmonize with the conception of Indian Freedom, and that is why they have joined hands with the rest of their countrymen in a common struggle, instead of favouring the scheme of breaking up India into many States. They have come to realize that the division of India will result in all-around weakness in the modern world, where no part of it will have sufficient resources and strength to preserve its own freedom." [9]]] Khan vehemently protested against Congress when in June 1947 agreed to the partition of the country. He told Gandhi in June 1947 after CWC meeting, "We Pakhtuns stood by you and had undergone great sacrifices for attaining freedom. But you have now deserted us and thrown us to the wolves...The decision about partition and referendum in the Frontier Province was taken by the High Command [Congress] without consulting us...Sardar Patel and Rajgopalachari were in favour of partition and holding referendum in our province. Sardar said I was worrying over nothing. Maulana Azad was sitting near me. Noticing my dejection he said to me, you should now join the Muslim League. It pained me to find how little these companions of ours had understood what we had stood for and fought for all these years." [10] ML government of Jinnah did not tolerate the NWFP government led by Badshah Khans elder brother and it was dismissed on August 22, 1947; 8 days after the formation of Pakistan. Forgetting Frontier Gandhi and his struggle is reprehensible for another reason. It means that we are becoming a party in covering up one of the worst massacre by the British army in the history of Indian freedom movement; the Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre of Peshawar. The British rulers believed that non-violent Pathan was more dangerous than violent Pathans. So when Red-Shirts sat for a peaceful sit-in at famous Qissa Khwani Bazaar [literal meaning street where stories are told] on April 23, 1930, the protestors were machine-gunned in which according to the British 20 protestors died but according to nationalist Indian sources more than 400 were martyred. This cover-up also wants us to forget about Veer Chander Singh Garhwali and his fellow soldiers of the Garhwal Regiment of the British army who refused to fire on the same peaceful Khudai Khidmatgars. They were arrested, court-martialed and were sentenced for life imprisonment. The present generation must revisit the life, works, sufferings and sacrifices of Frontier Gandhi and his compatriots to know how shamelessly we have erased our progressive, secular and egalitarian heritage. It is not a small crime, in fact, by doing it we only paved the way for taking over the Indian polity by the Hindutva counterparts of Islamists of Pakistan. Shamsul Islam 06-02-2020 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. Cardi B is back with a new song. After teasing a new single during the week of Jan. 31, she released Up a few days later. Its a fun, high-energy song thats already blowing up the music charts and streaming platforms. But to some listeners, it sounds eerily similar to another song. Amid accusations that she ripped the song from other artists, Cardi B spoke out on Twitter, explaining shes never even heard of the rappers shes accused of stealing from. Cardi B at a club in Atlanta, Georgia | Prince Williams/GC Images/Getty Images Listen to Cardi Bs Up Up comes a few months after the release of WAP a sexy single featuring Megan Thee Stallion that spent four consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. Explaining how the new song came to be, Cardi B said on Instagram Live with Offset that she wanted to switch things up after WAP. I wanted a more hood song, she explained (via Nylon). I feel like my last song was too sexy, Offset. I feel like this is more like of an Atlanta thing, I dont know, a Georgia thing. He kept saying up and stuck and Im like oh sh*t, I keep saying up and a stuck out of nowhere because thats something that I started saying this year So Im like, alright, this is some gangsta sh*t and thats what I like. RELATED: Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallions Sexually Explicit Song Is Important for Women She released the song along with a video that has since amassed over 19 million viewers on YouTube. But the hype was quickly overshadowed by controversy. Cardi B has been accused of stealing Up As the song circulated the Internet, Cardi B was accused of copying its chorus from a song called Stuck by New Jersey rappers Mir Pesos and Mir Fontane. Sharing a video to Instagram comparing the songs, Mir Pesos wrote, Mannn somebody tagg they ppl tell them to get with my ppl they stealing. Taking to Twitter, Cardi B pushed back, sharing a clip of her saying its up and its stuck way back on Aug. 7, 2020. Im the type of person that avoids problems & court days. If I get inspired by a song I wouldnt mind giving a percentage or couple of thousand but I never Hurd if this man. Im glad while I was recording this song in August I was playing wit the hook on this live, she wrote in a tweet. But Mir Fontane continued to challenge her, claiming that a preview of Stuck came out a day earlier and that they recorded it even earlier than that, respectfully. We previewed STUCK on August 6th at the end of this video and recorded it even earlier than that, Respectfully. https://t.co/YSB15NjyYo https://t.co/HvPpod7AbJ MELODY MONSTER (@MirFontane) February 5, 2021 RELATED: Cardi B Speaks Out After Backlash Over New Reebok Collaboration The rappers are now escalating the issue Amid the drama, many social media users pointed out that the phrase in question is popular in music. Even Mir Fontaine acknowledged that, telling HotNewHipHop: Im not trying to say we coined that phrase, at all. Ive heard that way before we came up with the song. First time I heard it was from Travis Scott on Out West by Young Thug. But its the cadence, its the way the beat flows, its the way she delivered it thats like, that sounds ours. Thats where it was like, yeah, this is definitely inspired, at least, by our record. It has nothing to do with the words that were being said. Despite that, both rappers noted they dont blame Cardi B. But they expect recognition for their work. In terms of resolution they want all creators to be properly credited and compensated for their work in all matters not just this, a representative for Mir Fontane told HipHopDX. Pesos and Fontanes respective teams are working towards a resolution. So far, it doesnt appear that Cardi B has acknowledged those reports. In the fall, as California braced itself for what public health authorities promised would be the darkest months of the pandemic, there was a hint of hope in the message: This surge might be the last. Even in the grim final weeks of the year, vaccines were rolling out and everyone knew that cases and hospitalizations would finally fall in the new year. The next potential super-spreading holidays would be months away. It seemed possible that California and the rest of the country could conquer the virus before a fresh wave of cases swelled. And then the variants arrived. A highly infectious mutant virus grabbed headlines in late December as it swept across the United Kingdom, and by Dec. 31 it was in California. More reports soon followed. We would all love to be able to say its all downhill from here, but we cant say that based on these variants, said Dr. Nicholas Moss, the health officer in Alameda County, which reported its first six cases of the variant from the U.K. last week. The virus is adapting more quickly than we initially had thought. Public health experts have said for weeks that the United States is in a race against variants, to vaccinate as many people as possible before new mutations of the coronavirus cause even more widespread disease or make the vaccines less effective. That race, they say, is getting tighter. The chance for another surge in California is real, Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of California Health and Human Services, said at a news briefing last week. Reports suggest that a highly infectious variant of the virus that rampaged through the United Kingdom already has a strong foothold in Southern California and could become dominant there within weeks a situation that could lead to another uptick in cases before the region has recovered from the last surge. And across the state another pair of new variants is spreading fast as scientists try to determine if they are more infectious or able to partly evade vaccines. Paul Kuroda / Special to The Chronicle Vaccinations, even with the states bumpy, inconsistent rollout, may help temper another resurgence in cases. But they may not come fast enough to prevent another wave altogether, especially because the older adults being targeted are not the ones generally driving new cases. Some infectious disease experts have suggested reorganizing Californias vaccine priority list to emphasize younger adults who are responsible for most of the spread of disease, but experts say thats unlikely. We dont know what these variants are going to do. But theyre going to keep coming, I think thats a certainty, said Dr. Art Reingold, a UC Berkeley epidemiologist who has consulted on Californias vaccine planning. It means we need to redouble our prevention efforts, and get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible. But should we change the target for how we use limited number of doses? I dont think thats going to happen. There are at least two variants of concern now showing up widely across California. The variant from the U.K. called B.1.1.7 and known to be about 50% more infectious than the original virus from China is quickly gaining traction, primarily in Southern California. On Jan. 11, only 32 cases had been reported in California. By Feb. 4, that number had increased nearly sixfold to 187, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some of the increase is undoubtedly because of ramped-up surveillance. But its also a sign that the variant is spreading fast, infectious disease experts said. A San Carlos company that helps conduct genomic sequencing for the CDC reported last week that it expects the variant to make up the bulk of cases in Southern California in a few weeks, and across the country in a few months. The CDC has said it may dominate nationwide in March. If the variant does explode across Southern California, it will almost certainly take off in the Bay Area too, infectious disease experts say. The region reported its first B.1.1.7 cases 10 days ago, and last week UC Berkeley said that two of its students, who had been almost entirely off campus, were among the six cases identified in Alameda County. Moss said he doesnt believe theres yet community spread of the variant, but he didnt know where the individuals had been exposed to it. Meanwhile, a pair of California-bred variants known as B.1.427 and B.1.429 also are being identified with more frequency, with nearly 1,000 cases reported so far. Scientists dont yet know whether these variants also are more infectious than the original virus or have mutations that could make the vaccine less effective. Theyre conducting those studies now. Two variants discovered in South Africa and Brazil are believed to be less responsive to vaccines, according to multiple studies; theres no such evidence yet for the California variants. At least one vaccine manufacturer is working on a booster that could be administered if any variants develop more significant resistance. Both California variants, which are genetically very similar, became much more widespread during the fall and winter surge, suggesting they could have been a factor. One accounts for up to 40% of the California cases sequenced recently at one Bay Area lab. Both have been tied to large outbreaks including a major cluster at a Kaiser hospital in Santa Clara County that led to more than 90 infections which is another hint that they may be more infectious. Its kind of guilt by association, not science, said Dr. Jeffrey Golden, vice dean of Research and Graduate Education at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, where one of the two variants was identified; the other variant was found by UCSF scientists. But the coincidence of (the variants) coming up so rapidly and becoming such a high percentage right when theres a huge surge is a little suspicious. More than a little suspicious. And both of the California variants have a critical mutation that could make them better able to fend off immune attacks, including those generated by vaccination. Golden said the variant his team identified already shows signs of not responding to one of the experimental monoclonal antibody treatments used for COVID-19. Dr. Charles Chiu, director of the UCSF-Abbott Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center, has done genomic sequencing on a few rare cases of people becoming infected after being fully vaccinated; the vaccines are about 90% to 95% effective, which means a small number of post-immunization cases are to be expected. In the samples hes studied, the people were infected with the B.1.429 variant his lab identified. That may just be coincidence, he said with the vaccines so new, there are too few cases of post-vaccination infection to draw conclusions. Still, it is a little worrisome, he said. The possibility of reduced vaccine effectiveness is something which urgently needs to be explored. And what if the California variants start mingling with the variants from the U.K.? One very slim possibility is an individual becoming infected with two variants at once, then those variants merging into a new one, with the combined mutations, as they replicate within shared cells. Thats highly unlikely, infectious disease experts said. But scientists in the U.K. have started thinking about the possibility, in terms of their variant and one found in South Africa that is known to be at least somewhat resistant to vaccines. In California, experts said they dont know what will happen as the new variants spread more widely. Perhaps theyll simply coexist, or one variant with an evolutionary advantage could end up dominating. The rapid increase in variant cases, though, underscores the urgent need for more surveillance. Helix, the San Carlos genomic sequencing company, escalated its hunt for new variants as concerns grew over B.1.1.7 in the U.K. Along with San Diego sequencing firm Illumina, it started contracting with the CDC a few days before Christmas and had identified its first B.1.1.7 case by the end of the year. The companies have identified 122 cases of B.1.1.7 in California so far. James Lu, chief executive of Helix, said the United States would need to sequence about 5% of its coronavirus cases to quickly identify new variants or efficiently track the spread of known ones. At the moment, the country is sequencing fewer than 1% of all cases. Youll detect new variants at that level, Lu said. Its just a question of how long youre willing to wait to see a signal. And in my view you want to know as soon as possible. As of the end of January, the United States had submitted about 90,000 genomic sequences or about 0.3% of the 24 million cases total to an international database, known as GISAID. The United Kingdom, which is among the world leaders in coronavirus sequencing, had submitted 195,000 sequences, or about 5% of its total cases. California has submitted about 12,000 sequences to GISAID, second in the United States to Texas 15,300 submissions. California has sequenced about 0.4% of its cases and Texas about 0.6%. The total amount of sequencing in the United States is pitiful. Good for Texas, but its not hard to be No. 1 right now, said Dr. Joe DeRisi, co-president of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub in San Francisco, which does about 45% of the genomic sequencing of coronavirus in California. He noted that demand for sequencing has climbed dramatically since the new variants started to surface, which is reflected in the GISAID numbers too: The United States submitted more than a third of its total sequences to the database in January alone. Despite frustration with the pace of sequencing, and concerns over the spread of new variants and the rocky vaccine rollout, infectious disease experts such as DeRisi said they remain hopeful that the end is in sight. Theres a lot of reasons to be optimistic, he said. The vaccines, even if they lose some effectiveness against new variants, are still very powerful, including three that have not yet been approved in the United States but may get emergency authorization in the coming weeks or months. Cases are dropping, as are deaths. Slowly, the vaccination numbers are improving. There will be a time that we get back to normal, DeRisi said. But there has to be patience and some discipline in what we do to get to that point. If we lack that, we run the risk of more stumbling blocks. San Francisco resident Denny Smith, 68, got his first dose of vaccine Monday, and he said hes eager to go to movie theaters and parties and hug and kiss his friends hello. But even though hell be fully vaccinated in about six weeks, he knows hell still have to practice caution, including wearing masks and keeping his distance from others, for many more months. Now he wonders whether the variants will be yet another hurdle toward getting back to normal. I go out every day, or else Id go crazy. I wear a mask. Ive been pretty meticulous. But this staying physically distant is really hard for me, Smith said. Im worried that this is going to affect us for a very long time. Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday Fall: The Mystery Of Robert Maxwell John Preston Viking 18.99 Rating: You never know who youll end up sitting next to. In March 1991, President George H. W. Bush was attending a small lunch party in Washington. By chance, Robert Maxwell had wangled a place next to him. From the other end of the table, their host looked on in horror as Maxwell spent the entire meal sounding off about world affairs. The President was unable to get a word in edgeways. After a while, he just sat there, nodding. The minute Maxwell paused for breath, Bush stood up and explained that he had to be somewhere else. As he left the building, the President was seen mouthing to an aide: Who WAS that guy? Thirty years on, its still a question worth asking. In March 1991, President George H. W. Bush was attending a small lunch party in Washington. By chance, Robert Maxwell (above, in 1984) had wangled a place next to him Eight months after that Washington lunch party, a vast corpse was spotted floating in the sea, 20 miles from the Canary Islands. Maxwell was lying on his back with his legs wide apart, man-spreading to the last. Who WAS that guy? Over the next few days, the great and the good lined up to praise him. For Margaret Thatcher, no one would ever replace his energy, vision and resolve. Neil Kinnock said that everyone would miss his infectious vitality. President Gorbachev deeply grieved. Maxwells own newspaper, the Daily Mirror, devoted 15 pages his death removed a colossus from the scene to praising his achievements. Eight months after that Washington lunch party, a vast corpse was spotted floating in the sea (above, Maxwells daughter Ghislaine, with a portrait of her father) At his funeral, the Israeli President, Chaim Herzog, declared: Kings and barons besieged his doorstep. He was a figure of almost mythological stature. In under a month, they were all eating their words. The colossus was a fraud, the visionary a conman, his empire a lie. Confronted by debts of more than 1 billion, Maxwell had, it turned out, stolen 350 million from Mirror pension funds and 79 million from the pension funds of his other companies. Four weeks earlier I had spent several days going from TV station to TV station telling everyone what a great man Maxwell had been, Charlie Wilson, the familys hapless spokesman, told the author of this mesmerising biography. Now I had to do the whole tour all over again saying what a swine and a disgrace he was. So, who WAS that guy? He was born Jan (possibly Ludvik) Hoch in a village in Czechoslovakia. His parents shared a two-room wooden shack with nine children: the younger ones slept in cots suspended from the ceiling. His father would beat them black and blue; once, when the young Jan vomited in the street, he grabbed him by his hair and rubbed his face in it. At the earliest opportunity, in 1939, with war looming, Jan set off to Budapest to go and fight. Most of his family, including his parents and four of his siblings, were to perish in Auschwitz. He arrived in Liverpool in July 1940, unable to speak a word of English. His plummy, stagey accent can be traced back to the way he had learnt English by imitating Winston Churchills speeches, even though he couldnt understand them. To the end of his days, he never quite mastered the English idiom. They have locked the stable horse after the door had bolted, he would say. IT'S A FACT At the Mirror, Maxwell caught a man smoking in the lift and sacked him, giving him a 250 pay-off . Only later did he learn the man was a courier. Advertisement By the age of 23, he had changed his name four times Jan Hoch to Leslie Jones to Ivan du Maurier to Captain Stone to Robert Maxwell. Throughout his life, he seems to have had no fixed identity, and no centre. But he always liked taking risks, and he emerged from the war with a Military Cross. Comrades noted a ruthless edge to his bullishness: as the war came to an end, he would routinely shoot German civilians and enemy soldiers who were in the process of surrendering. Years later, he told one of his editors of the time he and his soldiers had surrounded an enemy farmhouse. He had shouted in German: Come out with your hands up. You are completely surrounded. They came out and I shot them all with my sub-machine-gun. I thought my boys would be pleased, but all they said was, Thats not fair, sir, those lads had surrendered. Can you understand such an attitude? Working for British intelligence in post-war Germany, he came across a warehouse full of scientific journals, and realised that he had stumbled on a goldmine. Somehow securing worldwide distribution rights, he soon established a publishing empire. But nothing was ever enough: he always wanted more. By the end of the 1950s, he was a multi-millionaire businessman, but this was insufficient. Ive decided to become Prime Minister, he announced. Adopted as Labour candidate for Buckingham, he would be chauffeur-driven from London in his Rolls-Royce, then switch it for an old Rover on the constituency border. Elected in 1964, he soon became known as the biggest gasbag in the Commons. Colleagues failed to share his own high opinion of himself. The only parliamentary office he ever held was the chairmanship of the House of Commons catering sub-committee. Overnight, he turned loss to profit, as promised, but it helped that he juggled the books. To ease the debts, he sold off the parliamentary wine cellar at a fraction of its value to an anonymous buyer; in the meantime, his own wine collection miraculously improved. When his parliamentary career came to an end in 1970, he put all his energy back into his businesses. He always maintained that accountancy was not a science but an art. He yearned to be a press baron, and became increasingly obsessed by the infinitely more successful figure of Rupert Murdoch, who beat him to the ownership of four newspapers: first, the News of the World, then The Sun, then The Times, then Today. I never spoke about him, but he couldnt stop talking about me, Murdoch tells the author. Whatever we did, he wanted to do it too. Also, I could see that he was ruining everything he touched. He was a total buffoon really. Eventually, Maxwell managed to buy the Mirror, largely because no one else wanted it. He promised it would gain a million readers in his first year. Instead, it lost a million. Perhaps they were put off by the way he placed himself centre-stage in its news coverage: in the first six months of his ownership, his face popped up in its pages more than a hundred times. He also liked to promote his own foreign business interests in the paper. Burma: A Country We Have Ignored For Far Too Long, ran one headline. His mendacity knew no bounds. Having launched a 1,000,000 Spot The Ball competition, he told his editor Make sure this doesnt cost me a million and ordered the judges to find the squares that no one had chosen, and then pick them as the winning squares. I have a shelf full of books about frauds, but this one is by far the most enjoyable. By turns self-righteous and revolting, Maxwell makes the perfect villain. If, as President Herzog suggested at his funeral, he was like a figure from mythology, then it was surely a myth about greed. At Maxwell family Christmases, he would cut a 40 lb turkey in half, giving half to his family, and keeping half for himself. His wife had to put a padlock on the larder door, but he was strong enough to break it. He broke in the other day, she told a friend. He ate a pound of cheese, a jar of peanut butter, two jars of caviar, a loaf of bread and a whole chicken in one go. He once ordered a Chinese takeaway for 14, though it was just for him and one other person. His manners were correspondingly gross. He would eat food off other peoples plates when they werent looking. If he didnt like the food his butler brought him, he would simply throw it on the floor. He once ordered a Chinese takeaway for 14, though it was just for him and one other person Peter Jay, who had once been dubbed the cleverest man in Britain, laboured as Maxwells chief of staff for two years. It seemed to me that there was something not so much amoral about him as pre-moral, he tells John Preston. It was as if he was literally uncivilised, like some great woolly mammoth stalking through a primeval forest wholly unaware of things like good and evil. In his chauffeur-driven car, when he finished reading a newspaper he would simply toss it out of the window. His habits grew more disgusting with the crumbling of his empire. Alone in his London penthouse, he employed towels as toilet paper, tossing them on the floor for his servants to clear up. Confronted by such grotesque images, Preston remains wonderfully astute and clear-headed. It is tempting to regard this as an extreme example of his lack of consideration for others. Yet there are other ways of seeing it too: as a reversion to the helplessness of babyhood; or the behaviour of someone who has abandoned any pretence of being civilised and giving in to self-disgust. Maxwells end remains a mystery. Did he jump, or fall, or was he pushed? Preston rules out murder why go to the bother of killing someone at sea when its so much easier on land? His wife Betty said he would never have committed suicide, but the evidence does not support her. It seems unlikely to have been an accident. Why lock your cabin door from the outside, and remove the key, if you are planning to go back in? It looks as though he wanted the crew to think he was still there. An autopsy suggested that Maxwell had clung to the side of the boat until his muscles could bear it no longer. Perhaps Maxwell, the inveterate risk-taker, was somehow dicing with death, suggests his canny biographer. The Netherlands Delays Regulation a Third Time, but Continues to Develop the Final Model Published February 7, 2021 by Lee R The reason for the Netherlands' delay is to optimize its regulation model. The long-awaited Dutch iGaming launch has been delayed for third time New Date Minister for Legal Protection Sander Dekker has pushed back for one month the Dutch Remote Gambling Act (KOA) coming into effect to 1 April 2021, with the date to re-open the market set for 1 October. Measuring Steps The latest delay according to Dekker results from the Government's conclusion that slower implementation of the laws creates a stronger regulation environment: Although the implementation is proceeding energetically, it has now become clear to all involved that careful implementation takes a little more time. Completing Preparations Dekker said the delay provides needed time to for De Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) and the gambling sector to complete preparations. KOA was originally scheduled to enter into law on 1 July 2020, with the market opening six months later on the first day of 2021. In November 2019, the acts start date was pushed back six months to 1 July 2021. Covid Impact Covid disruptions caused the next delay in September 2020, with the new date established as 1 March 2021. This current third delay pushes the law back a full nine months from the original launch date. Robust Self-Exclusion Scheme Target date aside, the development and preparation of one key component of the market remains on schedule for October 1: the Netherlands' unique cross-channel self-exclusion scheme. Addressing MP Concerns In a Q and A with Dutch MP's, Dekker further informed socialist MP Socialist Party politician Michael van Nipsen of the intent to commission a report into the impact of legalised online gambling on lottery sales across other European countries--to distinguish disparities between regions such as the UK and Norway where lottery sales increased following legal iGaming, while falling in other areas including Denmark and Italy. Protecting the Lottery Dekker said the Netherlands would review its online gaming market after three years to determine if lottery sales declined post iGaming regulation, indicating a levy towards sport and good causes could make up any proceeds the lottery loses. Outlook Despite the delays on the surface, the overall development of the regulation model should be trusted to not shake the faith of stakeholders accustomed to the Netherlands' traditionally deliberate pace. KYODO NEWS - Feb 8, 2021 - 08:15 | All, Japan, Coronavirus Parents with kids in some nurseries in Japan have been put on the spot by being asked to consider keeping their kids at home to help reduce the number of children in the facilities' care and curb the risk of coronavirus infections. The requests, made by municipalities in coronavirus hotspot areas, come amid the closure of a number of nurseries due to cluster infections among staff and children. But they also come as the central government asks facilities to stay open as much as possible, and have left parents confused about whether to comply. A 36-year-old mother in Tokyo said she was "in shock" when, immediately after the country's second state of emergency was declared in early January, she was asked by the day-care facility looking after her 2-year-old eldest son if she could keep him at home due to "infection risks in group nursing." The woman, who is currently on child care leave after giving birth to her second son, said she felt unable to object as she wanted her newborn to attend the same facility after she returns to work. The mother then decided to take care of her older kid at home once or twice a week, while continuing to send him to the day-care center on other days. Mentioning factors that may have swayed her into acceptance, she said she had heard rumors about virus outbreaks at other day-care centers close by and felt that the risk of infection was a real one. An official of Tokyo's Shibuya Ward said some parents have welcomed the nurseries' move as they think the municipalities' request makes it easier to get days off work in a Japanese corporate culture that can make taking holidays difficult. But others say they feel troubled by the idea of being asked to refrain from sending their kids to nurseries that remain open, the official said. According to the welfare ministry, a total of 62 facilities had temporarily closed as of Jan. 28 in 11 prefectures including Tokyo, Aichi, Hyogo and Fukuoka after reports of positive cases among staff and children. During the first state of emergency that was in place nationwide in April and May last year, the welfare ministry asked municipalities to consider requesting parents to refrain from sending their children to day-care to reduce the number of kids in the facilities. The move, however, which came while schools were closed, triggered confusion with some municipalities deciding to temporarily shut down day-care centers altogether in principle. Despite the lack of any such request this time from the ministry, a number of Tokyo wards including Setagaya, Meguro and Arakawa, and five municipalities in the neighboring Kanagawa Prefecture such as Sagamihara and Kamakura, have asked parents to refrain from sending their children to day-care since the emergency covering these areas was declared on Jan. 7. Many municipalities have provided refunds by the day to those who have offered to keep their kids at home. A senior official of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said the central government believes the facilities "should be open as a general rule." "So far, we have not been aware of any major troubles, but would like municipalities to endeavor to provide services for those in need, even in the event that they have decided to reduce the number of children in day-care," the official said. "Compared to the virus emergency last spring, we're starting to have a better grasp of anti-virus measures," said Aki Fukoin, who heads a group of parents concerned with nursery school management. "Day-care facilities are important, not just for working parents but for children's growth as well. They should stay open as much as possible while limiting the risk of infections," she added. Editor's note: Stephen Ndegwa is a Nairobi-based communication expert, lecturer-scholar at the United States International University-Africa, author and international affairs columnist. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. The mixed feelings that greeted U.S. President Joe Biden's inaugural foreign policy address on February 4 have left many foreign affairs experts and international relations analysts unsure of America's foreign policy anchoring. For the avoidance of doubt, Biden's foreign policy is basically a reflection of America's interests overseas. The issues that he tackled in his speech addressed various hotspots that interfere with the country's strategic geopolitical interests, stressing that there is no difference between foreign and domestic policy "Every action we take in our conduct abroad, we must take with American working families in mind. Foreign policy will be one of Biden's biggest headaches. His speech gave hints of a superpower trying hard to remain relevant in a world that seems to have moved to a post-America era. The president's stress that "America is back" sounded like a war cry to those that might have dismissed the superpower following its compounded misfortunes in 2020. Biden's attempt at flexing his muscles against Russia on accusations of interfering with the U.S. electoral process, and demanding the release of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny "immediately and without condition" cannot be expected to move Moscow. The opportunity for a more diplomatic approach seems to have been lost even after both countries extended the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty for another five years on January 3. Following up on his recent threats to slap Myanmar with sanctions, Biden called out the new military regime on account of its affront to democracy. But it is unlikely that the new administration will budge on account of such threats. America's dictatorial stance could actually end up compromising its credibility in South East Asia in the likely event that its threats do not achieve the intended outcome. There can be no major U.S. foreign policy pronouncements that exclude China. While acknowledging that the latter is a worthy competitor, Biden on the other hand could not fail pouring cold water on the emergence of the world's second largest economy as an equal partner that it cannot talk down to anymore. From the foregoing examples, Biden can be accused of weaponizing democracy by forcing other countries to adopt America's brand of democratic values. He is not averse to real war either, the reason why he said the U.S. will invest in both military hardware and software mainly to defend itself against foreign aggression and identify and prevent attacks. He also stopped the drawdown of American troops in Germany, which shows anticipation of armed conflicts in the future. Still, Biden requires more empathy than criticism. The work ahead is not enviable, especially because he will have to clean up the mess of his predecessor Donald Trump. This includes revoking cantankerous executive decisions Trump made on climate change, immigration, foreign trade, among others. Observers were also expecting Biden to talk about the fight against global terrorism and, most of all, the COVID-19 pandemic. The latter is of utmost importance due to its widespread social and economic devastation. Biden also adeptly sidestepped the Middle East crisis, which basically pits Israel and some of its Islamic neighbors. He did mention the U.S. getting involved in restoring Yemen through restarting peace talks, the reopening of humanitarian corridors, and the withdrawal of the U.S. from combat in the country. Of course, America's soft center for Saudi Arabia, its key ally in the region, came out with promises of protection. Either by default or by design, Africa seems to have been left out in Biden's scheme of things. His speech mentioned key allies in Europe, Asia, and Oceania. It is really not a surprise, given that Biden's predecessors also generally gave the continent a wide berth, directing the bulk of resources to places it can get more return on its geopolitical investment. The world is not static and global developments are becoming increasingly fluid. That could be the underlying factor behind Biden's gloved aggression. Changing dynamics require careful treading as the pandemic fundamentally realigned much of the status quo in 2020 Ultimately, Biden needs to make more friends than enemies by removing the bad blood that Trump left behind in his administration's relations with both friend and foe. Further, he must resist the temptation to keep meddling in the internal affairs of other countries and respect their right to exercise self-determination. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... NEW ORLEANS You just cant keep a good city down, especially when Mardi Gras is coming. All around New Orleans, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus outbreak canceled the elaborate parades mobbed by crowds during the Carnival season leading to Fat Tuesday. Some smaller groups announced no-parade plans before the city did. Pandemic replacements include scavenger hunts for signature trinkets that normally would be thrown from floats or handed out from a streetcar, as well as outdoor art and drive-thru or virtual parades. The prominent Krewe of Bacchus has an app where people can catch and trade virtual trinkets during Carnival and watch a virtual parade Feb. 14, when the parade had been scheduled. But the house float movement started almost as soon as a New Orleans spokesman announced Nov. 17 that parades were off. That morning, Megan Joy Boudreaux posted what she later called a silly Twitter joke: Were doing this. Turn your house into a float and throw all the beads from your attic at your neighbors walking by. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ But the more she thought about it, the more she liked it. She started a Facebook group, the Krewe of House Floats, expecting a few friends and neighbors to join. The numbers rose. Thirty-nine subgroups evolved to discuss neighborhood plans. By Carnival seasons official start Jan. 6, the group had more than 9,000 members, including out-of-state expats. About 3,000, including a few as far afield as England and Australia, will have their houses on an official online map, said Charlotte Charlie Jallans-Daly, one of two mapmakers. Houses are to be decorated at least two weeks before Fat Tuesday, which is Feb. 16 this year. With widespread addresses and two weeks to gawk, the hope is that people will spread out widely in time and space. I didnt think I was starting a Mardi Gras krewe. Here I am, Boudreaux said. Ive got myself a second full-time job. Discussions in the Facebook groups include how-tos, ads for props and neighborhood themes. Artists have given livestreamed outdoor lessons. Katie Bankens posted that her blocks theme was Shark Week staycation paradise. When a resident worried that she was not crafty enough, administrator Carley Sercovich replied that if they could play music and throw trinkets to neighbors, you are perfect for this Krewe! Boudreaux also suggested that people could hire or buy from out-of-work Carnival artists and suppliers hit by the parade cancellation. A spreadsheet of artists and vendors followed. One of them, artist Dominic Dom Graves, booked more than 20 five-person classes in professional papier mache techniques, at $100 a person. Devin DeWulf, who already had started two pandemic charities as head of the Krewe of Red Beans walking club, kicked the house float idea up a few notches at the suggestion of Caroline Thomas, a professional float designer. Their Hire a Mardi Gras Artist crowdfunded lotteries collected enough money to put crews to work decorating 11 houses, plus commissioned work at two more houses and seven businesses. Weve put about 40 people to work, which is nice, DeWulf said. With Mardi Gras approaching, he said a 12th lottery would be the last. One commissioned house is rented by a pair of nuns. Sisters Mary Ann Specha and Julie Walsh, who run a shelter for homeless women with children, had to get permission for their own crowdfunding from the motherhouse of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dubuque, Iowa. They loved it, Specha said. The crowdfunded decorations may be auctioned after Mardi Gras to raise more money, DeWulf said. Several mansions along a short stretch of St. Charles Avenue had elaborate displays with signs noting their creation by one of the citys biggest float-making studios. Tom Fox, whose wife, Madeline, painted a SpongeBob SquarePants scene and made jellyfish from dollar store bowls, said he thinks a new tradition may have begun. Even when Mardi Gras comes back, I think people are going to keep doing this, he said. EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part two of a three part series looking into the need for broadband access in Manistee and Benzie counties, studying the data and how local providers are expanding. Part two will focus on federal funding and how it could be used. FRANKFORT Perhaps nothing has highlighted the need for broadband internet access more than the coronavirus pandemic, but there are many groups working locally and nationally to try to bring rural areas up to speed. However, finding reliable data on local coverage is difficult. The broadband subcommittee of the Benzie County Economic Development Corporation has performed a lot of legwork to gather data on existing coverage from the Federal Communications Commission. "However, people in the know realize the FCC data is notorious for not being very accurate, or granular. It's not clear on actual coverage, and is too optimistic. It says Benzie has 90% broadband coverage," said Paula Figura, chair of the subcommittee. Figura said FCC data comes from what internet providers self-report on coverage and speed, and are allowed to use advertise speeds instead of actual speeds available, as well as broadly estimate how wide their coverage is, using U.S. Census block data. "If one household in a block has access, the whole block is counted as having access," she said. "How are we supposed to know what areas are underserved?" However, there could some help on the horizon. In December, the FCC announced that FCC Auction funds were being allocated to internet providers in Michigan to expand broadband to Michigan residents living in rural areas. According to the FCC, the term broadband refers to high-speed internet access that is always on and is faster than dial-up access. Broadband includes several transmission technologies: Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), cable modem, fiber, wireless, satellite and broadband over powerlines (BPL). A news release stated that "an estimated 388,000 rural Americans living and working in Michigan will gain access to high-speed broadband through the Commissions Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction." The auction allocated nearly $363 millions for almost 250,000 unserved homes and businesses over the next 10 years. It will provide access to broadband with speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps with 80% getting gigabit-speed broadband, according to the news release. In Benzie County, Charter Communications was awarded $1.198 million, Cherry Capital Connection received $125,678 and Kansas-based Mercury Wireless received $192,173 to expand coverage to a combined total of 2,077 locations. In Manistee County, Charter Communications was awarded $1.650 million, Cherry Capital Connection was awarded $36,717, Mercury Wireless was awarded $279,196 and Point Broadband Fiber Holding was awarded $172,468 to expand coverage to a combined total of 1,727 locations. Charter Communications on Feb. 1 announced a "multiyear, multibillion-dollar broadband buildout initiative to deliver gigabit high-speed broadband access to more than 1 million unserved customer locations, as estimated by the Federal Communications Commission and awarded to Charter in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I auction." Charter officials said they expect to invest about $5 billion to support their buildout initiative; this will be offset by $1.2 billion in support from the RDOF auction and "expanding Charters network to lower-density, mostly rural communities that do not have access to broadband service of at least 25/3 Mbps." Bill Morand, senior director of communications for Michigan, said in an emailed statement that the FCC established a six-year compliance window for all participants beginning Dec. 31. "Charter is confident in its ability to complete its RDOF-related build by 2027, given the favorable tax environment and light-touch regulatory climate in place, which promote the long-term investments in communications infrastructure that the country needs," he said. "If however, the necessary state applications arent approved until 2022, then Charter would have through Dec. 31, 2028, to complete that particular states RDOF-related build." However, there is some doubt at the county level that the funding and effort will expand coverage the way it is needed. Rick Coates, executive director of the Benzie County Chamber of Commerce, said big service providers are more likely to spend the money to expand coverage in a way that benefits them the most, not the community as a whole. "We have to do what's right by Benzie County and northern Michigan, get a plan and program in place the providers can use, and it will have to be created through the leadership of counties, schools, chambers and collectives. We have to make a map of what it is we want." Marc Miller, economic development director for the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce, agrees. "The challenges of providing broadband to rural areas is we need to have government assistance and direction in order to make it a viable business venture," he said. "We're looking to engage partners and be a part of the solutions but it is going to take a larger effort to accomplish this across the region." RELATED 'We have to start talking about why broadband is not a luxury' If you think the title is a joke, it isn't. Indeed, just the other day, a "Twitter spokesperson" expressed alarm about actions that "undermine the public conversation and the rights of people to make their voices heard." You are wrong if you think this "Twitter spokesperson" meant Twitter's ban on President Trump. Not in the least. The spokesperson is appalled by Twitter's having been shut down in a country far from U.S. borders: Myanmar (Burma). Here's a report citing reactions from Facebook and Twitter: Rafael Frankel, Facebook's director of public policy, APAC emerging countries, said in a statement to The Verge that the company was "extremely concerned" by the shutdown orders, and urged authorities to unblock access immediately. "At this critical time, the people of Myanmar need access to important information and to be able to communicate with their loved ones," Frankel said. A Twitter spokesperson echoed that concern, saying in an email to The Verge that the order "undermines the public conversation and the rights of people to make their voices heard. The Open Internet is increasingly under threat around the world. We will continue to advocate to end destructive government-led shutdowns." Twitter has a good opportunity to lead by example. Isn't it a good moment to show that it indeed values "the public conversation and the rights of people to make their voices heard" by restoring President Trump's access and apologizing to the American people for cutting it off in the first place? Isn't it time to restore the accounts of so many Americans it banned from its platform for voicing their opinions? Defending free speech overseas while suppressing it at home rings hollow. Charity begins at home. Image: Esther Vargas via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped). There is no evidence that the virus originated there but hypothetically, there are all conditions for the spread of the virus there, Vladimir Dedkov, a member of the World Health Organisations (WHO) expert team, was quoted as saying by Sputnik. The seafood market was linked to an early cluster of COVID-19 cases, but scientists are yet to come to an unequivocal conclusion regarding the role it played in the contagion. Dedkov also refuted the theory of a virus leakage while visiting the Wuhan Institute of Virology along with nine other WHO experts on Wednesday. Of course, it was important for our mission to visit this facility, talk to our colleagues and see how everything is organised there, the expert said. The laboratory is perfectly equipped. It is hard for me to imagine that something could have leaked from there, he added. Source: Vanguard 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 Conjoined baby twins born in war-ravaged Yemen were taken to Jordan Saturday for separation surgery, the UN children's agency said, almost two months after a hospital warned they were in critical condition. Born in the Yemeni capital Sanaa in mid-December, "an echocardiogram showed that each of the two children had their own heart, though the position of the heart of one of them is not normal," Majda al-Khatib, director of Al-Sabeen hospital, told AFP at the time. The facility's "low capacity" prevented doctors from accurately determining "which organs are connected", she added. UNICEF said Saturday that the twins "have been medically evacuated this morning to Amman, Jordan, where they will undergo a separation surgery". "Following weeks of arrangements... they are now in the safe hands of a team of expert surgeons. We hope to see them back soon in Sanaa in good health," Philippe Duamelle, UNICEF representative to Yemen, was quoted as saying in a statement. The Yemeni capital has been controlled since 2014 by Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who are fighting an internationally recognised government that is supported by a Saudi-led military coalition. The conflict has devastated health services already under-resourced in the Arab world's poorest country. Sanaa's airport is closed to commercial flights due to an air blockade imposed by the Saudi-led coalition, though UN flights are permitted. The twins' 35-year-old mother and father had accompanied the babies on the trip, UNICEF said. The agency said it had been able to cover the operation's medical and logistical expenses thanks to "generous contributions from multiple private individual donors". In February 2019, a pair of conjoined baby boys in need of urgent treatment died in Sanaa two weeks after their birth. Their plight had sparked a plea for urgent medical treatment overseas. Yemen's conflict has precipitated the world's worst humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations. 2021 AFP Somalia has one of the highest rates of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the world. According to the latest Somali Health and Demographic Survey, 99 per cent of women between the ages of 15 and 49 have been subjected to this extremely harmful and unacceptable practice. "FGM is a harmful practice that scars girls and women and endangers their health for life depriving them of their rights and denying them the chance to reach their full potential," UNFPA Representative for Somalia Anders Thomsen said. "I would like to reiterate the call on the Government of Somalia to pass the zero tolerance for FGM legislation and the Sexual Offences Bill to act expeditiously to end the practice and protect the rights of girls and women." There are various forms of FGM practiced and two out of three Somali women have undergone the most extreme type of FGM called pharaonic or infibulation. "Girls as young as five years old are subjected to FGM without a choice and it is a clear violation of their protection rights," said Jesper Moller, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Somalia. "We must collectively renew our commitment to ending this harmful practice and work with all stakeholders to change attitudes so that the next generation of girls can live healthier lives." There are many reasons that FGM is almost universally practiced in Somalia including the fact that many religious and community leaders encourage the practice, wrongly justifying it as a religious necessity. Families also view cutting as a way of protecting their daughter's chastity and that it is a prerequisite for marriage. Through a variety of programmes, UNICEF and UNFPA are working with communities to change those attitudes and educate families on the life-threatening consequences of forcing young girls to undergo FGM. However, alongside those efforts to change traditional beliefs, it is also critical that the Government of Somalia take action to eliminate this abhorrent practice. Therefore, on International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, UNICEF and UNFPA call on the Government to revive efforts for passage of the FGM Bill which has been stuck in the legislative process for several years. Providing a legal framework which bans FGM will empower families and communities to stand firm and refuse to let their daughters be cut, putting an end to this gross violation of human rights. Amid mounting international pressure over its perceived crackdown on dissent, Russia has expelled three diplomats from Germany, Sweden, and Poland, prompting an angry response from the European Union. Moscow says the diplomats joined unauthorized protests supporting opposition activist Alexei Navalny, who was jailed earlier this week. By Stefan J. Bos A large crowd braved the winter weather to walk towards the Moscow prison where opposition leader Alexei Navalny is being held. This week a court sentenced Navalny to a prison camp for two years and eight months for alleged embezzlement, imprisoning President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critic despite a public outcry. He has called the charges and detention politically motivated. Protesters here agree and demand his immediate release. Some shouted: "We are unarmed!". But the police were not impressed. "Citizens, this is an unauthorized event," they exclaimed. "Clear the road." Many protesters carried a toilet brush. It has become the rallies' symbol after Navalny alleged that a palace owned by President Vladimir Putin contains an $800 toilet brush. Thousands have been detained in these and other protests in recent weeks. People not only express anger about Navalny's detention. They are also furious about the reported massive corruption within Russia's leadership and President Putin's perceived failed policies. And they have received support from Western diplomats. Russia confirms expulsions The Russian foreign ministry said three German, Swedish, and Polish diplomats were expelled from Russia for participating in what it calls "illegal "illegal demonstrations" last month. Germany denounced the expulsion as being "in no way justified" and said it would not "go unanswered" if Russia did not reconsider. Sweden said the claim that its diplomat took part in the protest on 23 January was unfounded and said it reserved the right to an appropriate response. And Poland said the expulsion could lead to the "further deepening of the crisis in bilateral relations." European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on behalf of the EU that he "strongly condemned" the expulsions and rejected allegations that they conducted activities incompatible with their status as foreign diplomats." The expulsions also came after he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. EU detention concerns At the meeting, Borrel denounced the detention of Russian opposition leader Navalny, who narrowly survived a poisoning attack with a nerve agent. "I have conveyed to Minister Lavrov our deep concern and reiterated our appeal to his release and the launch of an impartial investigation into his poisoning," he said. However, Lavrov expressed concern about the Russian-EU relationship. "It is true that they [the Russian-EU relations] are not at their best. That is partly due to the illegitimate restrictions introduced by the EU under a trumped-up pretext," Lavrov complained. Russian Minister Lavrov referred to the EU's trade and financial sanctions imposed after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014. Lavrov also warned that any European sanctions over Navalny's treatment would be "illegitimate." Officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) in the Ashanti Region have begun receiving nomination forms filed by persons seeking to contest in the Council of State elections for the region. It opened nominations for the election of regional representatives to the Council of State on Monday ahead of the poll slated for February 12, 2021. The commission explained that every nomination must be proposed and seconded by two registered voters and supported by 20 registered voters in the region and the consent of the candidate must be endorsed. It said copies of the nomination forms may be downloaded free of charge from the ECs website (www.ec.gov.gh) and completed in triplicate. Benjamin Bannor-Bio, Ashanti Regional Director of the Commission, said three persons had successfully filed their nominations to contest for the Council of State regional elections and indicated that as it is required by law, every region must have a representative on the Council of State and in line with preparation from February 1 to 4 applicants had started filing. This time they (applicants) did not have to come to our office to pick the forms but download them from our website and print them out and after completion, they submit within the stated time period. They need to get a proposer and a seconder and 20 other persons to serve as supporters and all of them must be registered voters in the region and the candidate must also be a registered voter in the region. So far, we have received nominations from three candidates and others are also working on completing the processes of filling the forms and filing same and one of the aspirants expressed his intention for contesting the polls, Mr Bannor-Bio disclosed. I stand for the youth, I must say I have the course of the youth at heart because there must be a bridge of the gap between the youth, the grassroots, and the presidency again we can say that there is a lot of abandoned projects. If I become a member of the Council of State, periodically I will meet with the Ashanti Regional Caucus of the Members of Parliament, the ministers from the region, and the Chief Executive Officers of the various agencies of the government to sit and find ways of making the region better, she stated and pleaded anonymity. 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 Source: Xinhua| 2021-02-07 00:08:22|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for cooperation on maintaining multilateralism, vaccine and green development between China and Europe. Li made the remarks on Friday while attending a high-level virtual dialogue with European business leaders via video link. Li said China will remain committed to opening up and work to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. He called on all parties to meet each other halfway, jointly safeguard international consensus such as multilateralism, and follow the rules-based multilateral trading system and the principle of fair competition. The completion of China-EU investment agreement negotiations demonstrated the joint efforts the two sides have made in upholding international rules and common aspiration for pushing economic and trade cooperation to a higher level, Li said. Citing the successful cooperation between European and Chinese companies on vaccine production, Li said it once again confirmed that maintaining the stability of the global industrial and supply chains is of key importance for work and production resumption in all countries, and safeguarding the health and well-being of human beings. "China will continue to strengthen cooperation with all parties on vaccine and drug research and development, so as to better safeguard the health and safety of the people," Li said. On tackling climate change, Li said China, as a major manufacturing country, is committed to making use of existing stock of resources and insisting on promoting the shift to low-carbon energy and green transformation of the economy and society in the process of advancing high-quality development. There are broad prospects for China-Europe cooperation in green development, digital economy and smart manufacturing, Li said, expressing the hope that the European side will open wider to China in the fields including clean energy technology. "China is willing to strengthen cooperation in relevant fields with the European side to better benefit all mankind," Li said. The high-level dialogue was moderated by Peter Mandelson, ex-European trade commissioner and former British first secretary of state, and attended by business leaders representing close to 30 leading European companies including VOLVO, Airbus, JCDecaux, AstraZeneca, L'Oreal, BASF, and SAP. Participants including Mandelson said that the pandemic further highlights the importance of multilateralism and global cooperation, and a strong Europe-China partnership will lead the international community to jointly respond to global challenges. Noting that the completion of EU-China investment agreement negotiations released positive signals, they said the European business community looks forward to advancing the approval and full implementation of the investment agreement, and is willing to expand cooperation with China in green development, digital transformation, financial investment, and climate change. Enditem Now, in the winter of our COVID-19 pandemic, there are two mysteries to be solved, though less diverting than a previous puzzle. In November 1980, more than 80 million people tuned in to watch the CBS Network program, the pop culture soap opera Dallas, to find out who had attempted to murder the villain of the show, Texas oil magnate J.R. Ewing. The slogan, "Who shot J.R.?," had been coined by an advertising agency to stimulate interest in the program. It became a U.S. national catchphrase and helped cause a global phenomenon of viewers eager to guess who was responsible for the attempted murder. All the characters in the show were suspects before the culprit was finally revealed in the fourth episode of Season Four. Ewing was a villain, a man who deceived his business associates, a nasty man, greedy and passionate, who plotted against his family and was cruel to his wife, who was committed to a sanitorium, but he was also an interesting character, fun to watch. In many ways, the character of J.R. resembles King Richard III, at least in fictional presentation as Shakespeare's anti-hero, depicted as a villain, Duke of Gloucester, plotting his way to the British throne and murdering everyone who stands in his way. However, the solution to the issue of J.R. was made known, but the actions and responsibility of Gloucester vis-a-vis murder are still controversial. This is in line with the historical reality that the nature of some deaths or misdeeds are still in question. To name a few that are questionable and intriguing: Was playwright Christopher Marlowe killed in May 1593, aged 29, in a drinking brawl in a pub in London, or was he a government spy who escaped? Did Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, while composing his Requiem, die on December 5, 1791, aged 35, of a physical disorder, or was he murdered by a jealous rival? Was Napoleon Bonaparte, in exile on the island of St. Helena, poisoned, or did he die of stomach cancer on May 5, 1821? More recent is the lack of certainty over the deaths of Hollywood superstars Marilyn Monroe on August 5, 1962 of an overdose of barbiturates, or by a conspiracy of murder and Natalie Wood on November 29, 1981 of "drowning plus undetermined factors." It was Sir Thomas More, a courtier of King Henry VIII whose book originated the issue of regicide the result of actions of the Duke of Gloucester, who became King Richard III, who became lord protector, acting as regent after the death of Edward IV, in 1483, and who locked up the two legal heirs to the throne, the youngsters Edward V, aged 12, and Richard, Duke of York, aged 9, in the Tower of London, where they disappeared. Shakespeare, influenced by More, portrayed Richard as a hunchbacked, deformed, "rudely stamped," monstrous tyrant who was determined to prove a villain and become a murderer. However, other explanations are necessary. Richard was not a hunchback, though he had scoliosis, nor did he have a withered arm. Like J.R. in Dallas, his character is fundamentally flawed by his ambition for power and his manipulations to achieve it. Though the world of medieval politics differed from Texas behavior, Richard and J.R. were similar in being power-hungry, mistrustful, ruthless. The key question is whether Richard did order the murder of the two young princes or whether this argument was the fictional presentation by Shakespeare in a role as a propagandist on behalf of the Tudors to blacken the name of the previous king and increase support for the new ruling house. In the 1670s, the bones of the two boys were found in the Tower of London, and in the 1930s, the remains were scientifically re-examined. The controversy over the deaths of the boys and of the behavior of Richard was reignited by actions beginning in 2012. Richard was killed on August 22, 1485 in the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last important battle of the Wars of the Roses between the Lancaster (red rose) and York (white rose) families. He was buried in a grave in a church in Leicester, but the tomb was lost. A search for his body began in 2012. Excavation in a public car park in Leicester found the skeleton of a man who had scoliosis. After DNA testing and using other evidence, the conclusion was that the skeleton was indeed that of Richard. His remains were reinterred in March 2015 in Leicester Cathedral. The remains may have been found, but the debate on Richard, his character, his motives continues. In this age of fake news, can Shakespeare's compelling critical presentation of the last of the kings of the house of York, and of the Plantagenet kings, be regarded as propaganda to support the claims to the throne of the Tudor monarchs, since the claim of Richmond, who replaced Richard and became Henry IV, was not strong? Was Richard a ruthless seeker of power, an attractive monster, or was he justified in his actions and as a brave king, who was the last to die in battle and who ruled for two years, 14831485, due to hostility against him? Richard was abused and insulted by almost everyone as a fiend, a devil, a murderous villain, and unfit for any place but hell. The prediction was, "Bloody will be thy end." If there some lingering doubts about Richard III, utter villain or attractive, maligned character, there are none about Jimmy Hoffa, who had a colorful life and has had an even longer career in death. Jimmy Hoffa was president of the Teamsters Union for ten years, 195767, during which he made it the most powerful union in the U.S. but also became involved with organized crime, thus drawing the attention of legal officials, especially Robert Kennedy. Hoffa was arrested and sentenced for jury tampering, attempted bribery, and pension fraud to 13 years in prison, spending his time in Lewisburg Federal Prison, from where he was released after five years in 1971. He received a pardon from President Nixon on the condition that he avoid any union activity. But after release, Hoffa tried to regain the presidency of the Teamsters, a position occupied by Frank Fitzsimmons, his former deputy. To gain support, Hoffa spoke of exposing the infiltration of the "mob," the Mafia, into the union. On July 30, 1975, Hoffa went to the Machus Red Fox restaurant, about 25 miles from Detroit, to meet two individuals: Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone, Detroit mobster, and Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano of the Genovese Family. But the two never showed up, and Hoffa waited in the parking lot of the restaurant, during which time he called his wife to say he was being stood up. He disappeared without trace. There is no question of Hoffa's character and past behavior, but his disappearance has spawned imagination about his fate. A surprisingly large number of unsavory individuals claim knowledge of that fate or even profess to have murdered him. Perhaps the most remarkable outcome was portrayed in the 2019 film The Irishman directed by Martin Scorsese, which depicts Hoffa being shot by a man named Frank Sheeran, a Teamster official in Delaware and a mobster hit man, ordered to do so by Russell Bufalino, Pennsylvania mob boss. An additional intriguing note in this narrative is that one character in the film, a crime boss, obliquely referring to the assassination on November 22, 1963 of JFK, says, "If they can knock off a president, they can knock off the president of a union." Other powerful enemies also claim the honor of murder. One is Salvatore "Sally Bugs" Briguglio, also known as the "torturer," who was himself later murdered in March 1978 on Mulberry Street, in New York's Little Italy. We still do not know who killed Jimmy Hoffa. Equally, we do not know where his body or remains are to be found. They are said to be in the Florida Everglades; under the field at Giants stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey; in a landfill in Jersey City, co-owned by Paul Cappola and Phil Moscato. Yet hope is not lost. A news report by Fox Nation TV on February 1, 2021 states that it had used radar experts to locate underground material where Hoffa may be lying in a 55-gallon steel drum in a dump in New Jersey. In this picturesque account, the container with his body was dumped in a hole, and then more steel drums were put on top of it. Those looking for Hoffa will therefore find him beneath the Pulaski Skyway in a landfill now owned by the New Jersey Department of Transportation. Image: nadjadonauer via Pixabay, Pixabay License. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a day's visit to poll-bound Assam and West Bengal on February 7 to lay the foundation stone for several infrastructure projects. According to a government statement, Modi will visit Assam on Sunday around 11.45 a.m. and will lay the foundation stone of two hospitals and launch `Asom Mala`, a programme for state highways and major district roads, at Dhekiajuli in the state`s Sonitpur district. Later on the same day, the Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Haldia in West Bengal around 4.50 p.m. There, he will lay the foundation stone of key infrastructure projects. The statement said Modi will dedicate to the nation the LPG import terminal built by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited in West Bengal, which has been constructed with an investment of around Rs 1,100 crore and has a capacity of one million metric tonne per annum. It said that LPG import terminal will cater to the growing requirement of LPG in West Bengal and other states in eastern and north-eastern India and is an important step towards realizing the vision of the Prime Minister to provide clean cooking LPG to every household. The Prime Minister will also dedicate to the nation the 348 km Dobhi-Durgapur Natural Gas Pipeline section, which is part of the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project. According to the government, the pipeline will help revival of HURL Sindri (Jharkhand) fertiliser plant, supply gas to Matix Fertilizer Plant in Durgapur (West Bengal) and cater to gas demand of industrial, commercial and automobile sectors, and city gas distribution across all major towns in the state. Modi will then lay the foundation stone of the second Catalytic-Isodewaxing unit of Haldia Refinery of Indian Oil Corporation, which will have a capacity of 270 thousand metric tonne per annum, and once commissioned, is expected to result in a saving of about $185 million in foreign exchange. Modi will also dedicate to the nation the four lane ROB-cum-flyover at Ranichak, Haldia on NH 41, which has been built at the cost of Rs 190 crore. The statement said that these projects are in line with Prime Minister`s vision of Purvodaya, of driving growth of Eastern India. Governor and Chief Minister of West Bengal, and Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas will be present on the occasion. In Assam, the Prime Minister will launch 'Asom Mala', aimed at helping improve state highways and major district roads network in the state. It said that the programme is unique for its emphasis on effective maintenance through continuous field data collection and its linkage with the Road Asset Management System. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will also be present on the occasion. The Prime Minister will then lay the foundation stone of two medical colleges and hospitals, which are being set up at Biswanath and Charaideo, at a total estimated project cost of over Rs 1,100 crore. It said that each hospital will have 500 bed capacity and 100 MBBS seats capacity. Live TV TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Irans supreme leader on Sunday urged the United States to lift all sanctions if it wants Iran to live up to commitments under its nuclear deal with world powers, state TV reported, his first comments on the matter since U.S. President Joe Biden took office. If (the U.S.) wants Iran to return to its commitments, it must lift all sanctions in practice, then we will do verification then we will return to our commitments, state TV quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying. Former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. in 2018 from the atomic deal, which saw Iran agree to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Biden has said he will seek to revive the deal, but insisted that Iran must first reverse its nuclear steps, creating a contest of wills between the nations. This is the definitive and irreversible policy of the Islamic Republic, and all of the countrys officials are unanimous on this, and no one will deviate from it, Khamenei added Sunday, reiterating Iranian leaders' previous remarks that the U.S. must ease its sanctions before Iran comes back into compliance. The supreme leader, 81, has the final say on all matters of state in Iran and approved the efforts at reaching the nuclear deal in 2015. In response to Trump's so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran, the country began to gradually violate its atomic commitments, and threatened further provocations in a bid to increase its leverage and get Biden to prioritize a return to the deal as he moves to dismantle Trumps legacy. Biden has signed a series of executive actions that reverse course on a wide range of issues, including climate change and immigration. Following the killing last December of an Iranian scientist credited with spearheading the country's disbanded military nuclear program, Iran's parliament approved a law to block international nuclear inspectors later this month a serious violation of the accord. Iran also has begun enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade levels and said it would experiment with uranium metals, a key component of a nuclear warhead. The country has announced its moves and insisted that all breaches of the pact are easily reversible. Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Two teenagers have been arrested after vandals torched three of Britain's most expensive beach huts worth up to 300,000 each at a Dorset beauty spot. Three beach huts were set alight and a further 30 were broken into during an incident at Hengistbury Head, Dorset, in the early hours of Saturday. Dorset Police confirmed a 19-year-old man from Christchurch was arrested on suspicion of arson and burglary and is currently assisting detectives with their inquiries. A 15-year-old boy from Bournemouth, who was previously arrested on suspicion of arson and burglary, has been released on police bail pending further inquiries. The beach huts in Hengistbury Head, Dorset, which are some of the UK's most expensive, were burnt beyond repair One hut has been completely destroyed, another only a charred shell remains and a third suffered extensive damage. There are around 360 huts on the Mudeford Spit There was nobody inside any of the buildings and no-one was injured during the incident. Detective Inspector Andrew Kennard, of Bournemouth CID, said: 'Our investigation into this incident remains ongoing and I am still keen to hear from anyone who was in the area and witnessed what happened. 'If you have any information that may assist my investigation and have not yet spoken to police, please get in touch. Beach hut owner Stephen Bath. The wooden huts at the desirable Mudeford Spit in Christchurch, Dorset, now sell for about 325,000 thanks to the picturesque location Two teenagers, aged 15 and 19, have been arrested in connection with the blazes at the beach huts 'We are continuing to work with Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council to identify the owners of all the beach huts involved in this incident. 'I would like to renew my appeal to anyone who owns a beach hut that has been affected and has not yet been contacted by either the council or the police to get in touch.' The beach huts, which have spectacular views of the Dorset coastline, regularly fetch up to 300,000 when they are sold. Dorset Police were alerted to a report that three beach huts were on fire at 2.40am today by the fire service. An officer inspects a cordoned off beach hut that appears to have been broken into on Saturday On attending officers established that a further 30 of the 360 beach huts on the picturesque Mudeford Spit had been broken into, with doors and windows smashed. A website offering some of the huts for holiday lets describes them as 'pretty much the only beach huts in the country where you can stay overnight' - thankfully nobody was inside any of the beach huts and no one was injured during the incident. One hut has been completely destroyed, only a charred shell remains of another and a third suffered extensive damage. By Pepe Escobar February 07, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - The (jade) elephant in the elaborate room housing the military coup in Myanmar had to be what else China. And the Tatmadaw the Myanmar Armed Forces knows it better than anyone. Theres no smoking gun, of course, but its virtually impossible that Beijing had not been at least informed, or consulted, by the Tatmadaw on the new dispensation. China, Myanmars top trade partner, is guided by three crucial strategic imperatives in the relationship with its southern neighbor: trade/connectivity via a Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) corridor; full access to energy and minerals; and the necessity of cultivating a key ally within the 10-member ASEAN. The BRI corridor between Kunming, in Chinas Yunnan province, via Mandalay, to the port of Kyaukphyu in the Gulf of Bengal is the jewel in the New Silk Road crown, because it combines Chinas strategic access to the Indian Ocean, bypassing the Strait of Malacca, with secured energy flows via a combined oil and gas pipeline. This corridor clearly shows the centrality of Pipelineistan in the evolution of the New Silk Roads. None of that will change, whoever runs the politico-economic show in Myanmars capital Naypyidaw. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Aung San Suu Kyi, locally known as Amay Suu (Mother Suu) were discussing the China-Myanmar economic corridor only three weeks before the coup. Beijing and Naypyidaw have clinched no less than 33 economic deals only in 2020. We just want eternal peace Something quite extraordinary happened earlier this week in Bangkok. A cross-section of the vast Myanmar diaspora in Thailand which had been ballooning since the 1990s met in front of the UNs Asia-Pacific office. They were asking for the international reaction to the coup to ignore the inevitable, incoming U.S. sanctions. Their argument: sanctions paralyze the work of citizen entrepreneurs, while keeping in place a patronage system that favors the Tatmadaw and deepens the influence of Beijing at the highest levels. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Newsletter Yet this is not all about China. The Tatmadaw coup is an eminently domestic affair which involved resorting to the same old school, CIA-style method that installed them as a harsh military dictatorship way back in 1962. Elections this past November reconfirmed Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the NLD, in power by 83% of the votes. The pro-army party, the USDP, cried foul, blaming massive electoral fraud and insisting on a recount, which was refused by Parliament. So the Tatmadaw invoked article 147 of the constitution, which authorizes a military takeover in case of a confirmed threat to sovereignty and national solidarity, or capable of disintegrating the Union. The 2008 constitution was drawn by who else the Tatmadaw. They control the crucial Interior, Defense and Border ministries, as well as 25% of the seats in Parliament, which allows them veto power on any constitutional changes. The military takeover involves the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary. A year long state of emergency is in effect. New elections will happen when order and eternal peace will be restored. The man in charge is Army chief Min Aung Hlaing, quite flush after years overseeing juicy deals conducted by Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. (MEHL). He also oversaw the hardcore response to the 2007 Saffron revolution which did express legitimate grievances but was also largely co-opted as a by-the-book U.S. color revolution. More worryingly, Min Aung Hlaing also deployed wasteland tactics against the Karen and Rohingya ethnic groups. He notoriously described the Rohingya operation as the unfinished work of the Bengali problem. Muslims in Myanmar are routinely debased by members of the Bamar ethnic majority as Bengali. No raised ASEAN eyebrows Life for the overwhelming majority of the Myanmar diaspora in Thailand can be very harsh. Roughly half dwell in the construction business, the textile industry and tourism. The other half does not hold a valid work permit and lives in perpetual fear. To complicate matters, late last year the de facto military government in Thailand went on a culpability overdrive, blaming them for crossing borders without undertaking quarantine and thus causing a second wave of Covid-19. Thai unions, correctly, pointed to the real culprits: smuggling networks protected by the Thai military, which bypass the extremely complicated process of legalizing migrant workers while shielding employers who infringe labor laws. In parallel, part of the legalized Myanmar diaspora is being enticed to join the so-called MilkTeaAlliance which congregates Thais, Taiwanese and Hong Kongers, and lately Laotians and Filipinos as well against, who else, China, and to a lesser extent, the Thai military government. ASEAN wont raise eyebrows against the Tatmadaw. ASEANs official policy remains non-interference in the domestic affairs of its 10 members. Bangkok where, incidentally, the military junta took power in 2014 has shown Olympic detachment. In 2021, Myanmar happens to be coordinating nothing less than the China-ASEAN dialogue mechanism, as well as presiding over the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation which discusses all crucial Mekong matters. The mighty river, from the Tibetan plateau to the South China Sea, could not be more geo-economically strategic. China is severely criticized for the building of dozens of dams, which reduce direct water flows and cause serious imbalances to regional economies. Myanmar is also coordinating a supremely sensitive geopolitical issue: the interminable negotiations to establish the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, which pit China against Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei and non-ASEAN Taiwan. The Tatmadaw does not seem to be losing sleep over post-coup business problems. Erik Prince, former Blackwater honcho and now the head of Hong Kong-based Frontier Services Group (FSG) financed, among others, by powerful Chinese conglomerate Citic is about to hit Naypyidaw to securitize local companies. A juicier dossier involves whats going to happen with the drug trade: arguably Tatmadaw getting a bigger piece of the pie. Cartels in Kachin state, in the north, export opium to Chinas Yunnan province to the east, and India to the west. Shan state cartels are even more sophisticated: they export via Yunnan to Laos and Vietnam to the east, and also to India to the northwest. And then theres a gray area where no one really knows whats going on: the weapons highway between China and India that runs through Kachin state where we also find Lisu and Lahu ethnic groups. The dizzying ethnic tapestry The Myanmar electoral commission is a very tricky business, to say the least. They are designated by the Executive, and had to face a lot of criticism internal, not international for their censorship of opposition parties in the November elections. The end result privileged the NLD, whose support is negligible in all border regions. Myanmars majority ethnic group and the NLDs electoral base is the Bamar, Buddhist and concentrated in the central part of the country. The NLD frankly does not care about the 135 ethnic minorities which represent at least one third of the general population. Its been a long way down since Suu Kyi came to power, when the NLD actually enjoyed a lot of support. Suu Kyis international high profile is essentially due to the power of the Clinton machine. If you talk to a Mon or a Karen, he or she will tell you they had to learn the hard way how much of an intolerant autocrat is the real Suu Kyi. She promised there would be peace in the border regions eternally mired in a fight between the Tatmadaw and autonomous movements. She could not possibly deliver because she had no power whatsoever over the military. Without any consultation, the electoral commission decided to cancel voting, totally or partially, in 56 cantons of Arakan state, Shan state, Karen state, Mon state and Kachin state, all of them ethnic minorities. Nearly 1.5 million people were deprived of voting. There were no elections, for instance, in the majority of Arakan state; the electoral commission invoked security reasons. The reality is the Tatmadaw is in a bitter fight against the Arakan Army, which want self-determination. Needless to add, the Rohingyas which live in Arakan were not allowed to vote. Nearly 600,000 of them still barely survive in camps and closed villages in Arakan. In the 1990s, I visited Shan state, which borders Chinas strategic Yunnan province to the east. Nothing much changed over two decades: the guerrilla has to fight the Tatmadaw because they clearly see how the army and their business cronies are obsessed to capture the regions lavish natural resources. I traveled extensively in Myanmar in the second part of the 1990s before being blacklisted by the military junta, like virtually every journalist and analyst working in Southeast Asia. Ten years ago, photojournalist Jason Florio, with whom Ive been everywhere from Afghanistan to Cambodia, managed to be sneaked into Karen rebel territory, where he shot some outstanding pictures. In Kachin state, rival parties in the 2015 elections this time tried to pool their efforts. But in the end they were badly bruised: the electoral mechanism one round only favored the winning party, Suu Kyis NLD. Beijing does not interfere in the dizzyingly complex Myanmar ethnic maze. But questions remain over the murky support for Chinese who live in Kachin state in northern Myanmar: its possible they may be used as leverage in negotiations with the Tatmadaw. The basic fact is the guerrillas wont go away. The top two are the Kachin Independence Army and the United Wa State Army (Shan). But then theres the Arakan Liberation Army, the China National Army, the Karenni Army (Kayah), the Karen National Defense Organization and the Karen National Liberation, and the Mon National Liberation Army. What this weaponized tapestry boils down to, in the long run, is a tremendously (Dis)United Myanmar, bolstering the Tatmadaws claim that no other mechanism is capable of guaranteeing unity. It doesnt hurt that unity comes with the extra perks of controlling crucial sectors such as minerals, finance and telecom. It will be fascinating to watch how the (Dis)United Imperial States will deal with post-coup Myanmar as part of their 24/7 containment of China frenzy. The Tatmadaw are not exactly trembling in their boots. Career diplomat Hamid Ansari, who rose to become Vice-President of India, in which capacity he served from 2007 to 2017, in a conversation with Ashhar Khan over his just-released book By Many A Happy Accident, and the many controversies surrounding it What was the idea or inspiration behind writing your autobiography? Well, it was nothing, actually. I was not too keen but my children and my friends said that I should write as I had a diverse life. So, one fine day, I started writing and kept on writing. I had sent it to the publisher in last March but due to Covid-19 it will be formally launched only now. The book is a recollection from memory. You have had run-ins with the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi? Could you explain? There was no run-in. Everybody has got it wrong. I had met Mr Modi for the first time when he was the Gujarat chief minister in 2007 and he came to congratulate me on my election. I asked him a question about the post-Godhra issue. I recorded his reply. As PM he came to my room unannounced. Though meetings between the PM and the VP are not abnormal, they are rarely unannounced. He spoke about bills getting stuck and I replied that Mr Jaitley had been a witness to that during UPA times. I did not agree to pass the bills in the din. Even the UPA was not happy with that. Then Mr Modi asked about Rajya Sabha TV. I said I have no role in it and there is a committee that takes care of it. On my retirement, he said something in the morning and I replied to him, and in the evening he spoke differently. Now, why he changed his tone I do not know, but neither did I try and find out. I have normal relations with him. He has his own views and I have my own; thats all. You have been a diplomat in important places like Australia, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan. Would it be correct to say that the prestige of India has increased post 2014? No. That is actually not correct. I have been around in the 1980s and the 1990s, mostly as an ambassador of India. The image of India was always high in political terms. India was an important country as a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement and it also played an important role in the councils of the world. Post economic reforms in 1992, Indias economic capacities were being looked at afresh. When I was Ambassador in Saudi Arabia around 1996, I noticed that India was being looked upon as a market where investments can be made. One day, two senior officers of the oil company, Aramco, came to me for seeking visas. They wanted to establish a product experimental centre in India. The other centre was in Houston. Finally, they set up the centre in Vadodara. This hugely changed the perception of political relations. Since 2000, perceptions have changed and India is viewed as a political, economical and military force. Do you feel that, diplomatically, we have handled China well, considering all the action at the LAC? A structure was put in place in 1993-94 and during the UPA governments tenure, which had a two-pronged approach. One that we have to keep talking to find a solution to the boundary problem, as there existed different perceptions. This made sure that there was no active conflict or blow-up. That worked very well. We exchanged visits. A great deal of trade was taking place. The full story of Doklam or Galwan will not be known. Probably, someone will write it someday. But there was a skirmish and, in Galwan, it went out of hand. In spite of that the perception on both sides is to keep talking. Talking will yield results. I dont think both are interested in starting a war. But, yes, something did go wrong in Galwan. Both states realise that we are big neighbours, and that cannot be wished away. In the last couple of years, do you think that there is a concerted effort to attack minorities under the garb of legal sanction, like love jihad, anti-conversion law, etc.? Its all there. It is true, but my thing is that you cannot travel on that path in this country. That is my firm belief. The diversity of this country is a fact of life that you just cannot undo. Identity is a very important factor in any society. And its multiple identities in this case. Yes, all that you asked in your question is true as a political agenda that is being spread in a crass manner. It may trouble people for the time being, but it just cannot go on. One of the predominant themes in your book is equality before law, justice. Do you think this is happening in present-day India? Yes, I see everything. The simple thing is, one should read the copy of the preamble. One should read it. It says equality, justice and fraternity. I have hinted in my book that we should take lessons from the experiences of other diverse societies in our own times. Accommodation and fraternity is very important for the well-being of the country, and the foundation of this country is based on this. Do you think governments that have brute majorities use Parliament as a post office? That is very unfortunate thing because the system of government of a parliamentary democracy rests on four pillars, and the Parliament or legislature is one of them. The Parliament has to do its work. Thirty years ago, the House would meet for 100 days, and now it is barely 60 days. This means, the Parliament is not doing enough work. The question is why this should be allowed. It is within the rights of members to say that they want more sittings. But they just want to sign on the attendance register and leave. State legislatures are even worse. The Standing Committee is a very good system as all parties are represented. The money bill technique of passing laws is also an aberration, which has been tried in the recent past. It is important to realize that the Capitol police is a force of 2,300, but only 500 officers with no appropriate protective gear or arrest equipment were assigned to an event that was widely promoted on alt-right social media to motivate thousands of 45th president supporters to invade the District of Columbia. The expressed goal was to create unprovoked havoc; kill certain elected officials; disrupt a legal process of democracy. Insurrectionists entered several entrances to a federal building that were not necessarily known by the general public. Where were the undercover officers who habitually weave their way into progressive Black organizations? Why was there a paucity of police when it was clear beforehand that the expected hordes would be racist, violence-prone, extreme adherents to alt-right and white supremacist organizations? These groups posted rampant and detailed social media posts calling for planned violent uprisings throughout the country. And it is a fact that a sitting U.S. president stroked that pent-up fervor for violent insurrection. The public should expect law enforcement and governmental complicity at the highest levels to come to light as various investigations move forward. Many would argue that Jan. 6 made clear the despicable systemic racial underpinnings inherent in policing. Unfortunately, this demented attitude is emboldened by the overall silence of a majority of the national citizenry who do not appear to want to change their support for the blue regardless of its racially divisive double standard. This ownership suggests force used against Black and Brown people is appropriate but never against folks who embrace the dismantling of American democracy to preserve white privilege and demagoguery. Too many white Americans still feel (behind closed doors) that the country belongs to them, exclusively. That is their truth. A truth difficult to accept, hear or internalize. William Berry Jr., of Auburn, is a retired senior-level university administrator with over 33 years of service at various institutions. He currently serves as a consultant on issues centering on equity, inclusion, diversity and retention-oriented customer service while continuing his stance as an activist scholar commenting on a variety of social justice issues. He publishes aaduna, a global, online multicultural literary and visual arts journal, and is current chair of the Auburn-based Harriet Tubman Center for Justice and Peace board. He can be reached at htcjpauburn@gmail.com. Love 4 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 0 Salma Hayek first saw her star rise with roles in television and film in Mexico, beginning in the late 1980s. By the early 1990s, the Frida star had moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film; but the transition to an English-language audience in the U.S. wouldn't come without many detractors. In a new interview, Hayek revealed that she was told her acting career would 'die' when she was in her mid-thirties, and that she would never make it in Hollywood as a Mexican actress. Scroll down to video Revealing: Salma Hayek, 54, opened up about the detractors who told her she would never make it as a Mexican actress in Hollywood 'They told me my career in Hollywood would die in mid-thirties because there was no one,' Hayek, 54, said while promoting her new science-fiction drama film, Bliss. 'First of all, they told me a Mexican is never going to make it because, at the time, with the new generations, it was impossible for a Mexican to have a leading role in Hollywood.' It's at this point that Hayek turned to look right into the camera and added, 'It was not real,' in a defiant reference to those who gave her little chance of making it in Hollywood. She would go on to relish in the reality that an actor like herself in a leading role in more recent years has become much more of a 'reality or normalcy.' Sweet success: 'I fought it. I fought and won. And I want other women to realize that,' Hayek said of her success as a leading lady despite the many naysayers Artistry: Her breakthrough role came in 2002 when she played Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, for which she was nominated for Best Actress for the Academy Award Now she is considered a trailblazer for plowing past all of the naysayers and detractors with memorable roles in such films as the biographical drama Frida (2002), which earned her a Best Actress nomination and the drama film Beatriz At Dinner (2018). 'I think it's great; I'm proud of it,' she said of her success since her move to the U.S. 'I want to shout it to the world because I was told so many times it couldn't happen, and I almost believed them.' 'But I fought it. I fought and won. And I want other women to realize that,' she said with a confident laughter to her voice while emphasizing that she succeeded despite the pressures she felt as a lead actress in her thirties and her forties. And late blooming: 'it's a beautiful thing.' Turning heads: The Mexican-born actress gained attention for her small role in the American horror film From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) Later in the evening on Saturday, Hayek took to Instagram and shared two behind-the-scenes clips of herself dancing on the set of Bliss, which was written and directed by Mike Cahill. In the movie, Owen Wilson plays a man whose life is in disarray when he meets a beautiful woman (Hayek) who tries to convince him he is living in a simulation. It premiered on Amazon on February 5, 2021. Hayek first turned heads in the U.S. with her short but memorable role as an exotic dancer in the American horror flick, From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). She would go on to star in such movies as Fools Rush In (1997), Breaking Up (1997) and 54 (1998). Her breakthrough role came in 2002 when she played Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, for which she was nominated for Best Actress for the Academy Award. Do a little dance: Later on Saturday, Hayek took to Instagram and shared two behind-the-scenes clips of herself dancing on the set of Bliss When Olivia Adams mother-in-law had problems booking a COVID-19 vaccination appointment on the Massachusetts state website, the 28-year-old Arlington software developer took matters into her own computer. Adams, who develops software for Athenahealth, recently created a website where Massachusetts residents can see what appointment times and locations are available on one simplified page, WBUR and WCVB reported. News of Adams site follows complaints and confusion about the states vaccine website, and after Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced the launch of a call center to help residents book appointments. Baker on Friday told reporters that state officials were open to talking with Adams about her project, which she completed over the last few weeks while taking care of her infant son and 2-year-old boy during maternity leave. I took a peek and looked at what resources were available and realized that there was a real need to have a centralized location, Adams told WBUR. Basically what my website does is every five minutes it goes through some code I wrote that accesses different websites ... to just kind of look and see what its currently displaying for appointment availability. And it returns that information to my website so I can show it all together in one location. WBUR noted that her website, macovidvaccines.com, has not been endorsed by the state. The page is getting 400 hits per minute, according to WCVB. The work you need to put in to find an available place and sign up is just ridiculous, Adams told WCVB. Im not introducing any new information. Im just bringing it together. Adams noted that shed love to collaborate with the state and encouraged others with similar skills to take a crack at helping out. I think a lot of people are not encouraged to kind of make those (do-it-yourself) solutions and publicize them because they dont think that theyre super useful, Adams told WBUR. And I think the biggest lesson Ive learned ... is that we should never doubt that. And we should always push our projects and see who needs them because its going to be more than we think. As of Friday, Massachusetts had administered more than 681,000 COVID vaccine doses since the rollout began, an increase of almost 150,000 over the prior week. Today we're launching a public awareness campaign called "Trust the Facts. Get the Vax." It aims to build trust in the #COVID19MA vaccine and features a diverse group of doctors representing a wide range of races, ethnicities, and regions of MA. MORE: https://t.co/7nZ46cNtYY pic.twitter.com/BSBn0S5VMa Charlie Baker (@MassGovernor) February 5, 2021 Related Content: The PSNI has broken records for self-inflicted damage in recent days. Mark Sykes, a victim of the UDAs Sean Graham attack, arrested at the spot where he once nearly lost his life. Handcuffed and marched away when all hed been carrying was a bunch of flowers. Just 72 hours earlier, dozens of masked UVF men wandered freely through Pitt Park in east Belfast with not a single arrest made. The polices enemies couldnt have produced a better script if theyd hired a top Hollywood writer. How many months and years does this set back the forces credibility in areas where it desperately needs buy-in? How many young Catholics does Simon Byrne think Fridays images will have helped recruit? Notably, there was no queue of unionist politicians weighing in to support the police on this one. They know the PSNI has shot itself in the foot. I wholeheartedly support Covid regulations, but heres the deal: they need to be enforced across the spectrum, without fear or favour. Having failed to intervene during breaches at the funerals of IRA men Bobby Storey and Eamon McCourt, the police would have had no authority to move when the same happened at the funeral of UVF man Hugh Boot Hill nine days ago. Pitt Park was entirely different. Unlike the funerals, these were sinister scenes. There had been a plan to attack a home. The PSNI may well not have moved to detain the men for operational reasons, and that may have been the right call, but the differences between the east Belfast footage and the footage from outside the bookies are striking. In Pitt Park, the officers appear relaxed and unflustered. In the lower Ormeau, there is a vigorous approach when there should have been caution and sensitivity. This was not a commemoration for members of a paramilitary group. It was one for innocent victims five people, including a pensioner and a 15-year-old child murdered in cold blood. If the PSNI had concerns that too many attended the short service, it was inappropriate to raise them in a heavy-handed manner just as the event ended. This hadnt been an occasion of big fiery political speeches. It was one of quiet remembrance and prayer. To make matters much, much worse, Sean Grahams wasnt a clear-cut UDA attack. There are extensive allegations of collusion. The Historical Enquiries Team found that a Browning pistol used by the gunmen had been given to the RUC by agent William Stobie and later handed back to the paramilitary group. There were many other disturbing elements to the shooting. In 2015, it emerged that an assault rifle used by the killers, which was meant to have been destroyed, had been put on display in the Imperial War Museum in London. It was against this backdrop that officers waded into the commemoration on Friday. Expand Close A UVF mob descended on east Belfast / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A UVF mob descended on east Belfast The chief constables initial response was wholly inadequate and while his apology last night and suspension of one officer doesnt resolve the situation it is a move in the right direction. It wasnt just the usual suspects calling the PSNI out. Innocent Victims United spokesman Kenny Donaldson described the intervention, at an event where it appeared the numbers attending were limited, PPE was worn and social distancing observed, as baffling. Loyalist Jamie Bryson described the incident as appalling and said he felt angry watching it. While its far from just the usual suspects up in arms, Sinn Fein is particularly vocal given that Fridays incident has so upset its base. A year ago this week, the party attended a PSNI recruitment drive. Michelle ONeill stood beside Simon Byrne holding a poster promoting the police as a career. It was a highly symbolic appeal. How many young people from republican areas will be listening after last weeks events is an entirely different matter. China has ramped up pressure on Taiwan since the election of Tsai Ing-wen as president, as she does not acknowledge Beijing's stance that the island is part of 'One China' Taiwan on Friday accused Beijing of pressuring Guyana into terminating a deal with the island to set up a trade office, saying it highlighted the Chinese government's "evil nature". Less than a day after Taiwanese officials announced the setting up of the office, Guyana's foreign ministry said it had been scrapped and that the South American nation remained committed to its diplomatic ties with China. "We express strongest dissatisfaction and condemnation that the Chinese government has again bullied and suppressed Taiwan in the international space," Taipei's foreign ministry said in a statement. "The Chinese government says one thing but does another which will only highlight its evil nature and further distance the people on the two sides." Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen described Guyana's decision as "unilateral" in a Facebook post. "Taiwanese people will not bow down their heads in adversity," she added. "Taiwan's firm determination to walk towards the world definitely won't change because of this." Only 15 countries officially recognise Taiwan over China, which sees the democratic, self-ruled island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if needed. Beijing has ramped up military pressure and snatched seven of Taiwan's diplomatic allies since Tsai came to power in 2016, as she refused to acknowledge its stance that the island belongs to "one China". Taiwan had said Thursday that its representative office in Guyana had started operations provisionally in January, a step the United States called a "milestone". But Guyana issued a statement the same day, saying it "wishes to clarify that it continues to adhere to the One China policy and its diplomatic relations remain intact with the People's Republic of China". China's foreign ministry spokesman had warned Thursday that any attempted by Taipei "to get foreign support and engage in separatist activities is doomed to fail". Story continues Taipei has tried to push back against Beijing's campaign to keep it isolated and locked out of international bodies such as the World Health Organization. As a result, any successful move to expand or protect existing diplomatic relations is seen as a major win by Taipei and its biggest unofficial ally Washington. aw/qan Victorias new year 12 mathematics subject, designed to boost the number of senior students studying maths, wont be taught for two more years because of COVID-19. Year 12 foundation maths will be delivered in schools in 2023 rather than next year, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority said. The delay will allow teachers and the public more time to provide feedback on the new subject, after schools and families spent much of 2020 doing remote learning during Victorias second wave of coronavirus. Year 12 students who have just finished their further maths exam at Alphington Grammar School. Credit:Jason South Foundation maths is the easiest VCE maths subject and is available only to year 11 students. Students who study year 11 foundation maths can continue to further maths in year 12, which has long been the second most popular year 12 subject. 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 New Delhi: The tragic incident of terror attack on Amarnath Yatra in Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir in which seven people lost their life and several were injured was condemned by leaders across the country. Condemning the attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Pained beyond words on dastardly attack on peaceful Amarnath Yatris in J&K. The attack deserves strongest condemnation from everyone. India will never get bogged down by such cowardly attacks & the evil designs of hate, tweeted PM Modi. India will never get bogged down by such cowardly attacks & the evil designs of hate. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 10, 2017 Defence Minister Arun Jaitley strongly condemned the attack, saying that terrorist attack on Amarnath Yatra is the most reprehensible act. This should add to our determination to eliminate terrorism. ALSO READ: Amaranath Yatra terror attack: 7 Killed, 5 of them were women, what we know so far Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti went to Anantnag hospital to meet injured Amarnath Yatra pilgrims post terror attack. Mehbooba Mufti said that "I have no words to condemn this, hope those involved will be arrested and punished soon". Congress President Sonia Gandhi also expressed sorrow over the Anantnag attack targeting Amarnath Yatra pilgrims, asked for investigation into lapses in security. Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi also expressed sorrow on Amarnath terror attack and said that India will never be intimidated by these terrorist cowards. This is a grave & unacceptable security lapse. The PM needs to accept responsibility and never allow it to happen again. This is a grave & unacceptable security lapse. The PM needs to accept responsibility and never allow it to happen again Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) July 10, 2017 Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also condemned the terror attack on Amarnath Yatra and said that Strongly condemn terror attack. A cowardly act AAP strongly condemns the terror attack on Amarnath Yatra Pilgrims and police party.#AmarnathYatra Maharashtra strongly condemns the cowardly attack on Amarnath Yatra pilgrims in J&K. Our deepest condolences to the bereaved families, said Devendra Fadnavis. Condemn cowardly attack, India will never get bogged down by such acts said Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani. Condemn cowardly attack, India will never get bogged down by such acts: Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani on attack on #AmarnathYatra pilgrims pic.twitter.com/gsZSXmVO5j ANI (@ANI_news) July 10, 2017 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. (Alliance News) - The first batch of the Oxford University and AstraZeneca PLC vaccine has arrived in Ireland. The 21,600 jabs, which were transported from Belgium, will be given to healthcare workers from Monday. Ireland is using the two other approved vaccines, from Pfizer and Moderna, to vaccinate the over 70s. Most over 70s will be able to get jabs in their GP practices. The GP practice rollout begins on Monday week, with the over-85 age group being prioritised. A further 55 Covid-19 related deaths were confirmed on Saturday, along with another 827 new confirmed cases of the virus. As of 2pm on Saturday, 1,177 patients with Covid-19 were being treated in hospital, 177 of whom were in ICU. HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid welcomed signs that numbers of those being treated in hospital were beginning to fall. "It is still far too high for safety but a good sign that all of our actions are working," he tweeted. Earlier, chief medical officer Tony Holohan noted that Ireland was suppressing the third wave of the pandemic faster than any other country in Europe. Holohan said the country was now in a "strong position" in the fight against the virus. He added: "Thanks to the efforts of the population in staying home, limiting contacts and following public health advice there has been a substantial decrease in disease incidence and we can see that we are suppressing this third wave of Covid-19 infection faster than any other country in Europe." By David Young, PA source: PA Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. A nine-month-old feud between two of the biggest egos in national journalism reignited spectacularly last week when Stan Grant executed a revenge attack on Peter FitzSimons. Journalists Stan Grant and Peter FitzSimons. Credit:John Shakespeare Previously warm relations between the pair have been up and down since their opinion page fisticuffs last year over FitzSimons book on Captain James Cook. Grant took to this papers opinion pages to label some parts of the book as ludicrous. Fast forward to last week when Grant contributed a chapter to The Australians progressive murder mystery novel (progressive in its publication schedule, obviously not in its politics), an attempt by the boring broadsheet to liven up the silly season. Grant set his chapter at Fitzy and Lisas Australia Day barbecue at their grand house overlooking Sydney Harbour - the home of The Sydney Morning Herald columnist and his wife, The Project presenter, Lisa Wilkinson. Domestic electrical equipment makers expect budget proposals, including the revival scheme for discoms, would help resolve their payment-related issues with power distributing companies. There will a number of other positive outcomes of the announcements made with respect to the power sector in the Budget, Anil Saboo, the President of the Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers' Association (IEEMA) told PTI. ''We welcome the announcements made in the Budget (for power sector). These will help address several issues of our industry which include payment cycle stress. Power discoms owe about Rs 35,000 crore to our industry,'' Saboo told PTI. The viability of distribution companies is a serious concern, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said while presenting the Budget for 2021-22. In the Budget, the minister proposed a scheme with an outlay of Rs 3.05 lakh crore over five years to revive discoms. The scheme will provide assistance to discoms for infrastructure creation including pre-paid smart metering and feeder separation, upgradation of power systems. Saboo said the scheme will improve the financial condition of the discoms in the country and as a result of the same, their ''payment cycle'' to electrical equipment makers will improve. Another positive impact which the scheme will have on his industry, he said, would be that installations of pre-paid smart metering and feeder separation and upgradation of power systems will increase the demand for electrical equipment manufactured domestically. ''At present, we are able to sell only 50 per cent of our total produced goods in India due to less demand against cheap imported items. But due to increased infrastructure, we will be able to supply more in the market,'' he said, without sharing an estimate. On the proposal of a framework to give power consumers alternatives to choose from more than one distribution companies, the IEEMA President said this will give more power into the hands of consumers. This will help small units in the country across sectors to reduce their cost of production. Saboo said in Uttar Pradesh prices of electricity for industry varies between Rs 6-7.50 a unit, while in Rajasthan it is as high as 8.50 per unit and in Punjab Rs 5.15 a unit. However, a choice in choosing a discom will help users both domestic and industrial with cheap electricity and better power supply. He further said the electrical equipment industry in India is of around Rs 2 lakh crore which provides employment to about 50 lakh people. ''With the focus given on power sector and infrastructure in the Budget by the government, we are hopeful the jobs in our industry will increase by at least 50 per cent in the time to come,'' Saboo said. New Delhi, Feb 7 : As the surging Bitcoin grabs most of the headlines, Ether or Ethereum, the second biggest cryptocurrency, is touching record valuation and could still be bought cheaper -- for nearly Rs 1.16 lakh or $1,600 for one Ether. According to industry players, Bitcoin which is hovering around $40,000 is beyond the reach for most investors while Ether that has touched an all-time high is still within reach. According to Rahul Pagidipati, CEO, ZebPay, Ether tends to follow Bitcoin. "Now that Bitcoin has hit record high and is consolidating, investors are adding Ether. Together the two cryptocurrencies constitute nearly 80 per cent of the total crypto market cap," Pagidipati said. "Nearly 3 million ETH ($3.8 billion) have been locked up for long-term staking, removing them from the buyable supply. With lower supply comes higher prices," Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin said that Ether is touching record valuation because Bitcoin is consolidating and investors are looking at Ether to reap greater economic benefits in the long term. "Ethereum is up about 135 per cent since the start of the year and is expected to become as valuable as Bitcoin in the years to come," Thakral added. "We hope Indian counterparts will take note of this and enable the growth of the digital asset industry in India by providing a positive regulatory environment. Ethereum Blockchain has very strong fundamentals and a lot of projects are using it to power their infrastructure." As India plans to introduce the 'Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021', to prohibit all "private cryptocurrencies" in the country, the industry stakeholders have come out in unison hoping that the Indian government would listen to all stakeholders before taking any decision. "As more people see new applications for the Ethereum protocol, like staking, they're realising that Either is real and has lasting value, just as they are realising the truth about Bitcoin," said Pagidipati. Owning one full bitcoin is probably a dream now for most people. "But you can still buy a full Ether for Rs 1.6 lakh, still in reach for many. Those who remember Bitcoin at that price may be thinking that this opportunity won't last for much longer," the ZebPay CEO noted. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is already exploring the possibility as to whether there is a need for a digital version of fiat currency and in case there is, then how to operationalise it. The apparent softening in RBI's stand on cryptocurrency came after the Supreme Court last year set aside a circular issued by the RBI that barred any entity from providing banking services to anyone dealing with virtual or cryptocurrencies. The RBI, in its booklet on payment systems, noted that central banks around the world are examining whether they could leverage on technology and issue fiat money in digital form. With the overall value of all cryptocurrencies surpassing the $1 trillion mark, industry experts have said that crypto may become the most important asset class of the 21st century and India needs to catch up fast with the global trend. 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. New York, February 07: The Foreign Office on Saturday said that the New York State Assemblys decision to adopt a resolution marking Feb 5 as Kashmir-American Day was a welcome development. The resolution appreciates the courage and perseverance of the Kashmiri people and recognises their unique cultural and religious identity. It also underscores that the State of New York endeavours to champion human rights including the freedom of religion, movement, and expression for all Kashmiri people, FO spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudri was quoted as saying in a statement. The resolution is yet another manifestation of continuing international support to the Kashmiri people in the just struggle for their inalienable right to self-determination, as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. It is also proof that India cannot hide its gross and systemic violations of human rights of the Kashmiri people anymore. The FO spokesman also thanked assembly member Nader Sayegh and the American Pakistani Advocacy Group for their help in this regard. On Wednesday, New York became the first state in the United States to proclaim February 5, 2021, as Kashmir-American Day when Pakistani and Kashmiri communities across the world observed Kashmir Solidarity Day, voicing full support to the just struggle of Kashmiri people for the exercise of their UN-promised right to self-determination. The New York State Assembly marked Feb 5 as Kashmir-American Day by adopting a resolution through a voice vote, a significant development which was the result of years of efforts by the American-Pakistani Advocacy Group. The State of New York endeavours to champion human rights including the freedom of religion, movement, and expression for all Kashmiri people, the resolution said. The APAG is a non-profit social service and advocacy organisation based in New York. Pakistans Consul General in New York Ayesha Ali hailed the resolution of the New York State Assembly and lauded the role of APAG for this great work. Very important day, very important resolution, Ali said. Meanwhile, Pakistans missions across the United States marked the day by holding virtual meetings in view of Covid-19 restrictions and held photo exhibitions to highlight Kashmiris plight under oppressive Indian occupation as well as their valiant struggle for their UN-pledged right to self-determination. Pakistans Ambassador to the UN Munir Akram and Ambassador to the US Asad Majeed Khan, as well as Consul General in New York Ayesha Ali, participated in separate webinars along with academics, Kashmiri leaders and activists, to highlight the significance of the day and reiterate Pakistans resolve to stand by the Kashmiri people. In New York, Pakistans Permanent Mission to the UN organised a photo exhibition depicting the struggle of the Kashmiri people and efforts by Pakistani leaders and diplomats to seek a resolution of the decades-old dispute at the world body. Also featured was a digital album titled: Kashmir: between resistance and resilience, a collection of photographs featured in international media on the struggles of Kashmiris, their plight and their current situation. A vessel carrying 422 migrants rescued off the coast of Libya has been given permission to dock in Italy after issuing an urgent appeal for shelter from a looming storm, its operator said Sunday. The SOS Mediterranee group, which operates the Ocean Viking resue ship, said it had received the green light to bring the migrants ashore in the Sicilian port of Augusta after several earlier appeals went unheeded. It said it expected the vessel to arrive in Sicily on Sunday evening. The French-based group said its passengers included babies, children, pregnant women and unaccompanied minors. "They must urgently be disembarked in a safe port," Luisa Albera, the head of the group's rescue operations, had earlier urged, warning that weather conditions in the central Mediterranean were deteriorating. She described the health of several of the migrants as "fragile". Eight tested positive for Covid-19 and were isolating aboard the ship, she added. Libya has become a key jumping off point for irregular migration to Europe in the chaotic years since the 2011 overthrow and killing of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed uprising. While many migrants have drowned in rubber dinghies and rickety fishing boats, thousands have been intercepted by the Libyan coastguard and returned to Libya, with the support of Italy and the EU. NGOs have slammed the returns, arguing that Libya is not safe for the migrants. Since the Ocean Viking returned to sea on January 11 after being blocked in Italy for five months it has picked up a total of 798 people. On January 21-22, it rescued 374 people at sea off of Libya who were taken to Augusta. Of 424 people who boarded the Ocean Viking on Thursday and Friday, two were flown by helicopter to nearby Malta -- a pregnant woman and her partner. More than 1,200 migrants and asylum-seekers died while crossing the Mediterranean in 2020, according to the International Organization for Migration. Short link: A returned traveller has tested positive to coronavirus after they were released from hotel quarantine in Sydney. The Australian from Wollongong tested negative twice during their 14-day quarantine but returned a positive test two days after being released. NSW Health announced just hours earlier earlier that returned Australians would be tested again after leaving hotel quarantine to prevent exactly this scenario. An alert list was issued of 10 Wollongong venues and a cafe in Brighton Le Sands in Sydney's south visited by the infected case following their release from quarantine. Other venues included Thirroul Beach, a popular shopping centre in Figtree, an Optus in North Wollongong, Woolworths in Bulli, a hotel in Austinmer and an Officeworks in Fairy Meadow visited twice in the space of 24 hours. NSW authorities are on high alert after a returned traveller tested positive days after being released from quarantine. Pictured is a healthcare worker conducts tests in Bondi on Sunday The person did not have any symptoms but underwent testing as part of the new day-16 follow-up. 'Test results indicate that the person has a low level of infection and their household contacts have returned negative results to date,' NSW Health said late Sunday night. 'Investigations to date suggest the infection was likely acquired overseas and there is no indication at this stage that there was transmission in the hotel quarantine setting.' Close contacts of the case not associated with venues were identified and are already in self-isolation. Anyone who visited Headlands Hotel at Austinmer on February 2 between 1pm 3pm or the Bulli Beach Cafe on February 6, 1.30pm- 4pm should immediately get tested and self-isolate until further advice from NSW Health. The infected case dined at the Mootch & Me cafe (pictured) in Brighton Le Sands between 10.54am- 12pm last Tuesday The case also dined at Mootch & Me in Brighton Le Sands on February 2, 10.54am- 12pm, attended Optus at North Wollongong - Optus on February 4, 1pm 1.15pm and was at Officeworks Fairy Meadow on February 4, 3.45pm 4.05pm and returned the next day on Friday between 2:10pm and 3pm. Anyone who attended the venues at the times listed above is a casual contact who must get tested immediately and self-isolate until a negative result received and get tested again if any symptoms appear. The infected case also visited Bulli Woolworths on February 3, 9.50am-10.50am before later heading to Corrimal Memorial Park for an hour before heading to Thirroul Beach later that afternoon. The following day on Thursday, they attended a walking track at Madden Plains and several stores at Figtree Grove Shopping Centre, including Australia Post, Kmart, Blooms The Chemist and Subway. They also briefly attended Fedora Pasta Factory in Fairy Meadow on Friday between 3.30pm and 3.35pm. Anyone who visited the above venues at the listed times is urged to monitor for symptoms and get tested if they develop. The returned traveller also shopped at Woolworths Bulli (pictured) on February 3 between 9:50am and 10:50am NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases for a 21st consecutive day on Sunday, marking three weeks since a community transmission. Returned travellers in NSW will now be tested two days after they leave hotel quarantine. 'If travellers being tested on day 16 are asymptomatic, they will not have to isolate further due to the lower risk of them returning a positive result,' NSW Health said. Authorities are also targeting travellers who have recently been in Victoria following the case of an infected quarantine hotel worker in Melbourne last week. Five returned travellers staying at a different Melbourne quarantine hotel later travelled to NSW, with officials concerned the virus spread through air-conditioning vents or around open doors. NSW Health began screening passengers arriving on flights from Melbourne on Thursday. The case visited Officeworks in Fairy Meadow (pictured) twice in the space of 24 hours Passengers will also have to complete passenger declaration with on-the-spot fines issued to anyone who provide false information. Anyone who has been in Melbourne since January 30 is asked to check the Victorian Health website, to check if they have attended a public exposure site. If they have they should get tested immediately and isolate for 14 days since being there, regardless of the result. 'Passengers will be screened for symptoms of Covid-19 and asked if they have been to any of the venues of concern listed by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services,' NSW Health's Jeremy McAnulty said. 'These Melbourne cases are timely reminder that Covid-19 can emerge at any time.' Cleaning squads were also recently rolled out across the Sydney CBD transport network. Everyone is urged to come forward for testing with even the mildest of symptoms such as a sore throat, cough, fever, or runny nose. Americans less enthusiastic about socialism after 2020 election: survey Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A new survey reveals that Americans have soured on socialism following the 2020 presidential election. The Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University released a report Wednesday concluding that Americas thirst for socialism has plummeted. The report is part of the 2020 Post-Election Survey of 1,000 adults nationwide conducted between Nov. 4 and 16, 2020. As part of the survey, voters were asked whether they preferred socialism or capitalism. Transitioning from socialism to capitalism would be a major, life-changing choice that will have dramatic consequences and far-reaching impacts on the health and well-being of our country and its people, said George Barna, director of Research at the Cultural Research Center. Yet, because they are inadequately educated on these matters, many people are easily swayed by superficial, tangential, or emotional arguments. It is clear that today Americans are suffering from a deficit of insight into the details of governance and national economics, he added. It is in the best interests of the nation and its future to help people of all ages better understand the meaning and long-term implications of socialism before substantial systemic changes are made. According to the survey, support for socialism among all respondents dropped from 41% to 32% since the Cultural Research Center last asked Americans for their views about socialism in 2018. Standing at 12%, support for socialism was lowest among those identified as integrated disciples with a biblical worldview and Spiritually Active Governance Engaged Conservative Christians (SAGE Cons.). Seventeen percent of integrated disciples supported socialism in 2018, along with 18% of Sage Cons. Among born-again Christians, described as adults who believe they will go to Heaven after they die only because they have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, support for socialism stood at 32% in 2020 compared to 35% in 2018. Thirty percent of self-identified Christians preferred socialism to capitalism, a decrease from the 39% who said so in 2018. Support for socialism also declined among spiritual skeptics, described as people who say they do not know, do not believe or dont care if God exists, from 47% to 35%. All age groups saw a drop in support for socialism, including those younger than 30, where the preference for socialism or capitalism dropped from 48% to 43% from 2018 to 2020. The support for socialism dropped significantly among Americans between the ages of 30 and 49. Just 34% of people in that age group supported socialism compared to 49% two years earlier. Only two groups saw support for socialism increase in the past two years: Non-Christians and political liberals. In 2018, 38% of non-Christians said they preferred socialism to capitalism. That number rose to 44% in 2020. Among political liberals, who have always been the group most supportive of socialism, support increased from 53% to 54%. Throughout three recent surveys by the Cultural Research Center asking Americans for their views of socialism, political liberals were the only group to express majority support for socialism. Those who supported socialism indicated strong support for reducing racial discrimination through legal means (62%), universal healthcare (59%), restoring financial solvency to Medicare and Social Security (55%), redistributing wealth (52%), and implementing stricter environmental regulations (50%). Additionally, those who sympathized with socialism had divergent religious views from their capitalist counterparts. Specifically, 61% of socialism supporters believed that the Bible was ambiguous on abortion compared to 46% of capitalism supporters who said the same. While the Democrats, who are seen as more sympathetic to socialism, gained control of the federal government following the 2020 election, concerns about socialism did manifest themselves in the election results. According to the report, While Biden was ultimately declared the victor, the survey data show that it was not because of his determination to advance socialism as much as the fact that he was not Donald Trump. Republicans, who have worked to portray Democrats as proponents of socialism, ended up winning 11 seats in the House of Representatives, with one race still undecided, despite the fact that most predictions showed the party losing seats. Republicans performed very well in areas with high Latino populations, such as Doral, Florida, where former President Donald Trump won nearly 51% of the vote compared to 22% four years earlier. According to the Daily Kos, Trump only won two congressional districts carried by Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, Floridas 26th District and Texas 23rd District. Both districts have high Latino populations. Tony Suarez, the CEO of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, attributed the surge in support for Trump and the Republicans among Latinos to fears of socialism, the economic system that caused many of them to flee their home countries in the first place. According to CNN exit polling, Trumps Latino support nationwide increased from 28% in 2016 to 32% in 2020. These critics watch every move of the Ambani and Adani group closely to identify loopholes. If they can not find one ,then they ingeniously discover loopholes by misinterpreting the moves in a variety of ways. by N.S.Venkataraman The name Ambani and Adani is frequently mentioned by the motivated critics and activists in India , in an attempt to paint these two industrialists as exploiters or even as anti nationals. It is shocking that in the ongoing debate in India with regard to three Farm Bills enacted by Modi government, the activists, critics and some opposition political parties have said that the Farm Bills have been enacted to benefit Ambani and Adani. Of course, section of media highlight such views, perhaps as a matter of sensation. What has Ambani and Adani to do with the Farm Bills? When the Government of India introduce privatization measures for public sector undertakings , the policy of the government is simply dismissed as measures to benefit Ambani and Adani, even without discussing about the merits or the demerits of the government move. These critics watch every move of the Ambani and Adani group closely to identify loopholes. If they can not find one ,then they ingeniously discover loopholes by misinterpreting the moves in a variety of ways. The anti Ambani and anti Adani campaign is conducted with such persistence day in and day out that common man , who are involved in some other activities not related to business pursuits or industrial and technological activities and those with little education, tend to believe that Ambani and Adani are bad guys. This is an extremely sad scenario in India today. Fortunately, these critics have left out other business groups such as Tata, Birla and others for whatever reasons. Possibly, this is due to the fact that the pace of achievements and initiatives in promoting industrial growth in India by Adani and Ambani group are far greater than that of other groups such as Tata and Birla. This is not to belittle the other groups , who too are serving the cause of India creditably. For whatever reasons,, the fast pace of achievements by Adani and Ambani group has become an eyesore for the motivated critics, who seem to be under the mistaken impression that accusing the industrialists is the best way of catching the imagination of the people and highlighting their activism as pro poor activities. Painting the industrialists, who set up industries and economic enterprises facing the challenges , increase production and give jobs to thousands of people directly and indirectly, while adhering to government rules and environmental regulations, as anti poor is a campaign of the worst order. Ambani group has set up the largest petrochemical complex in India of world size and is now in a position to compete with international giant companies. It has also diversified into other areas such as communication etc. and have brought about a hitherto unknown business speed and standard in such areas. Adani group has set up several renewable energy plants in India , involved itself in setting up sea ports and variety of other activities. Adani group has set up the largest solar power plant in India in record time and the plant is operating well. Whether one would admit or not, the progress in Indian industrial and economic growth would be markedly less today , if Ambani group and Adani group have not made such investments and promoted projects. While certainly several other industrial groups in India are also striving hard to set up projects and government projects are also being set up, what is conspicuous and noteworthy about the Ambani and Adani group is their readiness to take calculated risks , move in uncharted areas and putting up with the motivated criticisms and abuses and not allowing themselves to be disheartened by such negative aspersions. The facts and figure show the spectacular performance of these two groups in a comparatively short period of time . Of course, when such massive projects are being set up, there could be some problems and failures. For example, in the Krishna Godavari gas exploration project, the Reliance Industries belonging to Mukesh Ambani has not been able to produce the gas as per expectations due to some technological issues. Government of India has thought it fit to impose penalty on the Reliance Industries for not meeting the assured guarantee of gas production, which is now under litigation. What is particularly gratifying is that inspite of the failure of the earlier project, Reliance Industries has joined with British Petroleum company and has started gas production recently in new wells , where gas discovery has been made . When Adani group was entrusted with the task of administering several airports after elaborate bidding process, the critics say that Adani group has been favoured. The fact is that Adani group has provided bid which is better than all the other bids and won the contract. What is wrong with this ? While blindly saying that Adani group has been favoured , the critics could not point out any valid reason to justify the criticism as favour shown to Adani group. It is extremely distressing that efforts made by private sector to promote industrialization and economic growth of the country are being decried by activists and some leftist political parties. The argument against privatization of public sector which is the trump card for the activists and critics are totally flawed. The basic and logical theory is that the government is to govern and not to do business. Even communist country like China has largely accepted this theory now. Entrusting the responsibility for promoting industrial and economic growth to private sector to some extent is not only logical step but also need of the day to promote rapid economic growth. The private sector promoters do have as much commitment to the growth of the country and they are as much Indians as the activists and critics. It is true that some private sector companies have indulged in tax evasion and malpractices. Are not the politicians , activists too have been often accused of indulging in corrupt practices and getting illegal fund from abroad ? Corrupt elements have to be punished whether they are private sector promoters or activists and politicians. Let not the activists and critics think and imagine that they are holier than thou Finally, one question to the activists and critics . Let the critics and activists say how much contribution they have made to the economic and industrial growth of the country and how many jobs they have created and provided. Loud speakers are no substitute for performers like Ambani and Adani. Aer Lingus has tapped the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (Isif) pandemic recovery fund for 150m, the Sunday Independent has learned. The three-year loan will be used to strengthen the airline's liquidity position as it struggles with the devastating impact of Covid-19 on international travel. Airlines all over the world, including Aer Lingus's parent company IAG, have availed of State support loans in order to help them cope with the pandemic. The 2bn Pandemic Stabilisation and Recovery Fund (PSRF), which has committed the debt funding to Aer Lingus, was established last year and is aimed at large and medium enterprises employing more than 250 employees or with an annual turnover in excess of 50m. However, Isif can consider other businesses of significant importance at national or regional level. Aer Lingus is running only a fraction of its typical schedule as restrictions on travel continue. Meanwhile, staff are on greatly reduced pay and much of the wage bill has been covered by State support schemes since lockdowns began last March. In October, IAG, which also owns British Airways, reported a loss of 1.3bn for the third quarter of 2020 and warned that the aviation crisis had deepened. A spokesman for the NTMA, which manages Isif, confirmed that the 150m loan had been committed to the airline. "The debt funding, which was finalised in Q4 2020, is a three-year debt facility that will strengthen the airline's liquidity position," he said. "Isif and Aer Lingus have agreed commercial terms on the structure, pricing and repayment of the loan that are consistent with Isif's statutory "double bottom line" mandate to invest in businesses and projects on a commercial basis in a manner designed to support economic activity and employment in Ireland. "Isif's investment is designed to complement ongoing investment by Aer Lingus's parent company, International Airlines Group in the airline. A spokeswoman for Aer Lingus said: "Aer Lingus welcomes the three-year debt facility that was concluded with ISIF in Q4 2020. The facility represents an important contribution to the future funding requirements of Aer Lingus as it navigates through the unprecedented crisis in international aviation brought about by Covid-19. "Aer Lingus will seek to position the airline such that it can play a key role in enabling Ireland's economic recovery by providing people and businesses with critical connectivity to, through and beyond Ireland." Ryanair has been critical of State supports availed of by its rivals across Europe. Last month it sought to shoot down Germany's 6bn recapitalisation and a state guarantee for a 3bn loan for Lufthansa claiming it "discriminates unlawfully between EU airlines". It has also challenged the European Commission over its decision to approve the Dutch government's 3.4bn in state aid for national carrier KLM. 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 Army officials at Fort Hood, Texas tightened the base's gate security to restrict access after an on-base shooting early Saturday morning. No one was injured in the shooting, but Fort Hood has suspended its Trusted Traveler Program that allowed military personnel with valid military identification to "escort or vouch for adult passengers ... in their vehicle," according to a Fort Hood news release. The shooting occurred at approximately 12:50 a.m. in a parking lot on base, another news release states. The shooter is suspected to be a former soldier, who was "socializing with current soldiers when he fired a pistol," according to the release. Read Next: Nearly 90% of Military Hazing Complaints Come from the Marine Corps, Data Shows "The suspect was immediately disarmed and apprehended without further incident," according to the release that added that the suspect is now in military police custody. "This was an isolated and rapidly resolved incident." Fort Hood officials say there is "no ongoing threat," but moved Saturday evening to restrict access to the base, according to the release. Fort Hood's suspension of its Trusted Traveler Program comes one day after officials at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland imposed similar access restrictions after a male with outstanding arrest warrants trespassed onto the base and boarded an Air Force C-40 Clipper aircraft before being apprehended. "In recent weeks, the III Corps commanding general initiated a review of installation access authorization -- entering Fort Hood is a privilege not a right," Fort Hood spokesman Col. Myles Caggins III told Military.com in a statement. "Also, a review of post access policy for former soldiers who were separated for misconduct is underway. Our priority is the safety and security of the soldiers, families, civilians, and community members who work, live, and play at Fort Hood." Fort Hood became the subject of national news coverage last year following the disappearance and death of Spc. Vanessa Guillen, a 3rd Cavalry Regiment soldier who was murdered by a fellow unit member. Guillen, along with the deaths of other Fort Hood soldiers, prompted then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy to order an independent review of the command climate at Hood, which found that the leadership at the base had allowed a culture of sexual harassment and assault to fester. As a result, the Army fired or suspended 14 leaders at the base. The Army also created a special task force to implement the independent review's 70 recommendations, some of them focused on Hood and others for the entire Army. The task force briefed the Senate Armed Services Committee in a close-door meeting on Thursday. "It's going to take real leadership to fix the problems at Fort Hood and throughout the Army," committee Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., and ranking member Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., said in a joint statement following the hearing. "What we heard today gives us hope but hope alone isn't enough. We look forward to working with the task force and leadership at DoD to solve these troubling issues once and for all." -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: 'Gravely Disappointed:' 14 Fort Hood Leaders Fired, Suspended in Wake of Vanessa Guillen Murder The anti-dumping duty investigation was initiated by the CBSA on September 22, 2020 against certain concrete reinforcing bar imports from Vietnam, Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia and Singapore, after a complaint was filed by a number of domestic steelmakers. The products subject to the investigation fall under HS Codes 7213.10, 7214.20, 7215.90, and 7727.90. The agency determined that the preliminary dumping margins by Vietnamese producers range from 3.7 percent to 15.4 percent, based on which Canada will impose temporary anti-dumping duties on the products. The final decisions are expected to be issued on May 5 and June 4, 2021. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has recommended concerned steelmakers in Vietnam to continue cooperating with Canadian investigators on the matter. The ministry itself will further coordinate with the Vietnam Steel Association, exporters and other stakeholders to keep a close watch on the case and take necessary act to protect the legitimate rights of Vietnamese enterprises. During the investigated period, from June 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020, Vietnam exported nearly 66,500 tonnes of concrete reinforcing bars to Canada for around US$30 million. Acceleration opportunity opened for Vietnamese AI start-ups The AI Accelerator Challenge 2021 (AAC 2021), organised by the VSV Foundation under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Technology and funded by the Australian Embassy, has just officially opened for registration. This is an acceleration program specifically designed for Vietnamese artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups with innovative ideas and products that address the practical needs of the market. The AI Accelerator Challenge 2021, themed "AI in pandemic - Adapting to the new normal", has been organised with the goal of identifying, incubating, promoting and developing potential AI-powered applications in numerous fields such as finance, commerce, electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, education, transportation and smart city. Participants will have the opportunity to undertake a four-week online training course, after which the top five teams will be awarded prizes including a service support package worth VND 500 million, a business promotion and mentoring course worth VND 200 million and up to VND 200 million in seed investment with no equity required. Running from February to August 2021, the program is open for registration until midnight on 25 March 2021. Interested candidates can find more detailed information and apply at https://ai.vsvfoundation.com/ The program will assist Vietnams economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as helping to foster the development of a vibrant AI start-up environment. Vietnam should be very proud of its successes in tackling COVID-19, said H.E Mr Andrew Barnes, Australian Charge d' Affaires to Vietnam. Through sponsoring programs to promote innovative applications using artificial intelligence, Australia is demonstrating its strong commitment to assisting Vietnam overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting economic recovery and strengthening its innovation system. The Government is trying to implement many activities to cope with disruptions caused by COVID-19, in which innovation and application of advanced science and technology have been defined as the key to increase the resilience businesses and recovery of the economy. Artificial intelligence is one of the core technologies that promise to revolutionise many of Vietnam's key socio-economic sectors such as health, education, business, commerce, finance and agriculture. Vice Minister Bui The Duy from the Ministry of Science and Technology added. We are proud to be a part of this program, Ms Thach Le Anh, Founder of VSV Foundation said. The AAC 2021 will not only allow Vietnamese AI start-ups to receive mentoring from top AI technology experts, but also support them with business development and fund raising, including by raising capital from angel investors and leading domestic and foreign venture capital funds. The start-ups will be able to raise up to VND 2 billion after the program ends. Just days before the Lunar New Year, Vietnams biggest airport presents a scene that contrasts starkly from the usual bustle of welcoming crowds. With Tet, or the Lunar New Year holiday, barely a week away, HCMCs Tan Son Nhat International Airport is strangely silent and empty. It is no longer crowded with families and relatives from southern provinces coming to pick up overseas Vietnamese returning home. The pandemic has prevented many overseas Vietnamese from returning home for Tet because of suspension of international flights plus the quarantine protocol of 14-21 days on entering the country. The seats outside the arrival gates are empty. Last year, not only was every seat full, there were thousands standing or sitting on the floor. Some of the benches have been removed to create more space for social distancing. Just last year, people had to make their way through the crowds that flooded the area. This year, the crowds are absent. For years, the week before Tet, the biggest holiday and most important occasion for family reunions in Vietnam, the international terminal would be jammed with local residents day and night. Some would even spend the night sleeping on benches and the floor while waiting for loved ones to arrive the next day. Every nook and corner that allows people to seat would be occupied, typically. This year, no one is looking for a place to rest their legs. A flight information board has been switched off this year. Last year, a succession of people would crowd around it for information. Since March last year, Vietnam has only allowed cargo flights and others bringing Vietnamese citizens back home for special reasons. Layers of people would be pressed against the railing, straining for the first glimpse of their loved ones after a plane had landed. This year, the path along the arrival gate is all but deserted. The second floor of the international terminal was crowded with people looking down through the glass wall. The space is deserted this year. Each conveyor belt in the baggage claim area usually has hundreds standing around as they wait to pick up their checked in luggage. Last year, the number of passengers arriving at the Tan Son Nhat from abroad dropped by more than 75 percent year-on-year to just 1.3 million, while flights fell to 19,000, compared to more than 51,000 in 2019. Vietnam is grappling with a fresh wave of community transmissions since January 28, after a consecutive streak of 55 clean days. Of the 1,985 Covid-19 cases that country has recorded so far, 517 are active, by Sunday morning. CHAMBERSBURG A Griggsville man was cited after being ejected from his truck when it overturned in a Pike County field Saturday. Tyler W. Coffman, 21, of Griggsville was flown to a regional hospital, but his injuries appeared non-life threatening, according to Illinois State Police. Bengaluru, Feb 7 : As many as 34 aerospace and defence firms have shown interest in investing in Karnataka to spur aviation business in the southern state, an official said on Sunday. "In all, 34 aerospace and defence firms have signed an agreement with the state government to invest a total of Rs 2,464 crore in setting up their facilities, which have the potential to create 6,462 direct jobs," an official of the Industry Department's Udyog Mitra told IANS here. The agreements were signed at the 13th edition of Aero India 2021 expo at the Yelahanka air base on the city's outskirts on February 3-5. Among the firms are Abhyuday Bharat defence cluster with an investment proposal of Rs 1,000 crore, Gopalan Aerospace Ltd (Rs 438 crore), Alpha Design Technology and Tesbl Aerospace Corporation (Rs 250 crore each). "We have a vibrant aerospace and defence sector ecosystem, which enabled the state to contribute 65 per cent of exports from the country. The proposed investing firms will attract others to invest in the aerospace sector," said state's Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar in a statement on the occasion. As the country's aerospace hub, Bengaluru is home to several state-run and private firms such as the defence behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), BEL, BEML, NAL, DRDO, ADA, ADE and ISRO. "With an investor-centric approach, our new industrial policy (2020-25) offers incentives for investing in the state, with regulatory reforms for access to land and labour," asserted Shettar. The recent Innovation Index of the policy think tank NITI Aayog has ranked Karnataka on top, indicating the state's strengths in human resources, higher education, thrust on research and development, with a conducive investment climate and a pro-active administration. Bengaluru is also home to a quarter (25 per cent) of the country's aircraft and spacecraft industries, which roll out 67 per cent of planes and helicopters for defence services. With a dedicated aerospace policy, the state also has an ancillary ecosystem for the industry to support state-run defence units, R&D centres, scientific and technical institutes and 2,000 small, micro and medium enterprises. Has the post-Covid world put a dampener on your Valentines Week this year? While we were stuck at home since March last year, movies and shows have been a good escape from the chaos around the world. Continuing with the same thought, we thought it might be a good idea to stay at home and watch some of the most romantic regional movies this week to celebrate with your partner. Were starting with the most romantic Tamil movies of all time. This ones an easy list to make - four out of five of these have AR Rahmans music. Youll surely find your favourite love story and song here. Roja (1992) Since its Rose Day, Roja has to be on the top of my list. While this Mani Ratnam film is known for dealing with patriotism and national security, its a love story at the core. A city-bred man marries an innocent village woman after being rejected by her sister. While he falls in love with her, she keeps him at an arms distance thinking she has taken her sisters place. His gentle manners and dedication towards her eventually wins her heart. The period of their separation is a painful part to watch, as she runs from pillar to post to free her husband from the hostage situation. AR Rahman, debuting as a composer and winning a National Award, gave us some of the most romantic songs of all time. Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000) This film brought together big names like Mammootty, Ajith Kumar, Tabu, Aishwarya Rai and Abbas. In this Bollywood rendition of Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility, two daughters Sowmya (Tabu) and Meenakshi (Aishwarya Rai) of a single woman struggle to find the right man. Their lives go through an upheaval after they lose their country estate. Sowmya is branded "unlucky" after her fiance decides to commit suicide. Meenakshi appears to find love in the form of a poetry-loving businessman. Still, many hurdles remain as both girls struggle to keep the family's finances in order. The film also offered some breathtaking locations, including the filming of the title song in Scotland with the castle of Eilean Donan as a backdrop. Enna Solla Pogirai was shot in the deserts of Egypt, with the pyramids of Giza featuring in it. Alai Payuthey (2000) You cannot make a romantic Tamil movies list and not include films of R Madhavan. This film is another example of the musical genius of AR Rahman, which went a long way in making this movie a hit. The story was a departure from the melodramatic love stories of the 90s, showing the ups and downs in the relationship of a modern-day couple. They choose to go against parental opposition to marry, and find out differences between them while living together. The lead pair goes through a whole gamut of emotions, from flirtation, wooing, emotional attachment, arguments, separation, and eventually, fear of losing your partner forever. Minnale (2001) R Madhavan followed the success of Alai Payuthey with Minnale, another romantic film which was remade in Hindi. His character falls in love with a woman after seeing her dancing in the rain one day it doesnt get more romantic than this. But the woman is already supposed to get engaged to someone she hasnt met in years. The love-struck man steals the identity of his former college foe to pursue his lady love. He has to face repercussions eventually when his cover is blown, but the romantic moments they spend together stays with you, and love wins finally at the end. This films music too was a chartbuster, especially the song Vaseegara continues to be popular among todays generation. Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010) Another romantic film by Gautham Menon after Minnale, with music by AR Rahman, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa had all the right elements to make it a hit. Starring Silambarasan and Trisha, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa explores the complicated relationship between a Hindu Tamil boy, Karthik Sivakumar, and a Malayali Christian girl, Jessie Thekekuttu from Alappuzha, Kerala. Karthik falls in love with Jessie only to be met by her indifference and reluctance as they belong to different religions and her strict conservative family will never consent to their union. The moment Karthik meets her under her house, leaning over its white gate, has since become an iconic boy-meets-girl scene. (Natural News) For months after the November elections, advocates and attorneys for now-former President Donald Trump argued that the contest was rigged against him. But it wasnt just rigged, per se; the election was outright stolen from him. Some have alleged out-and-out voter fraud. The verdict on this: True. Some have said that voting machines were altered to favor President Joe Biden and weighted against Trump. The verdict on this: Uncertain; the voting machine maker and firm that provided the software have both launched massive libel lawsuits so apparently those companies didnt do anything wrong or dont believe anyone will be able to find out how the switches were made. Some have suggested that massive amounts of otherwise disqualified ballots were added clandestinely and illegally after state-mandated deadlines. Verdict: It certainly seems so. And still others have said that voting laws were changed ahead of the November election by Democrat legal teams and operatives in ways that heavily favored Biden. Our verdict on this: Bingo! Now, months after the fact, Time magazine has reported that the 2020 election was fortified against the incumbent president in a way that made it impossible for him to win. Via Trending Politics, Times Molly Ball reported: There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes, one that both curtailed the protests and coordinated the resistance from CEOs. Both surprises were the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans. The pact was formalized in a terse, little-noticed joint statement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO published on Election Day. Both sides would come to see it as a sort of implicit bargaininspired by the summers massive, sometimes destructive racial-justice protestsin which the forces of labor came together with the forces of capital to keep the peace and oppose Trumps assault on democracy. The handshake between business and labor was just one component of a vast, cross-partisan campaign to protect the electionan extraordinary shadow effort dedicated not to winning the vote but to ensuring it would be free and fair, credible and uncorrupted. For more than a year, a loosely organized coalition of operatives scrambled to shore up Americas institutions as they came under simultaneous attack from a remorseless pandemic and an autocratically inclined President. Though much of this activity took place on the left, it was separate from the Biden campaign and crossed ideological lines, with crucial contributions by nonpartisan and conservative actors. The scenario the shadow campaigners were desperate to stop was not a Trump victory. It was an election so calamitous that no result could be discerned at all, a failure of the central act of democratic self-governance that has been a hallmark of America since its founding. Their work touched every aspect of the election. They got states to change voting systems and laws and helped secure hundreds of millions in public and private funding. They fended off voter-suppression lawsuits, recruited armies of poll workers and got millions of people to vote by mail for the first time. They successfully pressured social media companies to take a harder line against disinformation and used data-driven strategies to fight viral smears. They executed national public-awareness campaigns that helped Americans understand how the vote count would unfold over days or weeks, preventing Trumps conspiracy theories and false claims of victory from getting more traction. After Election Day, they monitored every pressure point to ensure that Trump could not overturn the result. The untold story of the election is the thousands of people of both parties who accomplished the triumph of American democracy at its very foundation, says Norm Eisen, a prominent lawyer and former Obama Administration official who recruited Republicans and Democrats to the board of the Voter Protection Program. First things first: Trump had not, and would never have, launched an assault on democracy. The fact that Ball even wrote those words as she detailed what could only be called an assault on democracy by the business, labor, and political elite mostly on the left and be so tone-deaf she didnt realize what she said is ludicrous. The very act of democracy is to allow the American people to decide, through their electors, who they want to be president. (Related: Bombshell analysis of voting anomalies in Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia proves election was STOLEN from Trump.) That obviously did not happen; when you manipulate an election, in any amount and for any purpose, thats not democracy. Thats tyranny. Secondly, lets take a look at the claims Ball says the key players were making: Trump was the X-factor not the minions working behind the scenes to rig the election; Trump was made to look like a threat to democracy and autocratic, but how, exactly was he doing that by attempting to prevent vote fraud (which he said was going to happen, by the way) via mass mail-in balloting? By sending federal law enforcement to protect federal courthouses and buildings under nightly attack? By defending the White House after it came under siege last summer? By pushing rioters out of Jackson Park after they tried to topple the statue there? By clearing rioters out after they attempted to burn down historic St. Johns Church? What was Trump doing that was so autocratic and tyrannical? How, exactly, was the November election going to be so calamitous that no result could be discerned at all? Easy Democrats were going to create the calamity. Consider: The Biden team hired a battalion of lawyers who were poised to go into states and challenge Trump victories, ostensibly so Trump couldnt steal various states (how exactly the former president was going to pull that off was never explained). One theory was that Bidens campaign was actually going to scream vote fraud! and claim Trumps victories were not real. Instant chaos. And lets not forget that Hillary Clinton let the cat out of the bag, too. Recall that in August, she told HBOs The Circus that Biden shouldnt concede to Trump, period, for any reason. Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances because I think this is going to drag out, and eventually I do believe he will win if we dont give an inch and if we are as focused and relentless as the other side is, she said. How possible is it that Hillary Clinton, the consummate Democratic insider, wasnt aware of what was going on behind the scenes to steal Trumps victory? If anything, Balls story is cover for the deep state because the unseen power elite wanted Trump gone for one reason and one reason only: He was effective at devolving power away from them and back to the people. Whats more, Trumps very existence and the success of his economic and foreign policies daily served to embarrass and expose the hacks, elitists and power-hungry half-percenters who believe they run things, not some billionaire upstart president who really connected with average Americans. So, the secret is out. Trumps election was indeed stolen from him. But dont ever believe it was because he is the authoritarian and tyrant its them who stole it we have to worry about. After all, if Trump is such a dictator, how come many of his executive orders were successfully challenged and he was fact-checked by social media? No dictator we know of would put up with that. Speaking of dictators, the deep state ensured that we got one: Biden has ruled by executive order the short time hes been in office. Our country has been taken from us, Americans, by people we dont know and whom we never elected. We ought not waste any time taking it back. See more reporting like this at DeepState.news. Sources include: MSN.com Spectator.org TrendingPolitics.com NaturalNews.com Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Black Lives Matter, Antifa March Through DC, Chant Burn It Down Black Lives Matter protesters and Antifa agitators marched through Washington on Feb. 6 and threatened people as they ate dinner, according to video footage and reports. Burn it down, the demonstrators chanted. We are here tonight because black lives matter, members of the far-left group also said. Despite black lives mattering, black people are still dying at the hands of the police paid for by our tax dollars. Other video footage uploaded by independent journalists on the scene showed Antifa types fighting with police officers, who were trying to keep them away from restaurants. Some, clad in all black, could be seen holding the red-and-black Antifa flag. At one point, police in Washington were seen forming lines around outdoor diners to separate them from the demonstrators and agitators. Anti-police protests and riots have been a constant presence in Washington following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last May. About 26,000 National Guard members were sent to Washington to provide enhanced security for the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. Officials later said that about 5,000 Guard members would stay in the city until mid-March. Police officials didnt immediately respond to The Epoch Times about whether any arrests made. Andy Ngo, an independent journalist who has chronicled Antifas actions across the United States, told The Epoch Times last week that the notion that Antifa is merely an ideology is false. Ngo said the group is more than an idea. Its also a movement. It has networks, and some of them are organized into formal organizations, he said. Some have noted that the continuation of Black Lives Matter protests and Antifa riots is a signal that theres a growing schism within the American left. Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and other cities have occasionally seen violent demonstrations since the Jan. 20 inauguration of President Joe Biden. Also in January, demonstrators swarmed and attacked an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilitya frequent target in Portland during the Trump administrationwhich triggered a federal response. The real-world news from Israel adds to other signs of hope after months of bleakness. A growing number of vaccines are showing strong efficacy against COVID-19 and are particularly protective against severe illness. Some trials suggest that vaccines might even have the potential to slow transmission of the virus. The new Israeli study looked at national health statistics for people 60 years and older, who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine first because of their high risk. Analysing data from six weeks into the vaccination campaign, when the majority of people that age had been vaccinated, they found that the number of new COVID-19 cases dropped by 41 per cent compared to three weeks earlier. That group also experienced a 31 per cent drop in hospitalisations from the coronavirus and a drop of 24 per cent of those who became critically ill. The study is important, in part, because the authors were able to isolate other factors, including lockdowns, which also reduce the number of infections. The researchers found that even taking those factors into account, the vaccines had a significant effect. How big an effect remains to be determined. But new data released last week by one of Israels largest health networks suggest the vaccines protection in practice may be nearly as good as it was in the clinical trial. The vaccine had a 95 per cent efficacy rate in clinical trials. Researchers warned in November that those numbers might not hold up in the real world. Loading People who volunteer for trials might not represent the population as a whole, for example. Also, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is challenging to administer on a national scale because it has to be kept frozen until shortly before it is administered. But Maccabi Healthcare Services reported on Thursday that out of 416,900 people it had vaccinated, only 254 had gotten COVID-19 a week after their second dose. Whats more, all of the cases were mild. Comparing these rates to unvaccinated people, the researchers estimated that the vaccine has an effectiveness of 91 per cent. The results are all the more striking, experts said, because Israel is contending with a worrisome new variant of the coronavirus. The variant B.1.1.7 now accounts for up to 80 per cent of the samples tested in Israel. Loading First identified in Britain in December, the variant has spread to 72 other countries and may be up to 50 per cent more transmissible than other variants. Israel leads the world in vaccinating its citizens. So far, more than a third of its population of more than 9 million people has received a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and nearly 2 million people have received a second dose. The first target was citizens over age 60, an age group that accounted for 95 per cent of the more than 5000 COVID-19 deaths in Israel. According to the Health Ministry, 84 per cent of that age group has been vaccinated. As a relatively small country with a highly digitised, universal health system, Israel became an attractive testing ground for Pfizer. As a result, Israel made a deal with the company, offering data in exchange for a steady supply of vaccines. Despite its successes, Israel remains vulnerable. After a dip in new cases at the end of January, the average rate is climbing back up again. The contagiousness of the B.1.1.7 variant may be partly to blame, along with lower compliance with the current lockdown compared to previous ones. There is also no telling what would happen if a more worrisome variant began spreading in Israel. A variant first identified in South Africa is not only more contagious, but might also render vaccines less effective. At the same time, Israels much-vaunted vaccine program appears to have hit a snag as the numbers of those vaccinated dropped dramatically last week, suggesting that the countrys initial enthusiasm may be waning. The slowdown left some vaccination centres deserted this week. The vaccination program has encountered resistance among some groups, particularly ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arab citizens, two communities that have been hit hard by the virus. The government and health networks are launching new efforts to bring in more people to get vaccinated. Israels health networks made vaccines available to anyone 16 or older this week. Experts advising the government recommended allowing only those teachers who have been vaccinated back into the classroom. Loading As an additional incentive once lockdown restrictions are eased, they are recommending limiting attendance at cultural or religious gatherings to people who have been fully vaccinated, have recovered from COVID-19 or can show a recent, negative test. Galia Rahav, head of the Infectious Disease Unit and Laboratories at the Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, said the main takeaway from the new research was that it was very critical to vaccinate the nearly half a million Israelis over 50 who have not been inoculated as quickly as possible. Experts have also pointed to gaps in the Weizman Institute study that remain to be filled. Hagai Levine, a public health researcher at Hebrew University-Hadassah in Jerusalem, cautioned that the researchers observed only broad trends in the country rather than tracking individual people who had been vaccinated. As a result, the study raises a number of questions it cant answer. Its not clear, for example, why the researchers only saw a decline in cases, severe illness and hospitalisation three weeks after the start of the campaign. In the clinical trial on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, researchers observed the first signs of protection roughly 10 days after the first dose. Its possible that the effect was slower in Israel because the vaccination campaign was directed primarily at older people, whose immune systems may have taken longer to mount a defence. The message to the world is even if you are vaccinating at a crazy rate like Israel, even so, you will have to have patience, Hagai Rossman, a co-author of the Weizmann study, said. There is no magic wand. Garfield, Dr. Gene On February 2, 2021 Retired Professor Dr. Gene J. Garfield completed his earthly travels. Gene retired after teaching for a number of years at Murray State University. He had earlier taught 9th grade world history in Boise, Idaho, worked as the social science librarian and taught at Utah State University in Logan, Utah, taught at Assumption College in Worcester, MA and most recently taught Political Science at Murray State University. At Murray State he was awarded: Max Carmen Outstanding Teacher Award 1985; Pi Sigma Alpha Outstanding Chapter Advisor 1999 and 2007; Regents Award for Teaching Excellence 1996; Alumni Associations Distinguished Professor 1993; and other awards. Gene was also a member of Pi Kappa Alpha. He was preceded in death by his father and mother Albert and Geneva Garfield; his 4 brothers and 1 sister: Maynard and Marie Garfield, Wayne and Marion Garfield, Darrel Garfield, Wilma Jensen and Rulon and Shirley Garfield and many other friends and relatives. He is survived by his wonderful and lovely wife of 61 years, Roberta. They were married in Council Bluffs, Iowa while she was in nursing school. She supported Gene working as a nurse at various hospitals during his educational experience. She was an active Nurse Practitioner and Director of Health Services at MSU until her retirement. He is also survived by his son Greg (and Sheila) of Patterson, CA; his grandson Chris of Brentwood, TN and his daughter Natalie (and Susan) of Murray, KY and many nieces and nephews. Gene served in the U.S. Navy as a Dental Tech and was stationed in San Diego. While in San Diego he earned his high school diploma from San Diego Evening High School. After his discharge he graduated from Weber Junior College in Ogden Utah and Utah State University where he earned his BS and MS Degrees in Political Science. His Masters Thesis was devoted to analyzing the political career of a former Governor of Utah - Herbert B. Maw. He also worked at South Junior High School teaching history for one year. He then returned to USU to teach and serve as the Social Science Librarian. He resigned his position at Utah State and he, his wife and two young children drove across the U.S. for him to work on his PhD program at Southern Illinois University. He interrupted his student role for one year when he accepted a position at Assumption College, in Worcester, MA. Then, the family returned to Carbondale where Gene completed his PhD while Roberta supported the family. In 1970, Gene accepted a position at Murray State University to teach while finishing his degree he promised his wife that as soon as it was completed, they would return to the West but they so enjoyed Murray State! Gene loved the many opportunities to teach abroad he was able to teach for the U.S. Air Force, in conjunction with Troy State University for a year in Germany and England. He also enjoyed teaching in England, France and Germany, especially in Regensburg! His family will hold a visitation from 2 pm 4 pm on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at the Heritage Chapel of Imes Funeral Home, 1804 Highway 121 Bypass North. Honorary pallbearers are Phil Bryan, Gary Brockway, John Yates, Dennis Johnson, Martin Milkman, Don Bennett, Ron Cella and Neil Weber. A private family graveside service will be Thursday, February 11, 2021 at Murray City Cemetery. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Anna Mae Owen Residential Hospice House, 803 Poplar St., Murray, KY 42071. Please join family and friends in honoring the life of Dr. Gene Garfield by visiting www.imesfh.com and posting your tributes and memories. The Heritage Chapel of Imes Funeral Home is entrusted with caring for the family of Dr. Garfield. The Wyoming Republican Party has voted to formally censure congresswoman Liz Cheney following her vote in January to impeach Donald Trump. It also called on Ms Cheney, the third highest ranked Republican in the House and one of just 10 from the party to back impeachment, to "immediately" resign and promised to withhold future political funding. Wyoming Republican officials said the vote represented widespread anger at the congresswoman. "No county in the state has heard this resolution and ultimately voted it down," Carbon County Republican party chairman Joey Correnti IV told the Casper Star Tribune. "Seventy per cent of the counties in this state took it up, and every single one passed it. That is the voice of the people." Ms Cheney stood by her decision. Recommended Cheney keeps GOP leadership role in blow to Trump faithful as Greene faces no consequences for bigoted remarks "My vote to impeach was compelled by the oath I swore to the constitution," she told CNN on Saturday following the vote. "Wyoming citizens know that this oath does not bend or yield to politics or partisanship." The other Republicans who voted against their standard-bearer have faced a similar backlash, with the South Carolina GOP censuring representative Tom Rice. Ms Cheney still has the backing of her House colleagues though, who voted 145 to 61 to keep her on as conference chair on Wednesday. The vote wraps up a week marked by an extraordinary amount of division within the Republican Party, which operated as a mostly united front during the Trump years and banded together to resist the Obama administration at nearly every turn. The day before the Wyoming censure vote, Democrats as well as a few Republicans voted to oust hard-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee placements, following revelations she previously endorsed conspiracy theories like QAnon, threatened her Muslim colleagues, and liked posts on social media calling for violence and death towards elected Democrats. The tension over the future of the party has got so bad that one former Republican congressman, Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, says he and others have begun discussing whether they should form a "new party or a new faction" after the "ugly populism" of the Trump years. A makeshift memorial for doctor Li Wenliang at an entrance to the Central Hospital of Wuhan in Hubei province, China on Feb. 7, 2020. (Stringer/Reuters) Wuhan Residents Remember COVID-19 Whistleblower Doctor a Year After His Death WUHAN, ChinaA year after his death from COVID-19, residents in the Chinese city of Wuhan say they remain grateful to the whistleblower doctor who first sounded the alarm about the outbreak before the authorities officially admitted to the second outbreak of a SARS virus. Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist at a hospital in the city, became one of the most visible figures in the early days of the outbreak in Wuhan when he tried to sound the alarm about its appearance but was reprimanded by the police for spreading rumours. The 34-year-olds death from the virus on Feb. 7 led to an outpouring of public mourning and rare expressions of anger online. Several days later, Zhong Nanshan, a renowned epidemiologist, shed tears for Li in an interview with Reuters calling him a hero of China. But when Chinese leader Xi Jinping honoured the heroes of the peoples war against the virus in September, there was no mention of Lis contribution. While people on the streets around Lis hospital say life in the city has mostly returned to its usual rhythm, they still revere Li for his actions. As Reuters journalists visited the area around the hospital on Saturday, they were followed by two men in plainclothes who identified themselves as hospital parking security, and local guards blocked a cameraman from filming the hospital entrance. He was the first to tell us about the virus, said Li Pan, 24, who owns an online store. He must have considered the impact would be huge, but he still raised the alarm. That was really brave, Li said. Ji Penghui, a 34-year-old designer, said he heard about Lis warning in the early days and rushed to stock up on masks before the officials spoke openly about the virus. The public strongly acknowledges him, and personally, I think he should receive more official honours, rather than being treated as what he did is already in the past Ji said. Ji said he thinks the government made mistakes in the early stages, but it has handled it well since. Others are still disappointed by the one-party governments approach to managing the pandemic. A World Health Organization team is currently in Wuhan researching the early stages of the outbreak, and is preparing to present its findings, team member Dominic Dwyer told Reuters on Friday. The team visited the sprawling Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, thought to be where the virus first became an outbreak, which led to a pandemic that has infected over 105 million people and killed nearly 3 million worldwide. The market site has been shut to the public since the beginning of last year. Investigations into the origins of the virus remain hampered by the Chinese Communist Partys PR and political concerns. Some Chinese diplomats and state media have thrown support behind theories that the virus potentially originated in another country, leading to a highly politicized situation. While 80-year-old Qian Wende said he does not know where the virus came from, he regards Li as a hero. We should be commemorating his contribution to fighting the pandemic, he said. By David Kirton. The Epoch Times contributed to this report. New Delhi, Feb 7 : Part of an under-construction hydropower project of state-run power major NTPC has been damaged by the avalanche in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday. The company has said that it is monitoring the situation continuously along with the district administration and police. Part of the under-construction Tapovan Vishnugad hydro power project (520 MW) has faced damages while another privately-owned Rishi Ganga hydro project (130 MW) was completely devastated. "An avalanche near Tapovan in Uttarakhand has damaged a part of our under-construction hydropower project in the region. While rescue operation is on, situation is being monitored continuously with the help of district administration and police," NTPC said in a tweet. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that 125 people are missing following the massive flood. The incident occurred after the water level in Dhauliganga river, suddenly surged on Sunday morning following an avalanche near the Rishi Ganga power project. The 85 km river meets the Alaknanda river at Vishnuprayag at the base of Joshimath mountain in Uttarakhand. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text If youve been reading our Harley-Davidson section this past year, then you probably know of a German shop called Thunderbike , a relentless player on the European custom motorcycle segment. We mentioned the Germans because it is them who were approached by Kuryakyn for the creation of a special project.The goal was to have a cool Bagger project with the latest Kuryakyn parts, and for that a Street Glide from 2016 was chosen. And what the shop says about the end results, which is hardly anything was left untouched, is clearly visible in the attached gallery.The list of bolt-on parts used for the build is extremely long (you can have a look at it in full at this link ), comprising around 50 items, all of them, of course, of Kuryakyn make, making the entire build nothing short of a well-knitted billboard on wheels.The list starts at the front with the 7-inch LED halo trim rings, burns through things like LED saddlebags extensions, covers for all things in need of covers, and all the way to the Crusher Marksman 4-inch slip-ons for the exhaust. These last bits, together with a Maverick Pro air filter and new mapping, are said to noticeably improve the performance, although no specifics are provided.So, if you or I were to want something similar put together, what would it cost us? Thunderbike and Kuryakyn dont specifically say that, but we did the math on the parts used, and we came up with a surprisingly low figure - around $5,000 euros (the bike was put together in Europe), which is roughly $6,000. https://www.aish.com/jw/s/Jews-of-Myanmar-10-Facts.html Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has a fascinating Jewish history. Here are some little-known facts about Myanmar, Jews, and the Jewish state. Early Jewish Visitors In the early 1800s, Jewish traders primarily from India and Iraq began to venture into present-day Myanmar. The first Jew to live permanently in the country is said to have been an Indian Jew named Solomon Gabirol, who served as commissar in the army of King Alaungpaya, the 18th Century Burmese monarch who established the Konbaung Dynasty, which ruled Burma until 1885. Once British forces entered Burma in the 1820s, there are records of some Jewish traders working in the country. One of them, Solomon Reinman, moved from Galicia to the bustling city of Rangoon in 1851, where he traded teak and bamboo. Reinman later moved to the Indian city of Cochin, which had a Jewish community at the time, married, and spent 25 years there. Late in life, he returned to Europe, moved to Vienna and wrote a Hebrew-language account of his travels called Masot Shelomo, or Travels of Solomon. It was one of the first western accounts of Myanmar. Bringing Baghdad Jewish Culture to Burma By the mid-1800s a large community of Jews from Baghdad lived and worked in Burma. Writer Ruth Fredman Cernea, author of Almost Englishman: Baghdadi Jews in British Burma (Lexington Books: 2006) notes that these Jewish traders came as an extended family, and used their extensive social and familial connections to facilitate trade throughout Asia. In addition to trading a range of goods, she notes, They also serviced the ships that docked in the busy Rangoon harbor. Some entered the civil service as government officials and customs officers; others worked as clerks in Baghdadi stores on Mogul or Dalhousie Streets (in Rangoon). Even as they became more comfortable in Burma, the Burma Jewish community was an intrinsic part of the broader Baghdadi world that existed throughout Southeast Asia. Rangoon or Mandalay (another Burmese city) might be their mailing address, but their home could not be so easily defined or confined. These Jewish traders brought a slice of Baghdadi Jewish life to their new homes overseas. Jewish Cultural Mixing Soon, other Jews began to settle in Burma. Ruth Fredman Cernea notes that although the Baghdadi Jews were sophisticated traders, their English was often poor and prevented them working for Burmas new British colonizers. Instead, it was Indian Jews from the city of Cochin which had long been home to a thriving Jewish community and poorer Bene Israel Jews from smaller towns and villages who were often more fluent in English and who found it easier to work for the British. Indian Jews soon could be found in Rangoon working as clerks both for British colonialists and Baghdadi Jewish traders. Some Bene Israel workers labored at the docks in the Burmese port of Mandalay. Arook Thayin: Chicken Croquettes Burmese Style Food historian Claudia Roden notes that culinarily, It was Jews of Baghdadi origin who organized the congregation (of Burmese Jews), and it is their style of cooking that influenced the Jewish style that developed locally. She supplies this recipe as an example of the Burmese style of Jewish cooking that developed in Burma. 4 scallions, very finely chopped 2 fresh green chilies, seeded and very finely chopped cup chopped coriander leaves 3 chicken-breast fillets weighing about 12 oz (350 g) 3 T flour 4 eggs Juice of 1 inch (4 cm) piece of fresh ginger, crushed in a garlic press, or the grated pieces Salt Light vegetable oil for deep-frying, about 1 inch (2 cm) deep Chop the scallions, chilies (half a chili is enough for me, Claudia Roden notes), and coriander in the food processor. Hen add the chicken, flour, eggs, ginger, and salt, and process until the chicken is finely chopped and all the ingredients are well blended. Chill, covered, for 1-2 hours. Deep-fry by the heaping tablespoon (dip the spoon in oil so that the mixture does not stick) in medium-hot oil turning over once, until browned all over. Drain on paper towels. The recipe makes about 14 2 inch (6 cm) fritters and up to 36 tiny ones. Serve hot or cold. (From The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey From Samarkand to New York, Claudia Roden: 1996.) Azariah Samuel One of the first Baghdadi Jews to settle in Burma moved to the remote city of Akyab (later called Sittwe), a port city on the Bay of Bengal. Cut off from Jewish communities, Azariah nevertheless came prepared to live a religious Jewish life. He traveled with his own shochet or Jewish ritual slaughterer, to ensure that he and his family could have a supply of kosher meat, and seemingly never compromised his Orthodox Jewish lifestyle. Azariahs family eventually numbered five children. He and his wife built a Jewish cemetery, which still exists in Sittwe; one of their sons tragically died in childhood and is buried there. As a Jewish community grew up in the Burmese capital, Rangoon, the Samuel family would sometimes travel there for Jewish festivals, or else host other Burmese Jews in Akyab. By the 1880s Azariah Samuel was a prominent businessman in the town. His son Samuel Haim Samuel took over many of his fathers properties, which included a wine store and cinema. Samuel Haim was also a shochet, having learned the trade from the shochet his father first brought with him to Burma. The entire Samuel family left Burma in 1931, moving to the Indian city of Calcutta, and eventually moving on to Australia and London. Working in the Royal Court Other Jews traveled to the royal city of Yadanabon, also known as Mandalay or The City of Gems to work in the Burmese royal court there. Jewish merchants Aaron Jacob Elias Aaron and his son David Hai Aaron were royal accountants working for King Mindon. Sammy Samuels, second from right, sings at a Hanukkah event with Burmese leaders. Israels ambassador to Myanmar, Ronen Gilor, is third from left; between them is Phyo Min Thein, the chief minister of the Yangon region, Dec. 7, 2018. (Charles Dunst) In 1878 King Mindons son Thibaw was crowned. A bloody ruler, he tried to regain his kingdom from the British and was eventually defeated and forced into exile in 1885. Through these long years of fighting and bloody mayhem, a Jewish community managed to hang on in Mandalay. Saul Reuben Hakham Rabbi Sasson arrived in the royal city in 1878 along with his son Mordechai Saul. The pair had just travelled from Baghdad on a bizarre errand. Mordechai Saul was engaged to marry his teenage second cousin Seema, but Seema and her family fled Baghdad after a bandit the family said an Arab sheikh kidnapped Seemas older sister and held her for ransom. Reunited in Mandalay, Mordechai Saul and Seema married. Seeking permission to set up a business in the royal city, Mordechai Saul petitioned for an audience with King Thibaw. He wanted to make a good impression, so he brought with him some bottles of expensive perfume hed carried to Burma all the way from Baghdad, and presented them to Queen Supaylat as a gift. Delighted with the beautiful bottles and presumably unfamiliar with the concept of perfume Queen Supaylat opened them, poured the perfume out onto the floor, and declared herself delighted with the beautiful flower-holding bottles which she had placed in front of the palaces Buddha statue. Mordechai and Seema Saul quickly travelled to Baghdad to buy more perfume bottles, and for years they operated a store on the palace grounds, selling perfume so that Burmese customers could enjoy the beautiful bottles, just as Queen Supaylat had done. Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue, (Photo by Ben Frank) In 1854 the small Jewish community of Rangoon built a synagogue, Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue. In 1896, when the citys Jewish population had swelled to over 200, the community rebuilt the synagogue out of stone. The building bears a striking resemblance to the Magen David synagogue in Calcutta in India: one visitor described it as having a soaring ceiling, memorial lamps suspended in midair and pale beams over a central carved bimah located in the center of the prayer hall, surrounded by benches for the worshippers. Above them is a womens gallery. Glory Days in the 1930s By the 1930s, about 3,000 Jews lived in Burma, most in Rangoon, the countrys new capital. A second synagogue, Beth El, was built there in 1932. Then known as Yangon, the capital city even had a Jewish mayor in the 1930s: local businessman David Sofaer. Locals have recalled that Jewish restaurants, pharmacies, and schools once marked the citys streets. Even today, some buildings in downtown Rangoon boast Jewish stars on their facades, a hint that years ago they might have been owned by Burmese Jews. The beautiful Sofaer building still stands at the corner of Pansodan (Phayre Street) and Merchant Street. The photograph is of an early Sofaer business along Merchant Street. Burma was devastated during World War II when it was bombed and invaded by Japan. Nearly all of the countrys Jews fled, moving to India, present-day Israel and elsewhere. After the war, a few hundred Jews returned, but they nearly all left the country as it pursued repressive policies. By 2010, only about 20 Jews remained in all of Rangoon. Burmese-Israeli Friendship Burma and Israel each gained independence in 1948, and the two countries forged a close relationship in the 1950s. In 1955, Burmese Prime Minister U Nu became the first foreign prime minister to visit Israel. Journalist Joe Freeman notes that this was an immensely important event. Today, its difficult to revive the importance of his act, but at the time, it was highly significant. U Nu was a major figure among leaders of non-Western countries, many of which had opposed Israels establishment. That same year, Israel appointed its first envoy to an Asian country, naming David HaCohen Israels minister to Burma. Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion accompanied by Burmese Former Chief Justice U Thein Mg, in Rangoon December 10, 1961. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir wrote extensively about Burma in her autobiography My Life (1975). I think there was no developing country in the world...with which we conducted such an ardent love affair. For years there seemed to be nothing about Israel that the Burmese did not admire or want to emulate Golda Meir organized visits of Burmese people to Israel so they could learn from the Jewish state. Sharing a hostile border with China, it was especially instructive for Burmese civilians to learn how Israel managed to survive surrounded by hostile Arab neighbors. In 1961, Golda Meir and her husband Menachem visited Burma. I could...hardly believe that I was not dreaming when we landed at a northern airport and all the Burmese wives and children who had once been in Israel greeted me with Hebrew songs and Israeli flags. I dont think I will ever forget walking up to one of the little houses in Namsang and saying in Hebrew to a young Burmese who stood in the doorway: Shalom, ma nish ma? (Shalom, how are things?) and hearing him answer, like a real Israeli, Beseder, aval ein maspeek mayim. (Fine, but there isnt enough water.) I might have been in (the Israeli city) Revivim, Meir recalled. Last Jews in Rangoon For the past six years, its fallen to one man, a Burmese Jewish entrepreneur in his 40s named Sammy Samuels, to maintain Rangoons Jewish sites. He took over leadership of Burmas Jewish community in 2015, when his father Moses, who was the leader, passed away. Sammy Samuels Sammys Burmese name is Aung Soe Lwin, and hes one of perhaps twenty Jews who still live in the city. These days, nearly the only visitors to Burmas Jewish sites are tourists. Despite the almost total lack of local Jews, Sammy is optimistic about Jewish life in Burma today. People (here) would not understand what anti-Semitism is, he explains; Thank God, theres no such word here. South Korea's President Moon Jae-in has announced plans to establish the world's largest offshore wind farm in an effort to move the country toward carbon neutrality by 2050 as part of the President's ' Green New Deal'. A 48 trillion won investment agreement was signed by Pesident Moon Jae-in in Sinan-gun, Jeollanam-do with the aim of establishing an offshore wind farm with a capacity of 8.3 GW. Companies such as KEPCO, SK E&S, and Hanwha E&C, Doosan Heavy Industries, CS Wind, and Samgang M&T have been selected to support project plans. Work is anticipated to create around 120,000 jobs by 2030. President Moon Jae-in commented: "We are very pleased to deliver the good news to the people who are exhausted from corona. The 8.2GW of electricity produced here is equivalent to the power generation of six new Korean nuclear power plants, and all households in Seoul and Incheon "A huge amount that can be done." As a currently coal reliant nation, South Korea is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050 under its 'Green Deal', which was introduced in July 2020. This means targeting 60 GW of renewables, including 12 GW of offshore wind, by 2030. Currently, South Korea has 98 MW installed. Appetite is high for both fixed and floating installations although South Korea will need to overcome a number of obstacles such as infrastructure upgrades and conflicts with the fishing industry in order to meet its targets. For more information on offshore wind farms worldwide, click here . Chamoli : , Feb 7 (IANS) There was a massive flood in Uttarakhand's Joshimath area due to the water level in Dhauliganga river suddenly crossing its regular flow on Sunday morning followed by an avalanche near a power project at the Reni village of Chamoli district. The incident took place near the Reni village, which is 26 km far from Joshimath. The Dhauliganga river got flooded and destroyed many houses situated at the river banksides. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) said that there was some cloudburst or breaching of the reservoir at around 10 a.m. which resulted in the flooding in Dhauliganga -- one of the six source streams of the Ganges river. The 85 km river meets the Alaknanda River at Vishnuprayag at the base of Joshimath mountain in Uttarakhand. Several labourers working at the Rishi Ganga hydroelectric power project were feared missing after a glacier broke. A dam of the Tapovan power project was breached and feared to have been washed away. ITBP and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel have been rushed to the affected areas to evacuate stranded people. "Casualties feared. Hundreds of ITBP men rushed for rescue," the ITBP said. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has convened an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation and to supervise rescue and relief operations. Though the impact of the disaster may not be felt in Rishikesh and Haridwar, the towns have been put on alert. A government spokesman said that there was not much human habitation at the site where the glacier broke but a number of power projects have been hit. The government has also appealed to the people not to venture near the Ganga river. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel (Image: Twitter.com/@Bhupesh_Baghel) Rahul Gandhi is the only leader who can take on the mantle of the Congress presidentship as he is the one who has been taking a strong stand on important issues without bowing to government's pressure, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has said, amid a growing chorus within the party seeking Gandhi's return to the helm. Within a span of one week, two state units of the Congress have passed resolutions backing Gandhi's return as party chief. While Delhi Congress had passed a resolution requesting Gandhi to take over as chief last Sunday, the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC) on Saturday unanimously passed a resolution moved by Baghel to re-appoint the Wayanad MP as the party president. "All Congress persons are standing resolutely with Rahul Gandhi and believe that under his leadership, the Congress organisation will be constantly strengthened. Under Rahul Gandhi's leadership, a confidence has been kindled among Congress workers that under his leadership and guidance, they will strengthen the party's foundation," the resolution passed by the CPCC said. In an interview with PTI, Baghel said Gandhi enjoys the confidence of one and all in the party and holds the party together. Asked if Rahul Gandhi was best suited to take on party presidentship, he said, "Who else is there. Apart from Rahul Gandhi, is there any leader who is touring the country, who is recognized by the Congress workers across the country?" Gandhi is speaking out on all issues, be it demonetisation, GST, or COVID-19, he made his stand clear, the Chhattisgarh chief minister said. "He also took a clear cut stand in favour of farmers. So, he is the only leader who is taking a clear cut stand (on important issues), is putting forth his views forcefully, not bowing before the government's pressure," Baghel said. Asked if Gandhi should become president through elections or should he be appointed chief without the electoral process as a unanimous choice, he said whatever the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and the Congress Working Committee (CWC) decide would be followed. Everything should be done according to the Constitution of the party, he added. "Definitely, Rahul Gandhi is the only leader who can take on the mantle of national presidentship of the party," Baghel asserted. On whether elections to the CWC should also be held along with the polls of party president, Baghel said the matter had been discussed and there was no controversy as whatever is in the Constitution of the party will be followed. "The party traditions will be followed. We have a constitution and traditions are also there which will be followed," he said. The Congress last month announced that the party will have an elected president by June 2021 "at any cost". After a three-and-a-half-hour meeting, which was stormy at times, the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest policy making body, had authorised incumbent chief Sonia Gandhi to schedule the internal elections after the conclusion of assembly polls in five states due to be held in April-May. Congress leaders K C Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala had said that the CWC elections will also be held but it remains to be seen whether they can be scheduled before or after the election to the post of Congress president. Sonia Gandhi took over as interim Congress president after Rahul Gandhi resigned in the wake of the party's Lok Sabha debacle in May 2019. Baghel, who was recently made a senior observer for the upcoming Assam assembly polls by the party for overseeing the election campaign management and coordination, slammed the BJP for targeting the Congress' alliance with All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in the state. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had kickstarted BJP's campaign for the state election in Assam last month, alleging that the Congress-AIUDF combine will open "all gates" to welcome infiltrators if it comes to power in Assam. Hitting out at the BJP, Baghel said, "It is unfortunate that the BJP indulges in politics of fear. They never talk about their achievements. There is an alliance of six parties, but they are talking about one party (AIUDF)." "If you (BJP) are talking about Assam. You were in power for five years, how many promises you fulfilled. What happened about the major promises," he asked. The BJP always spreads fear, sometimes of Pakistan, sometimes of China and at other times of Hindu-Muslim, Baghel alleged. "They (BJP) scare people and threaten them. They are getting people to crossover to their party by scaring and threatening them. After going into the party, what is the state of the leaders, be it (Jyotiraditya) Scindia or Himanta Biswa Sarma," Baghel said. Asserting that the Congress' electoral prospects in Assam are very good, Baghel said the main issues in the polls would be the BJP government's failure in Assam and the achievements of the Congress government which was in power for 15 years in the state. He said the Congress alliance will soon come up with a common minimum programme and a coordination committee will be set up, he said. The election to the 126-member Assam Assembly is likely in March-April. The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has announced that it will contest the forthcoming state polls in alliance with five parties -- AIUDF, the CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) and the Anchalik Gana Morcha -- to oust the ruling BJP from power. Police at the scene in Rinmore Drive in Derrys Creggan Estate where two men where shot on Saturday evening. Photo: Martin McKeown A man is in critical condition in hospital after he and another man were shot in the legs in Londonderry on Saturday night. Police say they believe the double shooting was carried out by dissident republicans. The shooting happened in the Creggan area at around 6.30pm and the two men were found with gunshot wounds to their legs in an alleyway at Rinmore Drive. A 48-year-old man was shot twice in the leg, in his thigh and shin. A 31-year-old man was hit in the thigh. Local people reported hearing a number of shots being fired. Police and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) attended the scene from where both men were taken to Altnagelvin Area Hospital. The scene remained sealed off on Sunday morning. One of the men has been discharged from hospital, however the other was in intensive care on Sunday night after being transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. Detective Inspector Michelle Boyd said: "Our officers are continuing with their enquiries into these savage attacks, which we believe were carried out by dissident republicans. "The fact the victims were shot in a residential area at a time when people would have been out and about shows just how reckless those responsible are, and how they have no regard whatsoever for life. "Last night's double shooting brings the number of shootings in our city to four since the start of the year. They are simply unacceptable and there can never be any justification for them. "Carrying out attacks like this during a global health pandemic is particularly repugnant. We know the majority of people are working hard to keep their community safe and to protect the NHS, yet these violent criminals are endangering lives and increasing pressures on our emergency services and frontline workers. "I am appealing to the public to help us remove these violent criminals from our community by bringing any information they have to us." SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has said the incident was "utterly depressing." The Foyle MP tweeted: "Our hospital has enough to deal with at this time. We don't want the law of the jungle in our city. Get off our backs." Utterly depressing that we've had a double shooting in Derry tonight. Our hospital has enough to deal with at this time. We don't want the law of the jungle in our city. Get off our backs. Colum Eastwood (@columeastwood) February 6, 2021 Sinn Fein MLA Karen Mullan also condemned in the incident. "There is no place for guns or this type of activity on our streets," she said. "This is the fourth shooting since Christmas. We are in the middle of a pandemic, our health service is already stretched to the limit. This is the last thing people of this city want to see. "Anyone with information on what happened should bring it forward to the PSNI." Four people shot in Creggan since Christmas, this needs to stop now! The people of Creggan neither want or support these actions! Our Hospitals and front line staff are under enough pressure, this has to end! https://t.co/XJktCEg7dz Karen Mullan (@k_mullan) February 6, 2021 DUP MLA Gary Middleton described the shootings as "disturbing", adding "there is no place for guns on our streets". "Such attacks are disgusting at anytime, not least when our hospitals are working over capacity. I will continue to be updated by PSNI team," he said. People Before Profit Cllr Shaun Harkin added: "Two more people have been sent to Altnagelvin following another barbaric shooting in Creggan. People Before Profit repeat what we have said many times before - these are futile acts that only serve to further traumatise those directly impacted and a community facing many hardships - and brings burden to an already overwhelmed health service." Anyone who was in the area at around 6:30pm and saw what happened is asked to call detectives at Strand Road on 101, quoting reference number 1559 of 06/02/21. Information can also be given on the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org Gerald Haslam lived in Northern California for most of his life but he always kept one foot in his hometown. He would drive the 320 miles from At the centre of the controversy is a complex and unresolved issue surrounding the finances of the Delhi government and the MCDs. On 17 January, students of the Purvi Dilli Nagar Nigam Prathmik Vidyalaya in East Delhi, received a voice message on WhatsApp, instead of the usual worksheet or online lessons. Namaste bachchon aap kaise ho? began Vibha Singh, principal of the school. She went on to tell them that the teachers were not able to send the worksheets because they have not been paid their salaries for many months. Because the government has not paid us salaries for many months, we are on strike, added Vibha. You know, dont you, that if there is no salary it is difficult to manage household expenses? Till we get our salary, we will not be able to send you the printed worksheets, nor send it to you online, she said before signing off. As soon as the country went into lockdown, 35-year-old Mahesh Kumar, a primary teacher at the Delhi Nagar Nigam Prathmik Vidyalaya in Mongolpuri in Delhi as indeed all his counterparts everywhere began teaching children online, using a smart phone. Of the 30 children in his class, Mahesh says about 20 have mobile phones. They look at the videos and answer the worksheets. Those who dont have a phone come to school and collect the worksheets. Mahesh has been going to school from September last year, as he was in charge of the computer and had to distribute worksheets and notebooks. But from 7 January, there has been no teaching online or offline. All of the around 22,000 teachers at the 1,800 schools under the capitals North, South and East Delhi Municipal corporations have been on strike, as 18,000 of them, including about 4000 teachers on contract, from the North and East Delhi Municipal Corporation run schools have not been paid their salaries, ranging from Rs 45,000 to Rs 1.5 lakhs a month, since August 2020. Only the teachers from the South Delhi Municipal Corporations have been luckier, getting their salaries almost upto date. Troubles began in 2014 Till 2012 we got our salaries every month, even if it was towards the end of the month, said Vibha. It was in 2014 that for the first time, we did not get our payments for three months. Since then, this has become a regular occurrence, forcing the MCD Teachers Association to go to court often. But even though the court always ruled in their favour, and they have met all the Central ministers, nothing seemed to work for these teachers barring once in 2016, when they were paid arrears for four months. From 1976 onward, primary education has been with the municipal body. MCD schools teach students from nursery to class five. The retired teachers and other retired employees of these corporations a total of around 25,000 have also not received their pension for the last six months. Yet things were not this bad till a few months ago. Dr Brajesh Singh, the finance head of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation said the payments problem began in the second quarter of 2020 when the Delhi government failed to make the payments as its own revenues had taken a 57 percent hit on account of COVID-19 . How do we forward an amount we have not received? asked AAP governments MCD-in charge, Durgesh Pathak. A senior member of the MCD Teachers' Association pointed out that when the Congress was in power at the Centre and in the state, the Centre helped out by giving loans to the MCDs specifically to ensure that salaries of the staff were not delayed. Now however, with the BJP-led corporations and the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government sparring over their finances, the Centre has kept mum. The Municipal Corporation Teachers Association (MCTA) has, over the last many months, written to everyone in power from the chiefs of various local bodies to individual corporators, to MLAs in and out of power in the capital territory, Anil Baijal, the Lt Governor of Delhi and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But even empty words of sympathy were hard to come by. Teachers feel betrayed The teachers are angry, bitter, disappointed, disillusioned, and feel cheated. Many this reporter spoke to dont want to be identified; they want to still give receiving their salaries a chance. After all, we are committed to the students, says Ram Nivas Solanki, General Secretary of the MCTA. The teachers have every reason to feel angry and betrayed. They have done everything the government through the local bodies, Delhi government and Centre or the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) wanted them to do, especially being a part of the frontline warriors against COVID-19 . Mahesh, for instance, was assigned the task of distributing dry rations in the schools as part of what the teacher calls COVID-19 duty. We distributed wheat and rice, says Mahesh. So many people used to throng the schools, it used to get very crowded. There was no support, we had to handle everything. Parents of students used to come to collect the rations under the mid-day meal scheme. On an average 250 people came every day. So even after returning home, we used to stay isolated in one room. One day in May, the rations did not come. Parents pelted stones thinking the teachers were not distributing it! It was scary, we locked ourselves in a classroom for safety. His next COVID-19 duty was conducting a door-to-door survey of 300 families in Sultanpuri to see who had symptoms and who did not. The family members used choicest abuses against us, saying you come here every day to malign us (stigma about COVID-19 was at its peak then). It was very traumatic. I had never thought I would have to do all these kinds of work. Maheshs wife is a homemaker. They have two children aged 8 and 6, going to private schools. Out of his salary of about Rs 60,000 per month, he pays Rs 20,000 as EMI towards a housing loan, and Rs 15,000 a month towards insurance-linked annuities. Suddenly not getting his salary came as a blow. His parents helped out for a while the father is a government pensioner, and he had some savings that he used to pay the tuition fees. One, two, three months, we managed, recalls Mahesh. Now all my savings have been wiped out, and I have reached a stage where I cannot borrow from anyone. The children ask for small things that I cannot get them. We have been getting only two answers from the authorities. The MCD says Delhi government has to give us the money, and the Delhi government says they have released, but the local bodies are not distributing. Narendra Kumar, who teaches social studies in a school in the sprawling Rohini area of North Delhi which has 140 MCD schools, is supposed to be paid Rs 80,000 per month. He is a mentor involved in developing videos and worksheets for online classes. Like Mahesh, he has been part of many booth level COVID-19 surveys. His wife is a home maker and his three children go to private schools. He has an EMI of Rs 45,000 to paywhich are now mounting and accumulating interest on interest. Friends, parents and relatives helped, but how long can they? asks Narendra. According to him, 80 percent of teachers who have not received their salaries are in the same predicament. The authorities dont want to initiate any move towards a solution. We continued working despite not getting our salaries all these months, it was only on 7 January that we launched this strike. Blame game Solanki, the teachers association general secretary, says the corporations stock reply is they have a financial crisis, there is no income, and that the Delhi government has to release the funds. In June 2020, the MCTA wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah saying three months salary of teachers in the schools of North Delhi MC was due. A series of letters to all and sundry later, they wrote to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on 27 November pointing out that 90 percent of the teachers under the three local bodies, including those who were over 50, were on COVID-19 duty, and have not yet received their salaries. On 15 December, they wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Not one letter has got a response. Many MCD employees and pensioners finally appealed to the Delhi High Court. On 22 January, even as the high court received an application in which the teachers sought their salary as per their fundamental right under Article 21, the Court expressed dismay and wondered how the Delhi government had money for full page advertisements in all newspapers but not enough to pay salaries. The reference was to periodic full-page ads on a range of subjects, from microbial spray to manage paddy stubble burning to launch of Plasma Therapy, to information on achievement on the COVID-19 front, to celebrating Diwali without fireworks. Grievances of employees have been reduced to a political slugfest, there was no real sense of concern or sympathy for the employees; all of you are behaving completely irresponsibly towards these employees and pensioners, the bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli observed. Strangely, the MCD budgets do not have any kind of entry under the head education. Our main demand has long been that the MCDs should create a head for salary of teachers and other employees, said Vibha Singh. The MCDTA believes that things will be smooth if the local bodies decide, through a resolution, that they will pay all the salaries out of their internal receipts. As of now, all employees of the local bodies are clubbed into four categories. The A class are the officers, teachers fall under B class. The clerical and other staff come under category C and the peons, sanitation workers comprise class D. The MCDTA says that in December, the civic bodies got some funds, but decided to pay the Category D and C only, and exhausted the funds. That is what they do every time, even though the high court has directed them to pay all the categories, even if for fewer days rues Vibha. Claims and counterclaims On 21 January, East Delhi Municipal Corporation had told the court that Rs 320 crore was required for release of November and December salaries and Rs 87 crore for release of pension of three months. The North MCD has a much higher amount of unpaid salaries and pensions. The Delhi government said a sanction order was passed for release of Rs 337 crore to MCDs and other local bodies for January-March 2021. On 13 January, Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain told a press conference that the Kejriwal government was releasing Rs 938 crores to the three municipal corporations specifically to pay salaries. But MCD employees say, the Rs 938 crores will not be enough, as salaries of staff have been pending for three to six months. The Delhi government released some money on 17 and 18 January, and one months salarythat of September 2020 has been paid to some employees, said the teachers association. The MCDs are not transparent about their finances, so we do not know who all will be paid and for how many months, added a teacher. In another application before the high court, the teachers association sought a special economic relief package from the Delhi and Central governments for smooth running of the municipal corporations, and urged the court to otherwise recommend dissolution of the corporation. Now, Solanki and his colleagues are knocking at the most powerful door they can think of the parents of the children they teach. At their recent rallies, they have been appealing to the parents, who are voters too, to bear with them for not sending worksheets and online lessons because they have not been paid their salaries by the MCD bodies. Never-ending tussle over money At the centre of this controversy over non-payment of salaries to teachers and other employees of local bodies in Delhi is the more than a decade old complex and unresolved issue surrounding the finances of the Delhi government and the MCDs. Ahead of the budget last year, Kejriwal and Sisodia had met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and pointed out that while the budget of the Delhi government had increased from Rs 8739 crores in 2001-2, to Rs 60,000 crores in 2019-20, its share in the Central taxes remained frozen at Rs 325 crores even though Delhi contributes around Rs 1.5 lakh crores as income tax revenue. Besides the problems the Delhi government has with the way the Centre funds it, it also has issues with the way it is expected to fund the civic bodies. The municipal corporations are funded partly by the Delhi government, while they have to raise the rest through property tax, transfer duty, toll tax, vehicle tax, electricity tax, revenues from advertisement sites, education cess, car parking etc. Under the existing formula based on the recommendations of the Delhi Finance Commission, the Delhi government is expected to give the civic bodies a 12.5 percent share of its net tax revenue. The formula was working more or less fine till the trifurcation of the MCD ten years ago (in 2011) leading to inequalities in the funding each MCD got. Interestingly, while local bodies all over the country get a Central grant at the rate of Rs 485 per person, the Delhi MCDs do not receive this. The government of the National Capital Territory instead has to give them 12.5 percent of tax receipts. The Centre merely gives the MCDs loans. The AAP government has many times pointed to this discrimination, and the MCDs too have urged the Centre to transfer the money directly to them. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia last year worked out the arithmetic of this thus: Delhi has a population of 2.5 crores, and this works out to Rs 1150 crores a year, making it about Rs 12,000 crores in the last 10 years. He had demanded the Centre release a Rs 1,100 crore basic and performance grant in July last. In all of this, the losers are honest, hardworking citizens who are merely asking to be paid the rightful dues for the work that they do. This article was first published in Citizen Matters, a civic media website and is republished here with permission. (c) Oorvani Foundation/Open Media Initiative Mr. Schumer drew periodic complaints from the left throughout the Trump years for taking a generally cautious approach to messaging and campaign strategy, including in key Senate races last year where Mr. Schumer handpicked moderate recruits who eventually lost in states like Maine and North Carolina. There is limited patience now among Democrats for the kind of incremental maneuvering and horse-trading that is traditionally required to pass laws in the Senate. In a statement, Mr. Schumer said he was trying to do the best job for my constituents and for my country and acknowledged a shift in the scope of his governing goals. The world has changed and the needs of families have changed, he said, income and racial inequality has worsened, the climate crisis has become more urgent, Trump has attacked our democracy all of these things require big, bold action and that is what I am fighting to deliver in the Senate. At the moment, the most serious potential challengers to Mr. Schumer Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez chief among them have not taken steps toward a campaign. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, the 31-year-old Queens lawmaker, has told associates that she has not decided whether to run but that she believes the possibility of a challenge serves as a constructive form of pressure on Mr. Schumer, people who have spoken with her said. Other potential opponents appear more focused on assembling a bid to unseat Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Yet Mr. Schumer seems to want to deter even a quixotic opponent who could become a nettlesome distraction or worse. He has taken to using Twitter and cable-news interviews to demand that Mr. Biden take bold executive actions on matters like student debt and climate change. And as he assumes the expanded powers of the Senate majority, Mr. Schumer is drawing on old and new alliances to help him govern. Starting last spring, Mr. Schumer convened several conference calls to craft pandemic relief plans with some of the big policy minds of the Democratic Party. They included more centrist voices, like the former Treasury Department official Antonio Weiss; progressive economic thinkers like Felicia Wong of the Roosevelt Institute and Stephanie Kelton of Stony Brook University; and liberal think-tank leaders Heather Boushey and Michael Linden, who now serve in the Biden administration. New Jerseys second snowstorm in less than a week will be wrapping up by Sunday afternoon, forecasters say. National Weather Service meteorologist Sarah Johnson said the snow is expected to conclude between 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, depending on the location. Tom Kines, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, said the bulk of the storm should wind down for much of the state between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Some locations in northern and central New Jersey have been getting up to 2 inches per hour during the peak of the storm, he said. I suspect theres going to be some spots that pick up more than 6 inches, he said of snow totals, adding that much of the rest of the state will average between 3 and 6 inches. Basking Ridge, in Somerset County, had received more than 7 inches of snow by 1 p.m. Most locations have switched over to snow this afternoon as the coastal low pulls off to the northeast. Expect another couple hours of snowfall before things wind down from west to east by mid to late afternoon. #PAwx #NJwx #MDwx #DEwx pic.twitter.com/KsyfSAWEFB NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) February 7, 2021 The most recent update from the National Weather Service, at 11:30 a.m., predicts snow accumulation of up to 3 inches along the Jersey Shore and in South Jersey. Central Jersey is looking at 1 to 5 inches, though the heavier band of snow across the middle of the state referenced by Kines could bring up to 8 inches. The weather service has downgraded its winter storm warning to a winter weather advisory in four counties: Camden, Gloucester, Ocean and Salem. Winter storm warnings remain in effect until 7 p.m. in Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris and Somerset. Winter storm warnings remain in effect until 9 p.m. in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Union and eastern Passaic. NJ Advance Media staff writer Len Melisurgo contributed to this story. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. She knows all of her right angles. And Kim Kardashian put her ample assets on display in an olive green bikini from her tropical retreat last month. The 40-year-old reality star looked supremely fit as she flashed her gym-honed figure in throwback snaps after returning home from a girls trip to Turks and Caicos. Sun seeker: Kim Kardashian put her ample assets on display in an olive green bikini from her tropical retreat last month Kim sprawled out against a wooden deck as she posed in an olive green set with matching sandals on her feet. Her long, brunette hair caught the wind and she simply captioned the series with a string of emojis. She appeared to be relatively makeup-free and accessorized with a host of gold necklaces. Bliss: The 40-year-old reality star looked supremely fit as she flashed her gym-honed figure in throwback snaps after returning home from a girls trip to Turks and Caicos Family affair: The mother-of-four enjoyed some time off from her busy schedule with her sisters Kourtney and Kylie Jenner last month The mother-of-four enjoyed some time off from her busy schedule with her sisters Kourtney and Kylie Jenner last month. She's launching her new line, Matte Mauve & Matte Honey Collection, on Feb. 12, which features 'two brand new 10-Pan Pressed Powder Palettes, four Blushes, six Matte Lipsticks and six Lip Liners.' Kim has remained focused on building her brands amid a looming 'divorce' from her husband, Kanye West. Good times: Kim was also joined by Kylie's BFF, Stassi Karanikolaou, on the Caribbean retreat Mogul: She's launching her new line, Matte Mauve & Matte Honey Collection, on Feb. 12, which features 'two brand new 10-Pan Pressed Powder Palettes, four Blushes, six Matte Lipsticks and six Lip Liners' A source recently told PEOPLE that the couple are no longer on speaking terms and have already begun living separate lives as she has a 'divorce plan' in place. 'Kim and Kanye continue to live separate lives,' the insider said. 'They have no contact.' The couple were married in Italy in 2014, and share daughters North, seven, Chicago, three, and sons Saint, five, and Psalm, one. Skype's Android version will soon have the iOS version's blur feature! The video platform's latest 8.68 updates are now rolling out across different types of devices. The blur background effect is included in the changes that the platform will make. Skype 8.68 is also expected to bring fixes for previous issues of the app's version on iOS, Android, and desktop. According to Gadgets 360, Skype's update is also expected to bring custom reaction picker improvements. The Skype team confirmed that Skype 8.68 is also rolling out on Windows, Linux, and iPad. The release notes confirm that the video platform's upcoming blur effect will only arrive two years after its first rollout to desktop users received it in February 2019. On the other hand, iOS users received this feature last July 2020. This shows that Android users seem to be the unlucky ones since they were the last to have it. What you need to access Skype's new blur effect If you want to access Skype's new feature on Android, you need to make sure that your device is already running Android 6.0 and above. Since the new feature is called the blur effect, this simply explains that the new capability will allow users to blur their backgrounds. Also Read: Tiktok to Begin Notifying Users of Misleading Content to Prevent Spread of Misinformation This will be extremely useful if you don't have a proper place to conduct a meeting or to join an online class. If you don't want them to see the embarrassing background behind you during a meeting, all you need to do is to activate the blur effect. On the other hand, Skype for iPhone and iPad users will also have some major improvements, including the Share extension with support for dark themes and overall performance enhancements in the latest version 8.68. Activating Skype's blur effect The Next Web reported that accessing the blur feature of Skype is a piece of cake. All you need to do is follow these exact steps; Start a video chat with any of your contacts.Click on the gear icon at the top right of your call screen to open the Audio & Video Settings menu.In the menu that pops up, click on the 'Blur my background' toggle to turn the feature on.Close the menu to return to your call with a blurred background. Alternative methods to access Skype's blur effect; While on a call, hover your cursor over the video camera button at the bottom of your screen, and click the 'Blur my background' toggle to activate the feature. While on a call, right-click your camera feed at the top right corner of your screen, and click the 'Blur my background' option in the pop-up menu. For more news updates about Skype and other popular social media and video apps, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: Chromecast with Google TV New Update Fixes Compatibility Issues, Works Better Now on 4k60 This article is owned by TechTimes. Written by: Giuliano de Leon. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Photo taken on Feb. 6, 2021 shows the exhibition entitled "Ancient Chinese Culture: Costume and Adornment" held at the National Museum of China in Beijing, capital of China. The exhbition, kicking off on Saturday, is the first one on the comprehensive history of traditional Chinese costume and adornment held at the National Museum of China. It was divided into six sections according to periods of history, displaying 130 cultural relics and 170 pictures and multimedia facilities themed on traditional Chinese costume and adornment from the pre-Qin period (pre-221 B.C.) through Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). (Photo by Du Jianpo/Guangming Picture) 3 1 [ Editor: SRQ ] A murder investigation was underway Sunday afternoon after a man was shot dead in Birminghams Apple Valley neighborhood. More than 20 officers with the Birmingham Police Department and Jefferson County Sheriffs Office were on the scene of the killing at Valley Brook Apartments. Emergency personnel declared the victim dead on the scene, but police have yet to release his name, age or other information about him. Birmingham Police, who were dispatched to the apartment community on the 2900 block of Gallant Drive near Center Point shortly after 1:15 p.m. Sunday, are leading the investigation. They observed a male victim, lying unresponsive in a grassy area, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound, Officer Truman Fitzgerald said in a video the department posted on Twitter late Sunday afternoon. At this time, we have no one in custody This is an ongoing investigation. Homicide investigation 2900 block of Gallant Dr. pic.twitter.com/ov7lALIwOH Bhampolice (@BhamPolice) February 7, 2021 Police tape cordoned off a large space Sunday afternoon outside the two-story apartment building where the murder took place. A handful of yellow numbered evidence placards peppered the grassy area directly in front of the grayish building, as law enforcement officers in facemasks occasionally walked in and out, carrying brown paper bags and notepads. Neighbors stood outside their apartment doors and gathered in the street, hoping to get information about what had happened. A man who appeared to be a family member or friend of the victim yelled in anger as several people escorted him away from the murder scene by several people Sunday afternoon. You just let him die there, the man yelled as he was led away. You did this. Anyone with information that could assist with the investigation of the Sunday homicide is encouraged to call Birmingham Police or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) Unbeaten no more, No. 25 Drake doesn't plan to dwell on its first defeat. Ben Krikke scored 15 points and Valparaiso held onto a second-half lead, pulling away to beat the Bulldogs 74-57 Sunday. The loss by Drake (18-1, 9-1 Missouri Valley) left No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 Baylor as the only remaining major college teams with spotless records this season. Were not going to overreact to a loss, third-year Drake coach Darian DeVries said. Ive been doing this for 23 years and Ive never been part of an undefeated season before. Its about how you respond. Our guys will get focused on the next game. Well learn from this and well move on. A day after Valparaiso (7-12, 4-6) squandered a double-digit lead in the second half and lost to Drake 80-77, the Crusaders pulled away for just their second victory over a ranked opponent since beating Mississippi in the 1998 NCAA tournament. The Crusaders beat No. 25 Rhode Island 65-62 on Nov. 29, 2016 and are now 2-42 against ranked opponents since the start of the 1999-2000 season. This was a huge win for us, especially after (yesterday), Valparaiso coach Matt Lottich said. To have our guys respond the way they did today, it means a lot. We got to play a ranked team back-to-back on our home floor. That rarely happens. Actually, that never happens. Roman Penn scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half, trying to rally the Bulldogs back from a 36-24 halftime deficit. He helped cut Valparaisos lead down to 10 points on multiple occasions, but the Bulldogs could never get within single digits. Drake had recently come back double-digit deficits against Missouri State and Valparaiso as well as surviving an overtime thriller against Illinois State. The victory was especially sweet for the Crusaders after theyd blown big second-half leads against Vanderbilt, Purdue and Evansville this season, not to mention Saturdays loss. Valparaiso freshman Jacob Ognacevic scored eight points during a 10-0 run midway through the first half that gave the Crusaders the lead for good. Ognacevic finished with 11 points. Story continues Honestly, (a loss) was kind of bound to come, Penn said. We werent playing too good and we were getting down early. Its one loss. Its hard to go undefeated. It was super fun to go through this whole process, but we just didnt come ready to play. BIG PICTURE Drake: The Bulldogs had overcome big second-half deficits twice in the last two weeks, but fell short this time. Valparaiso: After blowing second half leads against Evansville (11) and Drake (10) in their last two games, the Crusaders earned a much-needed victory to stop a three-game losing streak in the MVC. POLL IMPLICATIONS Drake: The Bulldogs are likely to fall out of the Associated Press Top 25 after they earned their first ranking in 13 years last week. UP NEXT Drake: Will host Northern Iowa on Wednesday evening before beginning a two-game home series against Loyola. The Bulldogs and Ramblers are the top two teams in the Missouri Valley Conference. Valparaiso: Will host Bradley on Wednesday evening in a rematch of the 2019-20 Missouri Valley Conference tournament title game. The Crusaders beat Bradley 91-85 at the ARC last month. ___ More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25 The first shipment of AstraZeneca vaccines arrived in Ireland as another 55 deaths related to Covid-19 were notified to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre yesterday. More than 21,000 doses of the long-awaited AstraZeneca vaccine arrived from Belgium and were immediately placed in the national cold chain store in Dublin. There were another 827 confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection yesterday, which brings the number of confirmed cases in Ireland to 202,548. The new total number of Covid-19 related deaths in Ireland is 3,674. The age range of those whose deaths were confirmed yesterday was from 49 to 100 years and the median age was 86. It was reported that 36 of the latest reported deaths took place in February and 18 were in January, while one remains under investigation. The latest cases of infection had a median age of 38 and almost two-thirds of those infected were aged under 45. Dublin had the most new infections with 297, followed by Cork with 76, Galway 56, Wexford 46, and Kildare 37. The remaining 315 cases were spread across all other counties. As of 2pm yesterday, 1,177 Covid-19 patients were in hospital and 177 of those were in intensive care units. An additional 29 people were admitted to hospital with Covid-19 in the 24 hours up to 2pm yesterday. "There are a few old habits that collectively we have to break in order to suppress Covid-19 together," said chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan. "We know that people who feel unwell typically avoid calling their GP over the weekend, and wait to see if they improve. You should no longer do that - you must phone your GP at the first sign of anything like Covid-19 symptoms. Do not adopt a 'wait-and-see' approach. "Similarly, do not leave your house or go to work if you have any cold or flu-like symptoms at all. Breaking these habits will limit Covid-19's opportunity to spread from person to person." Meanwhile, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly tweeted a video of AstraZeneca vaccines being unloaded from a van in Ireland yesterday. He stated that the first doses of the vaccine will be given to frontline healthcare workers tomorrow. Last April, 60-year-old Jim, a businessman, came home to his wife Kate saying he didn't feel well. His body ached and his head pounded. Over the next few days his condition worsened. On the fourth day, Kate called the ambulance to their London home. 'It all went downhill incredibly quickly as soon as he got to hospital,' says Kate, a 52-year-old teacher. He was intubated (a tube was threaded down his throat allowing him to be connected to a ventilator) and sedated. Four days later, Kate fell ill with Covid herself and was admitted to the same hospital. She was on a Covid ward; Jim was in the intensive care unit. 'One of the nurses said I could go and visit him and that was quite shocking as obviously he didn't look anything like my husband, being on the ventilator.' Because she was in hospital, she was allowed to be by Jim's side when he died two days later. When she returned home, emotionally raw and physically weak, she couldn't take comfort from the presence of friends because she was possibly still infectious. 'It was hard to hear everybody else's heart breaking over the phone,' she says. 'Some friends would come and stand at the window. Many women are turning to the help of psychics to help them with sudden loss during the pandemic (file image) 'I kept thinking my husband must have been so scared,' she says. At the end of June, a friend suggested that she see a medium. Pragmatic and down-to-earth, Kate had never been to a medium before, only a clairvoyant for fun in her 20s. 'My sister is very anti it and couldn't believe I was considering it,' recalls Kate. 'I thought it can't make me feel any worse than I feel already. 'People might criticise, but it made me feel better and gave me comfort. 'There's a big difference between a gifted medium and a fake, who takes advantage of people.' Kate chose June Field, a well-regarded medium based in Dundee, who has been seeing clients virtually during lockdown. 'Was he frightened?' Kate asked during her Zoom reading a few weeks later. 'Yes, he was frightened,' she replied. 'Very frightened. But he's not frightened now; he's at peace.' 'I was so relieved,' says Kate. A month later, Kate asked if she could have another reading. 'June could easily have taken the money but she said: 'No, it's early days, give yourself time to heal. I do not offer readings so close together as I feel it's important to get on with a physical life.' Sue Carrol, (pictured) 58, a medium based in Leeds, says she's helped more than 250 people contact their loved ones since the pandemic began There are no officially recorded figures but mediums report an increased demand from people wanting to contact loved ones lost to the coronavirus. Perhaps it's not so surprising. The idea that the living could commune with the dead became popular a century ago when Britain was dealing with the huge loses on the battle fields of the World War I. Now, once again, a traumatised nation is trying to make sense of so many sudden deaths, this time from a disease that didn't even exist 18 months ago. And many are finding solace not in science or logic but in the realm of the supernatural. The way people have died during the pandemic is only adding to the trauma of the bereaved. Stringent regulations introduced at the start of the pandemic have meant many have died with no family or friends beside them because of concern about the spread of the virus. (This rule has now been relaxed, with each hospital trust and care home assessing the level of risk, but PPE still restricts the level of contact.) It's a different loss than when you're able to sit with someone, comfort them and kiss them goodbye, says Louise Tyler, accredited counsellor with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. 'If you're not able to be with someone when they die, it can lead to a sense of unreality. Grief can be suspended, because they haven't had that natural process of watching someone pass away. 'Places of worship are closed and mourning rituals have been cut back to a minimum, and that is interrupting the grieving process,' says Louise. What's more, grief for loved ones lost to Covid is both private and very public. 'People are going through it and reading about it, too. It's quite unusual to be going through something and to be seeing it on the news. It's very depersonalising. 'And, of course, people would normally come and visit you, bring food and hold your hand. None of this is happening.' While Louise doesn't believe you can communicate with the dead, she says she does understand the spiritual side of it. June Field, (pictured) is a well-regarded medium based in Dundee and has been seeing clients virtually during lockdown 'Perhaps mediums are like bereavement counsellors, in that they're providing comfort,' she says. Kate's medium, June Field, says she first became aware of spirits when she was four or five. 'Every night there would be people watching me, just looking at me. It upset me a bit, because I didn't know who they were, but I got used to it.' Now aged 61, she normally has a long waiting list for face-to-face readings but, since the virus hit, she has done more readings online. 'Around 50 per cent of readings are still to do with the future jobs, business, relationships, what's going to happen,' she says. 'The others are with people wanting to connect with those who've passed, especially at this time of Covid.' Doing a reading on Zoom or the phone is no different from face-to-face, she explains. 'It's the vibration or energy of the sitter I connect with.' A reading takes 50-60 minutes and costs from around 140. 'Once I'm connected,' says June, 'I start to become aware of what's around them.' She talks of spirits in terms of signals. 'Think of me like a mobile phone,' she says. 'Sometimes I'll see them as clear as you, sometimes they're just head and shoulders, sometimes they're a bit faded. It depends what signal they are.' Afterwards she feels very drained. 'It's a bit like the feeling you get if you've been driving too long and you lose focus.' Lynsey Chambers, 42, an apprentice training manager and married mother-of-two, from Glasgow, turned to June when she lost her father, father-in-law and mother-in-law to Covid, all within 12 days of each other. Two months later, her mother has died, too, from a heart attack. Lynsey was especially close to her father. Larger than life, he looked after Lynsey's ten-year-old daughter after school and sat with her as she did her homework. He was 66 years old and fit, apart from asthma. 'He walked the West Highland Way God knows how many times,' says Lynsey. 'Dad dying seemed most unlikely. On March 13, he called to say he felt unwell. The next day he was admitted to hospital and was given oxygen, steroids, antibiotics and a Covid test. Lynsey was in the supermarket getting things for her daughter's packed lunch when her dad called. 'I've got Covid,' he told her. 'Although my dad was a big strapping guy, he was quite a softie and was terrified. He needed somebody there to support him, comfort him.' Lynsey and her younger sister set up a WhatsApp group so their father could keep in touch. Then, one day, he went quiet. 'Dad, what's happening?' they messaged him. 'What's going on?' She phoned the hospital and was told their father was sedated and on a ventilator in intensive care. The family recorded an audio message which the nurses played on an iPad held close to her father, who lay unconscious, attached to machines and tubes. 'We were talking to him, singing and the Rolling Stones were playing in the background.' (Her dad had followed the band around the world.) On March 26, her sister called to report there was nothing more the hospital could do and one person was allowed to be with their father. 'She felt it should be me.' Lynsey got to the intensive care unit at around 4.30 pm. Her father died two hours later. Three weeks after the death of her father, Bill Webster, Hilary, (pictured) 49, a nurse from Perth, can look back on his dedication to the principle of spiritualism with fresh appreciation 'I didn't realise I'd actually have to say the words, 'Turn off the machine' that was a bit of a shock. But it was good I was with him because his big fear was dying alone.' More tragedy followed. Lynsey's mother-in-law died from Covid at home on March 30; her father-in-law, sick with grief and Covid, died on April 7. Her mum died on June 3. Lynsey felt heartbroken; undone by so much loss. She'd turn up at work most days with a face bright red from crying in the car. 'That's when I'd do my grieving.' Music triggered memories. She still can't listen to the Rolling Stones. Then one evening, last summer, she saw a medium on TV offering the chance to connect with the dead. It made Lynsey sit up. In November, Lynsey, her partner Andy and Lynsey's sister were sitting in front of a laptop in their dining room waiting for something to happen. June appeared and they started chatting. This is when June is plugging into the energy of her sitters. 'I'm already making connections,' she explains. 'They just don't know it.' 'Oh, you're the strong one of the family,' she said to Lynsey. Everyone laughed in recognition. Then June said: 'I've got a man here who's really loud and thinks he's great at one-liners. 'That's my dad!' Lynsey shouted back. June knows that what sitters want isn't generalisations but 'evidence' details that bring their loved ones to life. 'Who's got elephant ornaments in the house?' June asked. 'I do!' Lynsey replied. Her daughter had bought them years ago as a present for mother's day. 'He says they've been moved,' June reported. 'Oh my God!' thought Lynsey, 'he's right.' The elephants had been next to a photo of her father, but she'd moved them that weekend. 'Towards the end of the reading, June asked if there were any questions. 'Did I do the right thing?' asked Lynsey. 'What do you mean?' June replied. Lynsey explained that she'd had to give permission to switch off her father's ventilator. 'You definitely did the right thing,' June said. 'He thanks you for what you did. He could see you when you were holding his hand. He tried to come to you and a woman held him back.' 'Who was that?' I ask Lynsey. 'Likely his mum,' she tells me. 'That was so good to hear because my dad was a total mummy's boy. I had such a sense of relief knowing he'd found her on the other side.' What did the reading give you? I ask. 'Comfort,' she replies. Sue Carrol, 58, a medium based in Leeds, says she's helped more than 250 people contact their loved ones since the pandemic began. She charges 30 for a reading that lasts 45-60 minutes. 'Covid is often a really sudden and difficult separation,' she says. 'Your loved one is taken into hospital, you're not allowed in, you can't talk to them and then they pass away. 'One of the things people are working through is: how did they feel about me not being there? They're looking for their loved ones to say, I'm OK, it didn't matter, don't beat yourself up.' Certainly, there was nothing normal about the death of Lynsey's father. She could kiss his face but only through a paper mask. She couldn't see his body after he died, or dress him in his own clothes because of the risk of contamination. 'He had to have a shroud draped over him and my dad was so vain!' And on the day of her father's funeral, they were allowed only ten mourners. 'Dad always said when I die, I want a massive wake, a big party and a free bar. And we weren't able to give him that.' Three weeks after the death of her father, Bill Webster, Hilary, 49, a nurse from Perth, can look back on his dedication to the principle of spiritualism with fresh appreciation. A member of the Perth Spiritualist Church, Bill was diagnosed with terminal kidney disease two years ago, at the age of 81. His wife and a team of carers looked after him at home. On January 6, his temperature soared and he went off his food. He died later that day. A subsequent Covid test was positive. Hilary had looked after her father on that last day. The night he died, Hilary texted a childhood friend, who had moved to Australia, to tell her the news. 'I knew she had mediumship skills,' says Hilary. 'He's still around you,' the friend texted back. 'Omg, are you hearing him?' Hilary replied. 'Yes. He said there are lots of beings to welcome him. Relatives, old workmates and even angels were there. Archangel Michael: he is stressing me to tell you that.' That sealed it for Hilary. 'There was no doubt it was my dad. It was me who told him Archangel Michael would guide his soul home.' Five days later, Hilary was diagnosed with Covid and went into isolation at her parents house, as she'd been looking after her mum. She shut herself in the room her father had died in. 'Mum would leave meals outside the door. I didn't leave the room for ten days. There's no way I could have handled that situation, in that bedroom, had I not got those messages from my father. 'I felt strong. Protected. I knew that he was just a whisper away.' Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said the United States must lift all sanctions if it wants Iran to return to the nuclear deal with Western powers, state TV has reported. "If they want Iran to return to its commitments, the U.S. must lift all sanctions in practice, then we will do verification and see if the sanctions were lifted correctly, then we will return to our commitments," Khamenei said. Analysts say the televised comments mark Khamenei's first since the inauguration of President Joe Biden, who has said he wants to rejoin the accord. Speaking on CNN after Khamenei's remarks, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that receiving compensation from the United States for the cost of sanctions imposed by Washington was not a "precondition" for restoring the nuclear deal. Zarif also urged Washington to act fast to return to the 2015 nuclear deal in an interview published on February 6 in an Iranian newspaper. "Time is running out for the Americans, both because of the parliament bill and the election atmosphere that will follow the Iranian New Year," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in the interview in Hamshahri. Iran's new year begins on March 21, and elections are in June. Legislation passed by parliament in December forces the government to harden its nuclear stance if U.S. sanctions are not eased by February 21. "The more America procrastinates, the more it will lose," Zarif said in the interview. "We don't need to return to the negotiating table. It's America that has to find the ticket to come to the table." President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in 2018 and began restoring sanctions against Iran. In response, Tehran has gradually breached parts of the pact, saying it was no longer bound by it. Last month, it resumed enriching uranium to 20 percent -- a level it achieved before the accord. Biden's administration is exploring ways to return to the deal. Biden has said that if Tehran returned to strict compliance with the pact, Washington would follow suit, but Tehran has said Washington must ease sanctions first and has ruled out negotiations on wider security issues that would restrict Iran's missile development, a suggestion raised by Washington. In the latest steps by Iran to develop its missile program, the Iranian military on February 6 opened a plant to produce hybrid solid fuel for missiles and a factory to build shoulder-fired rockets, state television reported. The foreign ministers of Germany, France, and Great Britain and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the landmark nuclear deal in their first call on February 5. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the foreign ministers discussed how a united approach could address their shared concerns toward Iran, which has always denied pursuing nuclear weapons, saying its nuclear program was strictly for civilian purposes. Separately, Iran's Foreign Ministry commented on Washington's decision to end its support for the Saudi-led coalition's "offensive operations" in Yemen, saying it could be a helpful step. "Stopping support...for the Saudi coalition, if not a political maneuver, could be a step toward correcting past mistakes," state media quoted ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying. But he added that the move alone won't solve Yemen's problems and called for an air, sea, and land blockade to be lifted and an end to military attacks by Saudi Arabia. Biden said on February 4 the more than six-year war, widely seen as a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran, "has to end." He also named veteran U.S. diplomat Timothy Lenderking as the U.S. special envoy for Yemen in a bid to step up U.S. diplomacy to try to end the war. With reporting by Reuters and Hamshahri 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 MAN has been charged with the murder of widow Mary O'Keeffe (72) whose body was discovered in a blazing car at a remote Cork woodland. Michael Leonard (62) appeared before a special sitting of Fermoy District Court. He is charged with the murder of Mrs O'Keeffe at Dromdeer East, Doneraile, Co Cork on Thursday, February 4 contrary to Common Law. Judge Marie Keane was told by Detective Sergeant James O'Shea that when Leonard was arrested, cautioned and formally charged at Fermoy Garda Station, he made no reply. Leonard, who has an address at Hill Crest, Glenosheen, Kilmallock, Co Limerick, appeared in court wearing black trousers, black slip-on shoes and a wine coloured hoodie. He remained silent throughout the brief hearing. Expand Close Mary OKeeffe / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mary OKeeffe Two of his female relatives were in the public gallery of the court. Because the charge involved is murder, the issue of bail can only be dealt with by the High Court. Judge Keane remanded the forestry worker in custody to appear again before Cork District Court on Friday next, February 12 The appearance can be by video-link. She also confirmed free legal aid for the 62 year old. Judge Keane also directed that all medical and psychiatric treatment required be provided for the defendant. Leonard had been arrested on Friday taken for questioning to Fermoy Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. He was detained on his discharge from Cork University Hospital (CUH) where he had been treated for hypothermia since Thursday. Mrs O'Keeffe's body was discovered in a gutted Dacia Duster car at the remote Dromdeer woodland shortly before 4pm on Thursday. The widow's remains were removed to CUH where a full post mortem examination was conducted by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster. Following that examination, gardai arrested the defendant. The widow was found dead in the burning car after a person out walking spotted smoke coming from the isolated woodland shortly before 4pm last Thursday. Gardai were horrified to realise that a body was in the front passenger seat of the blazing car. Such was the severity of the fire and the intense heat that the vehicle was burned back to its steel chassis shell. The elderly woman had to be identified from dental records. Mrs O'Keeffe lived in Dromahane and was the mother of three adult sons. Her husband, Donal, died over 20 years ago. Tributes were paid to the widow in the north Cork village where she was hailed as a hard-working person who was totally devoted to her family and her community. She had worked as a chef in a north Cork sheltered housing project. Neighbours said she loved dancing, music and playing cards with friends. She lived alone in the family home just off Dromahane's main street. 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 For Indian H-1B aspirants and Indian IT firms, there was enough to rejoice this week. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) delayed the implementation of fresh H-1B selection based on wages till the end of 2021. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will open the H-1B election registration process on March 9 and it will be closed on March 25. The agency also rescinded a memo that denied H-1B visa for computer programmer related occupations. While the DHS delay in implementation will ensure that the H-1B visa process will be based on lottery for the current year, the latter could result in better predictability in the H-1B approval process. Wage-based selection of H-1B petitions deferred On January 7, the USCIS announced wage-based selection of fresh H-1B petitions instead of lottery through a final rule. The rule was expected to come into effect on March 9, 2021 with the possibility of this being implemented for the H-1B selection process this year. The USCIS kicks off the H-1B selection process in March and issues 85,000 fresh visas every year. The DHS has now deferred it till December 31, 2021. So for the current year, selecting H-1B petitions based on lottery would continue. This is a huge relief to the entire IT ecosystem, at least in the short term, given that the implementation would make it tough for freshers and those with fewer years of experience to qualify for an H-1B visa. India accounts for about a significant share of H-1B visas issued every year. This delay, DHS said, will give the agency enough time to develop, test, and implement the modifications to the H-1B registration system and selection process. The delay will also provide more time for USCIS to train staff and perform public outreach as well as give stakeholders time to adjust to the new rule, the statement further said. The IT industry body NASSCOM said in a statement, NASSCOM welcomes this announcement by DHS including undertaking a detailed review of the rule. But, clearly the Biden administration is not looking to rescind it. So this means that though the process might undergo changes, it is pretty much on track. According to NASSCOM, Prioritizing purely on wage levels has the potential to significantly damage some of the most innovative companies in the world along with many hospitals and health care providers, research facilities, universities and other petitioners. Indeed. If the wage-based lottery selection were to be implemented, smaller IT firms will not be able to offer higher wages for fresh graduates and hence would lose access to the highly-skilled talent pool. For larger IT firms, this would mean additional cost and it is yet to be seen how the hiring pattern would change. NASSCOM said that it would be filing comments in support of the delay and will also share the comments with the DHS for the final rule. H-1B registration process to kickstart on March 9 The USCIS will start the H-1B electronic registration process on March 9 and will close it on March 25. The companies can register for the H-1B process in the given window for a fee of $10, which is non-refundable. If the registrations go beyond the 85,000 H-1B allocated for the year, petitioners would be selected based on lottery, which is likely to be replaced by wage in the next year. Selected registrants would be notified by March 31. Filing of H-1B applications begin on April 1, 2020 along with the H-1B processing fees. Rescinding memo that denied H-1B visas to computer programmers In yet another significant move the USCIS also rescinded a problematic memo that denied visas to computer programmers. The USCIS on February 3, 2021 removed the guidance memo on H-1B computer-related occupations effective immediately. The move came after the US appeals court ruled on December 16, 2020 that the USCIS used the said memo to deny H-1B petition in an arbitrary and capricious manner for an employee at Innova Solutions. Innova Solutions had filed an H-1B petition, a specialty occupation visa in the US, for Indian citizen Dilip Dodda for the position of a Programmer Analyst between August 2017 and October 2020. He holds a bachelors degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. The USCIS denied the visa on grounds that the role did not fall under the specialty visa programme H-1B. The company filed a lawsuit and the appeals court ruled in favour resulting in the reversal of the denial. Given that Indians are the largest beneficiaries of the visa, such decisions had a huge impact on them and also the companies that are hiring due to the uncertainty. With the memo rescinded, there is better clarity on the H-1B visa denials for employers as well the employees. EACH AND EVERY DAY, my colleagues and I hear about how New Hampshires high property taxes are an unsustainable burden on hardworking Granite Staters. According to a recent report from US News and WalletHub, New Hampshire has the third-highest property tax rates in the country. For young wor Everyone swarms around Lok Chitrakar as he enters the Museum of Nepali Art (MONA) to unveil his painting that he has been working on for the past 25 years. Among his peers and art lovers, Chitrakar is a superstar. During the time he is at MONA, he is drilled with questions about his work. And with a bright smile on his face, he answers them all. It feels great, says Chitrakar. Places like these are important for artists. This will give us the motivation and the audience and the idea of how good Nepali artists are. Kudos to the team! MONA, located at the Kathmandu Guest House in Thamel, is the brainchild of Rajan Sakya, the CEO of the KGH Group of Hotels and Resorts. His aim through this museum is to promote Nepali art and artists like Chitrakar. The museum wants to give them a stage where they can show their work so that the general public can come, watch and be inspired by these living artists. The artworks displayed at MONA are from the personal collection of Rajan Sakya. Photo: Shankar Giri Bringing art to peoples access I know how hard it is for people to get to see the art by these artists, says Sakya. I wanted to open this museum for these artists so that their work can be appreciated. Why? Because they are our national treasure. The idea came up around two years ago when Sakya was sitting at a gallery in Patan. There, he heard about how a Nepali artist refused to sell an art piece to a Chinese collector even when he was offered Rs 35 million. Curious, he wanted to have a look at the art piece. But both the artist and the collector refused to show Sakya the art. Thats when I envisioned this project, he says. I wanted to do something for these artists because, here in Nepal, we hardly know any artists. I want to give people the chance to come and admire the best artwork Nepal has to offer. The best works of Nepali artists are hardly available to the general public. They do exhibit their work from time to time at galleries, but these generally last less than a week. After that, most of their works either go abroad or are at homes of the rich in Nepal. Green Tara by Samundra Man Singh Shrestha is one of MONAs most prized possessions. Photo: Shankar Giri Samundra Man Singh Shrestha is one of Nepals emerging traditional artists whose work has been displayed at MONA. He has won awards both nationally and internationally for his work. That said, there are only a handful of people, mostly from the art world, who know him. We are called the national treasure, but honestly speaking, no one knows us, says Shrestha whose most works have been sold abroad. But, Shrestha is hopeful that a place like MONA will give artists like him the recognition they deserve. Lok Chitrakars incomplete painting which is current at MONA for display. Photo: Shankar Giri Heralding a change An example of things changing can be the Green Tara painting at the museum. The painting, before it was bought by Sakya, had been sold to a Chinese collector by Shrestha. But when Sakya saw the painting and found that it had been sold, he was obsessed with bringing it back. The Green Tara is to MONA, what Mona Lisa is to the Louvre, says Sakya. I put in a lot of effort to get that back from China. It feels quite good when I go to the museum and look at that painting. Shrestha is pleased too. Having done art for over two decades, he had never thought such a thing would happen. There was a time when I would feel happy about foreigners buying my art. Now, when Nepalis buy it, especially from abroad, I feel proud. MONA aims to do just that. It wants to give these artists the stage to showcase their talent so that the future generation has something to be proud of. The art and these artists define us and our culture. If we put no effort to conserve it, it will disappear, says Sakya. I firmly believe that Nepal, after Buddha and Mount Everest, can be known for its art. The museum also has work from modern contemporary artists. Photo: Shankar Giri The museum has art by most of Nepals premier traditional and contemporary artists like Raj Prakash Man Tuladhar, Prem Man Chitrakar, KK Karmacharya, Kiran Manandhar, Lain Singh Bangdel, Asha Dangol, and Erina Tamrakar. Shrestha and most of the artists say that they are glad that MONA offers them a stage where people can come see their work. I get a lot of people who tell me where they can go to watch my work, says Shrestha. Its quite sad when I have to tell them that there is no place that has my work in Nepal. Its either at the houses of collectors or have been taken abroad. But now, Shrestha has somewhere he can send people who want to see his work. Its given us a stage. I hope through this stage, I can inspire the younger generation of artists. Photo: Shankar Giri The place has only formally opened and in a bid to encourage more Nepalis to visit and admire the art by these artists, MONA has tied up with Qatar Airways. Through that tie-up, one lucky winner who visits MONA from February 1 to March 26 will get a chance to win one round trip to a country. Apart from that, a 10 per cent discount is also given by Qatar Airways after you visit the museum. Having survived the murky waters of politics in Nigeria, where her mother was kidnapped to send her a message, and rising to number two at the World Bank, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala should have no trouble dealing with international trade negotiators in her new job at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The 66-year-old will be the first woman and the first African to occupy the position. Despite recently taking out US citizenship, she revels in being Nigerian and is fiercely patriotic - flaunting her African identity in her African-print tailored outfits. She told the BBC in 2012 that she had in fact adopted such attire as a working mother of four to do the school run, an easy answer for a smart look - and a thrifty one at that, given she estimated each outfit cost around $25. The Harvard-educated development economist is seen as a down-to-earth, hard worker, who told BBC HardTalk in July that what the WTO needed was a shake-up. "They need something different, it cannot be business as usual for the WTO - [they need] someone willing to do the reforms and lead." Reform in Nigeria During her 25 years at the World Bank, she is credited with spearheading several initiatives to assist low-income countries, in particular raising nearly $50bn in 2010 from donors for the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's fund for the poorest countries. But it is her reform agenda in Nigeria in which she takes real pride - especially the two times she served as the country's finance minister under Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan. One of her greatest achievements was leading a team which negotiated a whopping $18bn debt write-off in 2005 for the country, helping Nigeria obtain its first-ever sovereign debt rating. The country's debts had dated back to the early 1980s, and had ballooned to more than $35bn due to penalties and late fees during the 1990s. Her economic reforms had a far-reaching impact and saved Nigeria at a critical period, according to prominent Nigerian economist, Bismarck Rewane. This included de-linking the budget from the oil price, allowing the country to save money in a special account when oil prices were high. "It was this buffer that ensured Nigeria's economy survived between 2008 and 2009," Mr Rewane told the BBC. Ms Okonjo-Iweala had given up a well-paid job at the World Bank and left her family in Washington, where her husband works as a neurosurgeon, to work in Nigeria, where unlike other ministers she did not have a large domestic staff or fleet of cars. In fact she even liked doing her own cooking when she could, with cowtail pepper soup being a favourite, a Financial Times interview revealed in 2015. No-nonsense approach But her reforms and especially her crackdown on corruption in the fuel sector, where some powerful importers - known as marketers - claimed huge sums of money in subsidies from the government for fuel they had not sold, came at personal cost. Her mother, Kamene Okonjo - a medical doctor and retired professor of sociology - was kidnapped from her home in southern Nigeria in 2012, aged 82. Kidnapping is common in Nigeria, where it is a lucrative criminal enterprise and families often pay up as the security services do not often find those abducted. The then-finance minister said the kidnappers had first demanded her resignation and then a ransom. 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 While abroad, he came in contact with someone who was sick, according to the release. Upon return, he quarantined from others and was tested. Though testing positive for the strain, known as B.1.1.7, the man has not experienced symptoms yet, according to Lake County health officials. Lake County health officials declined to say where he lives, other than to say he is a resident of Lake County. She clearly has her son's back. Screenwriter Deborah Divine tweeted out a heartfelt message on Saturday, hours before her son Dan Levy made his debut as host of Saturday Night Live in New York City. Divine, 61, hit out at childhood bullies of her son Dan, now 37, who 'made life miserable' for him back in the day in sleep-away camp. Proud mom: Screenwriter Deborah Divine tweeted out a heartfelt message on Saturday, hours before her son Dan Levy made his debut as host of Saturday Night Live; seen here in 2016 'This goes out to the bully punks at Camp WTF who made life miserable for a certain cabin-mate back in the the summer of 96 - just because he was different,' Deborah wrote, referring to her Schitt's Creek star son. 'Well, after all these years I have just 7 words to say to you: "Live from New York, its Saturday Night!"' Deborah concluded with obvious parental pride. She then tagged her son, along with a red heart emoji. Debut: Dan, whom Deborah shares with her husband Eugene Levy, hosted SNL on Saturday night alongside musical guest Phoebe Bridgers Take that: Divine hit out at childhood bullies of her son Dan, now 37, who 'made life miserable' for him back in the day in sleep-away camp Later, Levy retweeted the message, adding, 'Moms.' along with a red heart emoji of his own. Dan, whom Deborah shares with her husband Eugene Levy, hosted SNL on Saturday night alongside musical guest Phoebe Bridgers. And this isn't the first time Levy's mother has publicly shared love and support for her openly gay son. Famous family: Dan, whom Deborah shares with her husband Eugene Levy, co-created Schitt's Creek with his father In April of last year, Divine tweeted an adorable message to her son on the occasion of hit series Schitt's Creek's series finale. 'Today I regret every single second of worry back in the uninformed 80'swondering how the world was going to treat my brilliant little boy who loved to twirl,' Deborah penned at the time. 'Little did I know that he was going to kick that old world's ass to the curb and create a brand new one. @danjlevy' Dan seen here in February 2020: This isn't the first time Levy's mother has publicly shared love and support for her openly gay son 'This. Love you, mom,' Levy wrote in response. Dan, along with his veteran comedic actor father Eugene, 74, are credited with co-creating the hit Canadian series Schitt's Creek, which swept the Primetime Emmys last fall after the sixth season aired. All four principal stars, which include Catherine O'Hara and Annie Murphy, won Emmys for their performances, and they are each also nominated this year for Golden Globes as well as Screen Actors Guild Awards. Is really a serious rival to as a destination for high-tech? The growing exodus of banner - Oracle Corp., Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co., Tesla Inc.'s Space-X and others - suggests that theres something to the idea. Still, skeptics rightly point out that plenty of other places have made a bid to become the new and never come close. Texas, though, may be different, and not because of the recent high-profile relocations. Unlike other would-be innovation hubs, the state has been quietly nurturing high-tech industry for decades. If eventually rivals California, the consequences could be momentous, not just for industry, but for U.S. politics. A bit of background: At various times in the nations history, different locales have emerged as clusters where industrial innovation has flourished, spawning powerful new corporations and staggering amounts of wealth. These places of invention attract a critical mass of and talent. They often depend on institutions that train the next generation of workers and entrepreneurs. ALSO READ: Questioning the Silicon Valley 'gospel' fits the model. As Margaret OMara has observed in her entertaining history of the region, a critical convergence of engineering talent, venture capital, educational institutions and government money unleashed waves of innovation, each building on the previous one to generate ever-larger economic booms. But nothing is forever. Consider the fate of Hartford, Connecticut. That city was once a high-tech powerhouse in the late 19th century, dominating precision engineering and instrumentation. Its glory days are long gone. Other centers of innovation and invention have suffered similar fates: Philadelphia, which largely pioneered machine-tool production; Detroit, crucible of the automobile industry; and others. If loses its marquee status, it will almost certainly give way to several hubs in Texas, a state now more readily associated with Ted Cruz, capital punishment and crude oil. The idea that it could ultimately displace as the leading center of innovation seems far-fetched. Except when you take a closer look and go far back in time. As one account of Texas's high-tech history has argued, a new age dawned in 1930. The year brought news of the largest oil discovery ever made in the lower 48 states: the so-called Joiner Strike in the East oil patch. But it also saw the creation of Geophysical Service, a company that used sound waves to prospect for oil, which quickly became an industry standard. The company grew rapidly, expanding into submarine detection during World War II. ALSO READ: The stampede from Silicon Valley In 1951, the company became Texas Instruments, one of the giants of the computer age. Three years later, TI became the first company to design, build and market silicon transistors; seven years later, it developed the first integrated circuits, or computer chips. These became the building block of everything from hand-held calculators to computers. Even as Silicon Valley became the visible leader in computing technology, Texas Instruments flourished in Dallas, growing ever larger. (It is now the worlds largest manufacturer of analog chips.) Part of the reason for this trajectory had to do with another institution that continues to play a key role in driving technological innovation in the state: Houstons Rice University, which played a role comparable to Stanford's vis-a-vis Silicon Valley. In fact, many of the early players in Silicon Valley actually moved to after graduating from Rice, constituting what is sometimes called the Rice Mafia. How appropriate, then, that Rice would play a key role in the next step in the rise of Texas. In 1961, the university donated more than a thousand acres of land for the construction of what became known as the Johnson Space Center, flooding a once-provincial city with literal rocket scientists. Like Silicon Valley, where government contracts and connections proved essential in getting the region off the ground, Houstons leadership in the space race kick-started a host of related industries. All of this happened very gradually, almost imperceptibly, as Texas remained in the shadow of a burgeoning Silicon Valley. But as the state boomed, so did its public university system. Soon the flagship university in Austin came into its own, and start-ups began proliferating in the universitys shadow, as well as along Interstate 35, which connects Austin northward to Dallas and southward to San Antonio. This corridor joined Houston, which was already well established. Some of the that defined the Texas tech scene in this early era have perished: Tandy Corp., for example, which helped launch the personal computer era with its TRS-80 laptop before caving to competition and renaming itself Radio Shack Corp. to focus on retail, and Compaq Computers Corp. But others have proven more enduring. Austin begat a host of successful startups, including Michael Dells company, which began direct-marketing personal computers to consumers and remains a giant today. ALSO READ: China's spat with Jack Ma is bid to control big tech. Silicon Valley next? By the year 2000, the battle for tech supremacy had come down to two states: California and Texas. But the Lone Star State was at that point still playing catch-up. For example, Californias high-tech exports that year totaled $53 billion, while Texas came in second at $25 billion. Yet Texas surpassed California in 2014 and now holds a commanding lead. Other measures suggest that California continues to hold onto its lead. Back in 2000, California was the top state for research and development investment, venture capital investment and other measures of future promise. Texas lagged well behind, ranking sixth in R&D 20 years ago. It's since vaulted up to third place, but California still holds a commanding lead.Thats where the growing number of corporate relocations could tilt the balance. The companies making the move arent bit players; theyre massive corporations like Oracle and Tesla. Certainly, some of their operations will remain behind in California. It's still a momentous step. And these behemoths are hardly alone: Texas is the top destination for a growing number of companies moving out of California -- and has been for upward of 12 years. In 2019, for example, 1,800 companies left the state; most went to Texas. This has been paralleled by population shifts, with a net shift of 42,500 people leaving California for Texas, the largest such movement of people in the country. The influx of well-educated, affluent tech workers, most of whom count themselves liberals, will transform Texas and not just its economy. In time, the growing number of transplants could help turn the state blue for the first time since it went for President Jimmy Carter in 1976, delivering its wealth of electoral votes to Democrats in future elections. If that happens, Republicans may belatedly realize that the power of the tech sector goes far beyond banning the president from Twitter. It is hard to imagine a worse start to a presidency than Joe Biden signing 42 executive orders in a fenced-in Washington D.C. The inauguration showed a strong military presence, but few actual citizens. This presidency bears no resemblance to democracy. None at all. And now, with the stroke of a pen, Biden has alienated American Catholics and other Christians who hold strong values about life. When asked about the abortion policies of the new administration, White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded that Biden is a devout Catholic who had gone to Mass on inauguration day. Yet, one week later, Biden proved that he is not devout or even Catholic on the issue of abortion. It is baffling why he considered it an urgent matter to end the Mexico City Policy that restricts taxpayer funding of abortion providers overseas. Originally promoted by Ronald Reagan, the Mexico City Policy enjoys broad, bipartisan support of Americans. Over three-quarters of the population, including people who are pro-choice, support this policy. There is no pressing need, then, to revoke this popular, longstanding policy, yet this is exactly what Biden did on January 28, the day before the annual March for Life. Why is this cruel extension his first priority when it shatters the unity he spoke about? In Catholicism, abortion is a grave evil because it takes a life. In a democracy, we have a plurality of views over how important that is or why it sometimes needs to happen. Since the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling, abortion is considered a right for the woman to decide more so than the society at large. Catholic politicians and citizens understand the diversity in democracy and so do not impose their values on others. Biden, through this action, has imposed his lack of values on America. His executive order flaunts his disdain for Catholicism and ignores the citizenry he has just sworn to serve. Amid all of our problems that do need immediate attention -- vaccine distribution, COVID Relief Bill, election integrity, etc., -- Biden inexplicably made tax funding of overseas abortions his priority. This executive order is tone-deaf, unnecessary, and flagrantly anti-Catholic, as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have made clear, calling his action grievous: This Executive Order is antithetical to reason, violates human dignity, and is incompatible with Catholic teaching, the bishops wrote. The Mexico City Policy and Hyde Amendment limit federal funding to abortion providers overseas and domestically. They do not limit abortion access or roll back any rights guaranteed by Roe v. Wade, which is considered settled law by the Supreme Court. Biden supported the Hyde Amendment during his long career as a senator, yet now as president, he wants to end it as well, so that federal funding can go to abortion providers in the United States. In 2019, Planned Parenthood enjoyed $245 million in profit for its services, so it is clearly not in need and has not been for a long time. Further, abortion rates have been coming down in the last two decades, so there is less demand. Biden could have easily kept to established precedent and preserved both the Mexico City Policy and the Hyde amendment. Both honor Roe and Bill Clintons policy position from the 1990s, that abortion should be safe, legal, and rare. There is no reason at all for a Catholic president to pursue more aggressive abortion funding than his predecessors and no reason that he should want to. Further, it is unwise for a new president to impose a deeply unpopular policy on American citizens. Biden is flaunting his power with 42 executive orders so far while defying his own faith. Devout he is not. Who are the puppeteers running Biden? Are they anti-Catholic like Kamala Harris, or just extreme leftists drunk on power? In the Fall of 2019, the Left worried over the Catholicism of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett because she overtly practiced her faith. As Senator Feinstein said, the dogmas lives loudly within you, and that is a concern. We dont have such a concern with Joe Biden. Instead, three weeks into his presidency, we have to wonder if it lives in there at all, and can he hear it anymore? Dr. Carey Walsh is a professor of Theology at Villanova University and teaches courses on Scripture and the Environment, Exodus in Afro-American Religious Traditions, and is the author of The Fruit of the Vine, Exquisite Desire, and Chasing Mystery, as well as numerous articles. Image: Ted Eytan Days after the sessions Court in Sonipat denied bail to Dalit labour right activist and Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan (MAS) union member Nodeep Kaur, her relatives said they will approach the High Court of Punjab and Haryana for her release. Kaur was arrested on January 12, weeks before mass arrests were made by the Delhi Police over the tractor rally violence on January 26. She had participated in the ongoing protests at Delhi's borders against the new agri laws introduced by the Centre. According to reports, Kaur was denied bail twice due to a range of charges against her including Section 307 attempt to murder. The next bail hearing is scheduled for Monday, 26 days after she was taken into custody, as per a The Wire report. Kaurs sister Rajvir said that the allegations are false and Nodeep had told her that she was sexually assaulted in custody. Nodeep joined the (farmers) protest at Singhu in November. She was also fighting for labourers who didnt get wages regularly. On January 12, she was protesting near a factory in Kundli when police picked her up I met her and she told me cops assaulted her in custody, she told The Indian Express. Nodeeps lawyer, Jitendar Kumar had said that a medical examination was sought after the Haryana Police arrested her. The medical report revealed wounds on her body and private parts. This points to the fact that Nodeep was sexually assaulted in police custody, Kumar alleged. Nodeep's alleged sexual assault in police custody was condemned and many took to Twitter to express their solidarity with the 23-year-old activist. On Friday, Meena Harris an American lawyer, author and niece of US Vice-President Kamala Harris in a tweet said "Nodeep Kaur was arrested, tortured & sexually assaulted in police custody" and used the hastag #ReleaseNodeepKaur. Poet and author Rupi Kaur also shared a video of Nodeep and said the "Haryana police abducted nodeep kaur from her tent at singhu protest." on january 12haryana police abducted nodeep kaur from her tent at singhu protest. since then she has been beaten & sexually assaulted while under police custody. nodeep is 23 yold punjabi dalit woman & trade union activist who has been bravely speaking up about the protests. pic.twitter.com/XvN6TJwKj8 rupi kaur (@rupikaur_) January 31, 2021 The Sonipat police on Saturday denied the allegations about "illegal detention and harassment, and termed them an afterthought. The Police said Kaur was kept in the ladies waiting room at the police station and was accompanied by two female police personnel for the entire duration of her stay. Kaur was taken to the Civil Hospital where lady doctor conducted a general medical examination and a special medical examination to determine sexual assault. "She herself gave a written statement that she doesnt want to be medically examined as she had not been assaulted, the police said. According to the police, no mention of any assault by police official was conveyed before she was presented before the Chief Judicial Magistrate prior to being taken to Karnal jail. Kaur's kin claimed Nodeep was in a MAS tent set up at the Singhu border, and dragged away in cuffs. The police said, Kaur and other members of the Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan had been trying to break into a factory in Kundli for illegal extortion under the garb of workers unpaid salaries. Officers who tried to "mediate" were allegedly attacked by union members armed with sticks and rods, leading to seven police personnel being injured, police alleged. A number of 40 foreign nationals who were hiding in three freighters were found by Bihor and Arad border police this weekend while trying to cross the border illegally into Hungary, the General Border Police Inspectorate (IGPF) informs on Sunday. According to the cited source, the 40 citizens from Turkey, Afghanistan, Syria and Pakistan were hidden in three freighters driven by Romanian and Bulgarian drivers. "On 05.02.2021, the border police officers with the Border Police Sector Bors, carried out a detailed check of a freighter with two Romanian citizens. During the checks, they discovered hidden inside the cargo compartment twenty-nine foreign nationals. During the preliminary investigations, the border control authorities have established that they are citizens from Turkey and Syria aged between 30 and 60, all of whom are asylum seekers," the IGPF said.Border police at the Varsand and Nadlac II Border Crossing Points also carried out detailed checks on two trucks driven by two Bulgarian citizens.These were registered in Slovakia and Bulgaria, respectively, and transported, according to the accompanying documents, automotive parts and metal pipes for companies in Slovakia and Germany."Following the checks, eleven citizens from Afghanistan and Pakistan, aged between 11 and 31, asylum seekers in Romania were found hidden inside the freight compartments. In all cases, the border police are conducting investigations in order to establish the entire criminal activities, and upon completion, the appropriate legal measures will be adopted," mentions the cited source. AGERPRES (RO - author: Anamaria Constantin, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - editor: Simona Ia Editor: Health care is a basic human right. As a registered nurse at a state hospital caring for some of our most vulnerable citizens, I firmly believe that without proper funding and safe staffing limits, patient safety is compromised, as is our ability to provide essential care. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed some long-standing weaknesses in our health care system chronic understaffing, failure to hire and fill the many positions that are desperately needed, and a lack of funding that detrimentally affects every department within the state system. The dilemma we now face stems from years of poor policies and budget cuts brought on by our elected officials. The system is in crisis and we know how to fix it. We need to begin by providing adequate funding to our public health system, by taking the lead in gaining control over the spread of this deadly virus and recognizing the value of state health care workers as well as the risks they take on daily. We need a budget that prioritizes the health and safety of our citizens. When our leaders continue to favor large corporations and the wealthy with tax cuts, the majority loses. What we need now more than ever is to communicate and collaborate together to address this crisis, and our voices need to be heard. DANA GREENWOOD SCRANTON Editor: The Scranton School Board meeting on Jan. 26 centered around the districts transportation policy and how changes could affect how elementary and middle school students get to their schools. It was noted that as many as 200 to 300 of the districts youngest students could be affected by this change if the board alters the transportation policy, which now is under consideration. No dollar amount was mentioned indicating how much the district would save if the policy would be adopted. One director suggested looking at providing supervision at schools for children whose parents must get to work early. The problem with this possible solution is that increased staffing costs money that could negate any potential savings that would occur if the policy is adopted. It was also mentioned that children in kindergarten through second grade should walk to school with an adult, or a sibling in third grade. I can only imagine how comforting it must be to the parents of a 5- or 6-year-old knowing that they are being supervised by a third-grader. I totally support cost-cutting and more efficient ways to improve the daily operations of the district. However, careful attention should be paid to the risk-rewards ratio of any policy changes. This potential policy change could endanger the segment of the districts students who require the greatest need of supervision and protection. GREG POPIL SCRANTON Editor: The pandemic has brought out the best in people, as well as the worst. We all have seen evidence of people reaching out to help others in a variety of ways. We also have seen evidence of people hoarding large quantities of essential items without concern for the needs of others. Then, some of the hoarders offered to sell the items at inflated prices. Feel the love! We also see a population that can only be described as nose bullies. This group includes women and men who do not wear a mask or if they do, their nose often is exposed. I guess the nose bullies have not listened to the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or read the signs on the doors of local business and social or shopping areas about proper mask-wearing. Its hard to breathe! they moan. Its uncomfortable! My favorite is, COVID is a joke, it will go away after the election. Well, the election was over three months ago and COVID-19 cases and fatalities continue to rise. So, Miss, Mrs. or Mr. Nose Bully, the coronavirus is for real and a mask provides your first line of defense, and mine, too. Get over yourselves and do the right thing for the common good. The life you save may just be your own. GARY W. JONES KINGSLEY, SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY Editor: With the possible exception of Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, every congressional Republican knows that President Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in November in the most secure election in U.S. history. Every one of them witnessed the violent insurrection on Jan. 6, which breached the security of the Capitol and interrupted a joint session of Congress, assembled to verify the electoral vote count and certify Bidens November victory. Congressional Republican cannot deny that Trumps inflammatory rhetoric at the White House ellipse that day incited the mob to violent action, or that his purpose was to intimidate members of Congress into overturning the results of the election and awarding him another four years as president. Trump committed treason, an impeachable offense. Every member of Congress has taken an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. It is clearly their duty to hold Trump accountable for inciting the attempted coup. Yet 197 House Republicans voted against impeachment, afraid of the wrath of Trumps supporters in their districts. They fear Trumps wrath, as well. He openly threatened to support more malleable opponents to run against them in the 2022 primaries. So they put their political careers above their oath to support and defend the Constitution. Shame on them. Several Senate Republicans have expressed reluctance to join Democrats in convicting Trump in this weeks trial. They know that Trump lost the election and that Biden is the legitimate 46th president. Will they be as craven as their colleagues in the House or will they find the courage to convict Trump? If they sacrifice their political careers, at least they will be able to say that they had done their duty and kept faith with the Constitution. JOHN HUDANISH ZVOLEN, SLOVAKIA Michael O'Leary is an exceptional aviation executive, but don't go to him for your cough. Unlike Nphet chief Tony Holohan, on whom the Ryanair boss launched a scathing attack last weekend, O'Leary does not have to stand over his pronouncements on Covid. Neither does he have to justify to anyone but his shareholders his airline's marketing campaigns - even when public health doctors would prefer that everyone stayed at home. O'Leary's job is to put bums on airplane seats and Dr Holohan's job is to keep people out of hospital beds. Both men have had a difficult time achieving those aims. Success for O'Leary has the unfortunate side effect of moving huge numbers of people around a continent with invisible reservoirs of an infectious respiratory disease that can, when let run wild, cripple the world's best hospital systems. Success for Holohan is greatly hampered by mass movement and he gives advice nobody wants to hear. O'Leary has never been short of an opinion on matters beyond aviation, helpful or otherwise. Back at the beginning of last February he told market analysts on a call that the disease would not have a long-term impact. "We've seen even this morning some people on short-haul flights between Ireland and the UK wearing bloody face masks as if it made any difference to them," he told the analysts. "Our experience with the Sars and the avian bird flu five, six years ago was that actually it was mildly good for the short-haul business here in Europe. More people were likely to holiday in Europe rather than travel long-haul to Asia, etc, and we would think that will play out again." Three weeks later Covid was confirmed to have indeed arrived in Ireland, presumably inside the bodies of unsuspecting aeroplane passengers. Ryanair, like everyone else, shut up shop: "We must all work together with EU governments to minimise the impact of Covid-19 on our citizens and our health services," it said as the first lockdown began. But by the end of May, Ryanair was trying to put the pandemic behind it. Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy eased restrictions and it announced a 29.99 sale "to celebrate" as it reinstated 40pc of its July schedule. O'Leary, now a believer in face masks, hit out at "ineffective" quarantine rules in Ireland "at a time when leading medical experts and scientists all over Europe are removing these defective restrictions on inbound visitors", he wrote in a letter to Health Minister Simon Harris. "Your department should follow this science and mandate face masks, as well as bring forward your overly conservative and unreasonably stringent lockdown restrictions to allow normal, everyday life to resume safely," he wrote. "It is deeply regrettable that Nphet continues to mismanage the return to normality by being too cautious," said another Ryanair statement. The airline ramped up its flights to 1,000 a day across Europe, carrying 4.4 million passengers in June. Families deserved "well-earned Mediterranean holidays after the severe challenges of the Covid-19 lockdown, home schooling, etc," said O'Leary in another statement. "It's time for Europe to go back flying again, it's time to reboot Europe's tourism industry, and Ryanair is proud to lead this initiative." But Covid had not in fact gone away. It was not rocket science to predict what was going to happen as summer turned to autumn. "Now that the schools have reopened, it's time for Irish businesses to return to work, but our economy cannot recover unless our people are free to travel to, and do business in the UK, Germany, Poland and other key EU trading partners, who have lower Covid rates than Ireland," said Ryanair as it launched a 48-hour million-seat sale at 5 a pop. "Nphet has kept Ireland locked up like North Korea," it screamed in one statement. "Aviation and Irish tourism is being vandalised by Nphet's mismanagement and baseless unscientific travel advice which unfairly and unnecessarily locks Ireland up," it said in another. It later "condemned" Tanaiste Leo Varadkar's advice to Irish citizens "not to book flights home for Christmas yet". The airline launched "a very merry seat sale" with 19.99 fares on offer over Christmas "allowing people across Europe to travel and celebrate this Christmas and New Year with their families", it said. "Ho, Ho, Ho. Test & Go," said another last minute 'Home for Christmas' sale offering 10,000 seats for 9.99. Traffic may have been hugely down on a normal Christmas. But of the 10,000 passengers a day passing through Dublin Airport during December, 46pc of them travelled with Ryanair. With the disease rampant right across Europe in December, it is impossible to know how many of those who flew in and out of the country over Christmas unknowingly went on to spread Covid to friends, family or casual contacts over the holiday season. But by Christmas Day it was confirmed that the highly virulent UK variant was in Ireland. Meanwhile, Ryanair's new television ad dangled a promise of better times in front of us: "Book Summer. Vaccines are coming. Vax & Go," it said as it flogged thousands of seats for 19,99. Britain's Advertising Standards Authority ruled the ad to be "irresponsible" because it could confuse consumers in what was a complex and evolving situation. Airline executives sell dreams, doctors face up to nightmares. One year into the pandemic more than 700,000 people have died of the disease across Europe. Michael O'Leary is, of course, free to loudly voice his opinions and to push his seat sales as hard as he can. But if you want good advice on Covid, it might be best to listen to the doctor. (Natural News) A corporation has decided to close down two of its supermarkets in Southern California after a local ordinance ordered the company to pay grocery workers hazard pay for providing essential services during the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Kroger Co., one of Americas largest retail companies, made the decision to shut down two of its stores a Ralphs and a Food 4 Less in Long Beach, Los Angeles County, following the passage of the city councils hero pay ordinance. The company announced its decision on Monday, Feb. 1. It has four other Ralphs and two Food 4 Less stores in the city that will continue to operate. The Long Beach City Council voted unanimously during a Jan. 19 meeting to mandate a 120-day wage increase of $4 an hour for the employees of supermarkets that employ at least 15 residents of Long Beach and 300 people nationwide. Mayor Robert Garcia, a strong proponent of the ordinance, said that many grocery stores like the ones owned by Kroger Co. were not paying their employees adequately enough to justify them working during a pandemic. Some supermarkets gave their employees hazard pay for the first few months of the outbreak but later phased it out. These folks that are working at these markets and these grocery stores are heroes, said Garcia. This is nothing new. They have received this type of additional pay in the past and if they deserved it in the past, they deserve it today. Grocers are making record profits, claimed Garcia on his Twitter account. We go to court this month and we will defend the workers vigorously. The Long Beach City Council is not the only local government in California to mandate a wage increase for essential workers during the pandemic. The Oakland City Council on Tuesday approved a $5 hourly hazard pay increase. The Santa Clara Board of Supervisors voted to draft a $5-per-hour hazard pay measure for essential workers including grocery store employees, which will be up for a vote as early as next week. The city council of Montebello, a suburb of Los Angeles, voted to require large drug stores and grocery stores to provide workers with an extra $4 per hour for the next 180 days. Several other cities are considering similar proposals, including Pomona in Los Angeles County and San Jose in the San Francisco Bay Area. (Related: California restaurants to remain open despite lockdown orders as owners try to survive government tyranny.) Kroger Co. says closures due to financial struggle of the two stores Kroger Co. immediately released a statement after it heard of the Long Beach City Councils recent vote. Their statement read: As a result of the City of Long Beachs 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. When asked if Kroger would shut down more stores in other cities that order hazard pay for grocery workers, Ralphs Director for Corporate Affairs John Votava said in an email: These misguided mandates could put any struggling store in jeopardy of closure. Krogers decision is unfortunate for workers, shoppers and the company, said the city in a statement released in response. It mentioned how the two stores were struggling for some time. Long Beach Vice Mayor and City Council member Rex Richardson said he doesnt entirely believe Kroger when it said that the temporary wage bump would make its two stores unprofitable. But he did concede that the Food 4 Less that will be shut down, which is in his district, has struggled in recent years due to five big-box grocery stores opening nearby. Richardson said in a phone interview with local news outlet Long Beach Press-Telegram that his job now is to see to his constituents who will be affected. As a council member, I dont have a lot of time to sit back and pontificate about whether some corporate executive who made an extra billion dollars last year is upset about a city council decision, he said. Im not shaken. I just think its important that residents know that one way or the other, theyre going to be okay. Were going to be okay. Our community is making progress. Richardson said he is already working to determine the citys next steps, which is why he is talking to local employment service company Pacific Gateway to provide the impacted workers with unemployment benefits and other services. He is also speaking with the citys Economic Development Department to discuss what will be done with the soon-to-be-vacated properties. Ordinance comes as supermarkets and other essential businesses struggle to get by There has been some resistance to the ordinance. The California Grocers Association, a trade association representing retailers in the state, filed a lawsuit against Long Beach. According to the lawsuit, Long Beachs ordinance is unconstitutional because it interferes with the collective bargaining process between the unions representing grocery store workers and the stores themselves. The city argued that the lawsuit is baseless and is similar to other temporary wage bumps that courts have upheld. The associations president and CEO Ron Fong said in a statement that the $4-per-hour increase in Long Beach represents a 28 percent increase in labor costs for grocers. He argued that the cost of this drastic wage bump needed to be offset somewhere else, especially if the stores were not profiting or were operating on razor-thin margins. The Long Beach City Council put politics ahead of families and jobs in the middle of a pandemic, said Fong. This was entirely avoidable. Follow Outbreak.news for more news related to the pandemic. Sources include: APNews.com LBPost.com PressTelegram.com Much like an autumn day in 79 A.D., the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences Pompeii: The Exhibition presents a simple scene from the Roman Empire. The exhibit opens with a pair of rooms designed to look like a typical house in the city located on a coastal plateau near the Tyrrhenian Sea. Visitors will pass through an atrium and a triclinium, essentially a dining area. The idea with an exhibit like this is to make it so you almost hear voices or smell the foods, says Dirk Van Tuerenhout, curator of anthropology at HMNS. To take you to this brief moment back in time in this space. You can see a mosaic on the wall, a fresco. You can imagine lying down in the triclinium and having grapes fed to you. Those who chose grapes over heeding the natural warning signs an earthquake followed by ominous activity from the towering Mount Vesuvius were likely among the 2,000 killed when the volcano began to spew ash, destroying the prosperous city along with the neighboring town of Herculaneum. The fate of Pompeii is one of those historical happenings about which most everybody knows one simple equation: city + volcano = catastrophe. With varied visuals, including 150 artifacts carved statues, mosaics, military gear, bowls, glassware on loan from the Naples (Italy) National Archeological Museum, Pompeii: The Exhibition tells a more richly realized story about the long life and two-day destruction of a city and the labored processes that have taken place in the nearly 2,000 years since to learn more about Pompeii. Pompeii: The Exhibition When: Feb. 12 - Aug. 1 Where: Houston Museum of Natural Science, 5555 Hermann Park Drive Details: $15 members, $30 general public, $21 general public children; 713-639-4629. hmns.org See More Collapse Think about the sort of time capsule we put together, Van Tuerenhout says. People select things they feel might be interesting in 100 years. With Pompeii, the entire city is the time capsule. One day people woke up in the city, and within 48 hours, it was no more. Sealed under soil The pyroclastic flow a flow of deadly and destructive hot gas and volcanic matter destroyed wood, cloth and leather. But other artifacts were preserved in an environment void of air, water and oxygen factors that can erode items over time. Subsequent eruptions further sealed an environment that has been the subject of excavations over the past few centuries. These days about three-quarters of the city has been excavated. You had temples and public buildings made of carved stone, Van Tuerenhout says. Romans were famous for their bricks, and the bricks were preserved. There were milling stones used in bakeries. Large basalt stones with holes for a beam to run through so a donkey could push the beam and mill the grain. These things were all preserved. The slow process of uncovering Pompeii yielded a fuller sense of a thriving city estimated at 20,000 people during the reign of Titus, with all the trimmings of a prosperous Roman city: the roads, the baths, the fresh water supply. These guys were in many ways farther along than years later after the fall of the Roman Empire in the Dark Ages, Van Tuerenhout says. Before the empire went belly up, it could support cities like this, with 20,000 or more people. Van Tuerenhout says studies of the Roman Empire are particularly rich because they combine archaeology with written sources. In the case of Pompeii, resident Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus you may know him as Pliny the Younger recorded in two letters some of the events of those two days. His uncle, Pliny the Elder, a naval commander, was killed trying to evacuate people remaining in the city. That the archaeology confirms some of what the writings talk about makes it all truly historic, Van Tuerenhout says. Dying in a flash Though not part of Pompeii: The Exhibition, Van Tuerenhout says, an excavation of Herculaneum turned up carbonized scrolls from a library there. Proof that discovery can follow discovery, a trove of nearly 2,000 scrolls were found in the 18th century. Early efforts to translate some of the scrolls resulted in their destruction, but over the past two decades high-energy x-rays have allowed some of these preserved papyri to be read without damaging them. So its possible, Van Tuerenhout says, that Vesuvius by accident preserved some of the last remaining copies of writings by authors we may or may not know. Among the more macabre but popular draws of Pompeii: The Exhibition is a series of casts made of some of those killed by the pyroclastic flow. To put it delicately and diplomatically is difficult because a lot of people did die, Van Tuerenhout says. But they probably died in a flash during this huge volcanic belch that raced down the slopes of the volcano to the city. By that point, much of the city had been evacuated, as residents knew this event was different than previous tremblors; an earthquake had rattled Pompeii about 15 years earlier. Van Tuerenhout says those studying the site in the 19th century were intrigued by some awkwardly shaped cavities found during their excavations. They pumped some of the cavities full of plaster, yielding human-shaped figures that have been a museum draw for centuries. There was an initial perception theyd suffered a long time, Van Tuerenhout says, but the muscles contract in this flash of heat. Sometimes the body takes on a grotesque post, but its not a freak show. Theyre just captured in the last moment of their lives. One figure was found near a collection of coins. It truly creates a snapshot, Van Tuerenhout says. And one pet owner decided to save his own skin. Theres a display of a dog that was chained to guard the house. Sadly, Rufus didnt make it. andrew.dansby@chron.com UPDATE: Cannon explosion that killed Michigan man a blameless accident, family says UPDATE: Investigation continues into fatal cannon explosion at Michigan baby shower UPDATE: Victim identified from fatal cannon blast at Michigan baby shower GAINES TOWNSHIP, MI -- A cannon that exploded at a baby shower in Genesee County left one attendee dead, police said. Michigan State Police are investigating the incident that took place around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6 in Gaines Township, southwest of Flint. During the baby shower, a small cannon-type device was fired in the back yard to celebrate the babys pending arrival, according to a statement from Michigan State Police. When the cannon was fired by the home owner, the cannon itself blew up causing metal shrapnel to strike three parked cars and the garage where the baby shower was being held. A 26-year-old Hartland man standing nearby was also struck by the shrapnel. He was taken to Hurley Medical Center in Flint but later died of his injuries, police said. The Michigan State Police Bomb Squad, Gaines Township Fire Department, and Med Star Ambulance assisted troopers at the scene. More on MLive: 60% of Genesee County teachers will soon be vaccinated, health department says Flint school board votes to offer hybrid in-person class options by end of February Extremists have gone mainstream. Lawyers, realtors and every-day folks make up their ranks. Otsego fourth-grader remains unconscious nine days after snowmobile crash Scam calls threatening to shut off utilities in 35 minutes making rounds in Bay City 60% of Genesee County teachers will soon be vaccinated, health department says Pilots allege abuse by late University of Michigan doctor who performed more than 4,000 physicals for FAA Reward offered for info in fatal hit-and-run in Saginaw County Michigan murder convict must return to prison after appeals court balks at release New York: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, an economist and former finance minister of Nigeria, appears set to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organisation, with the Biden administration announcing its strong support for her candidacy. She would be the first woman and the first African national to lead the organisation. Yoo Myung-hee, the South Korean trade minister who was also a finalist for the role, said on Saturday that she planned to withdraw herself from consideration, leaving the path open for Okonjo-Iweala, The Associated Press reported. The WTO is expected to announce a meeting to confirm the appointment of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala within a matter of days. Credit:Getty Images The two women were announced as finalists for the trade organisations top job in October, whittled down from a group of eight candidates over several months, with Okonjo-Iweala emerging as the person with the broadest support, the WTO said at the time. But because the organisation, a trade-regulation body that has existed in its current form since 1995, requires that none of its 164 members oppose the choice, president Donald Trump, who supported Yoo and said he would not back the candidacy of Okonjo-Iweala, was able to hold up the process, according to the WTO statement. Actress Yoon Jeong-hee / Korea Times file Yoon's husband refutes claim, saying contents of petition are groundless By Kwak Yeon-soo Speculation is mounting over the wellbeing of Yoon Jeong-hee, 77, who dominated the silver screen in the 1960s and 1970s as one of the three most-sought-after actresses, after an online petition claimed that the ailing star suffering from Alzheimer's disease and diabetes has been neglected by her immediate family her husband and daughter. An anonymous person posted a petition on the website of Cheong Wa Dae, Friday, claiming, "Yoon is in a lone fight against Alzheimer's and diabetes in an apartment in the suburbs of Paris without being properly cared for by her spouse, because they live apart." The real names that appeared in the original text were removed by the administrator for privacy reasons. "It has been two years since her husband has seen her (Yoon). Her daughter lives nearby, but she's unable to take proper care of the actress because she's busy with her own work and family life. (Yoon's) siblings asked the daughter to allow them to call and visit the ailing actress freely, but the daughter set strict rules about visitation hours and the length of visits as if she's a prisoner," the petitioner wrote. "As a result, siblings are allowed to call her only once a month for 30 minutes, and visit her once every three months for two hours. This is clearly a violation of freedom of association and human rights." The authenticity of the petition could not be proven, but it drew more than 2,000 signatures as of noon Sunday. (Reuters) - Myanmar's military leader said on Monday his junta would hold a new election and hand power to the winner as tens of thousands of people took to the streets for a third day to protest against the coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing was speaking in a televised address, his first to the country since last Monday's military takeover. He did not say when the election would be held, but repeated claims that last November's poll, won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, had been fraudulent. In the capital Naypyitaw, crowds of protesters chanted anti-coup slogans and told police they should serve the people not the military, according to media and a live feed of events. Police turned water cannon on protesters and warned that they might use live fire if the demonstrators did not disperse, but the protests ended without bloodshed. Demonstrations also took place in the commercial capital Yangon and elsewhere. Gatherings have so far been largely peaceful, unlike bloody crackdowns on previous protests, in 1988 and 2007 in particular when hundreds were killed. The U.S. Embassy said it had received reports that a curfew had been imposed in Yangon and Mandalay, the second-biggest city, from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. local time. The generals had already tried to justify their takeover on the grounds of election fraud - rejected by the election committee - and had promised a new poll. Min Aung Hlaing reiterated that position in his address on Monday, saying the junta would form a "true and disciplined democracy" different to previous eras of military rule. The election committee must be reformed, he said. He accused it of using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to prevent fair campaigning. "We will have a multiparty election and we will hand the power to the one who wins in that election, according to the rules of democracy," he said. Story continues He gave no time frame but the junta has said a state of emergency will last one year. CRISIS MOVES TO STREETS Upping the stakes in the crisis, state media had earlier signalled possible action against protesters. "We, the whole people who value justice, freedom, equality,peace and safety, not only refuse to accept the lawlesswrongdoers but also request that they be prevented and removedthrough cooperation," the MRTV television station said in acomment that was later read out on a military-owned network. Calls to join protests and to back a campaign of civildisobedience have grown louder and more organised since the coup, which drew widespread international condemnation. "Our message to the public is that we aim to completelyabolish this military regime and we have to fight for ourdestiny," Aye Misan, a nurse at a government hospital said at a protest in Yangon. Thousands also marched also in the southeastern city ofDawei and in the Kachin state capital in the far north, themassive crowds reflecting a rejection of military rule bydiverse ethnic groups. In Yangon, a group of saffron-robed monks marched in the vanguard of protests with workers and students, flying multicoloured Buddhist flags alongside red banners in the League's colour. "Release Our Leaders, Respect Our Votes, Reject MilitaryCoup," said one sign. The protests are the biggest since the "Saffron Revolution"led by monks in 2007, which led over subsequent years to themilitary's gradual withdrawal from politics after decades ofdirect rule. CALL FOR STRIKE Some government workers have joined doctors and teachers in rallying to the call for civil disobedience and strikes. "We request government staff from all departments not toattend work from Monday," said activist Min Ko Naing, a veteranof the 1988 demonstrations that brought Suu Kyi to prominence. Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for campaigningfor democracy and spent nearly 15 years under house as shestruggled to end almost half a century of army rule. The 75-year-old has been kept incommunicado since army chiefMin Aung Hlaing seized power. Suu Kyi faces charges of illegally importing sixwalkie-talkies and is being held in police detention until Feb.15. Her lawyer said he has not been allowed to see her. The daughter of the former British colonys independencehero Aung San, Suu Kyi remains hugely popular at home despitedamage to her international reputation over the plight of theMuslim Rohingya minority. While Western governments have condemned the coup, there hasbeen little in the way of concrete action to press the generals. The U.N. Security Council has called for the release of SuuKyi and other detainees and the United States is consideringtargeted sanctions. Britain and the European Union requested a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council be held to address the crisis. In a letter on Monday, a senior NLD member asked U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to "use all available means...to ensure a swift reversal of the coup". A U.N. spokesman confirmed receipt of the letter. Guterres last week pledged to mobilize international pressure on the military to make sure the coup failed. (Reporting by Reuters staff, Writing by Matthew Tostevin, Editing by Angus MacSwan) WASHINGTON - The first day classrooms opened last week at Johnson Middle School, just one student showed up. By Friday, nine did. That was far fewer than the 49 who had said they would return to in-person learning two days a week. And even fewer than the 133 students that Principal Dwan Jordon had identified as struggling and invited to return. It was a scene that unfolded in schools across the city's low-income neighborhoods. They were operating under capacity with dismal attendance - a challenge exacerbated by bad weather and logistically complicated schedules necessary to accommodate the 9,500 students returning to classrooms and more than 40,000 students who remained home doing virtual learning. Teachers already anxious about returning were frustrated by the low numbers in their classrooms, with some arguing that it made little sense to open school buildings for so few students, to implement a plan they feared could make virtual learning worse for everyone else. But Jordon was hopeful. He said he had contacted all the families whose children were supposed to be there. Some lacked the proper medical documents and child immunizations required to return, and school staff members were working with them. He was confident that as parents saw other students in classrooms, they would want their children to join, too. His school had nearly 40 teachers and support staff members in the building, giving the school the ability to grow its in-person learning program. "I'm confident we will get to our [student] goal," Jordon said. "We have some people who, once they see that this is going well, they are going to want to be part of this. And we want to remain open to that possibility." The District of Columbia school system had room for 15,000 of its 52,000 students across all grade levels. Fewer than 10,000 of those seats are filled. But despite operating under capacity, the city's partial return to classrooms still marks the region's first attempt at a districtwide school reopening, with more jurisdictions expected to follow in the coming weeks. While schools in the city's wealthier neighborhoods had waiting lists, Mayor Muriel Bowser sent a robocall Thursday evening to the school system's families, informing them that there were slots available for in-person learning and that they could still sign up. The majority of the system's students are Black and Hispanic, from low-income families, and the majority of students returning to in-person learning are students of color identified as having many needs. "I also want to encourage more families to sign up for this opportunity to return to school in person," Bowser, a Democrat, said on the robocall. The mayor noted on the call the safety features in buildings and said the city had prioritized coronavirus vaccinations for teachers. Staff members who returned to classrooms could receive their first shots last week, and will receive their second dose later this month. "I am proud of the plans we put in place," Bowser said. The roster of students returning was bigger at Ketcham Elementary School, but attendance was low. Twenty-one of the expected 61 students came to school the first day. On Friday, 39 were there. But Principal Maisha Riddlesprigger also saw reasons for hope. Some of the children with the most needs showed up, and she had students sitting in classrooms Friday who had not logged into their virtual learning classes since December. She believed more families would appear, and be on time, and she reminded parents of the staggered arrival times based on grade level. Even the young children were adhering to the mask requirements, and Riddlesprigger said they were paying attention to the visual reminders posted about campus to keep their distance. The first day, some students wanted to take naps midday like they did at home, and the school had to review routines and school-day structures with the students. Parents said their children were happy to be back in the school building. "We're only three days in," Riddlesprigger said. "But students we hadn't seen since December, they now have a consistent place to go to and engage in." A class each in two elementary schools has been sent home to quarantine for 14 days - and return to remote instruction - because a person tested positive last week. Teachers returned to school buildings as the dispute between the city and the teachers union continued. The city requested a temporary restraining order against the union to prohibit it from planning a strike. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. The union has said the city called back more teachers to return - 1,800 of 4,000 - than were needed. "Some of the union building reps texted me directly because they were outraged for having so many teachers at school when so few students showed up," said Elizabeth Davis, president of the Washington Teachers' Union. She said in an interview that the loudest complaints from the first week were about the small class sizes and the frustrations that came with teaching students in classrooms and at home at the same time. At Ketcham, teaching both sets of students meant those in class were wearing headphones, facing their laptops and listening as their teacher addressed the classroom learners and at-home learners simultaneously. The students at school were able to receive help from their teachers in person as they completed assignments. That model helps to ensure that more students can be taught by their originally assigned teachers and that virtual class sizes do not grow too big to accommodate the small in-person class sizes required by health guidelines. Some students are doing all-virtual learning from their classrooms, supervised by an aide. At Johnson Middle, two teachers, one a special education instructor, were teaching a sixth-grade class Friday. The teachers were working in two separate classrooms, teaching about six students in person and the rest virtually. On Friday morning, one student was alone with the special education teacher, giving the child the individualized attention that is required by her special education plan. Rachel Thomas, a middle school teacher at School Without Walls at Francis Stevens, said teaching the children in front of her and those at home at the same time has been an adjustment. She said she fears that her instruction is not as strong as it could be if she were teaching one way or the other. "My kids are showing a higher level of patience than I am," she said. Several students have shown up in person. Some of the challenges of trying to reopen schools have affected families who remained at home with virtual learning. At School Without Walls at Francis Stevens, a first-grade teacher, whose request to remain virtual was denied, went on leave, according to parent Alicia Swenson O'Brien. As a result, her daughter did not have a teacher last week and was left with prerecorded lessons and assignments. "It's hard," she said. "It's another disruptive week." Parents interviewed last week whose children were offered a place in a classroom felt good about their decision to accept the slot. Shavon Collier sat outside Ketcham Elementary, cradling her first-grade son, who was sad to be leaving her after so many months together. But he struggled to focus at home, and she attended all the school's virtual sessions about reopening and felt knowledgeable and confident about the safety protocols. She also sent her three older children back to school buildings last week. And despite the separation anxiety, she said her youngest son has rated his days at school with a thumbs-up. "He's having a great time," Collier said. At Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, 5-year-old Cahlil was so excited Friday as he matched tiles with letters to their correct space on an alphabet chart that he could not sit down while he completed the assignment. "I just found the K, that was so easy," he announced to himself. "I'm doing very great. This is fun." Many of us look for omens in our lives - signs that, we believe, tell us that good, or bad things may happen: Magpies, black cats, pins. Some of us even ask for these signs - trusting the universe to send a signal that will direct our choice one way or another. But how many of us would radically alter our lives, dig up our land, spend our own savings, borrow money and redirect our careers, on the basis of what we believe to be divine communication? This is exactly what Michelle Keane has done, and describes, in her book, The Discovery of Kingdom Water, about how she found seven natural springs on her land in Knocknagoshel in Co Kerry. The book includes many wild-sounding moments: trips to Knock, Fatima, and Lourdes, a gruelling journey through the Himalayas, consultations with gurus and water diviners, as well as what she believes to be communication with divine entities and her own ancestors. As the kids say, "you couldn't make it up". And yet, for all that the many bizarre happenings could be dismissed as so much fancy, the water itself clearly exists, and Michelle - who trained as an interior designer and has run her own company since 2000 - is currently in talks with potential investors from a selection of very un-fanciful sectors, including the pharmaceutical industry, luxury water and energy drink brands, and the health and wellness industry, around the sale of it. Clearly, along with her undoubted belief in divine entities, Michelle also has a hard business head. Along the way, she has confronted serious illness - including breast cancer - and an accident that left her unable to walk for months. Throughout, she has been driven by an unwavering conviction. "I don't know why this happened to me," she says. "I have asked myself this question many times along the way, and part of me always will ask. But eventually I had to stop questioning it and just accept it." For Michelle, the story started in May 2018, with a bottle of water filled from St Michael's Well in Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry, to give to a visiting friend. While sitting at the well, she believes she saw a vision of St Patrick. "I knew something strange was happening me deep inside my gut when I saw that," she says. "But I've always been a very spiritual and religious person, so it didn't disturb me as much as you might think. I accepted it. I don't know why I felt like that, it just felt natural within my soul." Later, she gave the water to the friend, Tahnee Morgan, who herself believes that she sees and communicates with angels. That night, Tahnee said she was being shown messages from Michelle's ancestors, who told her there were seven natural underground springs on Michelle's land with water containing naturally-occurring minerals and trace elements, and that these springs must be released. In fact, one of the springs had already broken the surface and was easily accessible, although the others were hidden and unknown. So Michelle, displaying the strange blend of blind faith and canny good sense that was to define her response throughout, bought a batch of sterilised bottles from the local chemist, bottled some of the water from the visible spring, and brought it to a science laboratory to be tested. Those tests came back some weeks later with evidence of 25 minerals, 17 of which are known as rare earth elements. At that point, Michelle, together with her husband Keith, decided to find and open the other springs. But that involved significant costs - Michelle's life savings, as well as investment from a family friend willing to back them. Surely, I say, that was the point at which her faith must have wavered? When it came to actual financial commitment? "No, never," she says. "My faith got even stronger. There have been many times along this journey that I have been utterly exhausted and depleted, but I have never stopped believing in the power of Our Lady and Mother Nature." The springs were located through water divination (still more common than you might expect in parts of rural Ireland) - all six of them - and the first one was opened, whereupon it released a spurt of water that "shot into the air like oil does in the movies". By the time the drilling was finished, an entire underground river had been discovered. Again, Michelle took water samples and sent them off to the lab. Around this time, she says that she began to see angels, and angelic signs herself, including lights, figures and numbers in the air, and pictures of rocks. Did that not freak her out? "I was initially terrified, to put it mildly," she admits, "but then the images began to make sense to me and I accepted them." Persuading husband Keith was far harder. "That was the biggest challenge. I found that exceptionally hard, as he couldn't see what I was seeing. I remember sitting in the kitchen with Keith and he could hear the light switch turning on and off, but he couldn't see the visions I was seeing. I asked him, 'do you believe me?' and he said 'I do, but it's hard for me to comprehend' I knew he was doubting me, and I couldn't blame him. But I knew in time his doubt and disbelief would go away." The remaining springs were opened, and again the water was tested. Each time, the results came back showing a strong mineral and trace element profile. At this stage, Michelle decided to bring the water to market, engaging industry consultants and testing her water against the leading bottled water brands. "On the basis of independent scientific analysis, our water shows a comparable mineral profile to the top 10 brands, and better than others." Disbelief hasn't been the only challenge she has faced. She has had several serious health issues in the time since that May morning in 2018. "My health suffered a lot," she says. "I've had three major operations, first a triple hernia operation, then surgery for breast cancer. Luckily, it was caught early, and surgery was all the treatment that was required and I've thankfully made a full recovery. "Then, just when I thought all that was behind me, I fell and broke my ankle and had to have two metal plates inserted, and ended up in a wheelchair for over three months. I remember a doctor saying to me that I wouldn't walk again for 18 months. Then, I thought my life was over. I had reached an all-time low, but hearing those words made me more determined than ever to get back on my feet. I kept my positive head and I prayed to God and the angels, and through their grace and divine mercy, I have made it this far. That accident was six months ago, and I am now back walking again." Faith aside, what kept her going on such a strange journey? "My kids, Luke and Holly. Children need our unconditional love, whether we succeed or make mistakes. It was their hugs and kisses and their meltdowns that kept me sane," she laughs. "And Keith. I could not have kept this together without his enduring love and patience; he is the real hero in this book." She published her book last October and it's already on its fourth reprint and launches in the US at the end of the month. Right now, she is "at the pre-planning stage for a commercial water bottling plant". This, clearly is not a conventional business story, something Michelle is ready to acknowledge. "This might all sound crazy," she says, "but all I've done is document my journey. This is a true story - although not everyone will get it or understand it. But what is undoubtedly true is the presence of water, an abundant natural resource, on my land. And the scientific evidence, from two independent laboratories, to show the minerals in that water. And next year, the bottling plant will be verifiably true as well. I'm not begging people to believe this story, I'm just putting it out there." 'The Discovery of Kingdom Water' is out now Chloe Ferry proclaimed sex is 'the most important thing ever' in a relationship during Sunday's Celebs Go Dating while Wayne Lineker told new arrival Billie-Jean she 'tickled his fancy'. The Geordie Shore star, 25, did not mince her words during her romantic date with beau Kieran Bishop as the pair discussed what they are both like when in a relationship. The pair were sent clay making by dating agents Anna Williamson and Paul Carrick Brunson, with Chloe asking Kieran: 'What are you looking for in a relationship?' Honest: Chloe Ferry proclaimed sex is 'the most important thing ever' in a relationship during Sunday's Celebs Go Dating Kieran said: 'Respect is a massive thing, loyalty.' Chloe agreed, before Kieran added: 'Sex is a big thing as well.' Chloe replied: 'Sex is the most important thing ever, that's how you make the baby. I think you're a very affection person aren't you?' She added: 'It takes me a while, I've got to trust them. I enjoy kissing but I don't want it to be rushed.' Later in the date, Chloe warned Kieran she would likely be going on dates with other guys after him. Flirty: Wayne Lineker, 58, told new arrival Billie-Jean, 25, she 'tickled his fancy' Party: the celebrities were treated to a party where they were greeted by three new singletons who joined the mansion including Billie-Jean She said: 'How would you feel if I was to go on a date? I'm not gonna lie, it probably is going to happen.' Kieran replied: 'It is going to happen, it'll be a test. It's the only way you'll find out if you like someone.' Meanwhile, the celebrities were treated to a party where they were greeted by three new singletons who moved into mansion. Among them was radio presenter and model Billie-Jean, 25, who immediately caught Wayne's eye. Date: Chloe and Kieran were sent clay making by dating agents Anna Williamson and Paul Carrick Brunson, with Chloe asking Kieran: 'What are you looking for in a relationship?' Kieran said: 'Respect is a massive thing, loyalty.' Chloe agreed, before Kieran added: 'Sex is a big thing as well' Chloe replied: 'Sex is the most important thing ever, that's how you make the baby. I think you're a very affection person aren't you?' Although Wayne has been going on dates with Jodie Burling, 41, the businessman was immediately drawn to the stunning brunette. Wayne said: 'Billie-Jean is in the house and she ticks everything on the Lineker list.' During their chat, Billie-Jean was full of compliments for Wayne, telling him: 'You could do modelling, you should go to an agency.' Wayne told the new arrival he hopes to change his bad boy image, saying: 'I just post stuff [on social media] that's controversial. Tension? Although Wayne has been going on dates with Jodie Burling, 41, (pictured) the businessman was immediately drawn to Billie-Jean 'I've got this bad boy image that's not true. I do play on it a little bit every now and then but I'm trying to calm it down.' Wayne said his dating success so far in the mansion had been 'non-existent', seemingly forgetting about Jodie. Billie-Jean asked: 'Youve not met anyone that tickles your fancy?' to which Wayne cheeky replied: 'Not till about 20 minutes ago.' Later, the pair flirted more inside with Billie-Jean telling Curtis Pritchard: 'Coming in, I was quite open-minded cos I didnt know who I was going to meet, but I am getting along with Wayne.' Wayne said: 'Billie-Jean is in the house and she ticks everything on the Lineker list' Wayne was then overheard saying: 'Billie-Jean very interesting initials, work that out for yourselves.' He then told the model: 'Im attracted to Jodie but were not on that level, were just really good friends. Its not really progressed in that way.' When the party was over and the celebrities and singletons went to bed, Wayne reflected on his meeting with Billie-Jean and confirmed he wants to get to know her more, but also acknowledged the large age gap between the pair. Attraction; Wayne told his housemates: 'She is 100 per cent my type. She is a little bit young, I'm not going to lie. I would like to get to know her' He told his housemates: 'She is 100 per cent my type. She is a little bit young, I'm not going to lie. I would like to get to know her. 'Jodie, I've never had the vibe where I want to jump all over her like I had with Billie-Jean tonight.' However, tensions look set to rise between Wayne and Jodie as she was seen telling Wayne he was being 'disrespectful' towards her over Billie-Jean in the next episode. Celebs Go Dating continues on E4 on Monday at 9pm. WASHINGTON - Senior Democrats on Monday will unveil legislation to provide $3,000 per child to tens of millions of American families, aiming to make a major dent in child poverty as part of President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion economic relief package. The 22-page bill to dramatically expand direct cash benefits to American families was obtained by The Washington Post ahead of its release. Under the proposal, the Internal Revenue Service would provide $3,600 over the course of the year per child under the age of 6, as well as $3,000 per child of ages 6 to 17. The size of the benefit would diminish for Americans earning more than $75,000 per year, as well as for couples jointly earning more than $150,000 per year. The payments would be sent monthly beginning in July, a delay intended to give the IRS time to prepare for the massive new initiative. The bill, spearheaded by Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, emerges as congressional Democrats accelerate their plans to enact Biden's stimulus plan within weeks. It also comes days after Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, surprised policymakers with a proposal to send even more in direct cash per child to American families, lending bipartisan support to the major push for child benefits. Biden's proposed child benefit has quickly emerged as a potentially defining feature of his administration's economic agenda - one that could make a lasting imprint on American welfare policy. Its execution could also prove crucial to deciding Democrats' ability to maintain control of Congress, given its likely direct impact on the lives of tens of millions of voters. Despite Romney's support, several Republican lawmakers and conservative scholars have started criticizing similar measures because they would give government aid both to working and nonworking Americans alike. That has set the stage for a major political clash over the new benefits. Biden's plan has been estimated to cost upward of $120 billion per year, which would add to the national deficit as part of the Democrats' broader package. "The pandemic is driving families deeper and deeper into poverty, and it's devastating. ... This money is going to be the difference in a roof over someone's head or food on their table," Neal said in a statement. "This is how the tax code is supposed to work for those who need it most." America has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the developed world, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, in part because it spends less on child benefits than almost any other. Neal's plan would only create the new benefit for one year, but congressional Democrats and White House officials have said they would push for the policy to be made permanent later in the year. White House officials and Senate Democrats have reviewed Neal's legislation and are supportive of the proposal. Aides cautioned some of its details may change between now and final passage of the legislation. It is also unclear whether Democrats can pass the new child benefit through the Senate under the rules of reconciliation, the parliamentary procedure they are using to pass Biden's stimulus without Republican votes.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said she is aiming to pass Biden's relief package, which would include the child benefit, through the House within two weeks. An analysis by Columbia University researchers of Biden's proposal found it would cut the number of children in poverty by as much as 54 percent, the equivalent of 5 million children. More than 1 million Black children would be lifted out of poverty by the plan, the researchers found. "Of all the policy issues being discussed this Congress, of all the things we are working on, the biggest impact we can make for economic justice in our country - and enact measurable transformational change - lies within this policy that would slash child poverty," said Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who has been involved in similar efforts in the Senate, in an interview. The White House called generally for an expansion of the Child Tax Credit in its initial stimulus proposal, largely leaving how to do so to congressional Democrats. Neal's office has now filled in those details. Under his bill, the IRS would base eligibility for the payments on families' prior year income, which is also similar to how it sent out stimulus payments last year. The legislation would create an online portal, managed by the Treasury Department, for families to update their incomes if their annual incomes decline and they became eligible for the payment as a result. The IRS would begin sending out payments July 1 in a similar fashion to how it sent out the stimulus payments, directly depositing the payments in taxpayers' bank accounts. Crucially, the benefits would not be deducted off taxpayers' existing tax liability, meaning American parents would still receive $250 per month per child - or $300 per month per young children - even if they have an existing tax obligation with the IRS. The benefits will also be delivered monthly in an attempt to help poorer parents facing fluctuations of income. That may be difficult for the IRS to achieve. Treasury officials have told Democratic lawmakers that they will do their best to implement the program. But concerns remain about the capacity of the tax agency to stand up the new benefit during a pandemic and filing season that has already stretched the IRS thin. Congress has also substantially cut IRS funding over the past decade, largely due to Republican efforts to curb its influence. The Democratic plan calls for substantially increasing funding for the IRS to implement the plan, although the precise amount remains unclear. It also says Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen can adjust the monthly payment structure if she decides it is "not administratively feasible" and instead deliver the payments at the "shortest interval" that is. Neal's plan also creates a "safe harbor" provision for parents who are mistakenly sent the benefit. Many parents who are caring for a child one year may not the next, but since eligibility is based on prior year income the IRS may still send them a check anyway. The "safe harbor" provision aims to prevent parents of poorer and moderate incomes from being saddled with a surprise bill at tax time because the IRS incorrectly assumed they were owed the child benefit, excluding them from requirements to pay the bill back at the end of the year. The Neal plan represents an expansion of an existing $2,000 Child Tax Credit under current law, both through extending it to low-income families and by making it more generous. Under Neal's plan, the phaseout parameters for this existing $2,000 would not change. Lowering the income requirement for that $2,000 would reduce its value for more affluent families, and violate Biden's pledge not to raise taxes on families with below $400,000 in annual income. Some policy experts fear Neal's plan could create unnecessary administrative complications for families with sharp fluctuations in income. Chye-Ching Huang, executive director of the New York University Tax Law Center, said on Twitter that numerous countries with similar child benefit programs have "caused massive hardship and (& political firestorm)" by creating surprise end-of-year bills for families who were incorrectly disbursed the payment over the year. She cited the case of Australia, where in 2015 about 350,000 families were overpaid benefits and faced aggressive debt-collection tactics. "The basic point is that you want to do everything possible to avoid creating this type of hardship for families. Safe harbors should be very robust," she wrote on Twitter. Romney's proposed expansion of child benefits would have sent payments to every American, regardless of their income, through the Social Security Administration. Under Romney's plan, child benefits that went to affluent households would then be clawed back at tax filing time by the IRS. By instead tethering the benefit payments to annual income, Democrats risk creating an administrative headache for both the IRS and taxpayers, said Sam Hammond, a policy expert at the right-leaning Niskanen Center who helped craft Romney's plan. The diminishing size of the benefit may mean the IRS would deposit checks worth as little as $10 in the bank accounts of more affluent Americans. Romney's plan included the elimination of an existing federal welfare program and cuts to food stamp benefits, which Neal's proposal would not. "There is something symbolically important about this being a universal child benefit," Hammond said. "Overall, Neal's plan would be, unequivocally, a massive win against child poverty. But it could do more to clean up the administrative complexity of the current system by making the payment universal." Booker said he supported the push to making the program more universal but resisted the idea of endorsing a plan that would send benefits to affluent Americans. Matt Bruenig, founder of the left-leaning think tank People's Policy Project, warned tying the benefit to prior year status would mean some families receive too much or too little money if they have changes in their number of children, custody, or marital status. "Since these things cannot be known in advance, the IRS is being instructed to assume each family's situation is exactly the same as it was the last time they filed taxes," Bruenig said. "Many families whose circumstances change will end up receiving lower monthly payments than they are eligible for - or find themselves with a massive surprise tax bill at the end of the year." Under Neal's plan, the rules for immigrant children are the same as under existing law, meaning a child needs to have a Social Security Number for the family to receive the benefit but the parents do not. About four million tax returns were filed by those without a Social Security Number before Republicans restricted eligibility in their 2017 tax law. On the right, conservatives have begun increasingly arguing that the expansion of child benefits represents a dangerous expansion in America's welfare programs. Scott Winship, director of poverty studies at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, wrote last week that Romney's plan would discourage poor Americans from working by giving them government subsidies. "We know that the negative income tax experiments of the 1970s found that on net, greater benefits led to a sizable decline in employment among single mothers, and research on the state and federal welfare reforms of the 1990s found that, on net, less generous benefits led to more work in the population affected," Winship said in an email Sunday. "My concern is that the Romney proposal's incentives for some low-income parents to work more would be weaker than the incentives for some to work less - both because the child allowance benefits can replace earnings foregone but also because the Earned Income Tax Credit that would be available to many single parents under the proposal would be less generous than it is now." Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., have been involved in crafting similar legislation in the Senate, as have Reps. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., in the House. The White House believes Neal's plan is consistent with the provisions of his stimulus proposal. "The President has made it a central priority of his first legislative proposal to cut child poverty in half this year through a child tax credit expansion in the American Rescue Plan, and looks forward to working with members of Congress on this legislation," a White House spokeswoman said in a statement. Israeli barbershops and some other businesses reopened Sunday as the country began easing its third coronavirus lockdown amid an aggressive vaccination campaign. The government had announced Friday it was lifting some restrictions imposed since December, when the country saw a rise in Covid-19 infections. Jerusalem barber Eli Aroas was among those re-opening on Sunday morning, the start of the working week. "I slowly notified all my customers that we are back at work," he said. "We have a working schedule and orders, and we hope this will be the end of this saga." While shops were not formally permitted to open, many small stores were making transactions with clients standing outside. Since December, more than 3.4 million of Israel's nine million people have received a coronavirus vaccine jab in what is seen as the world's fastest per-capita campaign. Despite the inoculations, Israel has been registering a daily average of 6,500 new Covid-19 cases, down from around 8,000 in mid-January. Sarit Reuven was shopping for shoes in downtown Jerusalem, just in time for her son's wedding on Monday. "There is a feeling of optimism in the air, I think we can already see the end," she said. "I hope this will have been the last lockdown." A strict nationwide lockdown in force since December 27 was extended four times to combat the infection rate, but January was the deadliest month yet, with more than 1,000 Covid fatalities. But as of Sunday, Israelis were no longer restricted to within one kilometre (1,000 yards) of their homes. Hair and beauty salons were allowed to have one person providing a service to one client, while nature reserves and national parks reopened. Hotels remained shut and restaurants were allowed to cater only for takeaways, while guesthouses could only host members of the same nuclear family. A suspension of international flights will remain in place until February 20, along with the closure of Israel's land borders. Israelis stranded abroad will be able to return on special flights. The cabinet was due to meet later Sunday to plan the further relaxing of limitations, especially in the educational system set to reopen Tuesday morning. The government also increased fines for businesses or schools operating in violation of the restrictions. Many ultra-Orthodox institutions had opened during the lockdown in defiance of instructions, and some frustrated entrepreneurs have announced they will reopen their businesses even before the lockdown is entirely lifted. Israel has registered a total of more than 687,000 cases of Covid-19, including over 5,000 deaths. 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. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., on Sunday forcefully defended her decision to have voted to impeach former president Donald Trump and called on her Republican colleagues to confront "what really did happen in 2020" so they had a chance at winning future elections. "We have to make sure that we are able to convey to the American voters ... that we actually can be trusted to handle the challenges this nation faces, like covid, and that's going to require us to focus on substance and policy and issues going forward, but we should not be embracing the former president," Cheney told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace. Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House, was one of only 10 Republican members of Congress who voted to impeach Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection after a pro-Trump mob overran the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in a violent siege that left five people dead. At the time, Cheney blasted Trump's rhetoric leading up to the riot and said in a statement, "There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution." "Somebody who has provoked an attack on the United States Capitol to prevent the counting of electoral votes, which resulted in five people dying, who refused to stand up immediately when he was asked and stop the violence - that is a person who does not have a role as a leader of our party going forward," she said Sunday. Cheney has faced fierce blowback from the pro-Trump wing of the GOP for her impeachment vote. The Wyoming Republican Party on Saturday formally censured her, making the congresswoman the latest high-profile Republican punished by their state or local party apparatuses for daring to criticize the former president. On Sunday, Cheney waved off the language of the censure as an indication, she said, that her party leaders were "mistaken." "They believe that (Black Lives Matter) and antifa were behind what happened here at the Capitol. That's just simply not the case, it's not true, and we are going to have a lot of work we have to do," Cheney told Wallace. "People have been lied to. The extent to which ... President Trump for months leading up to Jan. 6 spread the notion that the election had been stolen or that the election was rigged was a lie, and people need to understand that." "We need to make sure that we as Republicans are the party of truth and that we are being honest about what really did happen in 2020 so we actually have a chance to win in 2022 and win the White House back in 2024," she added. On Saturday, Cheney was rebuked by her state GOP's central committee "by a resounding margin," with fewer than 10 members voting against the censure in a voice vote, the Casper Star-Tribune reported. In a statement, Cheney defended her vote to impeach Trump as one "compelled by the oath I swore to the Constitution." "Wyoming citizens know that this oath does not bend or yield to politics or partisanship," Cheney stated. "I will always fight for Wyoming values and stand up for our Western way of life. We have great challenges ahead of us as we move forward and combat the disastrous policies of the Biden Administration. I look forward to continuing to work with officials and citizens across Wyoming to be the most effective voice and advocate in defense of our families, industries and communities." The former president's impeachment trial in the Senate is slated to start Tuesday. Cheney last week survived an attempt by pro-Trump factions in the House to oust her from House leadership, reflecting a wider battle for control of the party. Other GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach Trump or otherwise criticized him have faced similar repercussions. The Arizona Republican Party last month censured Gov. Doug Ducey, former senator Jeff Flake and lifelong Republican Cindy McCain, the wife of the late Sen. John McCain. Cindy McCain declared the censure a "badge of honor," while Flake tweeted a picture of the three of them at President Joe Biden's inauguration, saying he was in "good company." Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who recently started the Country First PAC to challenge the Republican Party's embrace of Trump, was censured Thursday by his county GOP. The Scotts Bluff County Republican Party censured Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., on Thursday. Sasse also faces a likely censure by the Nebraska Republican Party - one that would be his second by the state party - for being one of the few Republican senators in support of proceeding with an impeachment trial against Trump. On Thursday, Sasse released a video pre-emptively firing back at the Nebraska GOP. "Now, many of you are hacked off that I condemned his lies that led to a riot," Sasse said in the video. "Let's be clear: The anger in this state party has never been about me violating principle or abandoning conservative policy. I'm one of the most conservative voters in the Senate. The anger's always been simply about me not bending the knee to ... one guy." 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. Booths set up at the BMW Driving Center on Yeongjong Island, near Incheon, on Feb. 3, to maintain distance between participants of the brand's 4 Series Coupe launch and test event. Courtesy of BMW Korea By Nam Hyun-woo A recent vehicle launch event organized by BMW Korea grabbed the attention of event organizers and public relations (PR) managers here by setting a precedent for social distancing. Automobile PR managers were saying that holding a onetime promotion event is more effective than renting a vehicle to each tester separately, because the former allows articles and promotional postings to be made during a concentrated period of time, while entailing more advantages for managing the test vehicles. The continued COVID-19 pandemic has posed difficulties for PR managers in holding such events, so many automobile brands here have attempted to offer vehicle launch and testing events while keeping participants socially distanced. Among such endeavors, BMW Korea's launch event for its 4 Series Coupe last week has emerged as a model example. BMW Korea held the event at its Driving Center on Yeongjong Island, about 40 kilometers west of Seoul. To have attendees gather there, the brand offered one M performance vehicle for each participant, so that they could avoid contact. At the center, BMW Korea held its presentation in the form of a drive-in theater, so that participants could park their cars in front of a large screen at the center and watch presentations on the company's strategy of operating the M brand all while staying inside their vehicles. They continued the presentation while offering lunch to participants. Staffers delivered lunch boxes to each participant inside their vehicle, so that they could avoid contact with others. The presentation for the new 4 Series Coupe was also held under strict social distancing. Each participant entered a separate booth equipped with a large window and individual screen, so that they could watch the unveiling event and main presentation through the window, while receiving additional information through screens in the booths. Social distancing was further maintained during the testing of the 4 Series coupe. Generally, automobile brands here run test drive programs by having drivers start together at a preset course, stop at a halfway point for a break or to film a video review, and then come back to the starting point. Instead of this routine, BMW Korea had testers start separately and let them drive freely across Yeongjong Island, so that participants could avoid meeting each other at the same halfway point. Though staffers recommended a large parking lot as a halfway stop for the sake of convenience, only five to six out of 40 drivers attending the single session gathered at the parking lot, and they were advised not to get close to each other. "Although many brands are attempting to hold offline events while maintaining social distancing between participants, there are still concerns of potential infection because many people have to gather at a single place," one of the attendees of the event said. AN international network of fraudsters targeted as part of a special garda operation laundered at least 9m worth of stolen money through Ireland, investigators have discovered. Gardai were continuing to question a 37-year-old Nigerian man who was arrested in Crumlin this week as part of Operation Skein which is targeting an international crime network involved in invoice redirect fraud. A 37-year-old woman, originally from Ghana, who arrested in Santry was released without charge during the week. Gardai have now arrested 10 people as part of Operation Skein and identified over 90 suspects throughout the country as part of the operation. Gardai say to date the investigation has identified that over 10,000,000 has been stolen worldwide with about 9,000,000 laundered through accounts in Ireland. The majority of suspects identified here are money mules used by the international network to launder the cash through bank accounts here but some of those targeted are much higher up the chain. The scam is believed to be led by Nigerian criminals but suspects from Ireland, Italy, Romania and other countries have also been arrested as part of the operation. The arrest of the Nigerian man this week is seen as highly significant. His arrest came after 55,000 stolen from companies based in Hong Kong and Dubai in December was transferred to the bank account of a Monaghan-based woman with links to the man arrested this week. Some 33,000 of this was used to make high-end purchases in and around Grafton Street in Dublin in December. The goods purchased included designer clothes, perfumes, alcohol, a laptop and mobile phones. Gardai were able to identify the Nigerian man from CCTV and surveillance and raided his home this week. Investigators seized over 20,000 worth of goods as part of the operation. Gardai from the National Economic Crime Bureau also prevented an attempt to withdraw 3m from a Dublin bank after identifying it as stolen money during the investigation. Gardai have been liaising with Interpol and Europol as part of the operation and have been in contact with investigators globally in Hong Kong, Indonesia, the UK and the Netherlands. In invoice redirect frauds criminals email businesses pretending to be one of their legitimate suppliers. The emails contain an instruction to change the bank account details that the business has for a legitimate supplier to a bank account set up under a false identify or under a real identity by a money mule working for the crime gang. Gardai say victims range from small businesses to large corporations and the consequences can be catastrophic and can result in the closure of businesses and redundancies. Venice, Feb 7 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Feb, 2021 ) :Sumptuously-dressed couples promenaded around St Mark's Square in the swirling fog as Venice kicked off its celebrated carnival this weekend -- without the usual crowds of tourists, absent due to the pandemic. "It's totally surreal," said 47-year-old carnival-goer Chiara Ragazzon, an office worker. "What hits me most is the silence. You've always been able to hear music during the carnival, people having fun. But Venice in the fog -- it's still a magical place." Ragazzon and her husband had ventured into Venice from their home around 50 kilometres (30 miles) away. Italy relaxed its coronavirus restrictions on Monday, allowing greater freedoms in most regions. Venice is among the areas now under a lower-risk "yellow" category -- but residents are still not allowed to travel outside the region. A short walk from St Mark's Square, Hamid Seddighi, dressed in paint-splattered overalls, was making a carnival mask in his workshop, moulding and smoothing it with delicate precision. His store, Ca' de Sol, sells masks made from papier mache, lace and iron, bedecked with Swarovski crystals. But his creations have been piling up without takers. The pandemic has pushed his revenues down 70 percent -- mainly due to the lack of foreign tourists, his main clientele. "It was love at first sight for me and these masks," said the 63-year-old, who moved to Italy from Iran. "I've been making them for 35 years. But it's tragic -- I have only sold two for the carnival." - Venice for the Venetians? - Pre-pandemic, the carnival brought some 70 million Euros ($84 million) to Venice's coffers, according to City Hall, with more than half a million tourists flooding in. The local artisans' association has launched a discount campaign to encourage residents to take part in this year's festivities in the absence of foreign visitors. "Venice carnival -- masked... and with masks", runs their slogan, a nod to the ubiquity of face-coverings both festive and protective. Despite the gloom, the association's director Gianni De Checchi sees an opportunity for residents to reclaim a city where overtourism has brought with it a slew of negative effects, from pollution to rocketing rents. "It's an opportunity for Venetians to reappropriate and rediscover their town," he said. "For the past 25 years, mass tourism has unravelled the socio-economic fabric of central Venice. And in a way, it has led the carnival astray." - 'Fun in the middle of Covid' - Venice authorities were forced to cut short last year's carnival when the pandemic took hold. This year it is moving some of the celebrations online, with videos showing Venetians in full carnival regalia. "It's a way of renvigorating the ties which bind us to the millions of people who love Venice," said Simone Venturini, deputy mayor for tourism. A stately dance on the Rialto bridge, performed by a group of carnival-lovers in baroque costumes, is among the scenes that have been filmed. "We wanted to show that Venice is not a dead city -- that we can have fun even in the middle of Covid," said one of the dancers, Armando Bala, decked out in a red velvet frock coat and a curled white wig. With his wife Arnisa, Bala has managed the store La Bauta for more than 20 years, selling sumptuous period costumes and artisan masks. The carnival usually contributes about 40 percent of their revenues. "We're not trying to make money -- we just want to survive," said Bala. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. At the time of writing, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is seriously threatening human lives and health throughout the world. Before effective vaccines and specific drugs are developed, non-pharmacological interventions and numerical model predictions are essential. To this end, a group led by Professor Jianping Huang from Lanzhou University, China, developed the Global Prediction System of the COVID-19 Pandemic (GPCP). Jianping Huang is a Professor in the College of Atmospheric Sciences and a Director of the Collaborative Innovation Center for Western Ecological Safety, Lanzhou University, China. He has for a long time been dedicated to studying long-term climate prediction, dust-cloud interaction, and semi-arid climate change by combining field observations and theoretical research. Lockdown in early 2020 seriously affected his research. Therefore, stuck at home, he held online discussions with his team members on how their experience of developing climate system models might be able to contribute to fighting the pandemic. He didn't expect much response, but was surprised and touched when many of his colleagues responded enthusiastically. Therefore, he and his team combined the results of 30 years of work in statistical dynamic numerical weather prediction methods, and developed the GPCP based on the traditional Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) infectious disease model. The improved methods and results were published in Atmospheric and Ocean Science Letters. In order to combine epidemiological data and models, the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) parameter optimization algorithm was proposed to identify epidemiological models, thereby constructing a Statistical-SIR model. The LM algorithm introduces a damping coefficient when calculating the Hessian matrix by the traditional least-squares method, thereby combining the advantage of the Gauss-Newton method and gradient descent method and improving the stability of parameters. From the simulation results of four selected countries with relatively high numbers of confirmed cases, the Statistical-Susceptible-Infected-Recovered model using the LM algorithm was found to be more consistent with the actual curve of the epidemic, being better able to reflect its trend of development." Jianping Huang, Professor, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, China In addition, the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) model and the autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model were also used in combination to improve the prediction results of the GPCP. The EEMD method has been widely used in the fields of engineering, meteorology, ecology, etc. It can decompose the signal according to its own scale, and is suitable for non-stationary and nonlinear signal processing. The ARMA method can better predict time series. "We found that the EEMD-ARMA method can be directly used to predict the number of daily new cases in countries with a smaller number of confirmed cases whose development trend cannot be predicted by the infectious disease model. Based on the results, this method is more effective for improving prediction results and making direct predictions," concludes Prof. Huang. The GPCP model developed by Jianping Huang's team can carry out targeted predictions for different countries and regions, and has achieved good prediction results. The team will continue to improve the model in the future to provide more accurate forecasts for different countries and regions. Last summer, Aine McDonald took a summer job delivering pizzas at Dominos before leaving for college. About 8 months later, they found themselves in the middle of an FBI investigation. I never thought that taking a summer job delivering pizza would involve me in an FBI investigation, McDonald said. The 19-year-olds co-worker, Brian McCreary, 33, was arrested and charged in connection with the violent uprising Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. McCreary, from North Adams, was charged with three counts of Violent Entry and Disorderly Conduct on Capitol Grounds and two counts of Knowingly Entering or Remaining in any Restricted Building or Grounds Without Lawful Authority, according to a statement released by the Boston FBI office. Before the FBI was involved, the 33-year-old was identified by his coworkers as being in photos near one of the most emblematic characters of the insurgency, Jacob Anthony Chansley, who was shown in images wearing an animal pelt helmet and face paint. My mind was blown, McDonald said. Like I knew that Brian would do something like that. But it blew my mind that he actually did. McDonald said once they saw the photos, they had no doubt it was him. I was like, Oh my god. That is Brian. Like that is his face, those are his glasses, they said. I even recognized his shoes. That was him. I knew that was him 100%. McCreary said he was unable to comment on the case. Federal court documents state, however, that McCreary, who had recently transferred to another store location, told coworkers hed been there. After returning home from the U.S. Capitol McCreary told a co-worker that he raided the Capitol and sent this co-worker multiple videos depicting rioters inside the Capitol attempting to breach a door, confronting police officers, and towards the end of one video, a gunshot can be heard, documents state. Then McDonald posted about it on social media. They first identified McCreary on their personal Facebook and Instagram, then decided to tweet out the photo more publicly. This man, with the glasses and mask, is Brian McCreary, my coworker from Dominos Pizza. #CapitolRiot, McDonald tweeted Jan. 10. It has since received more than 20,000 retweets, more than 82,000 likes and more than 3,000 replies. This man, with the glasses and mask, is Brian McCreary, my coworker from Dominos Pizza. #CapitolRiot pic.twitter.com/5n7bRTdh92 Brians Coworker (@ppkidiot) January 10, 2021 Social media and online tips have been a large part of the FBIs investigation into those who were part of the U.S. Capitol insurrection. The FBI told MassLive it has received more than 200,000 digital media tips from the public and they continue to ask for more. Those with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit tips online at tips.fbi.gov. We cannot do our job without the help of the American people, said assistant director in charge Steven M. DAntuono last month. Since our call for tips, videos, and pictures, we have received more than 100,000 pieces of digital mediawhich is absolutely fantasticand are scouring every one for investigative and intelligence leads. Two days after their Twitter post, McDonald was in the back of a Black Ford Taurus with tented windows talking with FBI agents. McCreary believes his coworkers were in the right for reaching out to and working with the FBI. Any American should do exactly as they did, McCreary said. I hold no resentments or grudges on that front, its more commendable than condemnable. In his eyes, however, it was a step too far to post about it on social media. Its a shame that in todays world - thanks to social media vigilantes - we no longer live as innocent until proven guilty, McCreary said. McDonald first met McCreary when they started working together over the summer. They said he was often trying to have conversations with them and thought they were friends. Were not, McDonald clarified. In fact, McCreary often made uncomfortable comments to McDonald or other coworkers, they said. Hes just the kind of guy who always, always, always, always wants to talk about politics. Even if you dont say anything to him, he will come up to you and say it and ask your opinion on stuff, they said. Even when youre just working and trying to get through the day. Multiple co-workers of McCreary stated that he has expressed political beliefs on multiple occasions while at work, to include the belief that there was widespread voter fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election, federal court documents state. McCreary confirmed to MassLive that he did speak often on politics - asking for others opinions. What I find most odd is how resistant people are to conversation. How anyone expects others to agree with them on any topic while refusing to speak on it is beyond me, he said. I live life seeking to expand my perceptions, not hide in a bubble. Sometimes, however, those comments, were racist and transphobic, McDonald said. I was just doing the dishes one day at work and Brian comes up to me and he goes, How do you feel about gender fluidity? And I was like, Well, Im OK with gender fluidity. I mean I use she/they pronouns myself, McDonald said. And Brian goes, Well, I dont. Coworkers and managements request to McCreary to be respectful went ignored, they said. McDonald said they eventually felt like it was pointless to attempt to respond or reason with him. He just really liked debating but also he was completely unwilling to see anybody elses perspective, they said. You could debate him all you want it, but he was convinced that he was right and there was no way you were going to convince him any other way. But he wasnt always like this, even in the short time theyve know each other, McDonald said. Brian is very, very conservative obviously, they said. But as Ive known him, Ive seen him [become] progressively more of a conspiracy theorist. In the primaries, he told McDonald he voted for Andrew Yang. And at the start of the COVID pandemic, it was common for McCreary to wear two masks and gloves to work, they said. As time went on, however, he became more worried about opening up the economy and schools, rather than talking about safety, McDonald said. Then, McDonald said, he began looking into QAnon. By the time the election rolled around, McCreary was supporting former President Donald Trump, McDonald said. To just see this progression of him and what he discovered, and what he started to believe over time, it was kind of sad, they said. Nearly three weeks after the insurrection, McCreary provided a voluntary statement to the FBI. McCreary stated that he traveled from his home in Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., in order to attend the rally., court documents state, adding that he was frustrated with the results of the 2020 Presidential election, specifically the fact that an audit was not performed to address allegations of mass voter fraud. McCreary told the FBI he was focused on recording people who were committing crimes or inciting violence, documents state. The FBI said they believe McCreary had also sent them video footage from the insurrection on Jan. 7 through one of the FBIs Internet portals. Still, the FBI said, he followed people into the U.S. Capitol Building. McCreary stated he directed people inside the building not to harm police officers or commit any acts of violence, the court documents state. McCreary further stated that he understood going into the building might not have been legal but he made a personal choice at that point. This lines up with the person McDonald knows, they said. He didnt seem like a violent person to me, they said. He just seemed like he wanted to debate other peoples struggles because they sounded theoretical to him. The narrative provided by the FBI states that McCreary was asked to leave, which he did. But then he returned through a different door that was kicked in just moments before he re-entered. The documents also state that after being shown one of the photos, McCreary identified himself as the individual wearing the blue surgical mask inside the U.S. Capitol. Still, McDonald has received a lot of hate on social media for their part in identifying their coworker. They were even written up at work for violating the social media policy. McDonald said they understand why the corporation was upset at first, as many people began to blame Dominos. But its not their fault, they said. Dominos didnt know they were hiring a domestic terrorist any more than I knew I was working with one for three months, McDonald said. They also received threats for the post. Twitter took down a lot of the really, really negative and violent things that were said, they said. But I still remember I got a DM where a person was like ... Im going to come to your house. There was also some confusion over the photo itself, as the photos used to identify McCreary were previously used to say Matthew Heimbach, a former leader of a white nationalist party, was there. Heimbach, however, said he was not there. McDonald doesnt have any regret tweeting it out but Twitter wont be the same anymore, they said. I used to use it as a platform for just like screaming into the void, McDonald said. I didnt follow anybody I knew on there and now there are actually people following me. Instead, theyve turned to Instagram and post stories to only their close friends. They just hope their involvement has made the world a little better. I would like to just see a world where people dont want to actively oppress people because of the way they look or because of their gender or relationship with their gender or their sexual orientation, McDonald said. But to get there, its also important that people are held accountable for their actions, they said. [I] ... would like people to realize that there are consequences to these actions, they said. Its just nice to finally see the justice system working to imprison dangerous people. Editors note: This story has been updated to include comments from McCreary. Related Content: According to information published on the Twitter account of the French Defense Staff on February 2, 2021, the French Navy has deployed during four months a Breguet Atlantic ATL2 long-range maritime patrol aircraft for Operation Barkhane, in the Sahelo-Saharan strip. According to information published on the Twitter account of the French Defense Staff on February 2, 2021, the French Navy has deployed during four months a Breguet Atlantic ATL2 long-range maritime patrol aircraft for Operation Barkhane, in the Sahelo-Saharan strip. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link Breguet Br 1150 Atlantic (ATL2) maritime patrol aircraft (Picture source: Twitter account of the French Defense Staff) The ATL2 is a long range maritime patrol aircraft, dedicated primarily to the control of the air-sea environment through anti-submarine warfare and against surface ships, from the littoral zone to the open sea. ATL2 crews successfully performed: - Intelligence missions (more than 1,000 interception of electronic signals) - Bombing missions against enemy targets The Atlantic has been operated by a number of countries, commonly performing maritime roles such as reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare. This aircraft is also capable of carrying air-to-ground munitions to perform ground-attack missions; a small number of aircraft were also equipped to perform ELINT operations. An updated version, the Atlantique 2 (ATL2), was produced by Dassault Aviation for the French Navy in the 1980s. A further improved model, the Atlantique 3, was proposed during the 1990s but ultimately unbuilt. Other operators of the Atlantic have included the German Navy, the Italian Air Force, the Pakistanese Navy, and the Royal Netherlands Navy. Operation Barkhane is an ongoing anti-insurgent operation started on August 1, 2014 which is led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa's Sahel region. It consists of a roughly 5,000-strong French force, which is permanently headquartered in NDjamena, the capital city of Chad. The operation is led in cooperation with five countries, all former French colonies, that span the Sahel: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. These countries are collectively referred to as the "G5 Sahel". The operation is named after a crescent-shaped dune in the Sahara desert. MUMBAI : Abraham Tharakan, the chairman of Kochi-based Amalgam Group, is an unhappy man. The promoter of one of Indias largest seafood exporters has seen firsthand how the businessto pack shrimp and squid to the US and Chinese marketshas been throttled by an unprecedented shortage of shipping containers. Tharakan believes restrictions imposed on imports to promote self-reliance (Atmanirbharta) have created an imbalance in the availability of containers for exports. Compounding this shortage of import containers is a reinvigorated Chinese economy that has drawn shipping lines to its ports in hordes. Most of the empty containers are being taken to China as its economy has already recovered in the last quarter. India faces a severe scarcity of containers, especially refrigerated (reefer) containers," said Tharakan, adding that the government is yet to take any policy initiatives to mitigate the unprecedented crisis. Theres been a 30% drop in Indias seafood exports till December 2020, according to industry officials. Thanks to the pandemic, several orders were cancelled, payments were delayed or reduced, leading to difficulty in generating new orders, the officials added. Another factor is Indias newfound zeal for self-reliance, which comes at a time when the countrys trade is already reeling under an economic recession and the pandemic. The supply-side constraints are not restricted to seafood exports alone, of course. The shortage of containers and drop in the number of ships calling at Indian ports have led to an inevitable spike in freight rates, impacting every export segment. In addition, the ports in India continue to be one of the most expensive in terms of vessel-related charges, which keep the freight cost for companies firmly high. The freight rates on several trade routes have gone up beyond 150-200% since March. In some segments such as India-US East Coast, rates have gone up much more than three times. A shipping line executive who is working at Nhava Sheva, which houses Indias largest container port Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), agreed container freight rates are shooting up arbitrarily. A Mumbai-based exporter of machinery parts has booked a 40-foot container slot today (February 3) for Nhava Sheva-New York for a whopping $12,000. It used to be around $2,800-$3,000 just three-four months ago," he said on condition of anonymity. When Mint reached out to Ajay Sahai, director general of Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), he said: Globally, shipping firms had employed smaller vessels as the pandemic hit trade. Containers were shipped to transhipment hubs such as Singapore and Dubai in smaller feeder vessels. This eventually led to a huge backlog of containers at some ports and reduced the pace of rotation with each container taking much longer in transit and destuffing at the destination." Many, including Tharakan, strongly believe that a shipping cartel is working against Indias interests. Shipping companies are bringing smaller ships to Indian ports. This increases the demand for container slots artificially and the freight cost," said the head of a Mumbai-based non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC), who has a slot arrangement with several leading shipping lines. Leading engineering goods exporters have requested the government to set up a regulator to fix the monopolistic practices of shipping lines. Large increases in freight charges are impacting the competitiveness of our exporters," the Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) said in a statement recently. If there is a cartelisation, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) should definitely step in," added Sahai. No respite Fact is, there is no respite from the increasing freight rates. Faced with a delivery deadline, exporters have had no option but to book the cargo at the exorbitant rate quoted by the shipping lines and forego their profit margins. As complaints pile up, the shipping ministry and Indias director general of shipping are completely helpless. During the lockdown and in subsequent months, many shipping lines had either cancelled voyages or skipped Indian ports. They are slowly coming back on steam. But we are still 20% less than the pre-covid levels. Immobility of container ships and containers had already created a huge imbalance in the supply of containers. The lack of containers in turn hit the trade badly and many suffered losses," said C.R. Nambiar, chief executive of Mumbai-based Seahorse Ship Agencies. He expects the rates to subside after the Chinese New Year when there will be reduced quantities of cargo to be shipped. In addition, ships that were idling during the covid-induced lockdown have been re-routed to more profitable routes such as trans-pacific, leading to supply and demand gaps on major intra-Asia trading routes. As the number of container ships calling at Indian ports fell, many operators and NVOCCs were forced to prune their slots. This led to further chaos in the container market. There is a shortage of bulk cargo ships as well, though the situation is not as dire as it is for container ships, according to Sahai. Industry officials said the leg-up in Indias exports in December and January, especially in some products such as steel, iron ore, pharmaceutical products, engineering goods and cereals is believed to have created an additional imbalance in the demand-supply situation. Shipping lines have, however, denied that there is a cartelisation at work. We are buying and deploying million-dollar assets on various trade routes. Things were pretty bad during the first half of 2020 as many countries including India went into lockdowns. Shipping companies returned some of their leased ships as the business dropped and losses mounted," said a commercial director of a leading shipping line on condition of anonymity. There are bigger changes at play, feels Capt Deepak Tewari, chairman of Container Shipping Lines Association (CSLA) and managing director of MAC Agency (India). He said the problem has stemmed from a sudden change in Indias export-import composition and volumes. Indias exports have risen 18% in volume terms in July-December 2020 as against the corresponding period in the previous year. Imports have dropped 28% in volume terms. Earlier imports were higher than exports and it is reversing now. Earlier, shipping lines were repositioning containers elsewhere, but now lines are scrambling to bring empty containers to India at a huge cost. Now there is an issue of space constraints. We are ready to bring bigger ships if the exporters are ready to plan their exports and book the slots in advance," said Tewari. Line executives said almost all shipping lines have increased their capacity now, and almost all terminals are packed. Leading shipping lines have launched a couple new services as well one on the India-US East Coast route and another one on India-Africa route, says one. The fact is that nobody could predict the change in trade composition and the spike in volumes. FIEO says India may end 2020-21 with a 12% dip in exports in value terms at $285-290 billion. But the target for the next fiscal 2021-22 is $350 billion. According to the Financial Stability Report of the RBI, Indias merchandise exports contracted by 21.2% in the first half of 2020-21 due to the demand and supply disruptions caused by the pandemic. Imports shrank even more sharplyby 39.7%. Madhavi Arora, lead economist at Emkay Global, feels exports in the January-March quarter may suffer another dip on account of the new wave of pandemic in the US and Europe. In December, exports were almost flat on an annualised basis even as they showed sequential improvement. There was a lot of steam in the global market in the last few months," she adds. Obstacles at ports The government-run ports have moved out of container handling over the last two decades, leaving it in the hands of private companies, mostly foreign giants. Among the conventional ports, only New Mangalore and Mormugao are still handling containers, while rest all have privatised their container terminal and handling operations. While the shortage of containers and the resultant spike in freight rate make life difficult for exporters, high port charges (called marine cost in shipping parlance and it includes berth hire, pilotage, etc) have been a big deterrent for the trade growth. A port of call in Indian ports would cost $50,000-$55,000 in marine costs which is more than double what transhipment hubs in Singapore and Dubai charge," says Nambiar. This is in turn paid by the countrys export-import trade. Why are vessel-related charges among the highest in the world? A primary reason is the recurring dredging cost both maintenance and capital. The big question is: should the trade be made to pay for it? The owner of a privately-held shipping behemoth in Mumbai, with interests in container terminal operations, wants the government to pick up the tab. He cites examples of Hamburg, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, where the respective municipalities shell out dredging costs since ports are owned by them. More number of ships and bigger vessels means more business and higher employment opportunities for their municipalities. When I bring a ship to Mumbai Port with around 40,000 tonnes of palm oil, it creates massive employment opportunities in unloading, transporting, packaging, re-transporting and such," the shipping company owner told Mint. If the ship doesnt dock at Mumbai, some other city will benefit by allowing the ship to dock. Changes in government policy also have an immediate impact on the trade. In January 2020, when the government announced sudden restrictions on imports of refined palm oil, several ships were stuck at various Indian ports. It was a bid to help domestic refiners raise their plant utilisation rates. The quick move by India, the worlds biggest edible oil buyer, had hit many importers, especially those who bought the cargo from Malaysia, the second-biggest producer and exporter of palm oil. Another important factor that adds to the shipping cost is `land. Since the real estate is expensive in cities, port service providers in city-based ports end up paying huge rent for the land leased for freight stations, container depots, warehouses and such. If someone wants to build a warehouse for maize storage in Mumbai, somewhere near the port, Mumbai Port Trust should not charge the company a similar lease amount that Taj Hotel (a tenant of Mumbai Port) pays to the port. Trade cant afford to pay such high rates," said an industry official. The transportation cost has also gone through the roof with the diesel prices having risen to a new peak in the country. The container haulage charges levied by the government-owned Container Corporation of India (Concor), which transports containers on the rail, is pretty high," says Nambiar. Some solutions Sabyasachi Hajara, former chairman of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and currently on the board of two private ports, said once ports become corporates, they will be nimble-footed. The Major Port Trust Act of 1963 is being revamped currently," he said, referring to the Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020, which Lok Sabha cleared in September 2020. Apart from last-mile connectivity, lack of depth at terminals to accommodate big ships and poor night-navigation facilities are key issues. The shipping ministry officials said the government is keen to set up a container manufacturing facility in the country. A high-level meeting was held recently to review its feasibility. FIEO claims that Indias remittance bill for transport-related services stands at around $65 billion, which works out to around 10% of Indias total exim trade. Sharad Kumar Saraf, president of FIEO, rues the absence of a domestic container shipping line. We have proposed to the government to promote container shipping in the country with tax concessions and fiscal support," says Saraf. Exporters suggest that even if one-third of the domestic container cargo goes to the proposed Indian shipping line, it will be a successful venture. Anto T. Joseph is a senior journalist. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! penalized AG and three other foreign lenders after a probe into speculation on the surging local currency last year involving grain Deutsche Banks trading approvals for dollar deliverable forwards and non-deliverable forwards will be revoked, and it will be banned from engaging in transactions of foreign exchange derivatives for two years, the islands central bank said in a statement Sunday. ING Groep NV and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. wont be allowed to engage in dollar deliverable forwards and non-deliverable forwards trading for nine months, while Citigroup Inc. is banned from Taiwan dollar deliverable forwards trading for two months, the central bank said. The penalties imposed on the local units will take effect on Monday. The banks were notified of the punishments on Friday. Trades made before the notice wont be affected, the central bank said. Citigroup declined to comment. Deutsche Bank, ING and ANZ didnt immediately respond to calls seeking comment outside of business hours. Eight of Asias leading food traders, with the help of six overseas banks, built a combined $11 billion in their Taiwan dollar deliverable forwards positions as of the end of July, the central bank said last month. The positions were based on overseas physical grain trades deliberately transacted via their Taiwan units to speculate on the local currency, affecting market stability, it said. Cargill Inc. and Louis Dreyfus Co. were involved, along with Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Standard Chartered Plc among others, Bloomberg News reported in January, citing people with knowledge of the matter. At least some of the trades were specifically designed to profit from the rising Taiwan dollar, the people familiar said. The islands dollar has strengthened almost 7% against the U.S. dollar over the past 12 months, among the regions top performers, according to Bloomberg data. The central bank settled with two lenders in November, it said Sunday, without identifying them. The six banks violated rules because the forwards trades had to be made based on their actual needs, the central bank said Sunday. can reapply for the revoked trading approvals in the future depending on improvements, according to Eugene Tsai, the central banks director general of the Department of Foreign Exchange. Taiwans central bank tightly regulates how much of its dollars foreign can accrue to avoid speculation on the currency. It had said the huge positions the commodity built up in deliverable forwards went beyond their actual business needs. According to the account given by the pastor himself, there could hardly have been a more rockstar baptism. Pop sensation Justin Bieber dipped beneath the water of a custom bathtub belonging to NBA giant and New York Knicks stand-out Tyson Chandler, desperate to find some spiritual relief in Christ amid the trappings of fame and fortune he attained so young. Bieber was being ushered into the Christian faith by none other than charismatic, handsome and tattooed pastor Carl Lentz, head of the New York City chapter of the globally popular Hillsong Church. NBA star Chandler, also a Hillsong member, offered up his tub in place of the preferred rooftop pool at a Manhattan hotel - oft utilised for the trendy church baptisms - because Bieber and Lentz allegedly could not seem to escape prying eyes for the pivotal ceremony. (Detailing the circumstances surrounding Bieber's baptism in GQ, Lentz referred to Chandler as "my boy" in the vernacular of a Southern frat 'bro' - not surprising, given the 42-year-old's previous time as a basketball player at North Carolina State University before his reinvention as a global hipster preacher.) "This is, like, regular stuff for our type of church," Lentz breezily told Oprah about Bieber's 2015 baptism. The Canadian popstar quickly became one of the most well-known names associated with Hillsong, along with Chandler, NBA player Kevin Durant, members of the Kardashian clan, A-list actor Chris Pratt and his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger. Founded in Australia, in the past three decades Hillsong Church has swept the globe with astonishing alacrity, exhibiting a remarkable knack for attracting the young and beautiful, rich and famous. Not all were necessarily full-blown members, but their attendance at services and hobnobbing with pastors such as Lentz certainly garnered the attention of the stars' fans and the wider public. Hillsong's services are renowned for their top-notch performance quality, with everything from fog machines to chart-topping, branded music. The songs, recorded by several official church bands, are mass produced and played by other churches the world over - with applicable licensing fees and readily available associated merchandise, of course. Before the pandemic, the Hillsong tribe on tour offered services in stadiums with VIP packages that could be purchased for varying prices, usually upwards of $50. For years, Hillsong appeared to be the spiritual movement du jour among a certain set of celebrities. It's not so much Scientology, since Hillsong is based in Christian scripture and not on a completely new belief set devised by a science-fiction novelist, but perhaps a bit more Kabbalah, the practice (however diluted) of ancient Jewish mysticism that, for a brief time, captivated the likes of Madonna in the early 2000s. In recent months, however, everything began imploding at Hillsong and the marquee names began to flee. Lentz, a married father of three, was ousted in November for having a pandemic affair with a striking younger woman he met in a Brooklyn park - who subsequently went to the tabloids to expose the relationship in detail. A 2018 letter from Hillsong members was leaked featuring allegations of sexual impropriety and abuse within the organisation. Former enthusiasts began giving tell-alls about the anything but Christian culture in some sectors of the church. Pastors in different cities began resigning. Bieber publically distanced himself. Beyond the headlines and the celebrity quotient, however, many people began to wonder: what is Hillsong in the first place, and where did it come from? Hillsong was founded in western Sydney in 1983 by married pastors Brian and Bobbie Houston and, according to the media-friendly fact sheet easily accessible on the organisation's website, has since "launched churches located in some of the world's most influential cities, three record labels, a film and television platform, multiple worldwide conferences, and an international college. "Each week, Hillsong's music is sung by an estimated 50 million people in 60 languages, and [Brian] Houston's sermons are broadcast around the globe... Through Hillsong's college, conferences, podcasts, broadcasting and publishing, Houston trains and equips tens of thousands of Christian leaders and encourages countless others in their daily faith." Pastor Brian Houston's sermons are routinely broadcast at the international Hillsong outposts. His and Bobbie's son, Joel, has also made a name for himself leading one of the most popular church bands - Hillsong United - and he looks like he could have fronted Nirvana just as easily as an evangelical Christian group. The Houstons' other son, Ben, is the head of Hillsong Los Angeles, and their daughter, Laura Toggs, is heavily involved in the Australian ministry. Almost all of the high-profile Hillsong personalities - whether part of the Houston dynasty or not - cultivate wildly popular, active social-media accounts, posting selfies and inspirational snippets on Instagram and boasting hundreds of thousands of followers. For 35 years, Hillsong remained affiliated with Australian Christian churches, the country's sector of Pentecostal and Evangelical Protestant denomination Assemblies of God. Hillsong had become so expansive and powerful by 2018, however, that it branched off amicably to become its own denomination, still rooted in the Pentecostal and Evangelical movement. It now has a presence in 30 countries on six continents and claims 150,000 attendance weekly at services. The Pentecostal movement has a foothold in Ireland - Olympic gold medalist Katie Taylor attends St Mark's, an Assemblies of God-affiliated church in Dublin, for example - but the phenomenon of the charismatic megachurch has yet to sweep this country. "Pentecostalism is the most recent branch of Protestantism born here in the United States during what's called the Azusa Street revival, which took place in Los Angeles in 1905-1906, led by an African American itinerant preacher from Houston," says R Andrew Chesnut, a religious studies professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. He says Pentecostalism has been the fastest-growing global religious movement over the past century. "They developed this new concept, which was kind of unknown at the time, called baptism in the Holy Spirit. There's not only baptism by water, but there is baptism by the Holy Spirit, in which the Holy Spirit takes over your being and anoints you with his grace, his power, and often a sign; the outward sign that someone has been baptised by the Holy Spirit, is... speaking in tongues." Hillsong doesn't go as far as that, but the charismatic element - the fiery preaching, the Holy Spirit-driven takeover - has been a key element in attracting members, experts say. And so has music, a lynchpin of Hillsong. "A lot of the great rock 'n' roll [stars] in the States, like Elvis; Elvis learned a lot of his music from the Pentecostal churches down in Alabama and Southern Appalachia who were belting out rockabilly at the time," says Chesnut. "So music is, of course, one of the primary manifestations of the Spirit." And Hillsong has truly honed in on that, says Richard Flory, a sociologist and senior director of research and evaluation at the University of Southern California's Center for Religion and Civic Culture. As part of a study, he turned up several times for services at Hillsong's LA chapter - and his first visit, particularly, stood with him. It was at a major LA concert venue. "I look at the front door, and there are these metal barricades, exactly like you would put up for a concert, to sort of funnel everybody down to single-file," Flory says. "And my first thought was, 'Holy crap, they're going to frisk me or whatever'. I cracked up. These two guys, they literally looked like security people, and they said to me: 'Welcome Home'." The service had already started, and he observed the attendees and their responses. "Everybody's singing, and I was like, 'Holy cow, this is unbelievable'," he says. "There was a fog machine. It was full-on high, high concert production values. The band was their top band... it's not my kind of music, but they're good musicians. They were singing to the crowd, the crowd was singing back to them, people were holding up their cell phones in the swaying way that lighters would be held during previous generations of concerts." Many of the people Flory interviewed on this visit and subsequent ones, he says, had a 'home church' they regularly attended but wanted to witness the Hillsong spectacle. The megachurch phenomenon is not an unusual one in the US or Australia, which never had state-sanctioned religions, says Chesnut. Widespread charismatic spiritual organisations have their own appeal in locales with less of a religious history than the likes of Ireland - and when combined with savvy marketing techniques, those organisations can be powerful, persuasive and alluring. "I've done a lot of work on what's called 'religious economy', and what that means is that, in countries like the US, where you have pretty complete freedom of worship; all the different religious organisations have to compete with each other, because there's a limited number of souls - and if you're interested in growing your church or religious organisation, you have to attract more members," he says. "Nobody has done more brilliant marketing, marketing research and marketing campaigns, than Hillsong... in Ireland and Latin America, where you had kind of a state-imposed church, there is no competition - so this is kind of the opposite of it. Europe is a total outlier, with all its atheists and agnostics." Hillsong and some other Pentecostal churches are founded in a theology that can prove particularly attractive to the rich and famous - "prosperity gospel", Chesnut explains. It's a hallmark of other megachurches, particularly those cultivating a growing membership through the internet and televangelism. "Prosperity gospel itself couldn't be more capitalist," Chesnut says. "It's also referred to as the 'health and wealth' gospel. A lot of times, the health part gets neglected. "It's the belief that, if you have sufficiently strong faith, you can or you will be rewarded with God's blessing of prosperity in terms of... material riches, spiritual riches and health." He adds: "One of the ways of showing you have sufficient faith is also being a faithful tither - donating at least 10pc of your income to the church in tithings, or donations. Tithing actually comes from a phrase in the book of Malachi, in which believers are instructed to give 10pc. It's actually there biblically." Hillsong's website states that it believes in tithes and offerings and, like other churches offers a number of ways to pay - via its app, text message, by standard order or in person at weekly ervices. Whether it emphasises donations with its celebrity members is not clear. It certainly has the hip faces to entice those celebrities and other moneyed members - clearly putting forward attractive, young leaders mirroring the type of attendees they were attempting to woo. Before his fall from grace, Carl Lentz "was like a total poster boy for New York hipster," says Chesnut. Even before the sacking of that 'poster boy' at the end of last year, however, Hillsong had battled controversies. For all of its cool-factor images, the church and its leaders stick to very old-school doctrinal positions. Hillsong has come under fire for its opposition to gay marriage; treatment of members of the LGBT community; anti-abortion stances and promotion of everything from Creationism to gay conversion therapy. Always adept at PR, Hillsong has routinely been quick to release statements seeking to side-step or quell the controversies, while never exactly managing to be pinned down about uncompromising fundamentals. Requests for comments for this article have been unanswered as of the time of publication. In 2018, former Hillsong attendee Lea Ceasrine published an account for The Outline website detailing why she left the church. "Ultimately, my problem with Hillsong wasn't its size, its cultish atmosphere, or its reliance on celebrity relationships," she wrote. "It was the aspirational wealth and classism that ran rampant in the church's community - to me, it was evangelical elitism. Under a veneer of coolness and progressivism, the church is a retrograde institution, pushing traditional values on its wide-eyed, and often deep-pocketed, members." She took issue with its hetero-normative priorities and sexual attitudes, writing: "The pastors often talk about their reckless days of premarital sex before they found Jesus, saying that engaging in such coitus is a temptation from the devil." While Lentz was such a popular face of the church and particularly close with celebrities - Bieber even lived with his family for a period of time in 2014 - his November sacking seemed to only set off a rake of new Hillsong issues and troublesome revelations. The New York Post revealed that an internal complaint had been filed with Hillsong in 2018 regarding inappropriate sexual behavior at the church's NYC chapter regarding volunteers and staff. The writers allegedly claimed that a staffer had "multiple inappropriate sexual relationships with several female leaders and volunteers and was verbally, emotionally, and according to one woman, physically abusive in his relationships with these women". The letter allegedly raised issues with physical and sexual boundaries, in addition to claiming that Hillsong NYC was "a breeding ground for unchecked abuse" that fostered a "culture of silence and fear." Hillsong acknowledged that it had received such a letter and had found some of the accusations to be true. But the hits kept on coming. In January, Hillsong Dallas pastors Reed and Jess Bogard - who had helped start the NYC chapter with Lentz - resigned. Celebrities like Bieber and Selena Gomez have distanced themselves from the church. And last month, founder Bobbie Houston came under fire for a 2003 recording offering sexual tips to women, promoting plastic surgery to please husbands and using a slur. Her response, released on January 8, seemed to signal a more church-wide mea culpa for perceived missteps. The scandals and the criticism haven't surprised Chesnut, who studies such religious organisations for a living. "We see a certain degree of secretiveness and lack of transparency going on in Hillsong, and that leads to scandals," he says. "There's a lack of transparency in the upper echelons of church administration, but it's not a sect or a cult, in that people are free to leave when they want to. They might be criticised, but it's not like Scientology and others, where if you leave... they really can come after you and really try to tarnish you." He adds: "I'm sure there's variety there, as well... that it's not only some vacuous, amoral hipster performance show." Whether that variety continues to attract big names, however - or a growing global membership - in the wake of the most recent scandals will remain to be seen. And perhaps, very poignantly, the validity of the prosperity gospel will be very publicly tested. Emerald Robinson tweets: @EmeraldRobinson The corporate media: "People who say there was a shadow campaign to rig the 2020 election are conspiracy theorists!" Time Magazine: "Read our story on the shadow campaign to rig the 2020 election!" Shes referring to the most astonishing story of the week, Molly Balls article in Time: The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign that saved the 2020 election, a sordid tale of how Big Tech, BLM, organized labor and big business, particularly the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, colluded to defeat Donald J. Trumps reelection. The participants justified their behavior as saving democracy. Was this a modified limited hangout in the old Watergate sense? An effort to undo the public perception that the election was illegally stolen with an alternative that there was an unsavory but legitimate perception management by powerful people and institutions to defeat the man who had captured the angst of the middle class and worked to improve their lives? Or were members of the cabal playing neener neener on the voters they bested to further dispirit them and keep them from tipping over the chessboard they set up to wipe out the pawns? All these theories have merit, but I think these powerful people -- or most of them -- have been coopted by China and Biden is the perfect puppet to carry the sellout to China and to defeat Trumps moves to strengthen America and improve the lot of working Americans and their communities. The Cabal You must read the Time article to get the full flavor of the brazen admissions of what was done. Heres a brief summary of the most significant of them, devoid of the leftist spackle of the author. Business, the AFL-CIO, and Black Lives Matter worked together to change voting systems and laws, to get hundreds of millions of dollars to make voting less secure and worked with social media to keep the Biden message upfront, the Trump message buried and the country terrified of widespread violence if the president won re-election. (4.6 percent of people who voted for Biden said in a poll that they would not have done so, had the information about Hunter Bidens corruption not been scotched by the media.) The participants see themselves as the protectors of democracy and want their story told, the author explains. Initial moves were coordinated by Mike Podhorzer, senior adviser to Richard Trumka, president of the AFl-CIO. He saw in the COVID-19 reaction an opportunity to bypass normal, more secure election procedures, and working with Planned Parenthood, Indivisible, and Move On, progressive data geeks and strategists, representatives of donors and foundations, state-level grassroots organizers, Working Families Party, racial-justice activists and others, to manipulate the election procedures. In time, they persuaded Congress to steer COVID relief funds for election administration, a feat aided by the Leadership Conference of Civil and Human Rights. When the $400 million grant proved insufficient for their means, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative dropped into their hands another $300 million, which the National Vote at Home Institute used to advise secretaries of state on the new, insecure voting procedures. (Chan is the wife of Mark Zuckerberg -- Facebooks chairman, CEO and controlling shareholder). Having altered the rules, the next step was taken by the Voter Participation Center, which sent out ballot applications to 15 million people in key states and urged people not to wait until election day. In the end, nearly half the electorate cast ballots by mail in 2020, practically a revolution in how people vote. But rigging election procedures was only a part of the cabals work. They also worked at pressuring media platforms to remove content or accounts which in their view spread disinformation. Among those pressured to silence opposition views were Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Huge efforts were undertaken to persuade voters that the final results would not be known on election night until 70% of the public was made to believe that Biden won, including media election analysts. All this was insufficient to swing the election to the most unqualified candidates -- Biden and Harris. And yet that was insufficient to their ends. Following on the absurd media coverage of George Floyds death from a drug overdose and poor health while in police custody, Black Lives Matter was ginned up and the word was out that there would be even more riots if Trump interferes with the election (that is, if he won). A coalition tagged Protect the Results included "Womens March, Sierra Club, Color of Change and Democratic Socialists of America. This while the legacy media was calling the riots mostly peaceful, people watched their communities being burnt down and shops looted, and mayors of cities like New York, Portland, and Seattle took no steps to punish those involved. A week before the election, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, whose Chief Executive Thomas Donohue resigned days after the Time article was published, approached Podhorzer. They were concerned about threats of riots if Trump were elected, and joined with Trumka, the heads of the National Association for Evangelicals and the North African American Clergy to trust in our system, in effect pre-judging any challenge to the rigged election. On election night eve, analysts for the media having been conditioned to expect a late surge, ignored calling it for Trump despite his heavy lead, and Podhorzer then concentrated on winning the certification, pressuring election boards, GOP-controlled legislatures, state canvassing boards, and Congress. If you believe, as Times author and the participants do, that all these shenanigans were to protect democracy, youll have to explain to me why Sarah Hoyt at Instapundit is wrong when she observes how shaky the new administration is: Look, guys, any honest person who knew math knows. I know the left and the right who hates Trump loves to lie to themselves that everyone hates Trump. 1- This is not true. 2- Most people werent crazy about Trump but liked the way he governed. 3-The election wasnt only dirty, it was submerged in fraud. 4-People who havent stolen elections dont fight having fraud looked into. 5- People who havent stolen elections dont turn DC into occupied territory. 6- People who havent stolen elections dont try so hard to gaslight the country. 7- People who havent stolen elections dont try to turn opposing them into a crime. 8- People who havent stolen elections dont try to destroy the country they just took over. 9- More importantly, people who havent stolen the election dont tell us how they STOLE THE ELECTION. There is that consent of the governed. The left doesnt think they need it anymore. They think they have it all sewn up. China Was the Real Winner of the Election In my view, the big winner of this fortified election gambit is China. Like Lee Smith, I see that a few at the top were coopted by China and profits to be made in dealing with China even on its terms, and used their powers to undermine, weaken and ultimately destroy democracy. Drawing an historical parallel with Sparta and Athens, he reminds us how the pro-Sparta oligarchy worked to undermine the rights of Athenian citizens. The meritocracy has decided their bread is best buttered in a globalized world. They see China as big, productive and efficient and American workers being displaced as people deserving of punishment, reactionary racists all. (Ignoring, of course, the extreme racism of the Chinese government now torturing and eliminating the Uyghar minority, among others.) President Trump upended that, ending foreign wars and illegal immigration while returning jobs to Americans was the core of his appeal, and nothing could be more threatening to the oligarchy. This explains Big Tech and the U.S. Chamber of Commerces role. How to explain Labors? In my own view, I think it obvious that AFL-CIO head Rich Trumka has determined that the industrial unions are not worth fighting for -- hence no complaints about closing down coal mines (and in Kamala Harriss words training the miners to reclaim land mines) or shutting down the Keystone Pipeline and putting thousands of union workers out of work while impoverishing their communities. He sees the big gain for labor in a vastly increased public sector and rigging the rules to unionize more workers . Its not just labor and big business coopted, the think tanks and universities are also in the Chinese camp, says Smith: Think tanks and research institutions like the Atlantic Council, the Center for American Progress, the EastWest Institute, the Carter Center, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and others gorged themselves on Chinese money. The world-famous Brookings Institution had no scruples about publishing a report funded by Chinese telecom company Huawei that praised Huawei technology. The billions that China gave to major American research universities, like $58 million to Stanford, alarmed U.S. law enforcement, which warned of Chinese counterintelligence efforts to steal sensitive research. But the schools and their name faculty were in fact in the business of selling that research, much of it paid for directly by the U.S. government -- which is why Harvard and Yale among other big-name schools appear to have systematically underreported the large amounts that China had gifted them. Indeed, many of academias pay-for-play deals with the CCP were not particularly subtle. In June 2020, a Harvard professor who received a research grant of $15 million in taxpayer money was indicted for lying about his $50,000 per month work on behalf of a CCP institution to recruit, and cultivate high-level scientific talent in furtherance of Chinas scientific development, economic prosperity and national security. The China Virus was a boon to them, leading to absurd lockdowns that weakened our economy, kept kids from schools, let Democrats like Cuomo boost casualties and increase panic all to defeat the president, and from the very start of Chinas move, the media has played a willing handmaiden in our destruction. California senator Dianne Feinstein and Silicon Valley as well cemented the Chinese techno-autocracy which played so significant a role in the cabal against Trump. Curious about why the U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined the anti-reelection cabal? Smith explains it. The Chamber no longer represents the interests of main street businesses, it was vehemently opposed to his tariffs on Chinese imports and his efforts to move the supply chains back home: More profits for big domestic business in keeping the cheaper China supply chains open. The consequences of the oligarchys embrace of China is evident, Smith observes in the U.S. Security and Defense analyses fluffing up their reports to bury evidence of Chinas aggression at our expense. Perhaps the most interesting part of Smiths account is the report that Wuhan was initially astir in fall of 2019 because of a revolt against air pollution and a quarantine was imposed to keep the revolt from spreading. Having found a quarantine a useful means to stopping a rebellion, they used it again in December of 2019 utilizing as a public health measure -- ostensibly stopping the spread of the virus -- but, in fact, designed to stop news of the governments blunder in allowing the release of the virus from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Lockdowns here made the U.S. oligarchs like Bezos much richer while impoverishing Trumps base. In imposing unconstitutional regulations by fiat, city and state authorities normalized autocracy. He has much more to say and substantial evidence for his point of view, and I strongly urge you to read it all. I have no simple solution to return us to democracy, though I think Roger L. Simon is correct when he argues that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis lead should be followed by all Republican state legislatures. Mandatory opt-outs from big techs content filters, a solution to tech censorship first proposed by Breitbart News A private right of action for Floridian citizens against tech companies that violate this condition. Fines of $100,000 per day levied on tech companies that suspend candidates for elected office in Florida from their platforms. Daily fines for any tech company that 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. Greater transparency requirements. Disclosure requirements enforced by Floridas election authorities for tech companies that favor one candidate over another. Power for the Florida attorney general to bring cases against tech companies that violate these conditions under the states Unfair and Deceptive Practices Act. Almost half the states are fully under Republican control, several others have Republican legislatures, and they have the power to do this. I think it is a better means to preserve democracy than allowing the U.S.-China oligarchy to turn us in an autocracy. Punch back twice as hard, as Instapundit urges. Next, I think set strict limits on gubernatorial emergency powers, and by all means strengthen and tighten election procedures, and dump the cabals new rules that maximize the ability to rig the vote. As avalanche and flood at a Chamoli village destroyed many houses on Sunday, the Indian Army has deployed choppers and troops for supporting the Uttarakhand government and NDRF to tackle the flood situation, said Army. "Indian Army has deployed choppers and troops for supporting Uttarakhand government and NDRF to tackle the flood. Military station near Rishikesh actively involved in the coordination of rescue and relief operations with local administration. Army headquarters are monitoring the situation," said Army. While three bodies have been found following the avalanche of the day, more than 150 persons were said to be missing. Six columns (around 600 personnel) of the Indian Army are moving towards the flood-affected areas, according to the Army officials. Three choppers including two Mi-17 and one ALH Dhruv chopper of the Air Force have been stationed in Dehradun and nearby areas for helping in rescue operations in flood-affected areas. More aircraft will be deployed as per the requirement on the ground, said the Indian Air Force officials. The military station near Rishikesh was actively involved in the coordination of rescue and relief operations with the local administration even as Army headquarters monitored the situation. Meanwhile, Union Home Minister has spoken to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat over the Chamoli flood situation and assured all possible help to the state. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs is monitoring the situation after the water level in the Dhauliganga river increased suddenly following an avalanche near a power project at Raini village in the Tapovan area of Chamoli district on Sunday. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand CM has stated that the water flow in the Alaknanda river has become normal past Nandprayag. "The water level of the river is now one meter above normal but the flow is decreasing. Chief Secretary, Disaster Secretary, Police officials, and my all teams are monitoring the situation in the disaster control room," he said. With agency inputs Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The Minor League sons of two former Major League pitchers Friday won $3.24 million in their lawsuit over a 2019 assault at an upscale Washington Avenue bar. Kacy Clemens and Conner Capel, the sons of former Astros Roger Clemens and Mike Capel, were cleared of wrongdoing and the Concrete Cowboy was found liable in a Jan. 1, 2019, altercation involving the bar staff that left both men bloody and injured. Kent Adams, attorney for the bar owner and the bars parent company, said opposing counsel was an outstanding trial lawyer who did a great job on the Harris County case. Our clients are reviewing the next steps and we will move forward per their instructions accordingly, he said. Clemens, 26, played first base in the minors for the Blue Jays. Capel, 23, was an outfielder in the minors for the Cardinals. Both men live in Houston. Their lawyer made the case this week to a jury that the two friends were innocent bystanders amid a commotion at the packed bar. Witnesses said the bar owner and bouncers put them in chokeholds, roughed them up and threw them out. Capel had a skull fracture above his eye, where witnesses said he got slammed with a flashlight, and needed stitches. He also had bruised ribs, scratches and cuts. Clemens had injuries to his neck and a swollen elbow on his throwing arm, according to evidence at trial. This was a hard-fought case over two years to uncover the real facts as to what occurred, said Randy Sorrels, who represented the plaintiffs. The young men are appreciative of the jury exonerating them and holding the bar responsible. The younger ballplayers sued the bar owner, Daniel Wierck, and the bars parent company, 34th S&S, LLC. The jury ruled in their favor on two counts, finding the bar staff liable for assault and negligence. Sorrels argued the owners created a dangerous environment by allowing hundreds more people than the bars maximum capacity. The witnesses included Clemens father, a two-time World Series champion and seven-time Cy Young award winner, who said his jaw dropped when his son and godson arrived at his home in the early morning. The elder Clemens told jurors, It looked to me like they had been in a car accident. He said the altercation hindered his sons reputation at his ball club. Adams, for the company, told jurors Clemens and Capel were part of the group involved in the initial commotion and the bar should not be held responsible for their injuries. gabrielle.banks@chron.com Egypt sent a new shipment of medical supplies to Sudan as per the directives of President Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi on Sunday, the Egyptian Health Ministry announced. According to the ministry, 32-tons of medical supplies were sent to Sudan to support its medical sector. The ministry added in its statement that the shipment contains 16 tons of baby formula and 16 tons of medical supplies, including COVID-19 preventive gear and the medicine used in treatment protocols. Spokesperson of the Ministry of Health and Population Khaled Meghad stated that since April 2019, Egypt has sent more than 182.5 tons of medical aid to Sudan, including 21.5 tons of medical formulas and 161 tons of different types of medicine, medical and surgical supplies, in addition to COVID-19 medical treatment protocols. Short link: CBC In 2004, Paul Martin's Liberals chose to drop Jean Chretien's policy and tack in a more pro-Israel direction. The change became public when Canada voted alongside the U.S. against a motion at the United Nations that affirmed the right of Palestinians "to mobilize support for their cause." Although Stephen Harper and his Conservatives would continue to claim to be better friends of Israel, it was clear from 2004 on that the differences between the parties amounted to only a matter of degree. Differences shrank further in 2012 when Tom Mulcair, a self-described "ardent supporter of Israel in all instances and circumstances," won the leadership of the New Democratic Party. That consensus of party leaderships began to dissolve with Jagmeet Singh's election as NDP leader in October 2017. The latest Gaza war has shaken things up again. "I don't think Canadian politics on this particular issue is the same as it was a month ago," said Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith. "And I don't know that it ever will be the same." Today, Paul Manly represents Nanaimo-Ladysmith for the Greens, but until 2014, he was a New Democrat. "I was one of 14 candidates that were rejected by the NDP for having said anything about Israel and Palestine," he told CBC News. Former New Democrat MP Jim Manly makes a statement in a pre-recorded video released on YouTube on Oct. 20, 2012, after the ship Estelle was commandeered by Israeli troops.(Canadian Press) In 2012 Manly's father, Jim, himself a former NDP MP and United Church minister, was detained by Israeli commandos who boarded a vessel that was attempting to break Israel's naval blockade and deliver supplies to Gaza. "When my father was in detention in Israel, no NDP MP would speak out for him, and my own member of Parliament was told that she couldn't speak about the issue," Manly said. "So to not be able to speak up for a constituent stuck in an international situation when other countries are speaking for their citizens really lays bare the hard line that was taken by Tom Mulcair at the time." Greens divided But Manly's new party has also experienced friction in the wake of recent events. A statement by Green Party Leader Annamie Paul calling for a ceasefire and condemning both Palestinian rocket attacks and excessive Israeli military force appeared to be an attempt to put forward a moderate position close to that of the Trudeau government. Green MP Jenica Atwin responded on Twitter: "It is a totally inadequate statement.... End Apartheid." Green MP Jenica Atwin blasted her own leader's statement on Gaza as "totally inadequate."(Twitter) Paul, who converted to Judaism 20 years ago, has spoken in Israeli media about the prejudice she faced when running for the Green Party leadership. "It started out as innuendo, with veiled suggestions and attacks against me as a Zionist," she said. "And then because neither we nor others responded to it, people became more emboldened and more explicit. "I was accused of the usual tropes, including being in the pocket of foreign agents, being embedded in a political party to further the goals of those foreign agents, and the usual things related to money." Green Leader Annamie Paul, a convert to Judaism, says she's faced prejudice in politics.(Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) The recriminations fly This month, as tensions in the Middle East flared, it was Paul's senior adviser, Noah Zatzman, who charged that "a range of political actors" were disseminating "appalling antisemitism and discrimination ... beginning with Jagmeet Singh and [former Green leadership candidate] Dimitri Lascaris and many Liberal, NDP and sadly, Green MPs." (The entire Green caucus has only three members.) Zatzman told CBC News he wanted to be clear that his comments about Green MPs did not refer to Elizabeth May, whom he called "a great friend of the Jewish community." He said he has suffered ongoing harassment as a result of the position he took within the party, to the extent that his parents felt compelled to delist their address. A Facebook post by Noah Zatzman, senior adviser to Green Party leader Annamie Paul, accused the party's own MPs of antisemitic behaviour.(Facebook) "I think using accusations of antisemitism to shut down legitimate criticism of human rights abuses is offensive and dangerous, and it dilutes the weight that word carries when it's used to identify real antisemitism," Manly told CBC News. Manly responded to Zatzman's claims by publishing an article by his friend and chief of staff, former Israeli soldier Ilan Goldenblatt, entitled "Criticizing Human Rights Abuses Is Not Anti-Semitism." NDP position shifting Paul Manly would not be disqualified from today's NDP. Singh hasn't moved the party as far or as fast as his critics on the left would like. But the party has moved beneath his feet. Delegates to the NDP's April convention supported motions calling for "an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian land" and an end to "all trade and economic cooperation with illegal settlements in Israel-Palestine." When similar motions were proposed at the NDP convention in 2018, they failed even to come to a vote. The NDP's approach to Middle East policy seems to be shifting under leader Jagmeet Singh.(Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press) The motions led the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) to accuse the NDP of harbouring "a toxic obsession with Israel." It said Singh's comments on the recent conflict by focusing on Palestinian victims while overlooking deaths and injuries from Hamas rockets were "cold-hearted, morally reprehensible and inconsistent with his previous statements on the matter." But Singh has continued to recalibrate his position. "If we want to achieve peace, we need to apply pressure to achieve it," he said this week, making it clear that pressure should be on Israel. Trudeau: Harper-era policy on autopilot Conservative Foreign Affairs critic Michael Chong gave CBC News a restrained statement just before the ceasefire: "Canada's Conservatives have been clear that Israel is one of Canada's closest allies and we support Israel's right to defend itself. Dialogue and peaceful negotiation are the only path forward towards a settlement between Israelis and Palestinians and an eventual two-state solution. We urge calm and sincerely hope that hostilities cease." While the Conservatives haven't changed their position on the topic, they have dialed back the volume. Support for Israel is no longer a staple of party fundraisers and the foreign policy focus has clearly shifted to China. The Conservative Party isn't really seeking to highlight differences with Trudeau's Liberals on the conflict partly because there really aren't any big ones. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau maintained, without fanfare, Stephen Harper's pro-Israel voting record at the UN and, a few months after becoming prime minister, voted in Parliament to condemn BDS (the movement to boycott Israel) "both here at home and abroad." Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has largely maintained the Harper government policy on UN votes related to Israel.(Amr Alfiky/Reuters) When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Trudeau to intercede to discourage the International Criminal Court at The Hague from investigating the 2014 Israel-Gaza War, Trudeau wrote to the court that Palestinians, as stateless people, had no right to bring cases for war crimes. But some in his party no longer seem willing to go along with that approach. Splits in Liberal ranks Liberal MP Erskine-Smith said the government is too tolerant of Israeli settlements. "For as long as I've followed politics, we haven't seen Canadian governments that have acted vocally consistent with Canadian foreign policy, which is that settlement expansion is contrary to international law," he said. In April, Erskine-Smith presented a petition calling on Canada to oppose the pending evictions of Palestinian families from homes in the Sheikh Jarrah district of East Jerusalem, an issue that helped trigger the recent deadly conflict. Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith says his government should take a harder line on Israeli settlement expansion.(CBC) "There's an asymmetry to the conflict between Palestine and Israel," he told CBC News. "And pressure needs to be brought to bear upon Israel to ensure that we don't see continued settlement expansion and we do see greater concern around human rights." The Trudeau government has voted against dozens of UN resolutions that affirm existing tenets of Canadian policy such as UN resolution 17/96, guaranteeing the protections of the Geneva Convention to Palestinian civilians. Like the Harper government, it says it does that to protest what it calls the singling out of Israel. Friendly criticism Erksine-Smith said he agrees that "there are many other countries deserving of criticism on human rights bases as well. And so the singling out of Israel, I think, can be problematic. "My overall view, though, is that for the very reason that we hold up Israel as an ally, as a democracy with an independent judiciary that shares our values in relation to human rights, it's on those grounds that we ought to criticize as a friend." Both Liberal MP Erskine-Smith and Green MP Manly said they have been deluged with mail about events in Gaza, and both say they believe that strong reaction was conditioned by a year of protests over racial justice in North America. Changing times Erskine-Smith described a recent friendly conversation with an Israeli diplomat. "My message to him was: I've not seen this level of correspondence from people who don't follow politics and aren't seized with this really complex issue," he said. "And I think those who represent the Israeli government and Canada need to know that." The MP said he told the diplomat that current Israeli policies are "undermining Canadian support for our continued friendship." If currents are shifting in Canada, Israeli politics are in turmoil. There is a strong chance that the Netanyahu era is drawing to an end. For those whose task it is to argue Israel's cause in Canada, a new Israeli government could make life easier. Israel's longest-running prime minister is too much of a known quantity to change many minds on either side of the debate in Canada. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.(Sebastian Scheiner/The Associated Press) While the NDP says it wants to halt Canada's arms sales to Israel (which are negligible anyway), what really matters to Israel is Canada's diplomatic support. Without it, Israel's guaranteed votes at the UN could shrink to only the U.S. and the handful of small Pacific Island states that vote with U.S. foreign policy. And even Washington's support the cornerstone of Israel's security, along with its nuclear deterrent is looking much less certain in these changed times. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for New York City for Sunday when the second noreaster in less than a week is supposed to dump several more inches of snow on Staten Island. The storm warning -- in effect from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. -- comes just as some of the snow was melting after Staten Island was blanketed with more than 12 inches from last Sunday to Tuesday. Snow has already started to fall on Staten Island as of 9 a.m. Sunday. And while this one may not be as bad as the noreaster earlier in the week, an AccuWeather forecaster said it will still be an annoyance. I can assure you that we will not be seeing a round two of what we witnessed [earlier this week], said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Danielle Knittle. We are dealing with a different type of storm, which is good news. While the U.S. National Weather Service has predicted four to eight inches of snow Sunday, Knittle said the borough will likely see somewhere between three and six inches by the time the storm ends. She added that meteorologists are on the lookout for a mix of sleet and snow that could impact parts of the Island. POTENTIAL HAZARDS NotifyNYC sent out a warning that roads may be slick and dangerous, and strong winds may cause power outages. City officials recommend using mass transit if possible. NotifyNYC recommends taking the following Preparedness Actions: Use caution when walking, biking, or driving. Before an outage, charge cell phones. Gather supplies. Turn refrigerator/freezers to a colder setting. During an outage, stay clear of downed power lines. Turn off all appliances. Keep refrigerator/freezer doors closed to prevent food spoilage. Do not use generators indoors. If you have a disability/access needs, or use Life Sustaining Equipment (LSE) and need immediate assistance, dial 911. For more weather information, visit www.weather.gov/okx. FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK and TWITTER First published in The Sydney Morning Herald on February 9, 1953 1,000 On Scenic Rail Tour Nearly 1,000 people travelled from Sydney to the Southern Highlands and back yesterday on the first of the new series of one-day railway scenic tours. Railway scenic tour of Robertson en route on 8 February 1953. Credit:Ken Redshaw Bookings were so heavy that the Railways Department which had planned to send one train, decided to send a second train to carry the over flow. Conservatives complain that their free speech rights are being infringed on by private platforms (so much for their support for free enterprise) like Twitter or book publishers. They feel that stopping the spread of baseless fringe theories such as: Sandy Hook murders were a hoax; Democrats are Satanic pedophiles; and Seth Rich was murdered because he leaked DNC emails are examples of the suppression of free speech. While they scream about these injustices, they go to extraordinary lengths to suppress evidence of climate change. One of their tactics is to make false claims of fraud against climate scientists like Michael Mann at Penn State, which results in timely investigations that go nowhere and is a blatant attempt to sully his reputation. Their efforts, fortunately, failed. But he is just one example. Such tactics force many scientists to back off in their climate research for fear of similar reprisals. Conservatives have weaponized free speech for a long time to advance their political agenda. They only tolerate speech that does so, but if you are not on their side they will do everything they can to silence you or ruin your career. Just ask the Dixie Chicks what happened to their careers when they opposed Bush-43s war in Iraq. George Magakis, Jr., Norristown, Pa. The top diplomats of Britain, France, Germany and the US held a virtual meeting on January 5 for the first time in almost three years for talks that included discussions on Iran and nuclear power. The discussion, which was held between foreign ministers of all the four nations included a multitude of topics including Iran, China, Russia, Myanmar, climate change and the coronavirus pandemic. The discussions came just a day after American President Joe Biden announced that the US was back at the centre stage of the world. Could revive transatlantic ties Elaborating about the meeting in a statement, German foreign ministry said that the foreign ministers had agreed on the desire to revive the traditionally close transatlantic partnership and tackle global challenges together in future It further added that the meeting was characterised by trusting and constructive atmosphere. The in-depth discussion also got positive reviews from French and British minister who said that the united approach could resolve their shared concerns. (1/2) Today and met and affirmed the centrality of the transatlantic partnership in dealing with the shared challenges that the world faces including on security, climate and health. Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) February 5, 2021 (2/2) The E3 and the US discussed how a united approach could address our shared concerns towards Iran. Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) February 5, 2021 We just had a in-depth and important conversation on Iran with @SecBlinken, @Heiko Maas and @DominicRaab to handle together nuclear and regional security challenges. We also touched base on other key pressing issues. Jean-Yves Le Drian (@JY_LeDrian) February 5, 2021 Read:President Biden Cancels Trump's Nomination Of Indian-American As Judge Read: UK International Education Strategy Includes Student Exchange Projects With India This comes as US President Biden said that he will 'repair alliances as the world looks forward to the United States renewed commitment in the next four years of his administration. We will mend the relationship with allies and engage with the world once again, the US President said, in his remarks to State Department. America will repair alliances not to meet yesterday's challenges, but today's and tomorrows, Biden said, adding that the US leadership must meet the new moment of advancing authoritarianism, citing China and Moscow as rivals that damage and disrupt American democracy. The US must meet the new moment accelerating global challenges from the pandemic to the climate crisis to nuclear proliferation challenging the will only to be solved by nations working together and in common. "We cannot do it alone, Biden said in his remarks. Furthermore, he reiterated Americas diplomacy rooted in its cherished democratic values: defending freedom, championing opportunity, upholding universal rights, respecting the rule of law, and treating every person with dignity. That is the grounding wire of our global power. That is our inexhaustible source of strength. That is America's abiding advantage, Joe Biden stated. Read:'Will Engage With World': Biden Says America's Diplomacy Is Back, Will Repair Relations Read: Biden Ends Deadlock Over First African And First Woman To Lead WTO On Tuesday, India and Nepal jointly inaugurated a newly constructed 108-kilometre road connecting Indian borders with several areas of the Himalayan nation, the Indian embassy said. According to a statement issued by the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, the Indian government has provided the grant assistance of Rs 44.48 million that was utilised for the construction of the road. READ | Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli Expelled From Ruling Communist Party Over Dissolution Of Parliament A statement issued by the embassy said the road from the Indian border Laxmipur-Balara connecting to Nepal's Gadhaiya in Sarlahi district was jointly inaugurated by Consul General of the Consulate General of India, Nitesh Kumar and Birgunj & Binod Kumar Mauwar, division chief of Department of Roads, Chandranigahpur. "The newly-built road connecting the Indo-Nepal border is expected to ease the movement of daily commuters across the border. The road was taken up as a high impact community development project under an agreement between the governments of India and Nepal. The project is a reflection of India's development partnership with Nepal and complements the efforts of the Government of Nepal in strengthening infrastructure", the release said, reported ANI. READ | 'Peace, Progress & Prosperity For India': Nepal PM Oli Extends Greetings On Republic Day India-Nepal boundary dispute In the year 2020, India-Nepal bilateral relations witnessed strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8 last year. Nepal protested the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through its territory and days later came out with a new map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as its territories. READ | Now Nepal's Caretaker PM, Contempt Cases In Supreme Court Over KP Oli's Disparaging Remark Nepal Favours Talks To Resolve Border Issue With India On January 16, on a three-day visit to India Nepal Foreign Minister pitched for talks between New Delhi and Kathmandu to resolve the pending boundary issue. Pradeep Kumar Gyawali also sought an early review of the bilateral peace and friendship treaty of 1950 and flagged concerns over his country's trade deficit with India. He said finding a solution to it will help instil a greater degree of trust and confidence in bilateral ties. "While both sides have agreed to resolve the boundary question through talks, we have also shown wisdom that despite the difference in one area, the momentum of our overall engagements is continued," he said. The Nepal government led by KP Sharma Oli which had pivoted to take unusual stands against India since has now fallen, however, with the Oli now caretaker PM and facing the heat from his own erstwhile party-mates ahead of elections tentatively set to take place in a few months time. READ | India-Nepal Review Development Of Bilateral Economic Agenda, Discuss Expansion In Ties (With PTI Inputs) San Francisco police officers found two missing children early Sunday after their fathers SUV was stolen while they were inside. Police said the victim left his silver Honda Odyssey parked on the 2100 block of Jackson Street and left the engine running while he made a food delivery at 8:47 p.m. His two young children a one-year-old boy and a four year old girl were in the vehicle as it was stolen, police said. New Delhi: As the weather in Himachal Pradesh eraches sub-zero conditions in several places, a 60-year-old man was found frozen to death in Kullu district on Friday. As per a report by ANI, the man had left his house on February 3 and had not returned. His family members went out in search of him and found him dead in a frozen condition on February 5, two days after he left his house. The police took custody of the body. "It will be returned to his family after post-mortem," ANI quoted police. Himachal Pradesh: An elderly man, aged 60 was found frozen to death in Kullu district. He left his house on Feb 3 did not return. His family members went searching & found him frozen & dead, on Feb 5 Police took custody of the body. It'll be returned to family after post mortem pic.twitter.com/vIamxGJv4j ANI (@ANI) February 6, 2021 The northern state of Himachal Pradesh has been reeling under severe cold wave and on Thursday received fresh snowfall which sent the temperatures tumbling by several notches. Shimla received 50 cm snowfall on Thursday, which is the second highest snowfall in a day in the last 30 years. The minimum temperature in the state decreased by one to two degrees Celsius in the last 24 hours, Shimla Met Centre Director Manmohan Singh said on Saturday. The tribal Lahaul and Spiti's administrative centre Keylong continued to be the coldest place in the state at minus 13.7 degrees Celsius while Kalpa recorded a low of minus 6 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperatures in Manali and Kufri settled at minus 2.4 and minus 0.7 degrees Celsius, respectively, Singh informed. Live TV Photo: Summerland Dog Owners Association Since 2012, Summerland Dog Owners Association has been requesting a safe, accessible, fully fenced dog park from Summerland Mayor and Council. Yet after nine years of endless consultations, open houses, meetings, and surveys it was devastating to dog owners when Mayor Toni Boot and council recently rejected the most suitable proposed location to date (from options that they themselves chose for consideration). Now council has chosen to consider two last-minute locations that are clearly flawed with one site being extremely dangerous Fosbery Highway Easement right beside Highway 97. More than 500 residents signed a petition and submitted letters over the years asking for a suitable safe park. After an estimated $200,000 spent over nine years in wasted staff time, the Councils latest move terminated the best location and proposed the previously two mentioned locations. With dog owners making up an estimated 41% of all households, they are one of the largest and most diverse demographic groups in the community. This group is much larger than any other user group. It includes children, adults, and seniors, and represents all ethnic, social, and economic groups for which park facilities are created. Summerland Mayor Boot and council need a reminder of how pet ownership contributes to the local economy and creates more jobs than any other recreation club in this community. If it were not for our local dogs we would not have: pet stores dog groomers dog walkers boarding kennels dog trainers Veterinarians The annual 'All Breed Dog Show' at Dale Meadows which attracts people from all over BC, Canada, and the US to Summerland, providing economic support to local motels, restaurants, and shops. Tourists who are traveling with their dogs and stay at places where there are dog amenities accessible and pet friendly hotels available. Even in our local grocery store, there is a large area of prime retail space dedicated to dog food products. Especially during this unprecedented COVID 19 pandemic dog ownership has become so much more important for our community members. Dog owners treat their pets as family members, and especially over this last year of isolation due to Covid-19, dogs have brought comfort and support to many more people than before. Dogs clearly have a beneficial effect on childhood and adult stress and anxiety as well. A dog park of no less than one acre in size provides a safe and accessible place to expand these amazing health benefits. Being able to enjoy fresh air outdoors while providing a much-needed social connection with other residents who have a common interest is a great cure for social anxiety and isolation. All these benefits are available from children to seniors, including families and those who live alone, and for residents of all levels of ability and mobility. With all these benefits dogs bring us, it is easy to see why we need dog parks! They provide a safe, secure area for dogs to be off leash in compliance with local regulations. It encourages a large and diverse demographic of residents to be able to use and enjoy park amenities just as other user group needs are accommodated. There is a safe, secure space for training (formal and self-directed) It accommodates the needs of tourists, both visiting and traveling through to safely exercise their pets in a new environment. Elderly and low mobility citizens are provided an accessible place to exercise their companions and socialize with their fellow community members. The result is that under-utilized seasonal park space is revitalized into a frequently used year-round facility, reducing local crime, vandalism and bullying. Nearly every other community in the Okanagan since at least 2012 has not only implemented a dog park, but many have expanded to provide multiple large off-leash, year-round dog parks! Consider the amazing efforts taken by the city councils of Lake Country and Coldstream to provide spaces for their resident's needs! We wish that Mayor Boot and council would show similar leadership and not discriminate and try making Summerland an inclusive community for its dog-owning residents as well. Summerland Dog Owners Association Chancellor Rishi Sunak is hoping to unveil a new 100 contactless limit on credit cards as a morale-boosting Brexit dividend. The previous maximum of 30 was raised to 45 during the coronavirus crisis in an attempt to help reduce the transmission of the virus. But now that the UK has left the EU, Mr Sunak has the freedom to raise the limit even further because the UK is no longer bound by Brussels rules to prevent fraud. Both Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are keen to raise the limit on contactless payment to 100 The previous maximum of 30 was raised to 45 during the coronavirus crisis to stop the transmission of the virus A Treasury source said: Both Boris and Rishi are keen on the idea as long as customers are sufficiently protected from fraud. Truss sets up India Trade boost Liz Truss will this week step up her bid to boost Britains post-Brexit trade with a visit to the huge Indian plant producing the UK-developed Covid vaccine. The International Trade Secretary is due to go to the Serum Institute of India the worlds largest vaccine producer. It is producing the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. Ms Truss, on a five-day visit to deepen trade links with India, yesterday met the countrys commerce and industry minister, Piyush Goyal, in New Delhi. Last night, she said it was excellent to meet Mr Goyal and business leaders to identify opportunities to deepen trade and investment. Looking forward to further talks tomorrow. Mr Goyal praised the first post Covid-19 visit of a Trade Minister to India. UK trade with India is currently worth 23 billion a year but it has been said trade could hit 100 billion post-Brexit. Advertisement The Financial Conduct Authority has launched a consultation on the possible reform, after data showed that contactless accounted for 41 per cent of all card transactions. The Prime Minister is keen for Mr Sunaks Budget to highlight the economic advantages of Brexit to go with the practical regulatory benefits demonstrated by the UKs success in the vaccine race. The two men have met for Downing Street dinners to discuss the message in the Chancellors statement on March 3. Mr Sunak is chairing a new body set up to shape the post-Brexit business environment the Better Regulation Committee which Mr Johnson hopes will help the UK emulate the success of Singapore by ripping up the red tape imposed by Brussels. The Prime Minister has tasked Mr Sunak with driving an ambitious programme of regulatory reform to push the boundaries, boost creative thinking and inject pace at the centre of government. Singapores low-tax, low-regulation economy was cited by Brexiteers as an example for post-EU Britain to strive for. Mr Sunak has assured senior City figures that Brexit will unleash a Big Bang 2.0, a reference to the boom that followed Margaret Thatchers deregulation of the financial services industry in the 1980s. But he has also warned Tory backbenchers that the party needs to restore its reputation for financial prudence in the face of a 400 billion deficit. This has led to fears that taxes will have to rise soon. With increases in income tax, national insurance and VAT ruled out, motorists could be hit by the first hike in fuel duty in a decade. Tata Communications | The company reported consolidated profit at Rs 309.4 crore in Q3FY21 against Rs 384.8 crore in Q2FY21, revenue fell to Rs 4,222.8 crore from Rs 4,401.1 crore QoQ. As many as 11 merchant bankers, including Goldman Sachs, JM Financial and Axis Capital, are in race for managing the sale of the government's 26.12 percent stake in Tata Communications Ltd. The government will sell its entire stake in Tata Communications Ltd (TCL), erstwhile VSNL, through an offer for sale and strategic sale route by March 20, 2021. The merchant bankers would be making presentations before the officials of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management on February 9, according to a notice posted on the DIPAM website. The other merchant bankers who are in the fray include ICICI Securities, Credit Suisse Securities, IDBI Capital Markets, Kotak Mahindra Capital, SBI Capital Markets, IIFL Securities, Yes Securities and Elara Capital. Public sector VSNL was privatised in 2002 by divesting 25 percent shareholding along with transfer of management control to Panatone Finvest Ltd, the strategic partner. Subsequent to the strategic disinvestment, the name of the company was changed to Tata Communications Ltd (TCL). As per the disinvestment plan of TCL, a part of the government shareholding will be offered through OFS mechanism and the balance, including any leftover portion in the OFS, will be offered to strategic partner Panatone Finvest Ltd. As per the shareholding pattern of TCL, the promoters hold 74.99 percent in the company. Of this, the Government of India holds 26.12 percent stake while Panatone Finvest holds 34.80 percent and Tata Sons holds 14.07 percent. The remaining 25.01 percent is with the public. The government has so far this fiscal mopped up Rs 19,499 crore from CPSE disinvestment. The revised disinvestment target for this financial year has been set at Rs 32,000 crore, substantially lower than budgeted Rs 2.10 lakh crore. Sr Colombiere Kelly IBVM passed away in Nairobi, in January, aged 101. Born Kathleen Kelly in Bonnetstown, Kilkenny, on June 21, 1919, Sr Colombiere went on to spend more than 73 years in Kenya, dedicating her life to education and her faith. Known affectionately as Colomb to her fellow religious sisters and aunty Kitty to her family and friends, Sr Colombiere passed away on January 9, 2021. She was laid to rest in Kenya. Shortly after World War II, with a first class honours degree from University College Dublin, Sr Colombiere set out for Kenya to wage another war, this time on ignorance, the greatest poverty. Ten years previously her predecessors had started the first school for Catholic African women in East Africa. Up to that time there was only one school for girls in the whole of East Africa, one quarter of the continent, and that was for Protestant white girls. Into the Unknown Into this milieu she thrust herself becoming the principal in 1952. There were Christmases when there was no food, they dodged Mau Mau bullets in the late 50s, mattresses were sacks packed with grass, the first girls unaccustomed to school, ran away, but little by little with perseverance, things went forward. Eventually the school grew and girls reached the standard of the Cambridge exam. When the exam papers were sent to the UK, the nuns kept a copy of the pupils papers, in case the ship went down. Nothing was to stand in the way of the education of these girls. Today there are many Loreto schools all over the Kenya. They became the backbone of the educational system. In 2013, the 50th anniversary of Independence, Sr Colombiere personally received an award on behalf of all Loreto for their contribution to education. The President himself, son of the founding father, was an alumnus. Most of the prominent women in Kenyan history have come from Loreto schools, notably Wangari Maathai, who became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace in 2004. It is a story of development and evangelisation through education. Sr Colombiere was principal in Limuru for 25 years. Commenting on that period she said those were great years. Sr Colombiere will always be fondly remembered by the Loreto sisters in the Eastern Africa province. Early Life Kathleen Colombiere (Kitty) Kelly (Sr Colombiere) was born on June 21, 1919 at Bonnetstown, Kilkenny, Ireland. A loving daughter born to Mary Kelly (nee Quinn) and Matthew Kelly. Her mother was from County Tyrone in the North of Ireland. She was the last born in a family of six children (three girls and three boys). These were, in order of birth, Mary Bridget (Maisie) Walsh nee Kelly RIP, Ellen (Cissie) RIP, Timothy RIP, Peter RIP, Patrick (Paddy) RIP and Kathleen (Kitty) Colombiere RIP. All her siblings married so she is survived by many loving nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews and cousins. Sr Colombiere attended primary school at Bonnetstown National School from 1925 to 1932 and secondary school at Loreto Convent, Kilkenny from 1932 to 1937. She attended University College, Dublin from 1944 to 1945. She also undertook other studies through correspondence in a South African University from 1954 to 1955. She attained BA Degree Major in English and History. She also undertook other long and short term courses, for instance, a one month in-service teacher training in 1941 in Loreto Falcarragh, Ireland; a Diploma in Scripture in Pretoria, South Africa in 1960. Religious Life Sr Colombiere entered religious life as a member of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM) commonly known as Loreto sisters on September 1, 1937 and was received into the Novitiate on June 17, 1938. She made her first profession on 17 June 1940 and perpetual profession on June 18, 1945. She celebrated her silver jubilee in 1962 and golden jubilee in 1987. She always celebrated, in a very special way, February 15, the feast of Claude de la Colombiere, her patron saint. Sr Colombiere taught and held leadership positions in schools from 1948 to 1986. Twenty-five of these years were spent in Loreto Limuru. She was also in the Loreto House (Provincialate) community and here she played a very supportive role to the leadership. The best way to capture this role is in the words of one of the province leaders she was with, Sr Caitriona: She is my wisdom figure and great companion on the journey. One sentence describes Sr Colombiere during this time a caring, compassionate, generous, and trusting companion who got her strength from the Lord. Revered Teacher Sr Colombiere will be remembered as a great, renowned, greatly loved and revered teacher. She left Ireland as a beautiful young woman, full of great youthful dreams to answer Gods call go therefore make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). Sr Colombieres yes led her to Africa and to Kenya where she served without ever looking back. The Loreto Sisters are one of the few groups given a special award to acknowledge their contribution to the education of the Kenyan girls and women. Sr Colombiere, accompanied by Sr Nuala and Sr Seraphine, went to the State House on December 12, 2013, when Kenya celebrated its golden jubilee, to receive the award from His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta, the President of the Republic of Kenya, on behalf of the Loreto Sisters. In recent years, Sr Colombiere moved to Shukrani Msongari where the communitys senior sisters live in a community with younger members who are involved in various apostolates. Sr Colombiere was a member of the Institute House of Prayer and House of Prayer representative of the Eastern Africa Justice and Peace Committee. She had great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and prayed faithfully in the oratory morning and evening, even during the week of her final illness. Peaceful and Prayerful Sr Colombiere enjoyed good health most of her life except in her later days. She lost the ability to see and also had difficulty walking but what was never lost was her sense of beauty, love for life, taking short leisure walks, connection with her family back home in Ireland, her family in Kenya, her past students, the intrigues of the politics in Kenya, the national and international news and the interest in the different apostolates the Loreto sisters were engaged in, in Kenya and abroad. During the last few years she was in and out of hospital and was always very appreciative of the care she received from her doctors and nurses in the Nairobi hospital and the community in Msongari. She always appreciated the staff who cared for her. She was very interested in their personal lives and understood the many struggles that they had to face. She prayed for them every day. Sr Colombiere went peacefully back to her Creator whom she loved dearly and served faithfully on January 9, 2021. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Nayef Bin Falah Al-Hajraf hailed Egypts strategic role under President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in protecting Arab national security and defending all causes of the Arab nation. Meeting El-Sisi on Sunday in Cairo, Al-Hajraf praised Egypts industrious endeavors, which aim to consolidate security, stability, and development at the regional level, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said. Al-Hajraf hailed Egypts efforts to support relations between Arab countries based on the good faith and non-interference in other Arab countries domestic affairs. He highlighted Egypts permanent keenness towards solidarity among Arab nations and the enhancement of Arab joint work in the face of the enormous challenges the region is witnessing. Al-Hajraf hailed the strong relations between Egypt and the GCC and affirmed their mutual keenness to enhance these relations. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry also attended the meeting. El-Sisi reiterated the principles of Egyptian policy, which aims to enhance Arab solidarity within the framework of mutual respect, commitment to good faith, and cooperation to ward off dangers on the Arab nation. The president highlighted the special Egyptian-Gulf relations and the connection between the Gulfs security and Egypts national security as a firm pillar of Egyptian policy. Egypt participated last month in the 41st GCC summit in Saudi Arabia. During the summit, Egypt, along with GCC member states signed the Al-Ula agreement for Arab reconciliation with Qatar. Short link: Pictured are Gordon Hickey of Container Coffee and food entrepreneur Niall Sabongi of The Salty Buoy, Klaw and Sustainable Seafood Ireland at The Digital Hub in Dublins Liberties. Sabongis latest seafood offering will serve restaurant quality dishes to the area from his 1972 Citroen H Van. Publicans Tom and Jackie Cleary will be hoping the Covid crisis doesn't cause the fizz to go out of the pints on Temple Bar. His company Temple Inns, the parent company of The Temple Bar pub, has reported a profit of over 5.2m for the year ended October 2019, up from nearly 4.2m the previous year. Despite the positive result in 2019, the directors' report is more sobering. Looking ahead to principal risks and uncertainties, the directors said they consider the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic to be a "significant uncertainty at the time of approving the financial statements". The directors' report later notes the company had laid off some staff due to the restrictions put in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has shuttered many of the capital's bars since March. It also said Temple Inns had reduced working hours for some staff with a view to "minimising the costs borne by the company during the period of closure". In the accounts' going concern section, the company also confirmed it would use Government supports to help reduce costs. Despite the impact of Covid-19, the directors wrote they are "confident that the group will recommence trading once the period of restriction is lifted". According to the accounts, turnover at Temple Inns hit over 23.1m in 2019, up from around 21.6m the previous year. At the end of its 2019 financial year, Temple Inns had assets of nearly 49m, representing an increase of around 9.6m. Its liabilities had also increased by almost 4.5m, to 24.7m. AER Rents hammers out deal for Mainline Hire Group AER Rents, part of O'Flaherty Holdings Group, has bought Mainline Hire Group, a UK-based tool, plant, access and power generation hire specialist. Ergo has learned the deal will see the Derbyshire firm's Mainline Hire Group business continue to function as a standalone brand within AER Rents. It has 34 employees and assets of around 7.4m. O'Flaherty Holdings was founded in the 1940s. Its subsidiaries include Motor Distributors Limited, distributors in Ireland of Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and commercial vehicles. It also owns MSL - a network of independent motor dealerships providing sales and after-sales services for Mercedes-Benz, Mazda and Skoda. Last year, the group acquired Drogheda Hire & Sales. In 2014, it acquired Mr Plant Hire in London. Miconex, a Scottish fintech company, has revealed its Town and City Gift Card programmes in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, and Drogheda secured 330,000 in sales during their first two months in operation here last year. In November, the firm launched two gift cards in Ireland. The firms The Lakes Gift Card, developed for Ballinrobe, Cong, Kilmaine and Clonbur in Co Mayo, secured 230,000 in sales. The Drogheda Gift Card had over 100,000 in gift card sales in its first weeks of operation. "Mahy Khalifa Art Fund in collaboration with Art DEgypte, is offering full funding for a postgraduate art scholarship. We call on Egyptian students in the field of visual and applied arts who want to continue their postgraduate studies in Europe to apply," reads the information released by Art D'Egypte on their Facebook page. The submissions deadline is 10 June 2021. The Mahy Khalifa Art Fund seeks to support young, talented and aspiring artists on their journey to further pursue their studies in the arts. The Fund was created by Dina Shehata and Karim Abou Youssef in memory of Mahy Khalifa, an art lover and collector, who passed away in July 2019. When launching the fund's first edition last year, Dina Shehata, the daughter of Mahy Khalifa expressed that her mother had a strong passion for the arts and had over her lifetime put together a varied and valuable art collection that comprised Egyptian modernist and contemporary artists, in addition to European orientalist and contemporary art work. My husband and I wanted to honor her memory by creating an art fund and scholarship for Egyptian artists in her name. The fund aims at supporting Egyptian citizens. Applicants can seek a graduate degree (masters) or don-negree (research institution) in a variety of artistic fields such as visual arts, new media arts, art history, art criticism, curating and art management, among others. The applicants should provide the acceptance letter from the institution they wish to enroll. The ability to speak fluently the language of the chosen institution is also a must. Applicants must have graduated at the minimum 12 months ago, and be up to 35-years-old. For all information on eligibility and how to apply, please visit Mahy Khalifa Scholarship Fund at Art D'Egypte website or contact [email protected] Application form can be found here. 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: Panaji, Feb 7 : Union Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairy and Fisheries Giriraj Singh on Sunday said that starting "cow factories" was the way ahead for promoting the dairy industry across India, even as he chided Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for not being able to distinguish between a male and female calf. Speaking at a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party state executive committee members in Panaji, Singh also said that the central government was aggressively promoting vaccination for animal and poultry borne diseases like bird flu and foot and mouth disease. "There is a technology which has come up, with which one can start a cow factory. When I say this people are surprised. Like you have test tube babies in humans... everyone knows it. We will make test tube babies (calves) with embryos in a laboratory," Singh said at the state executive committee meeting. Rooting for 100 per cent artificial insemination to promote the dairy industry, Singh also said that the efficiency and milk generation capacities in cows could be increased with the help of lab technology. "If there is a cow which yields five litres, we will add embryos (of cows) which generate 20 to 30 litres," Singh said, adding that facilitating sorted sex semen would also provide the dairy industry. Chiding Rahul Gandhi for being out of touch with rural India, Singh said that he would quit politics if the Gandhi scion was able to distinguish between a male and a female calf. "He who does not know the difference between a female and male calf. If he can spot the difference in gender between a two-month-old male and female calf from a distance, I will quit politics," Singh said. Earlier addressing a press conference in Panaji, Singh said that the Central government had identified 39 diseases which are transmitted from animals to humans and was pushing for vaccination to keep them at bay. "It is being discussed because there are 39 diseases which are transmitted from animals to humans. You must have heard about discussions in the media about bird flu. Maharashtra was also affected by bird flu," he said. He also said that a free vaccination programme was also being undertaken to prevent the harmful transmission of brucellosis, a cattle disease which can trigger infertility in humans. Then-President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Valley International Airport after visiting the U.S.-Mexico border wall, in Harlingen, Texas, on Jan. 12, 2021. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) Trump Lawyers Request to Pause Impeachment Trial During Sabbath Granted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said his office will accommodate former President Donald Trumps request to halt the Senate impeachment trial during the Jewish Sabbath. We respect their request and of course will accommodate it. Conversations with the relevant parties about the structure of the trial continue, said Justin Goodman, a spokesman for Schumer, to CNN and the Washington Examiner on Saturday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks to reporters in Washington on Feb. 2, 2021. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images) A letter from Trump attorney David Schoen that was obtained by various news outlets said that he is requesting that the trial be paused at 5:24 p.m. on Friday and then reconvene on Sunday for Sabbath. I apologize for the inconvenience my request that impeachment proceedings not be conducted during the Jewish Sabbath undoubtedly will cause other people involved in the proceedings, Schoen said in the letter to Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the president pro tempore of the Senate, according to news reports. The practices and prohibitions are mandatory for me, however; so, respectfully, I have no choice but to make this request. The Epoch Times reached out to Schoens office for comment. Its not clear how the Senate will honor Schoens request. The Senate impeachment trial is scheduled to start next week. Last month, the House of Representatives impeached Trump for allegedly inciting an insurrection. President Donald Trump greets the crowd at the Stop The Steal rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) Trump, for his part, said that he did not issue any calls for violence during the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. In his speech on Jan. 6, Trump called on supporters to peacefully and patriotically make their voices heard during the Joint Session of Congress. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have publicly stated that they want a speedy trial, with Republicans decrying it as a partisan exercise that will lead nowhere. Democrats have said they want to push President Joe Bidens agenda forward. Last month, during a procedural vote, 45 Republican senators voted against holding the trial, suggesting that the former president will not be convictedas the Senate requires 67 votes for a conviction. Lawyers for Trump last week noted they will use videos of Democrat elected officials making statements that they claim incited violence during last years riots. Many of them [Democrats] in Washington using really the most inflammatory rhetoric as possible to use, Trump lawyer Bruce Castor told Fox News. But here when you have the president of the United States give a speech and says you should peacefully make your thinking known to the people in Congress, he all of a sudden the villain. So you better be careful what you wish for. His lawyers also said they will argue that the impeachment trial is unconstitutional because Trump no longer holds office and will say that his speech was protected under the First Amendment. Editors note: An earlier version of this article erroneously described the driver as a woman. A car crashed into a Northeast Philadelphia home Saturday night and ran over a woman inside, police said. The driver, a 27-year-old police officer whose identity was not released, was arrested. The car barreled into the home on the 2800 block of Comly Road, near Caroline Road, at about 8:20 p.m. A 53-year-old woman was seriously injured after she was pinned beneath the car, according to police. The victim was transported to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, where she is in critical condition. Police arrested the driver at the scene. LIMA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian President Francisco Sagasti will be the first to receive a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese laboratory Sinopharm in his country, Minister of Health Pilar Mazzetti said on Saturday. This is an important act as it will transmit a symbolic message to all citizens, the minister spoke on the Radio Programs of Peru. "We have all agreed that the president of the republic has to be the first person to be vaccinated as a demonstration that, first, this vaccine will help us all to be calm, and it is a guarantee that we will have better protection," she said. The first batch of Sinopharm vaccines are scheduled to arrive in Peru on Sunday. Peru is going through the most critical moment of the pandemic characterized by a second wave of infections, which has nearly overwhelmed public hospitals due to a high demand for beds and a shortage of medical oxygen to care for the seriously ill. According to the Situation Chamber of the Ministry of Health, Peru has so far registered a total of 1,165,052 cases of the novel coronavirus and 41,753 related deaths. Uttar Pradesh's award-winning tableau at the Republic Day parade, based on the theme of Ram temple in Ayodhya, will soon be available in a special postal cover. The Department of Posts has joined hands with the Sangam Philatelic Club and started work on the special postal cover. The tableau on the theme 'Ayodhya: Cultural Heritage of Uttar Pradesh' was adjudged the best among a total 32 tableaux and was awarded by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on January 28. The cultural heritage of ancient holy town Ayodhya, a replica of a Ram temple, a glimpse of 'Deepotsav' and various stories from Ramayana epic were depicted in the tableau. The plan is to issue the special postal cover by March 2021 and donate funds generated through its sale for the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Sangam Philatelic Club general secretary, M Gulrez said. Our team is working on the design of the proposed special postal cover. The documents will soon be sent to chief post master general-Lucknow for approval, he added. The plan is to print 5,000 to 10,000 special postal covers however the final number and cost of the cover will be decided after the postal department approves the proposal, Gulrez said. The Sangam Philatelic Club and the department of posts had collaborated earlier on a special postal cover on Lord Ram. On the occasion of Diwali last year, a special postal cover in honour of Shri Ramlala Temple of Ayodhya was released at the head post office, Civil Lines, Prayagraj. The special cover was conceived by M Gulrez and designed by Rajiv Mishra of Sangam city. A year after a Marine drill instructor was sentenced to 10 years behind bars for hazing Muslim recruits, throwing one in an industrial dryer and figuring in another's death, data shows that nearly nine out of 10 hazing reports in the military still came from within the Corps. An annual report on hazing within the military, obtained via a public-records request, shows that the Marine Corps, the smallest Defense Department service by population with the exception of Space Force, owns the lion's share of hazing complaints and substantiated hazing incidents. The data, from fiscal year 2018, shows that 256 of 291 total hazing complaints that year, more than 88%, were made in the Corps, and 91 of 102 substantiated hazing incidents took place among Marines. The Navy was a distant second, with 17 complaints and 10 substantiated incidents; then the Army, with 13 complaints, none substantiated; and finally the Air Force, with five complaints, one substantiated. At the time of the reporting, 71 total complaints had been found unsubstantiated, 110 were pending a decision and eight were inconclusive or unknown. The data, released to Military.com this month, provides what could be a troubling snapshot taken shortly after the Marines faced national scrutiny over hazing episodes at boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina. Recruit Raheel Siddiqui reportedly jumped to his own death in 2016 from the third floor of a Parris Island building after abuse at the hands of a drill instructor, who received 10 years for maltreatment and other crimes at a Parris Island court-martial. Other Marines who trained recruits were found to have inflicted chemical burns requiring skin grafts -- the result of forced physical training on a bleach-covered floor -- and ordered naked trainees to run back and forth, then jam together against the walls of a shower. In all, eight drill instructors faced some level of punishment over the Parris Island hazing scandal amid national attention, and investigations resulted in a slew of recommendations for change. And that same year, a crackdown on hazing within 1st Marine Division in California resulted in at least 18 Marines getting kicked out of the Corps, and 30 spending time in the brig. Amid all that, the 2018 data seems jarring. But some say the information paints a more complicated picture: one of a service that is aggressively tracking abusive behavior while others overlook the problem. New Accountability Measures The 2018 report is the first-ever Pentagon-wide survey of hazing. It was mandated by then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis earlier the same year as part of a sweeping new policy implemented to deter harassment and abusive behavior in every form within the ranks. Mattis' order, building on a previous 2015 memo from then-Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, set a Dec. 31, 2018, deadline for services to turn over the first 18 months of hazing data they'd collected, and required annual reports to follow. The order also set a definition for hazing: a "form of harassment that ... physically or psychologically injures, or creates a risk of physical or psychological injury ... for the purpose of: initiation into, admission into, affiliation with, change in status or position within, or a condition for continued membership in any military or DoD civilian organization." The newly obtained report does not contain details on specific hazing incidents or complaints, but does break substantiated episodes into categories: physical, psychological, written, verbal and nonverbal. In the Marine Corps, 60% of hazing incidents were physical and 32% verbal, with the remainder nonverbal. The other services had a similar breakdown; only the Navy had substantiated episodes of psychological hazing, with six incidents. A recruit of Echo Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, reads the definition of hazing to his fellow recruits at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Oct. 7, 2014. (Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tyler Viglione) While the report doesn't indicate the origin of hazing complaints or the dates they were made, it does contain some information on when hazing happens and who it happens to. Unsurprisingly, almost all substantiated hazing happened on duty in 2018. Nearly 100% of military hazing victims were junior enlisted service members, in the ranks of E-4 and below and, with few exceptions, under the age of 25. While most of the perpetrators were also junior enlisted, some 20% were E-5s and E-6s, and eight offenders were senior enlisted troops or junior officers. Within the entire Defense Department, only eight of the troops who reported being hazed were female. Data Shortfalls While the majority of hazing offenders and complainants were white, the data does fall somewhat short. There's no indication of the racial breakdown of victims and offenders in specific incidents, or what conditions lead to certain kinds of hazing. There's no information, either, to indicate the severity of hazing incidents or their short- and long-term impact on victims. What does seem evident, though, is that the 2018 data regarding the ratio of hazing reports by service is not an anomaly. A data sketch from fiscal 2017 also obtained by Military.com shows 233 out of 299 hazing reports that year came from the Marine Corps, and 109 out of 136 substantiated incidents occurred in that service. While DoD did not release fiscal 2019 data, and a fiscal 2020 report has not yet been provided to the services, Marine Corps officials did provide data showing that reports of hazing decreased markedly within the service in 2019. That year, there were 188 total complaints in the Corps, and 47 substantiated hazing cases, officials said. "Hazing has no place in a disciplined and professional military force and is not tolerated in any form in the Marine Corps. Hazing degrades our warfighting capabilities by destroying our Marines' confidence and the trust they place in their fellow Marines and in their leadership. All complaints of hazing are taken seriously," Yvonne Carlock, a spokeswoman for Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs, told Military.com. Carlock added that all hazing complaints are tracked "from the initial complaint/allegation through adjudication" and that the service stresses bystander intervention and urges Marines and sailors to report all hazing they observe. A 2015 study by the Rand Corporation did find that the Marine Corps was the most consistent of any service apart from the Coast Guard at providing specific anti-hazing training and offering additional training at various career intervals, with annual refreshers. Gaps were still present at that point, however; the report found anti-hazing instruction in the Corps was lecture-only and lacked group discussion and structured assessment. FILE PHOTO -- A sweeping new Pentagon order addressing harassment prevention in the armed forces includes an important deadline: Dec. 1, 2018 when a first-of-its kind report on hazing in the ranks from all Defense Department components is due. (Army Photo Illustration: David Vergun) But the grim wake-up calls from the recent high-profile hazing incidents may mean the Marines track the issue better and more consistently than other services. That's the contention of Rep. Judy Chu, a California Democrat who has made it a priority to end military hazing and increase accountability. Chu's nephew, Marine Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, took his own life during a deployment to Afghanistan in 2011 following hazing by his peers. Three Marines faced criminal charges in the wake of his death; two were acquitted and one was sentenced to 30 days in a plea agreement. "The real truth is that hazing in the military is still obscured by bad and incomplete data," Chu told Military.com in a Feb. 5 statement. She cited a Government Accountability Office report she had required showing that, as of early 2016, the Corps alone consistently tracked both substantiated and unsubstantiated hazing reports. "This doesn't mean that the Marines are more likely to have a hazing problem, but that the other branches fail to report theirs," she said in the statement. "Still, what this troubling data reveals is that hazing and disunity are still pervasive problems in our military, which is bad for our national security and the health and safety of the men and women in uniform who risk everything for us." Cultural Influences It's likely, however, that culture also plays a role in the picture the data shows. The Marine Corps has the youngest average age of any service, the most male and the most junior in rank. The service prides itself on being the most physically demanding, as well, and many recruits arrive at boot camp with a perception of the Corps informed by films like Full Metal Jacket and A Few Good Men -- movies in which brutal Marine Corps hazing incidents are main plot points. In a 2020 law review article in the Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal, authors Gregory S. Parks and Jasmine Burgess explore the psychological, cultural and organizational causes of military hazing. In one notional example underscoring their research, they profile "Darrius Ima," a Marine Corps drill instructor who himself was hazed as a recruit and believes he's justified in passing down the tradition. "Darrius believes, not only that there is a low probability of him being caught and reprimanded for the hazing but also that, and erroneously so, that the majority of the Marines community values hazing," the authors write. " ... In sum, Darrius is morally disengaged around the issue of hazing. He tries to justify his conduct by offering a purely positive rationale for hazing -- e.g., that it builds bonds." Parks, a professor of law at Wake Forest University and expert on all kinds of hazing who spoke to Military.com Feb. 5, said changing a cultural perspective on an issue such as hazing can be a lengthy process. "Organizational culture is crucial," he said. "What are the dynamics at play within an organization over the course of maybe decades or generations, and why is it hard to disentangle that. It makes it very difficult to swim upstream and buck the system when you receive a lot of critical feedback from peers." He added that the military, and particularly the Marine Corps, which demands and prizes high levels of physical prowess and mental toughness, may be more prone to training and rituals that cross the line into hazing. "There are these physical components, but there's also the psychological aspect of putting people through the paces," he said. "It's probably easier to amplify that." The newly obtained data does indicate that being found to have hazed a peer or subordinate will affect a service member's career, even if it doesn't end it. For fiscal 2018, 100% of substantiated hazing offenders received some sort of discipline. In the Marine Corps, 174 perpetrators received a total of 365 corrective or disciplinary actions. One-third of all disciplinary actions for Marines were at the administrative level, and a little more than half consisted of non-judicial punishment. Unit-level punishments are shielded from public release, and therefore difficult to track. Some 44 Marines faced hazing-related charges at various levels of court-martial; the Corps was the only service to send anyone to court-martial over hazing. "We continue to train and educate all Marines and instill in them that these behaviors are inconsistent with our core values and we will hold perpetrators accountable," Carlock, the Marine Corps spokeswoman, told Military.com. "A failure to act and respond is not only inconsistent with who we are but it also degrades our traditions, threatens our cohesion and morale, and detracts from mission accomplishment." -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck. 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: %method> 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: %perl> 28: